Ruger .480

[JKump]

This weekend I came across a Ruger Super Redhawk (low glare stainless, 7 1/2 Barrel, around $500) .480 Ruger.  I have not heard much on the .480 Ruger.  Could anyone tell me about this round?  I have been handgun deer hunting with a .357 mag and thinking about going a little bigger.  How does this caliber compare to the .357 mag and the 44 mag.? 
I have been successful with the .357 mag, but I am looking for something with a little bit more power further down range.

[Redhawk1]

 As far as recoil it is more than a 44 Mag but less than a 454 Casull. It is not a hard round to get use to. I am a 460 and 500 Mag shooter so to me the recoil of the 480 is not bad at all. But you may find it more then you like. The 357 Mag is not a heavy recoiling gun at all in my opinion, unless you are shooting it out of one of the ultra light Ti S&W guns.
In my opinion I would go with a 44 Mag or 454 Casull, because 44 Mag and 454 Casull ammo is more readily found then the 480. Also the 454 Casull can shoot the 45 Colt ammo. But if you don't have a problem with getting 480 ammo, then by all means get the 480.

[swampthing]

I had one. It is quite the beast. Though, with 350g WFN LBT hardcasts @950fps recoil is very light for the performance you get out of it. A little expensive to shoot if you don't reload.
I should have kept mine.

[Graybeard]

I hear the story of mildness of recoil from the .480 as compared to the .454 from lots of folks. I don't feel it in my hands however. But then I guess it depends on what one is comparing. If apples to apples I don't see the difference.

Both mine are Taurus Raging Bulls with 8-3/8" identical in all respects but for chambering. When firing both in same session I cannot tell which I am firing unless I actually look to see. BTW in the RB recoil from both are to me at least fairly mild, not something I find any problem shooting 100+ of per session at all.

Now when firing the .454 in the FA83 I call the recoil VICIOUS and for sure I can see a difference but if I compare the same loads in both the FA83 and RB the RB is mild and the FA83 anything but mild.

Now if you compare the RB480 to the SRH .44 Mag as several folks who own the Ruger SRH have done after firing my RBs they say the RB in either .454 or .480 is about like shooting the Ruger in .44 mag. I recall back when Dick Metcalf did a review of the SRH with the .454 when it first came out he said it was about at the upper level of his recoil tolerance. I think he used the word vicious. I'm not sure I agree it's that bad in the SRH but it's a LOT more than in the RB and less than in the FA83 to me.

My favorite straight wall cartridge for hunting and target work is the .44 mag but I really like the .480 and if I hunted a lot for big and/or dangerous game I'd likely use it instead. I only shoot 400-430 grain bullets in mine which might account for why I say recoil is comparable to the .454 where I mostly use 300-330 grain bullets. Many folks use the light bullets mostly in the .480 but if you're gonna do that why not just stay with the .44?

[buzztail]

I love my SRH in 480. I feel this round really shines with 400 and heavier bullets, and I have little desire to shoot 325's. Greybeard and I see eye to eye on this one for sure

[Dusty Miller]

Golly GB, do tell us what kind of loads you are pushing thru that FA 83 to get "vicious" recoil.   I've shot everything in my 7.5" field grade right up to max book loads and I'd call the recoil "STOUT" but "vicious" is a quite a few ft.lb away in my experience.  Of course, I realize that  each persons hand and wrist structure is different and maybe that gun just ain't what your physiology takes a hanker'n too. 

[Lloyd Smale]

Now a 480 in a fa gun will easily push a 400 grain bullet to 1200 fps and thats licking on the heals of what i run in my linebaugh 475 and in a 4 5/8s gun thats recoil up in the level that only the most experienced shooters can master. Now about anyone can shoot it. Ive had my girlfriend shoot my 500 linebaugh with stiff loads. But to be able to control that ammount of recoil and actually consistantly hit what you are shooting at is another thing and i dont mean coffee cans at 25 yards. Theres to many people out there with 454s 475s 500smith and linebaughs that think that there some master pistol shooter because they can shoot a cylinder full of ammo out of there guns and not bleed. Its the guys that shoot 200 or more rounds in a sitting and do it more then twice a year that have scars and scabs on there hands and foreheads that i fear in a shooting match. A 480 at that level KICKS and you had better have respect for it or it will eventually bite the hand that feeds it.

[JKump]

Thanks everyone that has spoken up.  As GB suggested I might as well stay with the 44.  One point I did not mention is I do not reload, so it should be easier to get ammo to feed it.  Also I live in middle Georgia, this weapon will be used mostly for deer and the occasional hog hunt, no worry for big dangerous game.  However, I really like the finish on the SBH (low glare stainless).  The gun store it is at, also has a blued RH in 44 (5 1/2" barrel).  I will probably get the RH, put some good grips on it, possibly a scope or red dot and be done.

[Lloyd Smale]

those blued 5.5 redhawks are sweet guns and one youll be very well served with for handgun hunting

[Graybeard]

Golly GB, do tell us what kind of loads you are pushing thru that FA 83 to get "vicious" recoil.   I've shot everything in my 7.5" field grade right up to max book loads and I'd call the recoil "STOUT" but "vicious" is a quite a few ft.lb away in my experience.  Of course, I realize that  each persons hand and wrist structure is different and maybe that gun just ain't what your physiology takes a hanker'n too. 

Dusty, I'm talking about the upper end loads from COR-BON and Buffalo Bore. I've forgotten all the weights I shot out of the pair of guns back when I was doing the double review of the RB454 and FA83 454 at the same time. Scoped neither gave me any real problem but when I pulled the scopes off and began shooting with iron sights the FA83 got a lot of blood on it and it was all mine.

I have shot mostly double action revolvers for a long long time. I use a very relaxed almost loose grip on them as that's what's proven to provide the best accuracy for me. It's tough to remember every single time to change that grip to a very firm one when shooting single actions. Many days I'd run thru 250-300 rounds in the two guns of max and near max loads. I did this day after day and often I'd shoot 4-5 times a week at this pace while I was doing the reviews. That's a lot of shooting with some serious max loads and from time to time I'd forget.

Now understand that loads which to me felt vicious in the FA83 were merely stout in the RB because I'm a double action NOT a single action shooter by choice and just deal better with the recoil from the double action guns.

I've long ago lost count of the number of days I've run 400-500 rounds per day thru .44 magnums. Even that will have my hands feeling numb and my arms trembling a bit for a while after I stop. Your tolerance for recoil might be far more than mine.

[STJ]

I could imaging some people calling a 360grain bullet traveling over 1600fps 'viscous' in 55oz gun.  I know that anymore that 5 rounds of that load I need a glove, as my trigger finger gets beat up...

[Tom W.]

I shoot a 400 gr cast bullet with heavy loads of H110 in my 9.5 inch SRH, and like it. To me the recoil isn't much more than what I get from my .44 Mag SRH, again with heavy loads of H110 and 245 gr. cast bullets.