I have the Ruger American Ranch. The gun is light and handy. Very handy. I find the recoil quite reasonable and that is with or without the brake. The brake works. I only shot factory ammo. No problem bench resting. I will sometimes use the brake when I have my ears on. I average 1.5 inch 5 (five) shot groups at 100 yards. I did notice a very slight drop in accuracy with the brake, call it 2 inch groups. Your average shooter will never see it. Nothing of any consequence. I was curious about the lock nut/brake mount. Not so precise? I removed the brake to protect my hearing. I did fire one shot, with brake and without ear muffs. INSANE! The Ruger is a low cost gun. A real bargain. It will not run with better guns from Europe or Japan. I read of problem with the rotary magazine in the normal rifle rounds. The 450 is rebated and has a single stack with no issues for me.
Some one mentioned the 45/70. These are somewhat similar in power but totally different. About as different as any two rounds could be. The available guns are different. In 45/70 it is levers and single shots. Mostly heavy guns. The 450 is semi auto and lighter bolt actions. The 450 is loaded to the max. The 45/70 is low pressure with capacity to load up too blow holes through anything. Different bullets, pistol vs rifle bullets.
Interesting comment on the FTX bullets. That Is the load I was shooting. Those bullets maybe best in the 454? I am thinking with a big heavy blunt nose slug, might as well shoot 44mag. The FTX is aero dynamic to push out to 200. I have not killed anything yet with mine. I guess, truth be told, it was more fun and curiosity that motivated the purchase. I did not expect much and I was pleasantly surprised. It is a cool little gun.
What bullet do people like? Is there a good factory load?
