.480 SRH Test Firing

Finally stopped raining so I could get to my shooting spot and try the new gun. Shot some light loads first, a 375gr Hard Cast ahead of 4.5 grains of Trail Boss. Cream-puffs! My wife can shoot these, and I'll only load them that light again for her. Then I fired some of my Hornady factory loads of 325gr and 400gr XTP's. Now, this gun is mag-na-ported, and I had put on a set of Tamer grips and was also using Pro Aim shooting gloves, but I found them no "worse" than a full power .44 mag, or at least not much more. Hornady marks these as 1350 fps. Then I went to the 400gr at 1100 fps, and they were not bad, either. Next batch I load will be hard cast 375 and 410gr with Titegroup at 1000 - 1100 fps. The only "problem" I had was the 400gr "hulls" did not want to extract, had to tap th extractor with a rubber mallet when I got home, but only lightly.

I see now why so many like this gun and caliber! I'm ready to spend a little more time to finish sighting in and then shoot some hogs!

Thanks to everyone who gave me tips and advice on this one!

I can see your grin from here! Let us know how your hog hunt goes
gramps

Yep, haven't been able to stop grinning! Most fun I've had since I got over losing my boat! I have a small piece of property I can hog hunt on just about any time I want to - especially now that deer season is over, but it's raining again this morning, supposed to last all day and maybe into tomorrow. Weekend looks nice, might check out the pigs then. If not, my wife will be out of state the next weekend, leaving me and the hogs by ourselves!

Should be a hogstomper of the first order! 8)

Yeah, keep us up to speed... :wink:

Shot the .480 again today, 'bout got it sighted in now. Began by shooting more 700 fps loads with Trail Boss - embarrassing how little recoil those have, and quiet, too. Sighted in with 1050 fps loads running Titegroup behind the 375gr CPB hard cast. Recoil was no more than with my .45LC Blackhawk shooting a 310gr hard cast at a similar velocity. Of course, the SRH is a lot heavier gun, ported, and has the Tamer grips now. Thinking I'll probably settle on a 375gr or 410gr HC at 1100 - 1200 for most of my shooting, - the gun is accurate and fun to shoot with a load of that range, and should be deadly inside of 50 yard where I normally shoot.

mikewriter said:

Shot the .480 again today, 'bout got it sighted in now. Began by shooting more 700 fps loads with Trail Boss - embarrassing how little recoil those have, and quiet, too. Sighted in with 1050 fps loads running Titegroup behind the 375gr CPB hard cast. Recoil was no more than with my .45LC Blackhawk shooting a 310gr hard cast at a similar velocity. Of course, the SRH is a lot heavier gun, ported, and has the Tamer grips now. Thinking I'll probably settle on a 375gr or 410gr HC at 1100 - 1200 for most of my shooting, - the gun is accurate and fun to shoot with a load of that range, and should be deadly inside of 50 yard where I normally shoot.

Click to expand...

It may be your fault if I buy one of those ! :mrgreen:
Actually, I would think any animal on the Planet could be taken with a 400 gr. LBT type at 100 or so, without the "snappy" recoil of the .454. I use and will continue to use the 44 Mag for most hunting but I would like to get a .480 & may get the tube shortened to 5.5 or so.

So far I am very happy with this gun. I also have used .44 mag for a long time, and will continue to do so, but if all my .44's were gone and I was left with only the .480, I wouldn't be totally heartbroken! I know some people do not understand "loading down" a caliber like the .480 - or the .44 mag, for that matter - but to me it's almost like choosing a big block V-8 engine that produces fairly low hp but lots of torque, instead of a high-revving small block. Gets the job done in more comfort.

I found Trail Boss to be boring in the SRH .480

And as my other magnum revolvers, .357, .41 and .44 ..... that HS-6 at the appropriate level is nirvana when you seek upper medium field loads.

Three 44s

Trail Boss IS boring, in just about anything - but it is amazing how it tames a gun down! I'll maybe load a few more to let my wife hoot, no more for me, though.

Shot some this morning. Both of my .44's seemed to really like my load of Titegroup behind a 305 hard cast at 1070 or so fps, and the .480 with 375 gr cast at the same speeds was a lot of fun to shoot. Gonna be good one, I think.