480 Ruger SBH

I'm trading for a 480 Ruger SBH on Friday. Anyone have any experience handloading for this round? I plan on casting bullets too.

I've had good luck with IMR 4227 and H110 using both 420 gr Penn WFN and 425 gr Cast Performance. Used them in a SBH and a Puma M92 levergun.
Tim

I've had mine for over a year now. I use cast bullets in mine,, and they are my own cast, & powder coated. As with any firearm you have to load for that gun, as different guns can prefer different loadings.

The 480 just begs for heavy for caliber bullets. Something between 400 and 420gr seem to be the sweet spot with my 480 SRH.

The nice thing is with a bullet that heavy you don't "need" to push them at top velocities for them to perform well. Anything from about 900 fps on up is going to put a hurtin' on anything downrange.

I have had the best luck with a 395gr bullet from Mountain Molds, best powder to date has been Hodgdon Longshot.

my current favorite revolver and round
been using 20.5 H110 and cast performance 410 gr wide flat gas checked basically hits like a sledge hammer, my chromo reports about 1140 average and has been superbly accurate
however i suggest a different bullet manufacturer I've been waiting for 7 months for my last order, phone calls and emails have gotten me nowhere, i am thinking about trying Montana bullet works next
good luck
Dad

subsonic loads using 15 gr W296 and a 395-400 gr lead bullet will out-perform any 1300 fps 44magnum bullet. Load for accuracy first with any weight. Too many newbies want to make velocity and try to get 475Linebaugh speeds, showing only that they don't understand killing power and the 480Ruger guns.

IME, Starline brass will yield far more loads than Hornady, sometimes Hornady brass will not even re-size to fit the Ruger charge holes, not even once for me.

Mohvesam

Light loads and 296 do NOT mix well. A ticking time bomb when you reduce loads using that powder. It is recommended for full capacity and even compressed loads. There are much better propellants to use for a light load. Stick with the 296 for the hot stuff.

Ron

Powder position is important too, and I would agree a beginner should not fool with light loads in big cases. 15 gr W296 is a recommended starting load which gives me consistent subsonic speeds, but I would not go lower than that. Upping to 20.5/21 gr of W296 I see VG accuracy & plenty of velocity. H110 and LilGun remain recommended, and work well. Diligence must be practiced to avoid double-charges but light loads are fine by the manuals and my targets. I've had no issues at all since the 480R SBH came out.

Note that my best group shooting came from my Taurus five-shot 6" Raging Bull, a triple-lock design which outshoots my SBH from bags. Worth trying if you can find one.

mohavesam said:

Note that my best group shooting came from my Taurus five-shot 6" Raging Bull, a triple-lock design which outshoots my SBH from bags.

Click to expand...

Say it isn't so.....

For the record, I shot this group at 50 yards with my .480 SBH with factory loads (Buffalo Bore 370 grainers). The .480 Bisley is a great revolver and inherently accurate.