In my thinking of going from Contenders to strictly revolvers, I'm thinking of swapping for a revolver in a caliber heavier than .44 mag. The 1st two that come to mind are .454, & .480 Ruger. Keeping in mind that I live in AK., & the smallest critter I'm likely to hunt is black bear, with moose being my most sought game, does anyone have any particular reason one would accell beyond the other? The Hodgon manual gives a slight velocity nod to the .480 in the 400 gr range bullets. The .454 I can buy cheap bullets for plinking & use .45 colt loads.
HELP!!!

Well if I was going to go strictly to revolvers I would go with a freedom arms gun and then the question becomes 454/45Colt or 475Linebaugh/480Ruger. That is unless you're only interested in a double action. However, the 454 has killed everything including elephant and there are a ton more bullet options. Unless you're in an extreme situation, like a bear or moose on top of you I don't think the game will ever know the difference. I'm not sure even then that the ballistic difference between the 480 and the 454 would matter. But then there is that huge hole in the end of a 475 that looks really cool.

Well Vance I was trying to decide the same thing two years ago. I knew I wanted the Super Redhawk, but which one. 454 or 480 The 454 was well known and in a caliber that had a lot of bullet choices. Plus the option of shooting 45 Colt ammo. The 480 was new at the time and only one factory load available. Handloading and cast bullets made it look more appealing. I guess what finally made me choose the 480 was the coolness factor. A lot of people have the 454, but not a lot of 480's around. Plus (like Gary said) the big hole in the end is really cool.

I'm glad I picked the 480. I have taken 3 deer with it and 10 woodchucks. All three deer had a big hole clean thru, no bullet recovery. The XTP's do a good job but are very expensive to shoot. The 325gr go for about $.40 each. I was lucky to find that Midsouth Shooters Supply was runing a sale on blem bullets and got some 325grs for $.14 each. I really stocked up. I'm sure cast bullets would be cheaper, I have just not gotten around to buying any.

I'm sure in the next year or two I will get a 454 in the SRH. I can't help it I'm a handgun junkie!! Then I'll have all three of the Super Redhawks.

454 .....because the 45 long colt works in it,and you can get those fairly cheap.or you can soup it up and it is a BEAST!(at least for a 130+ year old cartridge)or you can load her up with the world famous,fire breathing dragon 454 casull and you can tip over anything one would encounter on the continent.
the 480 is "more"than a 44 magnum but "less"than A 454.plus all a 480 will shoot is a 480 unless you get the 475 like gary said.having never fired a 480,i want comment on recoil.the 454 on the other hand has pretty stiff recoil.
dont you just love decisions ...jim257

I am unabashedly a 454 believer. I own 2 SuperRedhawks in 454 and have no regrets that I may be underwhelmed if I happen to sit next to a 480 shooter. Like it was already said,,,the 45 colt in mine are great target rounds im mine and can be ramped to real power beyond any 44 mag and you still have the 454 to really kick the snot out of unfriendlies should you need it.

Well it sounds like I was on the right track & we all pretty much agree.
The .454 is probably the most practical choice, while the .480 has the "cool factor" advantage. Well I'm 44 yrs old, & a pastor with a wife & 3 kids, so I'm kinda beyond worrying about cool. No gun has enough "cool" to help me out.
The one I'm looking at is a Super Redhawk, with a 7.5" barrel.
Now two more questions.
#1, is it priced right? It's unfired, but is being sold as "as new" because of a couple of almost unnoticeable scuff marks(I didn't notice them to begin with)on the side of the barrel & one on the corner of the sight base. The gun was stolen from the shop & recovered. The dealer wants $595.00. Fair price?
Question #2. Are the rings they come with 1" or 30mm?

Just a thought for your rings. They are 1" but they are not capable of holding a scope in position for very long. This is why I sold mine but if I had it to do over I would go with an after market(tsob) mount and keep it. After I sold it I went w/ a bisley .45lc. Ever since then I have wanted the .454 back. I replaced it w/ a BFR in .475 linebaugh earlier this year but have not shot any .480s yet just the bruisers in .475. I too like the WOW factor that he buisness end gets but the .454 is more practical as far as balistics and components are concerned(if you reload) so I think you are wise going w/ the .454. Just my .02

454 Casull,enough said.

Vance, I paid $575 new for my Super Redhawk with the 9 1/2" barrel. So it sounds like that price is not to far off the mark. About 1 inch in from the muzzle on the bottom of the barrel there is a small round spot where the gray finish is very thin almost non existant. Looks like where the barrel sat on something while it was sprayed. Other than that everything looked good.

The factory supplied rings are 1". I used them to mount a Leupold 4X scope. After about 50 rounds I noticed the scope moving in the rings. I tightened the screws a little more. The scope was still moving and had started to cut and curle a small amount of the tube. I tightened the screws as much as I dared. The scope has stopped moving, but I think that it's because of the rings cutting in. I'm over 350 rounds now with no movement. I have not tried any 400gr loads yet. Almost afraid to as maybe the scope will start moving again. Sure glad I bought the scope use($125). Awful expensive scope if new, to be learning the laws of physics with. Anyway I have been looking at different rings and mounts to take the recoil. The one I'm leaning towards is the B-Square mount #42976. It goes from Ruger to weaver rail with room for 3 or more rings. Then I could use the Burris signature rings and not scuff up the scope. The mount also has more options for scope placement than the factory rings. There is no drilling and tapping required and the open sights don't have to be removed.

Thanks for the price check Tigger.
Can you move your scope forward so the turret is against the front ring? Worked good on my .444 Marlin, even with stiff 300 gr loads & only 2 standard Weaver rings.

add friction pads inside the rings to stop slippage. i use sticky back labels cut to fit inside the upper, and lower ring halves. this, plus vance's trick will surely help the scope slipping problems.
also, you could lap the rings first, to true up the inside ring dimensions. i made a tool for turning in dovetails, and lapping rings from 1" bar stock, but they can be purchased also.
i think the ruger rings are good quality. they just need a bit of help.

Vance and KYODE, thanks for the ideas. They should help the problem. That was the first time I mounted a scope on a hard kicking revolver. Always a learning curve aint it?

I know Burris at one time made rings that fit the Ruger mount system, then they quit making them. Too bad they didn't make the signature rings that fit the ruger system. I'll bet they would sell like hot cakes. Probable can't because of a pattent.

i gave $535.00 for my 454 vance(srh 7 1/2")i guess in alaska there is not alot of shops to compare.id grab it and not look back ,jim257

Oh Boy,two things to comment on here.
Price. I paid $600.00 for 454 number one to me. I had been after a now long closed gun shop to order one for me for months.he kept telling me the distributor was out of stock. Same old song time after time,I finally asked a 'smith I knew if he could get one and in less than a week I had one in my hands .
454 number two came my way because a friend of mine had trouble after trouble with a Raging POS Taurus. He had sent it back to the factory no less than 4 times for different problems,truly a POS I was was mighty happy to see him finally bail on the Taurus and sell it.
I was then even more surprised when he promptly bought a Ruger.
I was then even more surprised when he appoached me about buying the ruger It seemed he never really got a taste of firing the taurus more than once or twice and since the ruger was ever so more capable of firing more then a few times he had finally gotten a taste of recoil from the 454 and he found it distastefull
Well,I asked him his price and dug out 3 franklins and a grant out of my wallet and brought 454 number two home that day.

Okay,,,now to the scope "issue". 454 number one ate a Tasco World Class 4x in about 50 rounds. It actually bent the tube making it look like a banana. That does no good for the internals guys.
It then ate a Swift 4x scope,that took about 400 rounds of combined 454's and 45 colt ammo,mostly 45 colts. The reticule declined to appear at shot number six in a shoot off at a cast boolit match bowling pin shootoff.
Both Rugers now wear 4x Leupolds,I have carefully tightened the rings in a fashion similar to torquing the mains on a engine,,little here,,little way over there,,,keeping opposite and such from the previous screw every time. No movement has been detected after hundreds of rounds in both guns.

Thanks Jim.
I checked with the "Fred Myer" store in a neighboring town on the phone yesterday. $620.00 there. Reminded me why I go to gunshops for guns. I rembered seeing a couple SRHs in their pistol case before so I called. A really nice young lady answered, & I told her I needed to know the price & caliber of their SRHs. She's looking for the right guns & can't find them. Finally I tell her "The big grey ones". Aha! She found the price on the tag, but couldn't find the calibers. She tried hard, they just never train their people.

45 Nut, $350 for an almost new SRH!! How do you sleep at night!! That was an excellent price.