.480 Ruger conversion....

[jfo4]

How flexible is the .480 ruger?

I have read that it can be loaded from plinking level to .475 linebaugh.

Even with the .480 being nixed by Ruger, would it still be a worth while custom?

It seems like if supplies ever dwindled for the .480 you could always trim .475 brass to length.

Jason

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive contenplated doing one myself but everytime i do i come back to reality. A 475 can be built for the same price and allows you to shoot both 475s and 480s. A 475 will easily download to a 1000 fps with 350s if you want light loads. Brass is easier to come by too. With a slightly shorter cylinder the 480 would be a tad lighter but thats about the only advantage and you could recoup most of that weight loss by scalloping the recoil sheild and loading gate if it were a big consern to you.

[drdougrx]

Lloyd's right.  I have a SRH in 480 and I really have become enamoured with it.  Having said that, if I were to build a gun custom, I'd build the 475LB so that I can have both.  If you had someone build one on a Redhawk, you may might be able to build a LB, but I'm not positive. 

I'd ask Redhawk1 to weigh in as well.  BTW him and Lloyd, you couldn't ask for better advice!

BTW...if you like the SRK platform and can get a 480...I say do it!

[temmi]

I agree with Lloyd & jfo4. I have a SHR 480 and i REALLY like it.

If i were to build one i would most likely do a 475... cause there is no downside.

[Graybeard]

And while I might be the one voice in the wilderness heard by no one I'm gonna disagree.

The .480 is an excellent all round cartridge and doesn't need to stand in the shadow of the .475 LB. In guns where the cylinder length doesn't allow the use of the longer .475 the .480 really shines allowing 90% or more of the .475 velocity and in cylinders which are long enough for the .475 then the .480 can stand toe to toe with it. Just seat the bullets to the same OAL as in the .475 in those long cylinder guns and you can run it at the same velocity.

I can't speak to all guns and obviously the openings can be enlarged to allow a custom cylinder to be made longer than they are from the factory but most likely aren't long enough as the frame is made to allow bullets to be seated enough further out in a .475 to allow it to really do much the .480 wouldn't do in that same cylinder.

If you are looking for light recoil why the heck select such a big bore to begin with? Get a .44 mag or .357 mag if recoil is an issue.

We're only talking about approximately one tenth (1/10th) of an inch difference in case length between the two. Loaded to same pressure levels you might see an additional 100 fps from the 1.395" LB case than the .480 Ruger but as mentioned in most cylinders you can just load the bullets out a bit longer to same OAL as the Linebaugh and get that back but WHY?

Big bore revolvers and their killing power aren't about velocity and the tiny extra isn't gonna flatten trajectory within useable range enough to see it and since most are gonna go with irons you can see well enough to shoot close enough to take advantage of that tiny difference in trajectory and the tiny velocity edge if it exists will never be detected by any animal hit by either.

In my RB480 I used mostly 420/430 grain LBT mould cast bullets pushed to around 1100 fps. I can't think of any critter a man of normal means would ever get a chance to hunt that wouldn't be adequate for. So I see no real world advantage to the .475 over the .480 and it really all boils down to what you personally want.

[sixshot]

Graybeards response is one of the very best I've read about the 480. My custom 5 shot 480 was built by Alan Harton & it can safely reach 1400 fps with a 400 gr slug, if that isn't enough power then a handgun isn't the answer.
  My gun started life as a Bisley 45, Alan opened the frame window, built an oversize 5 shot cylinder, slicked up the action, built a custom front sight thats narrowed to .100", a Bowen rear sight & a Belt Mountain base pin. It will shoot under an inch at 25 yds & will handle anything the shooter can dish out.
  Took a bull moose with my SRH 480 with one shot & a 370 gr softnose cast, after getting the 5 shot gun from Alan I sold the SRH, wish I had it back.
  My 5 shot gun accounted for another bull moose last fall, again one shot, complete penetration & down in 50 yds. The 370 gr slug is only loaded to 1100 fps, if it will completely penetrate a bull moose do I need more power?
  This is my bull  moose 6 years ago with the SRH 480.

 This is the 5 shot Alan Harton 480 stocked with a set of Holly's.

  This is my long time hunting buddy Brent with his bull moose taken with my Harton gun.


Dick

[Lloyd Smale]

do you have pressure data on that load. 1200 is easily reached in the 480 with 400s and i could see sneeking up to even 1300. But 1400 is 475 territory and even then your talking max pressures. In a 480 case you have to be dealing with high end 454 pressures. Unless you have a bullet design that allows seating out to 475 lenght you have to be pushing the envelope with that load. Im surely one that is throwing rocks in a glass house as ive fooled with 45 colts at some real extream pressures in my younger days but beat up a couple rugers doing it. For the most part these days even my 475 loads are only running about 1200 on the top end. Never saw where anymore gained me a thing. If it were my gun id stick to 1200 fps loads and pass it on to my grandkids rather then pass a beautiful harton built gun to the trash man.

Graybeards response is one of the very best I've read about the 480. My custom 5 shot 480 was built by Alan Harton & it can safely reach 1400 fps with a 400 gr slug, if that isn't enough power then a handgun isn't the answer.
  My gun started life as a Bisley 45, Alan opened the frame window, built an oversize 5 shot cylinder, slicked up the action, built a custom front sight thats narrowed to .100", a Bowen rear sight & a Belt Mountain base pin. It will shoot under an inch at 25 yds & will handle anything the shooter can dish out.
  Took a bull moose with my SRH 480 with one shot & a 370 gr softnose cast, after getting the 5 shot gun from Alan I sold the SRH, wish I had it back.
  My 5 shot gun accounted for another bull moose last fall, again one shot, complete penetration & down in 50 yds. The 370 gr slug is only loaded to 1100 fps, if it will completely penetrate a bull moose do I need more power?
  This is my bull  moose 6 years ago with the SRH 480.

 This is the 5 shot Alan Harton 480 stocked with a set of Holly's.

  This is my long time hunting buddy Brent with his bull moose taken with my Harton gun.


Dick

[44 Man]

Yup!  Remember that big bore's kill with bullet size and weight (momentum).  A hard cast lead bullet with a nice flat nose of sufficent weight and diameter will penitrate any animal at a modest velocity.  With a rifle, more velocity is nice, with a big bore handgun, you don't need it.  44 Man

[Lloyd Smale]

by the way sixshot. cool handgun trophy! ive never had the opportunity to shoot a moose with anything. Where did you shoot it? Was it a guided hunt? Id truely love to shoot one with my 500!

[drdougrx]

This is a terrific thread!!!  GB, et al are right on the money....which is why I responded the way I did....money  I always think about resale.....just me....I was thinking a custom done in 475LB would fetch a better price than a 480R if sold....though I suspect I'm worrying about nothing as I'm not selling nearly as much as buying of late.

[sixshot]

  As mentioned my gun is a 5 shot, not a 6 & is built on an over size cylinder. I've never shot it beyond 1300 fps. I have no pressure testing equipment & I'm quite sure very few people do...we're all guessing. My pet speed is 1100-1200 fps with everything I own. I've seen some awfully high velocities published for 5 shot 45 colts & also for the 454, if they can do it I'm sure mine could if I wanted to take it there. Pressure is increased or decreased by case "volume" & bore ratio, the 480 has a lot of case capacity compared to the 45 colt case, but again, I don't go there.
  I didn't build a 480 to make it into a 475 although I could have it rechambered but that just won't happen. I had a FA 475 & used it in africa & I left it in africa, my PH wanted it & we worked out a deal.
  Earlier I mentioned that I exited on the moose with a 370 gr at 1100 fps, my friends did the same, I never hot rod any gun, if I need more power I move up to a bigger gun.
  Lloyd, my little piece of Idaho has more moose than perhaps anywhere in the country (per sq mile) including most of Alaska. My son has one mounted thats over 50", twice I passed on a B&C bull because he was still in velvet & I figured I could find him again, ended up running out of time & shooting one of the smalled bulls I seen. In 27 days of hunting I seen 37 moose.
  There were 6 young bulls in this pond at the same time, I was bowhunting.


  Another of my son's with a young bull, he's the youngest person in Idaho to take a bull moose with a bow.


This is me with another friends bull moose, taken with one shot from a Ruger 41 maggie.


  We've never used a guide & always hunt on the ground, spot & stalk. A moose hunt in my area is 100% successful. I don't have a photo of Shane's 50" bull, I'll have to get one when I get back to Idaho.

Dick

[Lloyd Smale]

wow im jealous. Id sure like to come and cull some cows out of your herd Not much better eating then backstraps off of cow moose!! Never been to idaho but one of my dads buddys lived there and i still remember him telling me that it was probably the most beautiful state in the country and had hands down the best hunting of anywhere hed been.

[44 Man]

If Elmer Keith lived in Idaho, that's recomendation enough!  44 Man