Author Topic: 480's first group (Read 2568 times)

Jeff Vicars · « **on:** December 14, 2002, 08:04:59 AM »

I just fired the first 25 yard group from my 5" Raging Bull. .780 outside to outside minus .475 equals a .305 center to center group with open sights and Hornady 325 grain factory ammo. I'm HAPPY.

BCB · « **Reply #1 on:** December 14, 2002, 08:20:23 AM »

What distance???...BCB

KING · « **Reply #2 on:** December 14, 2002, 05:07:31 PM »

Yup... that sounds about right for that round and handgun.....o
lotsa potential there fer some fun king

Hcliff · « **Reply #3 on:** December 17, 2002, 10:55:13 AM »

That is why I love the 480 also. If you reload just wait until you get into the power loads

My favorite is the 420 LBT to show my friends what I am shooting :shock: That 325 Hornady bullet is very accurate. I have got the best grups with that and the 390 LBT. Have fun!!!!

Hcliff

Did you see that Barnes is coming out with 475 handgun bullet in the XPB? :grin:

Mikey · « **Reply #4 on:** December 18, 2002, 03:45:15 AM »

Jeff: That's a great group, as in incredibly fabulous. I get happy whenever I see my 44s group anywhere near that. I would frame that target. I'm amazed that a handgun in such a large caliber with its attendant recoil can produce such groups. Will ya stand in for me at the next Silhouette Shoot?

Was that with open sights or have your scoped that handgun? Do you get out to practice much? Some fellas can just about pick up anything and score amazingly with it, they are that good. Others like me have to practice, practice and practice.

What are you planning on hunting with it? This is Mikey.

karter · « **Reply #5 on:** December 18, 2002, 06:08:51 AM »

Just shot my new Ruger 480 9.5 bar this last weekend. How do you guys get such groups? Mine is scoped, a good 2.5 x 7 T/C lighted, and I can just barely keep it on a 8.5 x 11 target at 50 yards... The recoil is so violent, I am having a problem shooting good groups. Whats the deal??

Geno · « **Reply #6 on:** December 18, 2002, 07:40:26 AM »

I use to wonder the same thing. My SRH was more of a spray, much less a pattern or group. Me and handguns need a lot of time together to finally come to agreement that we are going to play well with each other. Then I scoped it with a Leupold 2X and I can now get nice tiny groups. Awhile back on here, someone said to concentrate on the front sight (when using open sights) this info really helped me a lot back then. Tightened the groups way up.

karter · « **Reply #7 on:** December 18, 2002, 07:59:35 AM »

Geno
I think thats the thing with me, I hold small tight patterns with my 629 power port, but we have shot several thousand rounds together, and harvested several deer. I plan on giving it time, as this was the first few shots fired with this pistol, it is brand new, and brand new to me...
I do need to get more practice in the next 4 weeks, just got my January pistol permit!!!!!

Mikey · « **Reply #8 on:** December 18, 2002, 09:52:00 AM »

Karter: what you just posted is the reason I limit myself to 44 caliber handguns. I've shot some of the larger ones - the folks at my ranges are wonderful guys who will gladly let you share their shooting experiences and toast off a couple of rounds (just to give them a break, I suspect). But I found a long time ago that unless I really got to know the pistol and practiced at least twice a week I simply could not get over the recoil.

Some of these handguns are massive and might be easy to control for a guy with a wrist and forearm the size of my thigh but for me it's too much and I can't do either the gun or the caliber any justice.

You may have hit on your own answer in terms of the amount of practice you need to shoot that gun well.

I made the mistake once of shooting a few 444 rounds from a single shot Whicita (?) pistol and had a hard time buttoning my shirts for the next week. But, the one I wasn't going to go anywhere near was another single shot in 358 that left the barrel 'ringing' after each round. I just knew that one would be too much to even think about.

Isn't this fun. Mikey.

Hcliff · « **Reply #9 on:** December 18, 2002, 10:08:48 AM »

I have problem with some iron sight too. I can't shoot red ramp sights. I have to change them or color them black. Then my groups shrink. Concentrate is a great word. I have my best groups with hard kickers mid way through a session. Get comfortable with the gun but before I get tired.

Karter
To help with recoil do you use any kind of gloves, PACT, etc? This will help if some of the problem is that you are taking alot of recoil in the palm. Limit your session with the gun. Bring along a less recoiling friend and shoot it in between when you go to the range. The Ruger trigger sometime needs works also. I will be putting in new springs in mine. I can't shoot any where near as well as Jeff

. Have you tried groups for just one cylinder. Some guys do that also as one or two cylinders could be more accuarte than others. If you are flinching because of the recoil mix up live shell and empty cases in the gun. It will make concentrate and show if a flinch has developed.

Have fun

Hcliff

I love my SRH. :grin:

Zachary · « **Reply #10 on:** December 18, 2002, 11:16:52 AM »

Jeff,

I have a Taurus RB with 8 3/8" barrel with open sites. I too was using Factory Hornady ammo with the 325 grain XTP bullets. At 25 yards I had all three bullets TOUCHING!!! :-D

Not only was that a surprise, but also a great confidence booster. I took a 40 lb hog with that same gun and load at about the same distance. The bullet went exactly where I wanted it to go. And guess what? The shot I made on that little hog was WHILE IT WAS RUNNING!!

I just love accurate guns! :-D

Zachary

Jeff Vicars · « **Reply #11 on:** December 18, 2002, 05:52:36 PM »

Those five shots are all I have fired so far. Kinda hate to shoot another group, it takes a lot of luck for me to shoot a group that small with open sights and I'm afraid I used it all up.
The best practice for me is dry firing.
I bought 250 once fired brass today, I'm all set for reloading. Any pet loads?

karter · « **Reply #12 on:** December 19, 2002, 04:12:09 AM »

That is a good idea about the gloves, on the way home from the range, I told my son that I would be purchasing a good set of shooting gloves. I bruised the palm of my hand, and even my elbow where it rested on the bench. That is unusual, as I am a big guy, but just not used to that much recoil. As a side note, I used 325 grain Hornady factory loads, 375 grain hard lead handloads, and both 325 hornady, and 325 speer handloads, and found the factory loads to recoil the least. I started with the factory recommended starting loads on each bullet when loading, they do not show any pressure problems, but recoil a lot more than factory hornady ammo...

Hcliff · « **Reply #13 on:** December 19, 2002, 08:13:07 AM »

Doug

I agree that the factory ammo is the lightest recoiling. It chronos at factory spec. Some reloading data is starting there or even higher. Hornady sent me data and it is intresting that they have loads that go to 1600 for the 325. That is a big differnece. For some other loads you can check out http://www.serveroptions.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=25;t=000222#000000 PaulH did alot of testing loads here. It is very intresting. If you need any more info give me a shout and I can dig out my Hornady info. I will be palying moire with this caliber. Got to sit at the bench and play some more. I am falling in love with this gun. I have shot 370, 390, 420 LBT and 325 Gold Dot and Hornadys. So far all have been fun.

Hcliff

Tom W. · « **Reply #14 on:** December 31, 2002, 01:42:01 PM »

My son finaly got his SRH .480 back from the factory just before Christmas. They had to replace both the cylinder and the barrel. He has to aim about 6" low (with Iron Sights) to hit the bullseye at 25 yards, while I and his brothers hit where we point. On the other side of the coin, I must aim low with my Blackhawk in .45 colt to hit where I want (with a load of 12 gr. of Blue Dot, 255gr. cast gas check bullet, CCI 300 primer) while my oldest son puts them in a nice little group at 25 yards. Go figure.

Zachary · « **Reply #15 on:** December 31, 2002, 01:49:33 PM »

Bama Boy,

Some people say that the Rugers are better made than the Taurus RBs. I don't personally own a Ruger, but I have 3 RBs - 2 in 454 and 1 in 480, and I have NEVER had any problems, and accuracy has been outstanding for a revolver. But I'm surprised that your Ruger had to be sent back in order for the barrel AND cylinder to be replaced. What happened?

Zachary

Tom W. · « **Reply #16 on:** January 01, 2003, 12:01:27 PM »

Zachary,
When my son bought it, he told me it shot well, but the brass was hard to eject (from factory loads.) He also asked if I would reload for him. I noticed that some of the brass wasn't quite round and it was very black. We took it to the local clay pit and commenced to have some fun. While observing him fire, I also noticed there was excessive blast coming past the forcing cone. When trying to eject the brass, we had to smack the ejector rather sharply with the heel of our hand to remove the brass. When we got home I inspected the brass, saw first hand what was going on. Three or for of the chambers weren't round, causing the hard extraction and sooty cases. I suppose that may have damaged the forcing cone to the point where the barrel had to be replaced, altho my son didn't show me the paperwork from Ruger. He did say that he tried another box of factory loads and it did as it was supposed to, altho he is having a bit of a time sighting in to his satisfaction. He also said my handloads are doing well, and he has clean brass with easy extraction.

Hud · « **Reply #17 on:** January 01, 2003, 04:38:16 PM »

This last year I had my 357 Blackhawk Bisley converted to 480 Ruger. I have had it now for about 4 months. Up to now I have shot only factory loads through it. With iron sights I am running 1/2" to 1" three shot groups at 25 yards. But out at 100 yards I am at 8" more often than 4 or 5 inches. I need more practice. I don't mind the recoil, but the price of bullets is a killer when it comes to practicing much.

I am just now starting to reload this cartridge. I am using some 380 grain bullets from Bonus Bullets and H-110 powder. I think I will start with about 23 grains. This should put it at about 1200 fps out of a 6" barrel.

Any suggestions before I load this up?

Hud

Tom W. · « **Reply #18 on:** January 02, 2003, 03:44:32 PM »

Go to www.hodgdon.com and look to see what they have listed, if you haven't already. It may help you.

Hud · « **Reply #19 on:** January 03, 2003, 01:27:04 PM »

Tom,
I did use their data to come up with my load of 23 grains for the 380gr bullet. They showed 24 grs of H-110 for the 370gr bullet as a starting load.

Anyway I loaded up two rounds and fired them off. The recoil was noticably more than the 325gr factory loads.

I think my load is hot enough as is even though it is a starting load. My Blackhawk is somewhat lighter than the Redhawk or the Taurus so this load is all the recoil I want to still keep it fun to shoot. The casings extracted just fine and the primers looked.

I'll load up some more and check the accuracy.

Hud

LarryL · « **Reply #20 on:** February 12, 2003, 04:57:29 AM »

:-D
I'm real happy with my SRH in .480. I started out with factory stuff shooting about an inch at 25yds in the indoor range. I mounted an Aimpoint on it, went to handloads, and moved outside to 100yd shooting.

My current load is 360gr gas checked hard cast bullet from BRP, Federal 155 primers, 24.5 gr of Lil'gun, and Hornady brass. Shooting off a rest, my best 6 shot group to date is 3-5/8" center to center with 5 shots going into 2 1/8". If I do my part, it will generate 5 out of 6 in 3" pretty consistently. Considering the dot size on the Aimpoint 3000, I'm real happy with these numbers. At some point, I will probably switch to a good 2X scope and see if it does a bit better.

Recoil has not been much of a problem. I find it more of an annoyance than a real problem. However, I did install a rubber Hogue Monogrip. That didn't reduce the sting much, but it improved control with the finger grooves.

KING · « **Reply #21 on:** February 12, 2003, 06:02:20 AM »

Good Group. LarryL. If ya really want to have some fun. Marke each of your chambers on the cylinder 1 through 6. Shoot five rounds out of each chamber,starting with 1,and ending with 6. Use a good rest,and you should see where several of the chambers will group very tightly,and maybe one or two will be outside of the group that the others have shot. What this tells ya is what chamber to have under the hammer for the first shot. King. It gets real interesting sometimes doing this

LarryL · « **Reply #22 on:** February 12, 2003, 06:45:45 AM »

Hi and thanks for that suggestion. Would be very interesting to see if the fliers all track to a specific chamber or two.

I noticed someone else here on the thread mentioned troubles with sticky cases. I have some trouble with that too, with the factory ammo. Reusing the same Hornady factory cases for reloads, the problem is much worse. One fellow I talk with quite a bit feels that this is related to the Hornady cases. He switched to Starline brass and has not had the problem since. He also suggested polishing the cylinders a bit. I tried that, but it did not seem to help.

I find that I can have a real problem if I shoot a full set of 6 handloads. If I shoot every other cylinder, then I can get three cases out pretty easily. This gets real annoying, but I hate to throw out 120 Hornady cases. Has anyone else seen this problem with the Hornady cases in the .480 or similar straight case reloads (.44, .454)?