Old thread I know, but how the heck did I miss this?.
Oh well.
Chalk me up to the list of .480 fans.
In my opinion, if Hornady would have used their 400gr as the
initial loading, at a 1200fps+ loading, the cartridge would have
been way more popular.
At the time of introduction, heavy for caliber was "in". 325 aint bad, but 400 was what everyone wanted.

Mag writers never "liked" the cartridge from the get go.
Started to "lean" on their expensive custom Linebaughs I guess.
(No offense meant to anyone with those!).
I got sick of reading "Linebaugh Special". The factory 400gr .480 aint no dang special.

Heck, some writers still wont even discuss the SRH!

As a matter of fact, at the time of introduction, single actions were making a huge resurgence.

Hornady/Ruger were having some killer ideas, but came away with results that were a bit off market.
A 400gr cartridge, in Rugers affordable SuperBlackHawk, would have stolen the show.

Heck, I sound like a writer.
My battleship grey SRH is fine by me.