Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Taurus Raging Bull .480 Ruger

I have somehow ended up with a Taurus .480 Raging Bull. Anyone got any good loads? I am thinking LBT WFN bullets around 425 grs would be fun and not too bad recoil wise if pushed to 1000 FPS. I know it will do more but why bother?

In my ruger 480 my gold standard load is 21 gr H-110 lit off by a CCI 350 under a 390-410 gr cast bullet for ~1200 fps out of the 7 1/2" barrel. I've used that charge weight under 1/2 dozen different bullet designs and if I do my part they'll group 5 into 1" at 50 yds.

Certainly 425's at 1000 fps would drop the recoil down a tad, but I don't know what would be the best powder to achieve that performance.

I've cast and shot bullets from 275 to 460 gr in the 480, but have pretty much standardized on the 400's at 1200 fps for a full patch load. The 275 gr @ 1000 fps makes for a nice target load (though honestly enough for deer) and throttled down to 700 fps it makes a fine small game load.

I think HS-6 might do the trick.

Longshot and Titegroup would be a couple I'd try.

Thanks guys. Any suggestions on holsters for it? It is the 5 inch barreled version. I plan a hip holster of it ain't too heavy

I can't say who makes them but I've seen hip holsters that can be used either strong side or on the other hip as a cross-draw. I was surfing holster makers a couple of weeks ago to find an across the chest rig for my Casull Raging Bull and saw a maker or two who were offering a convertible hip holster like that. I've liked that option for a long time and have one for a 6.5 N framed Smith I had made to work that way by having a shoe repairman sew a piece of heavy belt leather crosswise over the belt loop of a plain-jane Bianchi.

The Raging Bull is one STRONG revolver, and one in .480 is the most accurate revolver I've ever shot. The Raging Bull takes a back seat to nothing.

Maybe mechanically speaking, but it also has possibly the worst name in firearms history engraved in huge letters down the side.

I'd rather own a gold plated Mexican cartel BHP or 1911 than a "Raging Bull".

The .480 Ruger does intrigue me though, and I'd love to own one in a 5.5" Redhawk.

Good to hear from you about their strength.

I've had two, both in Casull and both very accurate. My first was an early 8 3/8" stainless with the high polish finish. It had an issue with a couple of the cylinder chambers being tight when handloads were used, and that's all I typically use. Taurus wouldn't do anything about it, saying they were in tolerance, understandably since many mfr's don't like handloads.

The one I bought last year is a used 6" stainless matte finish and has given me some of the best groups I've ever shot with a handgun, like 5 shots in 3" at 100 yards with a Holosight. That's good for me since I'd never consider shooting something much further.

I do know Taurus is a mfr many love to hate, but I don't care for the looks of a Ruger Super RH, and have not wanted to afford a FA. The recoil even from a stiffly loaded Casull in the RB is tolerable for me due to the porting and grip. In my mind they are the most handgun for the money a person can own, if something above the power of 45 Colt or 44 Mag is desired and all those folks who bad-mouth them only helps keep the price down, so I'm grateful for that.

I don't know about keeping the price down though? All the ones I have seen are above $700, some of them way above. I got lucky on this one and will only have about $500 in it basically.

I had one of these and sold it a year or so ago. Have kicked myself several times for that since then. They are nice pistols and it shot well. Mine was also the 5" and it was nice to carry. Look at the Simply Rugged holsters for them. That is what I used and not only did it protect the pistol while going through the brush; it also made it very nice to carry. Rob makes some very nice stuff at a very good price. Enjoy your pistol and should you ever tire of it I'd love to have another. Just a thought....

Reno

Anyone use the Lee 400 gr mold?

Yes, actually mine is one of the few pre-production ones they sent out for testing before they introduced the mold. It's just as accurate as bullets I've cast from LBT, NEI, Mountain Molds, and Ballisticast molds in the 390-410 gr range. I've blooped them out at 700 fps with unique and have seen my buddy launch them 1350 fps. That said the sweet spot seems to be with that 21 gr charge of H-110.

I've always found Lee molds to produce accurate bullets.

right is right, it doesn't matter the source. Good is good, it doesn't matter if you don't like the name. And if you think Taurus is the worst name in firearms history, then you really don't know much about firearms history.

I should have been more specific........"Raging Bull" is the name I was referring to, NOT Taurus. I've got nothing against the company itself, or even the construction/mechanics of the gun in question. Just that huge, gaudy name down the side of the barrel. I'm the type that's bothered by barrel warnings, so Taurus' "embellishment" is way over to top...........for my eyes. YMMV.

On that we can certainly agree...I hate to see that on all guns. Really dislike it on current 1911's; much prefer the older style, subtle roll stamping.

I would love to cut the full under lug down and get rid of the writing

Shouldn't be too tough of a job, it can certainly be done if you so desire...really wouldn't be all that tough of a job.

Got all the bullets cast the other day and loaded up a bunch of paper patch and grease groove bullets for my .45-70 Shiloh Sharps with black powder. All of my reloading lately has been with real black powder and I usually measure it by volume and load the rounds with a Lyman 310 Tool. I bought Lee dies for the .480 and it comes with the dipper and some load data along with the dies and shell holder. I was planning to use 458's H110 load and was not really looking forward to weighing out 21 grs for each case one by one. I looked at the data on the sheet included with the dies and it gave a load of 1.3 cc (!which is the scoop volume) for H110 with 400gr cast bullets for 1300 fps. I weighed the scoop full of powder and it weighed 21 GRS exactly. If these shoot well this is going to make it a lot easier on me since it will be just like loading for BPCR.

this

http://www.alliantpowder.com/reload...eight=400&shellid=39&bulletid=78

??? I do not mix powders and only have one type of powder on the bench at a time. On another not: I wonder what kind of velocity and groups I could get if I crammed the .480 case full of Kick 3F and compresses the help out of it and put the 400 grainer on top of it?

I use an Uncle Mikes holster, not fancy, works. As to loads, I've stayed with moderately loaded cast bullets. Unique makes OK plinkers, on up to Lil'Gun (1200-1300 fps). Titegroup (925-1000 fps) and Longshot (1000-1100 fps) loads from the online Hodgdon manual seem to do well. I use 400 grain cast bullets for plinking and I hope for hunting. Using an UltraDot 30mm I have shot some sub 2 inch groups at 50 yards, which are normally reserved for rifles with my eyesight and skills. The Tarus Raging Bull 6 1/2" and Ruger Super Redhawk 9 1/2" both get my vote. I'd like a Bowen Custom Redhawk or a Clements Bisley conversion but time and money are both in short supply.