How do you like the .480 Ruger for hunting?

The guns are plentiful and the guns I know of are very accurate. Components are also plentiful right now vs. some more common calibers. Ballisticaly they should handle about anything with a 400gr bullet. What do you gents think of them? reflex264

Love it. Have two of them right now and am using them for everything this year. Load 'em right, and you can use them on anything.

If I could only have one wheelgun of my choice, it would be in 480 Ruger. I feel it provides the perfect balance of performance and shootability.

Same thoughts as Whit and s4s4u about the 480. How can you not love the 480 for all of the reasons you stated? Probably one of the most under rated cartridges out there.

My SRH will be my primary gun this year.....big holes in.....big holes out

Thanks gents. I have my eye on one that is super tight and very buyable. I know, like I need another handgun to hunt with......Sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do and hope the wife doesn't figure it out!

Exactly! And remember that it is always easier to ask forgiveness than permission!

The 480 is a great round, that"s the one that got me into casting, it"s big enough to kill anything in this country.

...and pretty much anything that lives in the rest of them as well.

I have taken several deer and hogs with mine and my son at age 12 took a buffalo with it. Very accurate round and great performer.

My next hunting gun will be a custom bisley in 480. That is, when I get the money for it.

I love my .480. Excellent gun and round.

Here's my latest toy -- 4-inch Bisley in .480.....just for inspiration!

The second animal I killed this year was with my new .480 SRH stoked with 400 grain XTPs. I will be using this revolver extensively in the next year or so. Very accurate......

Whit I am so very envious of that bisley!

It turned out nicely! I'm very happy with it!

If you should ever become unhappy with it, give a holler ;-)

Nice piece...

Get in line, lol

I love the looks of that ported Super Redhawk.

you all and your fancy revolvers. All I have is an 12"(factory barrel as well) encore in 480.

When you are poking a .475 caliber hole, you don't need fancy to get the job done

+ 1

I would like to get a backup revolver in 480. Either a Ruger Redhawk Alaskan or a SR cut down to 4in.

It's a great little revolver!

how is the recoil of the 2in barrel? because my encore, while not have an exactly punishing recoil, still recoils quite a bit.

It's a bit lively, but much better than expected. The problem is that it doesn't weigh much. With light bullets it's not punishing at all, when you get in the 400 + grain range you feel it a bit more.

how big is it compared to say a lcr? could i pocket carry it as a ccw?(only half joking.)

You really need to put Whitworth's comments in perspective. Given his love...no...infatuation...with large bore handguns that make most mortal men run and hide like little girls we should provide an easy conversion table so that everybody is on the same page.

When Whit says: "It's a great little revolver!"
It means: It is a serious piece of steel, large in size and fairly weighty. Loaded it is just over 3 lbs.

When Whit says: "It's a bit lively, but much better than expected."
It means: The recoil could only be described as punishing. Your wrist will take a beating and there is about a 50:50 chance the front sight will end up implanted in your forehead.

When Whit says: "That gun has some serious recoil!"
It means: It will be darn close to a religious experience...not unlike peering through the gates of hell. Chances are you aren't going to want to take more than one shot with it because it will feel like someone hit you square in the palm with a sledgehammer. You are probably going to feel a bit woozy afterwards and you arm is going to hurt all the way up to your shoulder.

It's a Super Redhawk minus the barrel -- essentially.

I just shot a 480 SRH i have had for a few months now. I figured i would only shoot a cylinder full but after there was an empty hornady box sitting on the table I actually wanted to shoot more. i was pleasantly suprised at how mild the factory rounds were. I may still change out the grips but more for consistency than recoil reduction .

The factory 325gr loads feel like a warm loaded 44mag to me.
A 425gr slug and a case full of H-110 is quite a bit more than that, probably sitting somewhere near the middle of 475L recoil levels.

That Whit conversion table should probably be a sticky:-)

Whit:
What a great photo of a great looking piece. If I may be so bold, a bit more light on the right side would greatly show off what looks like a beautiful set of grips.
Just sayin' is all.

The photos I publish are not the ones that make it to the internet sites, those photos are essentially my castoffs. Gotta but the books for the good photos -- LOL!

Nailed it.

Hahahahahahahaha! Thanks for the laugh! I needed that!

The 480 Ruger is another great handgun cartridge. As long as you put the bullet in the right place the animal is yours. This Gallagher custom was shooting a handload using a Speer 325gr JFP and 480 case...

James you could make a robe with that hair from that boar.

Nice guns and 480 kills, gents!



I love my 480 SRH! Mine shoots 400 grain WFN bullets from Montana Bullet Works and 412 grain Hunters Supply bullets well. Above is a 60 yard group. I have only killed three animals with mine (3 hogs) and it worked well.




Did you ever decide to "pull the trigger" on the 480 reflex?

I shot 15 rounds out of my encore today and the recoil is brisk, to say the least, out of the 12" barrel. I might need to get it ported. My forearms are quite sore now I am thinking of getting the decelerator grips since the factory grip is a little to big at the web of my hand.

I like the 355 grain WFN over Tite Group great round for just about any NA game.

If you set Darrel H's gun & mine down side by side you couldn't tell them apart (right down to the UltraDot) except his has been bloodied & mine hasn't. May change that next week!
My load of choice is a 420 WFN over Lil Gun. Love shooting that gun. Took it out today after not shooting it for at least a year. Fired 3 rds at clay pigeons off hand at 50 yds. All hit about 2"" right. Changed the Ultra Dot a few clicks. the next 3 rounds killed 2 clay birds in the centers & scared the 3rd one. Reloaded & killed the 3rd one next shot. Came back to it a few minutes later & took one shot & busted one of the pieces from one of the busted birds. Even after a yr of not shooting handguns, anything within 80 yds of that thing is dead. It just kinda shoots it's self!

I went back to get the one I looked at and it was long gone. I found another one that is missing the rings but I am not so sure I would scope it anyway. Still thinking about it. I already have that base covered but always think I need another gun.........

reflex264
Having the rings missing is a great reason to use a Weigand base. The Weigand will give you a much better mounting platform.

Another 480 Fan here. I only have 2 however. My spare/back up revolver a 7-1/2 SRH with an UltraDot 25, and my hunting gun a 9-1/2" SRH with an UltraDot 30. This will be my third deer season using a revolver.
In 2011 I tagged out with an 8 point whitetail, and a doe on my antlerless tag.
In 2012 I tagged a 10 point, and let slickheads go all season. We lost a bunch of deer to blacktongue just before season, and I decided not to tag a doe last year.

This season is looking good. I just took a look out the window. I had 10 slick heads just over the fence out of the yard. While I was watching them a spike came across the pasture from behind my 100 yard impact berm. Total 11 whitetail in sight from my picture window within 100 yards of the house.

As far as I am concerned the 480 is the Ultimate Handgun Hunting Revolver Cartridge. It has all the power you will ever need. Recoil is manageable. Easy to reload for. Loves cast bullets. Whats not to love about a 480 Ruger.

Bob in heart of the Missouri Ozarks

I have two: 7.5 SRH likes a full load of H110 with a 425LFNGC and a 9 SRH that prefers a full load of H110 under a 410 WFNGC Both bullets from CPB. I am also on the list for a FA in 475L, due in March. Good thing about a big hole is you don't have to push it hard if you don't want to.

Excellent group Darrell!

I toyed with the idea of having a 480 built but came across a used Premier FA in 475 that was just how I would've ordered it. Price couldn't be beat so the custom will have to wait. If I could chose between a 480 and a 475 FA sitting next to each other on the shelf, I'd pick the 480. I have no interest in going beyond 480 loads. It's just not necessary hunting in the US.

I still haven't shot it enough to really dial in what it can do. I'll admit it's a step above my 45 Colt and my groups aren't where I would like them to be… Yet.

That said, I'm willing to keep throwin' lead until we see eye to eye.

Nice piece zac. It doesn't hurt to have that little extra potential even if you never need it.

Hi. Anyone shoot catibou with your 480's? What would be a proper bullet to
do this?
What scope would you use/recommend?

Caribou, think big deer. They are not nearly has hardy as an elk.

Bullet wise I would probably stick to one of the hard cast bullets as that is my personal preference. My 480 seems to really love the Beartooth 420 LFNGC bullet over 19.5gr of H110. That load is way more than what is required to kill a caribou but shoots most accurately out of my SRH. If you happen into a pissed off brownie, that load will pull double duty as a good SD load.

The 480, like a 44M out of a revolver is really a 120yard gun at best. Beyond 120 there is still more than enough energy but the bullet is really dropping fast.
That being said, I would pick a tube type red dot over a traditional scope. Either an UltraDot 30 or a MatchDot (although I don't think the MatchDot will fit between the Ruger rings).
With a dot sight I am more than accurate enough at 100 yards to be lethal, no magnification needed.

Thank you.

I took a serious look at a 480 today at the local dealer. I really like it. The wife ssys to buy it. I'm not going t argue about it.
My question...would the factory 350 hollow point ammo blow an ugly nasty hole in a caribou or will it expand slow enough not to cause a lot of meat damage?
Whst other bullet would you recommend? I do handload. Thank you.

It depends how fast you push that 350 HP on how big and nasty a hole it leaves.

Caribou are not really that difficult to kill. They pale in comparison to elk. I would think that a 375 on up to about 420gr WFN bullet will get the job done without putting a softball sized hole in the animal and bloodshotting a bunch of meat.

The bore diameter in the 480R is larger than the expanded size of many of the smaller calibers used to take these animals. Think of them as "pre-expaned" bullets.

From a shootability standpoint I prefer the heavier slugs over the lighter ones. For me the 350ish bullets feel much more "snappy" in the recoil department than the 400+ gr bullets. Also accuracy has been better for me with the heavier bullets.

I have yet to kill anything with mine, but will agree with 98Redline.
This year I killed my moose with my Marlin Guide Gun in 450 Marlin with a 400gr hardcast bullet with a large flat meplat (nose) at about 1850fps. 1st shot was through the lungs & he headed downhill & away from the road so I decided to shoot again & placed the next one in the high shoulders so he would go down.
Since my partner & I were splitting meat he was giving me a hard time about destroying backstrap, but only about 2" of meat on each side of the bullet had any bloodshot. And he went down like a rock at that shot.
I LOVE shooting my 480 with 400-420gr hardcast bullets.

Where in Alaska are you RustyGunn? I'm in Kenai

Vance... I live in Kotzebue.

Guys.. Thanks for the info. I figure I'll buy 325 to 400 grainers soon. I expect to carry 400+ weight for griz issues and lighter ones for catibou with a scope.

Edit... The factory bullets are 325, not 350, as I mentioned above. My bad.

Just put an UltraDot 30 on my SRH 480 Ruger 9 1/2". After some preliminary adjustments 1 1/4 inch 50 yard group. Used 400 grain cast from Montana Bullet with 17.5 grains 2400, 1008 fps average velocity. Too nose heavy but my Taurus Raging Bull 6 1/2 inch doesn't have scope mounts. How short is too short for RedDot? Don't want to damage optic!

I had a custom Super Redhawk in .500 Linebaugh with a 5-inch barrel and I had an Ultradot 30 on it. It held up well.

Just remember with that Raging bull, he has gas ports on either side of the barrel. I think I would want to be at least 1.5, or possibly 2 inches behind those ports.

You would also be well advised to put the sunshade on the front (like in Whitworth's photo) to help protect the optics from that hot fast moving ejecta.

Nice group Whit!

I think that was "supposed" to be a 5 shot group

It wasn't! One shot, checking my zero at 50 yards prior to my moose hunt a few years ago!I wish I could shoot small five shot groups like that -- LOL!