Just curious about what the opinion yall have of the .480 Ruger?
I have a .44 MAG , .45 Long Colt , .454 Casull , .460 S&W.

IMO, it is the perfect balance between power and shootability. I have the 41, 45 and 480 and see no need for anything bigger.

LOVE mine!!

Now your showing off,just kidding-nice buck!

Great round! Has the ability to sling heavy, large diameter lead at moderate velocities and it kills with aplomb.

It's my favorite! Love my 480 SRH!

Hey Tig, who's the kid with your gun?

Great round, to me its the upper limit of what I can shoot accurately. SRH is a great platform too!

Hows the recoil compared to a hot 44mag?

Depends on how it's loaded. The way I loaded mine (400 grain bullets at 1,200 fps), they push a lot harder than a hotly loaded .44, but they don't snap (slower recoil implulse). Not unpleasant IMO -- especially compared to some of the other revolvers I own......

I want one. Seems like the longer it's around the more popular it gets. Not super impressive on paper, but great for real world usability. Time for a factory SBH offering i think. I like the SAs, but can't afford a custom.

Yup, the paper ballistics aren't impressive, but I have yet to meet a game animal that is paper ballistics savvy! Get one, you won't regret it!

Is there anything that walks or crawls that you would feel undergunned with using a 480? Does the extra power of a 454 or larger put game down better, or just extend the range of a revolver?

Whadahekizat???

That is extra "paper power" and not "real world" power. I would take a properly loaded .480 over a .454 every time for stuff that bites back or for large game -- or large game that bites back for that matter!

Big diameter bullets make really big holes and for all intents and purposes, the .480 Ruger is a .475 Linebaugh. And the .475 Linebaugh has no flies on it.......

Feeling a bit "aplombastic" today!

How do the reloading costs compare with the 44mag. I do cast my own, so will it make much of a difference.

Lead requirements are considerably higher if you load the way I do with 400 + grain bullets, but it is comparable as long as you have all of the components. Doesn't look like there is a good argument not to get a .480!

That's ok, wheel weights are cheap.

hmmmmm...

Better start saving(on the sly of course)

I am glad to hear such great things about the 480. a friend of mine let me pop off a few rounds and I fell in love. I was waiting to pick up one of the newer 5 round redhawks when they dropped the 480. I though maybe it was on its way out but it seem to be building steam again so I guess it is time to pick up a used superred with the 7.5 barrel. guess that might be where my post deployment money goes

carl

Carl, that's a great idea! You will not be disappointed with it!

Of all my guns the 480 is my favorite hunting gun. I got the 41,44,45,475 & 500. Not braggin about what I got but my point is the 480 is what I use 99% of the time of all these. It is the best packin of the big guns and very accurate, blows a big hole and shoots like my 44 to me. The 480 don't get the credit that it should in my opinion. I guess you can tell I'm a 480 fan...

That was a long time ago, 2002. LOL My wolf got me the 480 for our tenth wedding anniversary. I practiced all summer on woodchucks, and took that 8 point in the fall. The bullet went thru the top of the heart. He ran almost 100 yards wide open and smacked into a huge beach tree dead center.

Hello all I am new to the board and to the 480. I just picked up a SRH all weather finish with a 7.5 barrel, I have always wanted one and I just couldnt pass the deal. I think I did OK at least 475.00 for the gun, RCBs 3 die set a box of Hornady 375,s and about 25 handloads. I cant wait to try it on a hog hunt this summer or at least I hope to ! I still would like to scope it and if anyone knows a reputable outfitter near Myrtle beach SC please let me know.

Thanks, Stan

I think you did great! I paid 425 for my SRH in 44 Mag! Great gun!!!

WELCOME TO THE SIGHT STANIMALS!! Post some eye candy of that SRH of yours on the bragging board!

What scope do you want to put on their?... Rings?

I don't see why you couldn't do it yourself!!

Thanks TCman I will probaly buy a nikon scope and Ruger rings but not ruling out the burris or luppy. I am from Ohio and dont know anything about the Myrtle area and I am on a family vacation that week so I only get one day to do it thats why I am looking for the outfitter but still want it to be free range. I will try to get some pics up

Thanks again, Stan

The Ruger rings will serve you well. Had some Redfields on one of my SRHs and it destryed them in short order. The Ruger rings are pricey, but well worth the money in my humble opinion.

I should have said that the factory rings came with it. I own 13 Ruger rifles and all but one has the ruger rings and I have no complaints. My other 2 ruger pistols, a single six and a MKII both have open sights but the MKII might get e new topper someday

Thanks, Stan

I needed 30mm rings so I couldn't use the ones that came with the SRH (25mm -- 1-inch), but they are the same only larger. Great rings!

Mention was made of reloading cost for the 480. I did some math on casting bullets, buying #2 alloy and gas checks I came up with a number of around $0.15 each not counting equipment cost. Using wheel weights the cost is even less.
Graf and Son lists Speer Brass at $33.00/C. That is the best price I have seen. I would estimate 10 reloadings is not unusual brass life for a 480. At $0.33 a round divided by 10 that is $0.04 for brass, if you use Hornady of Starline it might be a couple cents higher. A $0.04 Primer, and powder at about $0.08 a round. Looks like $0.30 a shot to me.
Factory Ammunition Cost is probably the main thing hurting a 480 Ruger. Hornady is about $1.38 a shot, Speer was $2.00, then we went from $2.50 to a high of $5.00 a shot for most of the rest. That is just nuts.
When you reload it with cast lead bullets you cast yourself is not much worse than a 44 Magnum to reload cost wise.
Reloading Jacketed I would check out Speer Bullets at around $23 per 50. Much better price than Hornady XTP's at around $35 per 50. Rainier Ballistics makes a 328 grain Plated
Bullet that would be worth a look for a cheap practice/plinking bullet. My Midway Catalog is listing them at $26 per 100 when they get them back in stock.
Reload for your 480 Ruger and you will not notice it being hardly any higher than a 44 Magnum to load for.

I recently picked up a used Ruger SRH in 480 with the 7 1/2 " barrel. I shot it the other day and was somewhat pleasantly surprised to find it very enjoyable to shoot when compared to some other rounds I shoot.

Plan to get more brass and some cast bullets for more shooting. I am learning you don't need to have a great deal of velocity when you have a lot of bullet weight in place.

One idea I do have is to obtain a hollow point bullet mold similar to the Lyman Devastator hollow point or a version of the old Gould hollow point bullet mold for the 45-70 . I suspect that a 350 grain cast bullet with a large hollow point would be a great whitetailed deer,black bear bullet.

if you reload and don't cast your own, try beartooth bullets, about 50-60% the cost of cast performance, also a more durable bullet that doesn't break up.

Man, how did I miss this topic!
The .480 Ruger is the greatest cartridge to come out since the .44mag, for hunters. Period. Especially handloaders.
The .480 takes advantage of big bore, heavy lead, at reasonable velocities. So loaded it can penetrate through next Wednesday, while having tolerable recoil.
A handloader can get within 100-150fps of a Linebaugh easily. Not just me, by including my Lyman manual. They list it as a 48,000psi load, but only have loadings in their manual for around 44,000-45,000 as I recall.
Loaded with heavy solids, it will take on anything the .454 can do, and be more shootable to boot. Been there and tried it with my own guns. My humble tests made a believer out of me, and the TKO factor. When using solids, the TKO has a lot of real world merit.


There are several things that hurt the .480 though.

1) Hornady sort of missed the boat on how heavy to load the cartridge. 325gr isn't a lightweight. Still, at the time this cartridge was entering the market, there was a trend to load heavy in all calibers. A 400gr load, would have been more suitable to the public. I think the original round was dead on with what a typical hunter needed, or could shoot. The typical hunter however, doesn't want something he needs or can shoot.

2) Gun mags LOOOOVE their Linebaughs. Readers LOOOVE articles about Linebaughs. I think there was some snobbery. The Ruger, from the start, was constantly labled as a "special" vs. the Linebaugh. The reading public can't stand that word of course, because it means it isn't powerul enough for poppin' dandelion heads off at 2 inches. To this day I still hear it called a "Linebaugh special". All .12 inches less, and 150fps slower.

3)Speaking of mags, how about Metcalf shooting a hog something like 5 times with it. That was impressive, no? Ive shot many hogs, and a good shot is a good shot. Filling one full of holes just tells a tale on the shooter. Oh, I think he killed a coyote too. He also compared the muzzle energy of the factory .480 to other cartridges, which ranked the .480 low.
Therefore, it became a "why bother" round, because nothing matters except muzzle energy to the average gun boob.
Also, when you throw out an article about "RUGER ONLY" .45 Colt loads, you sell magazines. You can read how the .45 can carry a heavier bullet faster than a .44mag, with less pressure, thus carving a larger deeper wound channel. True.
Now why not campare the .480 to the .45 in the same fashion.
Well, some hinted around to it, but bottom line in America you don't out do the .45, or sneak up on the Linebaugh. Its in the constitution.

4)While I love the SRH, there are some that just can't stand it, and wont even hold one. The Taurus helped this some.
Most people I've talked too though, wanted a single action, but wanted it affordable. A SBlackHawk, in .480 was what I heard most people clammer for. Ruger did not listen.


Yeah, I love the .480! To me it's just the best package for big game hunting with a handgun.

to me there's nothing the 475L will do the 480 won't, they're calibers that do their best with big cast bullets, don't like any expandables out of either. problem is ruger doesn't listen to it's customers on this at all and could've very easily dominated the big bore hunting market with offerings of 5 shot SRH, superblackhawk, and bisley's in 454, 480 and 475. they just didn't. it mystifies me, but then again, so does alot of what ruger does.