alaskan 480 5 shot

[turbojock]

i have a 480 alaskan 5 shot and have been told that it is very rare. i called ruger to ask what serial number range and how many were made. they told me that they would not give out that info? i asked if it was only made in the alaskan or if they made any in the super redhawk? again, they said they would not give out that info?

two questions, does anyone out there know the answers? i have been told that they only made about 25 of the alaskans and that it is one of the rarest production revolvers ever manufactured in history.

second question, is sturm ruger owned and managed by a bunch of democrates, because i have never been given the run around like i got when i called them.

i was shocked by the end of the conversation, i guess im used to talking to smith&wesson, because they will double over backwards to answer every question you have.

 

[hittman]

Welcome to the Forum. Others here know far more than I do about these guns.

However, I think they are very, very rare .... and Ruger has never discussed production numbers.

 

[mustang99]

Shipped 23 all Alaskans.

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!
From what we know, the 5 shot Ruger Alaskan 480 is rare.
As for your conversation with Ruger. Realize that Ruger has never released production numbers. As for the question about the models, I'd have to say that whoever you spoke with most likely didn't have an answer.
Now, Ruger does something that no other gun company does. They will send you a factory letter about a specific gun if you request it. For free. However, what they will include in the letter is the shipping date & the model it was shipped as. They will not give out production numbers. But this service is free.
I don't think any other gun company offers this.

 

[turbojock]

i dont understand, what is so sacred about production numbers. what is so secretive about how many there are?

dosnt make any sense to me.

ok, mustang99 says there are 23, all alaskans, how did mustang99 get his info that they refused to give to me?

how do i get the letter you are speaking about? please let me know?

 

[turbojock]

if there is only 23 like mustang99 says, then it probably is the rarest production made gun ever commercially produced and worth its wieght in gold.

just dont understand why ruger would set up production to make a change and then just quit making them after 23, just doesnt make any sense.

thats one of the reaseons i was asking if ruger was owned and managed by democrates, huge expense for no results.

is there anyone else that knows any info about the five shot 480. please let me know.

 

[chefrob1]

........ i guess im used to talking to smith&wesson, because they will double over backwards to answer every question you have.

i have had the worst experience with S&W in trying to resolve a simple issue with my walther...........6 months and still no resolution. i will never buy a S&W product for any reason unless it is to resell it. i have 6 rugers and plan on many more........

 

[98Redline]

...just dont understand why ruger would set up production to make a change and then just quit making them after 23, just doesnt make any sense.

thats one of the reaseons i was asking if ruger was owned and managed by democrates, huge expense for no results.

is there anyone else that knows any info about the five shot 480. please let me know.

I believe that the 5 shot variant was more of a test run when they were looking at the viability of running 410 stainless cylinders as opposed to the current Carpenter 465 stainless ones.

I have also heard talk that there was some form of gentleman's agreement between Ruger and another company (possibly Linebaugh?) regarding not producing a 5 shot big bore gun. I can't verify the veracity of that one however it is what I have heard.

As for your statement regarding Ruger being run by democrats I think that is a pretty ignorant statement to make.

ig·no·rant/ˈignərənt/Adjective: Lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated.
Lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular: "ignorant of astronomy".

Strum Ruger and Company is one of the best managed and profitable companies across all business sectors. Their strength has done nothing but grown over the past several years and has earned the company a four star rating. It is pretty difficult to throw stones at a company who has been able to maintain 100% capacity from their production facilities for the past nearly 5 months and who's contribution to our 2A rights has been nothing but exemplary ($1.2 Million Dollars to support our 2A rights, can you say the same?). Their customer service is recounted time and time again as being nothing but excellent but your one encounter with them, and their unwillingness to release what any business would consider consider proprietary information, puts them in the same category with individuals like Nanci Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer and Barrack Obama?

I apologize if this seems harsh and I am not in the habit of getting into confrontations on these forums, but your statement just rubs me the wrong way.

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

turbojock,
I sent you a PM ,,did you recieve it?
Thanks
Terry

 

[turbojock]

sorry, i dont mean to rub anyone the wrong way. but i hope you can understand the frustration when you ask a simple question, "how many did you produce?" "did you produce any in the standard super redhawk?" and the answer is "i dont know and i dont know, but i will have a supervisor call you back and then the supervisor gives me the exact same answer. i felt like i was talkiing nancy pelosi or harry reid. i dont think anyone would accept that for an answer knowing full well that they do know that information. it reminded me of typical respones that i get when i ask a liberal a question. i also appreciate rugers support of our 2A rights, but lets not forget, they dont have a chioce, thats what business they are in. without our 2A rights, they wouldnt have a market. also consider how many weapons and munitions companies are owned directly or indirectly by corporations that are owned by george soros. anyone will donate to something to further thier own cause.

anyway, i didnt get on here to discuss politics and i didnt take any of the responses as confrontational. everyone is entitled to thier opinion, at least so far, until our current government figures out how to change that also. and belive me they are working on it. they shut hannity up without a problem.

 

[turbojock]

ive had a couple inquires about selling my 480. i dont think so as i do think it is probably the rarest production revolver ever produced. unless there is someone that would pay its weight in gold, which i think is probably a bit pricey, so i guess im stuck with keeping it.

 

[turbojock]

on to my second question that i hope someone has had some experience with?

i also have a super redhawk in 480, it is a six shot. i would like to have it chambered for 475. the 475 is just slightly longer, i think .120 or .125, i dont remember for sure, but the pressure is just slightly more also.

does anyone know of it being done and if the results were satisfactory.

 

[tek4260]

At the risk of being flogged, I'd say the 5 shot would make the better conversion candidate. The 480 6 shot is pretty thin as is. Factory loads would "probably" be ok, but I'd never think about putting one of my 475 loads in a 6 shot SRH that had been reamed.

FWIW, my 480 handloads exceed the velocity of factory 475's..... and no, I wouldn't shoot them in a 6 shot 480 SRH either.

The best way into a 475 on the cheap is to buy a BFR.

 

[turbojock]

bfr's are nice guns, but i tend to like the DA's instead of the SA's. there is someone, i think, bowen is the name, that converts ruger SA's to 5 shot 475 but i havnt heard of it being done with redhawks or super redhawks.

 

[mustang99]

"ok, mustang99 says there are 23, all alaskans, how did mustang99 get his info that they refused to give to me?"

There is only 1 way someone could know that. Here's a hint: I didn't have to ask anyone for it.

 

[AKDRSS]

You can pretty much get any large frame Ruger such as a SBH, Bisley, Red hawk, Super Redhawk, etc converted to anything up to and including the 500 Linebaugh. All is takes is writing a pretty big check:)

Personally I wouldnt get to hung up on the low production numbers of your 480. Shoot it and use it. It is most likely worth more than what they cost new but Ruger might come out with a new version at some point then the extra value goes right down the toilet.

 

[98Redline]

on to my second question that i hope someone has had some experience with?

i also have a super redhawk in 480, it is a six shot. i would like to have it chambered for 475. the 475 is just slightly longer, i think .120 or .125, i dont remember for sure, but the pressure is just slightly more also.

does anyone know of it being done and if the results were satisfactory.

Sorry for coming off a little gruff this morning. Must have got up on the wrong side of the bed. :oops:

I think if you are going to go the route to chamber your 6 shot SRH for a .475 then you are going to need a new 5 shot cylinder. While you could ream out the current cylinder I don't think that you would have adequate safety margin for hot loaded .475 loads.......and I certainly wouldn't want to be around when a .475 cylinder lets go.

I believe Bowen does SRH conversions and there is even a 500L SRH floating around out there somewhere (I believe Lee Martin owns it now), however anything more than the .480 gets a new 5 shot cylinder and appropriate action tuning. I am pretty sure that a conversion like this would run you $1000+

While I do believe that tek should be flogged over the sacrilege of the mere suggestion of converting one of the few 5 shot 480 Alaskans to a .475 :wink: he is probably correct from a cost standpoint. That 5 shot cylinder could be reamed out pretty cheaply and a new barrel installed for a couple of hundred dollars. On the other hand you could probably sell the 480/5 to one of the collectors around here and be well on your way toward a 475 SRH conversion.

 

[AKDRSS]

Why would a new barrel be needed? I thought the 475 and 480 were the same diameter.

 

[Knuckles]

You can pretty much get any large frame Ruger such as a SBH, Bisley, Red hawk, Super Redhawk, etc converted to anything up to and including the 500 Linebaugh. All is takes is writing a pretty big check:)

Personally I wouldnt get to hung up on the low production numbers of your 480. Shoot it and use it. It is most likely worth more than what they cost new but Ruger might come out with a new version at some point then the extra value goes right down the toilet.

turbojock->
I agree... if it's the "GOLD" you seek, you'd better giddy-up! ... Ruger has surprised me a handful of times with the help of Davidson's, Lipsey's & TALO and if you snooze you may loose!

ps. don't pick on Sturm-Ruger... they're the "Good Guys". :wink:

 

[Quarterbore]

The problem with these guns is Ruger or some distributor could decide they want a run and what is now one of say 23 in a week could be one of 523! You just never know what will happen but odds are not real great that we will see another run of these but I have been wrong a lot!

 

[98Redline]

Why would a new barrel be needed? I thought the 475 and 480 were the same diameter.

My reason for the new barrel was I thought he was asking about a .475 with a longer barrel as opposed to the snubbie of the Alaskan.

 

[tulsamal]

it probably is the rarest production made gun ever commercially produced and worth its wieght in gold.

Looks like the Alaskan weighs 44 ounces. And gold is $1654 an ounce right now. Anybody wants to step up and offer the man $72,776... I'm guessing he would take it.

I love it when people say things like that.

It _might_ be worth its weight in silver. That would be $1375. A little more reasonable.

Gregg

 

[bigboredad]

I am a little curious as to why you need a 475 so bad. Does that mean you have shot the heaviest loads the .480 and it wasn't enough power. Are you aware of how close the .480 is to the .475. One more question is that just because you couldn't get what you want and you disagree with a company that has never been sold and is always in the black that makes them a democrat? I have listened to and tried to understand what the pres. of smith wesson says and that accent of his just gives me a headache. So if want to start comparing Ruger to smith and wesson you might get a little more flogged then Tek would for his loads but at least he knows what he is talking about

 

[Jeff Quinn]

Ruger has a reputation for having the best customer service in the industry. They care what the customer thinks. They have a link to send a question or comment directly to the CEO.

What other company even half the size of Sturm, Ruger has the CEO working the show floor all day long at SHOT and NRA? What other gun company of any size has their CEO working a grand opening or an annual sales event at various local gun shops around the nation?

Go to a national show like the NRA Annual Meetings, and Ruger will have the CEO, plant managers, sales executives, marketing executives, and engineers on the floor to answer questions. Most other companies just have sales people in the booth, and they change them more often than they change underwear.

The person who did not answer the questions did so because he or she did not have that information, and if if he or she did, were instructed to keep that information private. You could have simply been told "none of your business", or like with most corporations, had to listen to an automated voice.

I have never seen a major company the size of Sturm, Ruger with the dedication and desire to please the customer as the folks at Ruger. I don't own any Ruger stock, as it would be a conflict of interest in my job, but if I did, I would be grinning like a mule eating briars.

I have one of the five-shot 480 Alaskan revolvers. I do not care how many were made nor what it is worth. It is not for sale. It is for shooting. Lots of meat between those chambers.

 

[Floridaoutdoors]

We have come to assume five shot means compact.

If this is simply a five hole version of six shot.........yawn.

 

[tek4260]

We have come to assume five shot means compact.

If this is simply a five hole version of six shot.........yawn.

Cartridges like the 480 and the 475 weren't designed to be compact, they were designed to be powerful. That five hole cylinder gives me piece of mind not only from the extra "meat", but from the offset bolt notches. Six shot single actions have the notches in the thinnest part of the cylinder.

Here is a pic I borrowed from Sixshot. Note how thin the cylinder is at the bolt notch....

Pretty scary.

My 480:

Not scary :)

 

[turbojock]

ok, great, so your an insider. thanks for the info. i appreciate it. any chance ruger will re introduce the 480? what do you think?

 

[turbojock]

i do feel the same as mr quinn, yes, i do have a 5 shot 480, and i love it, i have every peice of it, just the way it came from the factory, literature, box, info, spent case, everything. i would not consider modifying it or selling it or anything.

i do think that it is the holy grail of ruger firearms.

there will probably never be another production run peice so rare by ruger or anyone else for that matter.

and it is sweet to shoot on top of everything else and i do shoot it plenty.

but it was disapointing to call ruger and ask "how many of them are there?" and them to say they didnt know. i knew that was BS and so would anybody else, and it ticked me off.

i never said that they were not a fortune 500 company, and i never said that thier customer service was bad. i never said that they didnt donate money to support our 2A rights and i dont think that they are the bad guys.

they were short with me, they did blow me off and i did leave a message for the ceo with no response.

but i also understand loyalty, and there seems to be severeral that are loyal, and thats ok. as i said, i didnt get on here to discuss politics. and i have no feelings towards ruger, good or bad. just though that my experience with them was weird.

i really do appreciate all your input and the info that everyone has given me. its nice to know that there are people that you have something in common with and i do appologize for the reactions that my views cause, but i cannot appologize for my views themselves.

ed

 

[turbojock]

tek4260 thats a nice rig. coverted SBH? who did the work for you?

 

[turbojock]

tek4260 thats a nice rig. coverted SBH? who did the work for you?