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What could be more "UBER" than a .480 Ruger? The Bisley is a nice package in 480 at an affordable price.

BTW: I have a BFR .50AE and it's a PITA to load, meaning to get a firm enough taper crimp on the bullet so that they don't "jump" from recoil. Someone once suggested using superglue to assist in bullet adherence...nonsense, who wants to get into that much minutiae to reload? One of these days, my BFR is going to make the trip back to Magnum Research for a .500 JRH cylinder.

Good luck on your choice.

480 Ruger brass is available through Starline, so no reason to cut them down.

Excellent point. I don't even carry 454's anymore for the same reason. I know of two different people whose gun tied up while shooting a grizzly that was coming for them. Stick with the 480 IMHO>

From who? I couldn't find any brass from Starline or Hornady.




Travis

Interesting. Thanks.



Travis

Sorry for the jumping around but I was referring to the 500 JRH when I wrote that. My understanding is that it's a sawed off .500 S&W.




Travis

Starline has made all of the 500 JRH brass to date. Buffalo Bore is presently producing Ammo and selling brass.

The 500 JRH is the S&W case shortened to 1.4”

I dont know why the 50AE would be a pain to reload or any different than a 45 ACP in a revolver; I suppose its a smaller diameter jacketed design creating the promblem along with a taper crimp.

A snug throat fit caster with a nice deep cannelure ought to fix the crimp issues, especially in a wheelgun. A roll, profile or a LEE Factory crimp die should work, while still allowing headspace off of the case mouth, especially if the bullet is snug in the throat. Taper crimps should too.

What's your vote, HawkI?




Dave

I vote 50 AE.

I detest trimming and like things that aren't supposed to work. Plus I don't use jacketed bullets which negates some of the issues the AE may be succeptable to.

BFR makes UBER guns. They're basically a refined Ruger but they look pretty utilitarian. The new 5 shot Rugers are a lot better put together guns than their six shooters.
Plus, you already know someone with a .50 cal bullet mould.

This is about BIGGER. The 480 is bigger than the 45 Colt, but 50s are a lot bigger.

[bleep], I might have to get one.....

Id go with the 50, just because. Just think of the bragging rights LOL.

Have you loaded .50AE for a revolver? I have, and I'd rather ditch the 50AE and have a cylinder fitted by Magnum Research for .500 JRH, a much better chambering IMHO as you can ROLL crimp the chit out of it and not worry about head-spacing. YMMV.

Oh, and as to why loading 50AE would be different than 45ACP in a revolver? The recoil from the 50AE is much greater than a 45ACP, and the momentum of the recoil tends to allow the unfired bullets in the cylinder to move forward. I've never had this problem with 45ACP out of a Smith model 25 or Ruger Blackhawk, Also, the 50AE is pretty much limited to 300-325 grain bullets, which is kinda lame if you ask me, when with the 500 JRH you can load up over 500 grain bullets.

I agree, I have no time for an auto loading 50 AE in a revolver.

When I got my 480 the 500 S&W and hence 500 JRH didn't exist. The only option for a 50 was the 500 Linebaugh which was a very expensive custom. I'm not sure which route I'd go today with an affordable 50 as an option.

The only concern I'd have is if you plan to push 400 gr and heavier bullets 1200 fps and the resulting recoil. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't shot my 480 and then a friends 475 linebaugh one after the other and chronoed both loads but when you jump from burning 21 gr of H-110 to 25 gr of H-110, recoil jumps dramatically and as I recall his 475 was only 50 fps faster. My 480 does have a 7 1/2" barrel and his 475 had a 5 1/2". Looking at some 500 JRH data, it burns ~28 gr of H-110 to push a 400 gr 1186 fps. For me the 475 linebaugh loads are too much recoil for me to shoot accurately. Sometimes less is more which is why I really like the 480, it's shootable.

That said, 17 gr of blue dot pushes 400's and 440's 1100 fps in the 500 JRH which is awfully tempting.

Wer the 480 and the 475 in the same style revolvers? I’d say the added recoil came from the added 50 fps not a mere 4 grains of powder. In my experience it is a wash with the sam3 bullet at the same speed. I know from experience that the 475 and 500 JRH are easy shooters at reduce velocity.

The 500 AE is a nominal 1.285” case that was designed around 300 to 325 grain bullets which are lighter than I want in a50 cal revolver.

Just going by my experience with the 45 ACP, where Ive shot 280 cast bullets and roll crimp them in the crimp groove. In a 1911 this obviously doesnt work.
I dont see where 300-325s would be a limit in a revolver, so long as the twist is there to spin them. Im not saying it would be ideal for 500s, but theres no reason it cant be fed heavier bullets out to the cylinder face. From what I see, its the same cylinder as the JRH?

That's a tough choice between the 480 ad the 500 JRH. I have a 480 and 500 Linebaugh and like both of them. The 480 is bit easier to shoot on the top end but I don't run either up there very often. My current carry load in the 480 is a 400 grain SWC over enough 2400 to get to 1050-1100 fps. The 500 is a fairly recent addition and I haven't settled on a favorite load yet but have molds for a 440 SWC, 500 grain WLN and and 525 grain WFN (M-P mold that can do HP or solid bullets).

The 500 JRH can match the 500LB in bullet weights. If you want to go big, the JRH has a lot to offer. It can go mild to wild just like the 500LB. A 525 grain at 1000 fps will be very shootable and should penetrate the full length of most NA big game. The 440-450 grain bullets will give you a little more velocity (1100-1200) for the same level of recoil.

Buffalo bore is the only supplier of brass I know of but as you know, you can cut down readily available 500 S&W. I'm not sure but I think BFR will build a 500 Linebaugh in the same model as the JRH and brass is readily available for it.

Of course there are no flies on the 480. I love mine. I really hadn't considered one until I bought a bunch of brass really cheap thinking I'd turn it at the next gun show for little profit. It wasn't more than a couple weeks later I found a Bisley at Cabelas with a huge scratch and dent discount. It had a little swirl near the muzzle that hadn't been polished out and they discounted it heavily. I have a few molds for it, at 380 WFNGC, 400 grain SWC, Lee 400 grain FP, 420 grain M-P HP/solid, and an LBT 420 WLN.

I cannot speak personally to the performance of the 480 or 500's on game but their records are well established. My big game kills with a handgun are limited to a cougar and a whitetail doe with a 41 magnum. I can say both the 480 and the 500LB lend a sense of comfort when I am afield here in Alaska.

If I was starting all over again and wanted one big bore revolver and needed to keep the cost down, the Ruger Bisley 480 would be my choice. Going semi-custom it would be either a 500 JRH or LB in the BFR. Full custom would be a Linebaugh, Huntington, Bowen or Clements Bisley in 500 LB.