480 Ruger brass from 45-70 Gov't

[Dave King]

I've been on back order for 480 brass for a month or more and I'm getting a little cabin fever.

Can I make 480 Ruger brass from 45-70 brass? (I've Googled to no avail.)

I've read that the rim may be a little too large but I have a small lathe that could remedy that fairly quickly.

Any insight would be appreciated.

TIA and Merry Christmas

 

[revhigh]

Why not just buy a few boxes of the Hornady ammo ? It's about $22 a box and given that you keep the brass to reload ... it's not much more expensive than buying and reloading. I did the math and bought 100 (5 boxes) when Sportsmansguide had it for $20 per box.

You're really not spending all that much more, and you have it, rather than going to all the trouble you mention above.

Just a thought ...

REV

 

[Dave King]

Where's the excitement in that?

I have some 480 brass and I could go buy more ammo but now I'm looking or an alternate (just in case). AKA I'm sort of bored and I want to tinker.

(I've been called a lot of things over the years but thrifty is not one of them.)

 

[mike7mm08]

Starline has 480 ruger brass in stock. Better quality brass than hornady as well. Graf also starline and speer in stock if you want a smaller quanity. Starline has a minimum of 250 for an order but graf offers brass by the 100.

http://www.starlinebrass.com/index.php? ... 985378d1c0

scroll about half way down the page

http://www.grafs.com/metallic/550

 

[SBH4628]

First you will be putting a.475 bullet in a .457 case also a 45-70 case won't have the "web' thickness as a .480 Ruger case. I would worry about case head strength as well. At best you would be wasteing brass or your gun. Where's the excitement in that? JMHO

 

[B.Roberts]

Yes, you can. Probably not worth the trouble. You would almost certainly have to turn the rims down as well as the case reforming and trimming.

 

[Dave King]

A quote from a Taffin article: "TAFFIN TESTS: THE .475 LINEBAUGH"

"Some wildcats are easy to make and some very difficult. The .475 has to be one of the easiest wildcat revolver cartridges to make. The starting brass is the standard .45-70, preferably Winchester-Western brand, which is trimmed to 1.410", and it is ready to load. If any other brand of .45-70 brass is used, the process becomes more difficult as inside neck reaming is required."

A 475 Linebaugh case is 1.410 while a 280 Ruger is 1.275 as I read. If a 45-70 case could work for a 475 Linebaugh I could possibly make them also work for a 480 Ruger.

I believe I'm spending (or wasting if you will) my time and maybe my money. I'd appreciate, and in a manner am soliciting, replies from folks with knowledge of the process and the pitfalls of making 480 Ruger brass from 45-70.

I'm not really soliciting replies from folks for alternate sources to buy 480 Ruger brass, I can easily find more on the web at the tens of sites that sell brass.

 

[Dave King]

B. Roberts

Thanks for your most welcome reply.

I'm wondering about the easiest (least work) brass and the possible neck thinning (turning). Have you made 480 or 475 from 45-70?

 

[Dave King]

Having a little spare time and brass I poked around for myself.

I can across a few caveats and some more info.

First a warning from Speer concerning brass for the 475 Linebaugh.

"Older Reloading Data Developed In Cut-Down 45-70 Cases Must Not Be Used In Buffalo Bore or Hornady Cases As High Pressure Will Result!"

My initial observation in making some brass to fit my 480 Ruger is that the converted W-W (Winchester) 45-70 brass has more case capacity than the factory 480 Ruger (Hornady) brass. The base design is obviously different for the single comparison I could perform. It would certainly lead me to believe that I'd need to work up a load from scratch if I were to use converted 45-70 W-W brass in my 480 Ruger. As to the strength of the 45-70 W-W brass I can find no cautionary notices and no 'reduced' loads due to this brass for the 475 Linebaugh (I'll continue to search). (Converted 45-70 brass was apparently used as 'standard' brass in the 475 Linebaugh for a good while as I understand.)



The process I used to convert 45-70 Gov. (W-W brass) to fit in my 480 Ruger.

I have not seated a bullet in this converted case but from preliminary measurements and examination via calibrated eyeball (and loupe) I see no need to thin the necks and suspect the loads will fit fine.

 

[tomiswho]

Dave,
Just wanted to thank you for the interesting report. I reload, but nothing out of the ordinary... But the pictures and descriptions were professional quality!

thanks!

Tom Miller

 

[Three44s]

I've been tinkin' on the .480/.475's for a spell ........

........ knowing that they can't "freeze" you out on brass helps .......

Thanks for your time spent.

If you have anymore time stashed away ........ come feed my cows and I'll keep your guns warm ..........

Three 44s

 

[Dave King]

tomiswho

Thanks. I thought I'd make a record in case it didn't work out as expected!


Three44s

........ knowing that they can't "freeze" you out on brass helps .......

My sentiments exactly.


Here's the rest of the report:

I dug around and read some more info on-line, mainly about primers and how to cope with the deeper primer pocket of the 45-70 (rifle) brass. It seems folks just use pistol primers and I couldn't find where the case head was "shaved" so I loaded some rounds and gave it a go. I got the loading data for this test from the Hodgdon site as I was using 355grain cast bullets and my books lacked info on cast bullets.

I should add/state that the loads I used were full power loads using Winchester 296. The converted brass extracted easily, no sticking. I didn't shoot these over a chronograph but from the recoil I'd say they didn't suffer any loss of power due to the little extra case volume these 45-70 convert cases offer.

I made 5 more cases this morning, it only took a few minutes as I used the lathe to cut the cases to nearly trim length.

All-in-all this adventure was fun and offered a few unexpected concerns, brass volume and primer pocket depth, but I still have all my fingers so it appears I'm no worse for the experience. I am pleased to know I can easily make brass for my 480 Ruger from 45-70 Govt brass (W-W is the only brand I tried). I don't anticipate a shortage of 480 Ruger brass but I like to have an option open to me as I like the 480 Super Redhawk.

 

[Three44s]

The cows are hungry ......... bring those guns ....... the thermostat is set.

LOL!!

(You do great photography .......... you can teach me that too ....... LOL!)


Three 44s

 

[B.Roberts]

B. Roberts

Thanks for your most welcome reply.

I'm wondering about the easiest (least work) brass and the possible neck thinning (turning). Have you made 480 or 475 from 45-70?

Nope, I have never made it. I just remember Taffin writing about how easily .475 brass was made. Wow, you did an amazing write-up on the process. Now, if ruger ever makes a 5 shot bisley in .480, I won't hesitate to buy it. Now I know that I could never run out of brass if the manufactures quit making .480.

 

[Dave King]

B.Roberts

Thanks for the reply. I also came across a Taffin article (and a few others snippets/comments ) about the ease of making 475 Linebaugh from 45-70.

I also feel a LOT better about my 480 knowing I have pretty much an unlimited supply of brass.



Three44s

I coming up on my second retirement and could have a lot of spare time for feeding cows and photography. I've only driven through your part of the country once as I headed out to Bremerton. I travel around a bit so I may take you up on that cattle feeding education, first I gotta finish my stealth camper (living quarters cargo trailer). Maybe I could throw in come .476 bullet casting time too.