Buddy has come up with one in his shop. I always thought it would be a neat cartridge to play with, but you rarely see the revolvers around here.

Midway doesn't have ammunition or brass available, but I have seen it in a few places online.

Is the cartridge going Teetsup?

IMHO it is the best big bore hunting cartridge in terms of power and shootability. Get a couple hundred cases and you'll be set. I've been using the same Hornady brass for about 10 years and just loose a few now and again from case neck splits. Don't go crazy on belling and crimping and you'll get long life from the brass.

I'll make your load work simple, 390-410 gr cast over 21.0 gr H-110 lit off with a CCI-350. Clocks ~1200 fps from a 7 1/2" barrel and should group very tight.





Pretty flexible with 275-460 gr bullets, but IMHO a 300-320 gr is ideal for target practice and smaller game, and 400's for big game. Then again, the 310 gr @ 1000 fps target load would do in many cases for game.

Many thanks! He's got a Super Redhawk in 454 with the 9.5 inch barrel as well. The 480 has a 7.5 inch tube.

The short answer is yes! I have the first one in the new profile in my possession, and it is amazingly accurate. Nothing not to like about it.

The .480 is a great round. for the life of me I can't figure out why it's not more popular. I still wish Ruger had introduced it in a 5 shot single action.

More info Whit? Is Ruger going to produce it again?

It's being produced and sold now. I couldn't be happier with mine.

I did not know. That's pretty awesome.

Was there ever a earlier Ruger production run that had problems with sticky .480 cases...?

There was and that resulted in a long Hiatus in production. I've got one in the Ruger Alaskan. They are nice. A big heavy bullet moving at moderate speeds works wonders. Buffalo Bore manufactures the ammo as well.

I've felt for years that a Ruger factory 5 shot Bisley made a lot of sense - I'd wait in line for one.

I'd love a 5-shot SA as well. I'm not a fan of the sheer size of the SRH, and a 5 1/2" bbl would be preferable to me over the 7 1/2" as well.

There you go Ruger. Build a 5-shot Bisley in 480, and offer it with 5.5" bbl. You may sell more than one.

They won't do it on the Blackhawk platform. They do not feel it is up to their safety standards.

Well then - maybe that's a good excuse to have Bowen, Clements, etc. build one (but then the price tag just went way up)! I do think if I were to build a custom Ruger, 480 is what I'd want it in...

Are these new Super Redhawks five shooters?



Travis

No, per Ruger's website.

I have the target gray 9 1/2" model. No problems with it. I have used a 30 mm Ultradot on it. It shoots under three inches at 50 yards with 17.5 grains 2400 and 400 cast bullets. I plan on shortening it to 5 1/2" and getting a custom shoulder holster made for it. My only issue is that it shots a bit slow compared to 6 1/2" Tarus Raging Bull, which is really a 5 1/2" barrel if you subtract the porting. This is most evident with very slow loads of fast powder. The gap narrows with 2400 and slower powders, to around 15 fps.

6 shot -- they changed the chamber dimensions and have purportedly fixed the extraction issues. I haven't had any issues with mine at all and it is extremely accurate.

5 shots at 50 yards:

That's UBER.




Travis

The original run of 480's shoot just as accurately.

I never had an issue with extraction in my first gen 480 because I never found a need to run max pressure. 400 @ 1200 is IMHO perfection. When I pushed 460's 1100 fps I got slightly sticky extraction, and 400's @ 1300+ will do the same.

The SRH may look massive, but it really isn't that heavy of a gun. With most of the cylinder cut away for cartridges, the big hole in the barrel and the stub back strap a 7 1/2" SRH is the same weight as a 5 1/2" FA mdl 83 454.

My earlier .480 Ruger SRHs (I bought my first in 2001) were accurate, but they won't run with this one. It's crazy accurate with my handloads. That group was shot an off-the-shelf Buffalo Bore load. I am quite fond of this revolver!

Thank you again for everyone who posted. My friend came up, somehow, with a 9.5 454 that I put money down on, and the 480 with the 7.5 inch barrel at the same time. I was hinky about the 480 because I don't know enough about it, but it seems like a treasure.

Thanks!

CT

I just sold my 480 SRH, but I enjoyed it immensely when I had it. I used Starline brass and had no problems with extraction. I did get sticky extraction with Hornady factory ammo, though, but it was nothing a firm whack on the extractor rod couldn't fix

Yes you should

Nery nice round

Snake

Damn Whit, nice shootin!!

I've got the first generation and never had any problem with sticking cases. Round puts out a lot of heat, and if you fire all six in rapid fashion the cases are going to be tight, most will still fall right out, but a couple may need use of the ejection rod, but never had to use anything other than a couple fingers.

Accurate and the grip fits the hand a lot better than the Black Hawks... and mine also is the 7-1/2" stainless in gunmetal gray.

Phil

Whit, I think it's time you posted the picture of a very nice Ruger Vaquero!!!

But I don't own a Vaquero.......

Huge fan here of the 480 Ruger. I have a 475 Linebaugh, but don't really see a reason to go to that level when the 480 will do it all. My Bowen 480 in a lightweight Blackhawk (4" bbl) always seems to get the nod when I'm heading out to the lease.

I forgot that was a Bisley Blackhawk wasn't it??? Sweet

This one??

I like looking at that one. You out did yourself there.

The .480 SRH is arguably the most powerful six shot revolver ever made. The cartridges out there with more power all have only five shots.

Starline brass is not easy to find, but works very well in my SRH.

The original dark gray SRH were actually made from Carpenter Custom 465 stainless, which is a super high strength heat treated stainless steel. It's also a tough material to machine. The .454 Casull and .480 got the super-high strength steel. Nowadays, Ruger is using regular stainless in the SRH.

It's a very interesting round. With a big hardcast slug at 1100-1200 fps, recoil is less than a .454, yet the .480 will shoot clean through large animals, and make a bigger hole doing so.

Puma has sold Model 92 Winchester clones in .480. Ruger made a run of #1 single shots in .475 Linebaugh, that can also take the shorter round. Freedom Arms will make .480 cylinders for their large Model 83 revolver. FWIW, the .480 Ruger, .475 Linebaugh, .475 Turnbull, and .470 Nitro Express all use the same bullet diameter

Yes, you should be tempted , retirement or the slightly busier version of 'semi' retirement means to me you have earned the right to play with as many toys as you damn well please.

Also, Patrick [TEX] had his 480 blowin' fire at the hog hunt one year, bet he's got some damn good loads on tap he'd share.

Dang nice revolver Whit, you turn those solids?

Actually, the grey finish was an unexpected result of a tumbling process that Ruger used. Carpenter 465 steel is still used, however it was only ever used to make cylinders for the .454 and .480 SRHs.

Well, you got me curious; the article I read goes back to 2001 and isn't easy to find. Carpenter is describing both 465 in the cylinder, and a special 15-5 in the barrel in their applications notes. I'll see if I can find the original article.

I did have my .480 SRH at the Hog Hunt one year, and a few guys shot it. That load was 24gr of Lil'Gun under 355gr hard cast. It was running 1300 fps, but was not as consistent as I'd like. Assuming Enforcer ever becomes available again I'd like to try it with those bullets.

I'm pretty sure the barrel is also made from Carpenter 465, but the frame is cast from less exotic stainless steel -- same frame for the .44 Mag, .454 and .480.

Anybody ever told you that you were an enabler?

I load my 475 Linebaughs (500 L too) at less than 480 levels using HS-6 with great results.

Often! Guilty as charged, but I make no apologies for my behavior!

I reckon it don't make ya'll bad people.

No, why?

Stop it you two!! You're making me start tallying my gun fund.

That gun is off the hook.

I sure hope I've got the shekels handy if he ever decides to.... nah, he's not going to do that.

I am thinking seriously of getting the SRH 480 & cut it to 5.5.

Can't understand why they didn't make in 480.



Then again, if I get another srh 480 but w/ a 9 1/2" tube, cut it down to 5 1/2" I'll have a 4" stub that could be mated to one of these

My .500 Linebaugh SRH had a 5-inch barrel and I really liked that length. Worked rather well.