No more .480 Ruger

[ratgunner]

I cant beleive Ruger dropped the .480 from the catalog . This is Ruger's own flesh and blood.They made it into a five shooter just a year or so ago and now its gone allready. I wonder how long the RCM cartridges will last. A single action five shot would've been a good seller.Poor Bill is probably rolling over once more...

[Catfish]

It don`t suprise me. It woun`t do any thing a .454 won`t do and with the .454 you can shoot .45 colt ammo. that and now the .500 S&W is out there so it not evem close to the top in power any more. Not saying it was a bad round, it just had to much compation with no real advantages.

[ratgunner]

Maybe,but still.It is a great round with less recoil and it works in .475 Linebaugh revolvers.Also shorter cylinders/frame than a .500.And it shoots bigger and heavier bullets than a .454. I think it filled a niche.

[boaman88]

And for some strange reason they are making No 1 rifles chambered for it.

[BlkHawk73]

Maybe,but still.It is a great round with less recoil and it works in .475 Linebaugh revolvers.Also shorter cylinders/frame than a .500.And it shoots bigger and heavier bullets than a .454. I think it filled a niche.

  Simply died due to being overshadowed by the S&W cartridges.  The compatabilty with the.475 wasn't enough since that isn't exactly a popular chambering either.  It may have filled a nice but that niche was simply too small for a cataloged model. 

[crash87]

A single action five shot would've been a good seller.Poor Bill is probably rolling over once more...

Can't believe it? I can, for the reason you state above. A single action "would have" but more importantly, still "could be" a fhenomenal seller. For some reason they just don't seem to get it. Then again, "IF they would catalog such an item, that is where you would see it, the catalog.  Crash87

[mcwoodduck]

I think it would have stayed around longer if it were not the special version of the 475 Linbough.  If it were the other way and 475 Linbough worked in a 480 ruger pistol it would still be around, but that would have had ruger design a new gun to handle it and probably would have come out with what Smith did with the X frame a year or two earlier than smith.

[WL44]

We don't see many X-Frames over here, but a few friends have 460's. I have a 475 FA.

Maybe I underestimate the bragging rights of the "mostest" and need to prove you have the biggest (and of course the fun factor in actually having and shooting it), but I think that comparing the 480 and X-Frame Smith is like apples and watermelons. The X-Frame is hardly an on the hip type of carry gun and for the weight you could almost carry a rifle.

To me it always seems that most serious big bore revolver shooters prefer the SA platform and the SRH is also pretty ugly compared to a standard RH.

Obviously I don't know the US market that well, but I think in a sleeker SA the 480 would still be around and yes, I tend to agree that as a 475 Special it is probably handicapped. Still a great round I'd think as most of what I shoot in my 475 a 480 would do quite easily.

Like many things in the shooting world it will probably make a big comeback when you least expect it!

[Ken ONeill]

Call me nuts, but my next custom will be a Ruger SBH 5 shot in .480 Ruger...and I'm already well blessed with FA .475 Linebaughs. The .480 can run within less than 100 fps of a .475 L, if you choose to do so, although I choose not to.

[mcwoodduck]

Guys that are buying the X frame guns either are buying a serious big game hunting hand cannon in the longer barrels or are buying a packable anti bear gun to wear while in Brown or Grizzly country while doing something else like fishing, and I think these guys are buying the shorter barreled lengths.  I used the X frame as an example of what I thought Ruger should have gone to.  Same with the 300 RCM and 338 RCM.  They do what the Win shorts do and are last into the market by years.  I don't see and advantage to go to them and wonder if they will catch on.
If you have your choice of calibers I would think you would want one that you can handle or or one that can take multiple rounds.
The 460 seems like a great idea in it can use 45 schofield, 45 colt, 454 Casull, and the 460.  giving multiple cheap practice rounds as well as hunting and defense rounds.
it would be like trying to make a 41 special.  41 is not exactly the most popular and you are more likely to find 41 mag ammo on the shelf if you need to buy ammo and making a gun that only fits the special, and is a costly special does not make sense to me.

[WL44]

MC, I don't disagree, maybe Ruger should have gone another route for a successful product.

But I do think they are totally different concepts and a little like saying Ford should introduce a pick-up instead of a sedan if the sedan failed. My view would be to say they should introduce a pick-up and a successful sedan. I'm saying Ruger got the sedan wrong (potentially). 

Like Ken I'm thinking a sleek SA platform. Ruger seemed to feel that everything needed to be six shot?

[mcwoodduck]

OK,
I just saw it as what is the biggest round we can stick in this frame.
Now let's build a round that will fit.
Instead of looking at what round they want and the ballistics they want to make and building a revolver to match the round.
To put it in the Ford line up you had.
The are trying to make a sucessfull large Puck up on the Ranger frame.  To be sucessful they needed a new frame.
And yes a 5 shot hunter Bisley with a longer cylinder and frame to handle it would be great with a round that uses the 475 Linebough as a special would be a hit.   Being able to use the grip frames.
 Not the really long cylinder of the BFR but something inbetween that does not look like Yosemite Sam is shooting it.
The BFR in some of the hotter pistol rounds has way, way too much free bore.

[Gun 4 Fun]

The 480 is a much underrated round. It will fit quite handily in a SBH cylinder too. I agree with Ken, if they bring out a 5 hole Blackhawk, I'd be in line to buy one.

I think Ruger wears the brown earmuffs sometimes . If they had gotten away from the idea that every new offering had to be in a DA revo, they could have recovered their startup investment cost for the 480.

Brian Pearce of Handloader says he knows for a fact that Ruger made up some 5 shot Blackhawks back before the 480 ever came out.

Ruger claims that the standard Blackhawk/SBH platform doesn't have the safety margin they require for a round that produces the pressures of the 480. It would have easily if the cylinder were a 5 hole, and they heat treated the frame to be a little stronger.

[Old Fart]

Kind had the 41mag syndrome.

Shame not everyone wants to try and break a wrist.
It had to be a little less recoil than the 500.

But I never got to shoot either.
Arthur set up camp in the hands a few years back and I don't push it anymore.