The .500 Wyoming Express or .500 WE is a "big bore" handgun

Handgun

A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....

 cartridge

Cartridge (firearms)

A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...

. It was introduced in 2005 by Freedom Arms

Freedom Arms

Freedom Arms is a Freedom, Wyoming-based firearm manufacturing company, known for producing powerful single-action revolvers. The company was founded in 1978 by Wayne Baker and Dick Casull to produce the Mini revolver then later a revolver chambered in Casull's powerful .454 Casull chambering. ...

 for their Model 83 .500 WE revolver.

Like most handgun cartridges of this size, it is used almost exclusively in revolver

Revolver

A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...

s. It is designed mainly for hunting rather than self defense or tactical usage.

Overview

The cartridge is comparable in size to the .50 Action Express

.50 Action Express

The .50 Action Express is a large caliber handgun cartridge. It was developed in 1988 by Evan Whildin of Action Arms. The .50 AE is one of the most powerful pistol cartridges in production.-Overview:...

, but has higher powder loads and normally a lower velocity. Though not as powerful as the .500 S&W Magnum

.500 S&W Magnum

The .500 S&W Magnum is a fifty-caliber semi-rimmed handgun cartridge developed by Cor-Bon in partnership with the Smith & Wesson "X-Gun" engineering team for use in the Smith & Wesson Model 500 X-frame revolver and introduced in February 2003 at the SHOT trade show...

, the .500 Wyoming Express is one of the most powerful handgun cartridges commercially available today and is capable of taking any large game animal. Other similar cartridges are the .500 Linebaugh

.500 Linebaugh

The .500 Linebaugh is a .50 caliber handgun cartridge designed for use in revolvers. It is considered to be one of the most powerful handgun cartridges designed in terms of energy and throw weight.-History:...

, and the .50 Beowulf

.50 Beowulf

The .50 Beowulf [12.7×42 mm Rb] is a rifle cartridge developed by Alexander Arms for use in a modified AR-15 rifle. The cartridge utilizes a rebated rim, sized to match the rim of the 7.62×39mm and 6.5 mm Grendel rounds...

.

External links

• Freedom Arms website
• .500 WE page at Freedom Arms website