The .500 Linebaugh is a .50 caliber handgun cartridge designed for use in revolvers. It is considered one of the most powerful handgun cartridges designed in terms of

kinetic energy In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion. It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its accele ...

and power factor (

momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...

History

The .500 Linebaugh cartridge was designed by John Linebaugh of Maryville, Missouri, in 1986. John Linebaugh had been converting

.45 Colt The .45 Colt (11.43×33mmR), is a rimmed, straight-walled, handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It was originally a black-powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1 ...

six-shooters to five-shot revolvers, thus offering a stronger cylinder which could withstand the firing of higher-pressure .45 Colt ammunition. While this venture was successful, he continued to search for a more powerful cartridge, which resulted in the .500 Linebaugh. The cartridge case itself was designed by cutting off the

.348 Winchester The .348 Winchester is an American rifle cartridge. It was introduced in 1936, and developed for the Winchester Model 71 lever action rifle. The .348 was one of the most powerful rimmed rounds ever used in a lever action rifle. Performance It ...

case to , turning the rim to a diameter of and opening the case mouth to accept a .510 caliber (12.95 mm) bullet. The first revolvers converted to use the .500 Linebaugh were the Ruger Bisley and the Seville revolvers. Due to the demise of the Seville revolvers in the early 1990s, all subsequent conversions have been carried out on revolvers based on the

Ruger Bisley The Ruger Blackhawk is a six-shot, single-action revolver manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co. It is produced in a variety of finishes, calibers, and barrel lengths. History In the early 1950s, Westerns were popular in movies and television. Colt h ...

frame. It was when the supply of .348 Winchester cases started running out that John Linebaugh began working on the

.475 Linebaugh The .475 Linebaugh is a rimmed revolver cartridge developed by John Linebaugh in the late 1980s in response to the scarcity of the .348 Winchester brass required to form his .500 Linebaugh cartridge. The cartridge is based on the .45-70 Governm ...

, which could be formed from the more available

.45-70 Government The .45-70 rifle cartridge, also known as the .45-70 Government, was developed at the U.S. Army's Springfield Armory for use in the Springfield Model 1873, which is known to collectors as the "Trapdoor Springfield." The new cartridge was a rep ...

cases. When the Winchester Model 71 was reintroduced in the .348 Winchester, the ability to form .500 Linebaugh cases became again feasible. Today, Starline and Buffalo Bore offer .500 Linebaugh cases which are not dependent on the supply of .348 Winchester cases.

Cartridge design and specifications

The .500 Linebaugh is a proprietary cartridge and thus has not been adopted by mainline firearms manufacturers. Currently the only firearm manufacturer that produces a revolver for this cartridge is Magnum Research (owned by Kahr Firearms Group), in the BFR product line. Prior to January 2019, the only alternative was to have a gunsmith such as John Linebaugh of Linebaugh Custom Six guns or Hamilton Bowen of Bowen Classic Arms convert pre-existing revolvers such as the Ruger Blackhawk and Bisley to fire the cartridge. Bowen is known to have converted the

Ruger Redhawk The Ruger Redhawk is a DA/SA, large-frame revolver that was first introduced in 1979 by Sturm, Ruger & Company. Made from high-grade steel, it is available in a stainless steel finish. The Redhawk is reinforced to handle extra stress, making it v ...

double-action revolver for use with this cartridge. : Due to the proprietary status of the cartridge neither the CIP nor

SAAMI The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several Americ ...

have published official specifications for the cartridge. As is the case, there can be some variations from gunsmith to gunsmith. No pressure standard has been published for the cartridge but according to Linebaugh, pressure levels between and are considered safe in the converted revolvers. The cartridge uses .510 in (12.95 mm) diameter jacketed bullets or .511-.512 in (12.98-13.01 mm) lead bullets.

Sporting usage

The .500 Linebaugh was designed as a hunting cartridge. It was designed to fire a bullet at . This particular loading generates of energy making this one of the most powerful handgun cartridges put into production. In terms of energy, this is comparable to the

.454 Casull The .454 Casull () is a firearm cartridge, developed as a wildcat cartridge in 1958 by Dick Casull, Duane Marsh and Jack Fullmer. It was announced in November 1959 by ''Guns & Ammo'' magazine. The design is a lengthened and structurally improve ...

cartridge. However, the .500 Linebaugh provides a larger diameter, heavier bullet with a greater sectional density than the .454 Casull. As a hunting cartridge it is capable of taking any North American game animals and most African game species.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:500 Linebaugh Pistol and rifle cartridges

History

Cartridge design and specifications

Sporting usage

See also

Notes