Ruger .480
- Thread starter Carnage_7
- Start date
Chuckbuster
Single-Sixer
I can't help you much with the history etc. It is essentially a .475 Linebaugh Special, same case trimmed to regular "magnum (.41, .44) length. Ruger has as far as I know discontinued it, no regular production taking place although there seems to occasionally be some being assembled from leftover parts, often referred to as "Clean up Guns".
I am pretty sure the Super Redhawk was the only gun that had regular production, mostly 6 shot 7.5" and 9". There were some "Alaskans" made.
As for why do you want one, there is always this
Later
Kevin
Those with more expertise please correct any misstatements I have made.
I am pretty sure the Super Redhawk was the only gun that had regular production, mostly 6 shot 7.5" and 9". There were some "Alaskans" made.
As for why do you want one, there is always this
Later
Kevin
Those with more expertise please correct any misstatements I have made.
donut757
Blackhawk
Cant offer much history, specs, or whqt not... But i picked up a 480 alaskan about a month ago... The thing is way to much fun to shoot... They are hard to find and not cheqp unless u stumble upon a deal as i did.
Get one... You cant take ur money with you wyen ur gone anyways.
Get one... You cant take ur money with you wyen ur gone anyways.
Knuckles
Buckeye
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2007
- Messages
- 1,229
What I have read here-n-there is that the .480 Ruger has a BIG FAT BULLET with a relatively low cartridge pressure and it actually recoils with a gentler but heafty PUSH'... instead of the .454 Cas and .500 S&W WHAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!
that's pushing it for me and my knowledge... sorry'
that's pushing it for me and my knowledge... sorry'
James Layton
Bearcat
Well... At 48000 psi it's only 2K below the 475 Linebaugh and more than 10K over the 44 magnum.knuckles said:
Jim
Frank Castle
Single-Sixer
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2009
- Messages
- 146
If you reload (and you should) its not that hard to find ammo, but it will be online....some local shops have it in stock or can order it for you.Carnage_7 said:
As for "should I buy one" for me its hands down the most "controllable" pistol round out there. Load it with 400gr lead around 900 fps and its a sweet shooting fun little round. Now if you want a fast pill for whitetail deer try a 275 Speer Gold Dot screaming @ 1600 fps....there's a lot good things about the 480 and its really sad Ruger discontinue them.
Silent Sam
Blackhawk
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2006
- Messages
- 728
I believe the 454 spec is 65K psi but is usually loaded to something less than 60K to ease extraction in normal production guns. When the 454 was developed the guns were essentially handmade with tight tolerances that aren't held on production lines.
James Layton
Bearcat
It's allot lower than the 454 and 500 S&W max pressure specs but as another poster noted these two are factory loaded well below these numbers.knuckles said:
Here is a chart of the SAAMI max pressure specs:
http://www.lasc.us/SAAMIMaxPressure.htm
Jim
SAJohn
Hunter
If only Ruger had chambered it in a 5 shot Super Blackhawk.
Stump Buster
Single-Sixer
SAJohn said:
+1...Yup!!!
Three44s
Single-Sixer
Great 'ole bigun' ............ !!
Three 44s
Three 44s
Chuckbuster
Single-Sixer
Stump Buster said:
Have faith and just a little patience guys, expect an announcement from Ruger in about 6 months as that will be 3-4 months after I confirm an order on a "Custom" 5 shot .480. Always works that way,
You can thank me later
Kevin
tek4260
Buckeye
Chuckbuster said:Stump Buster said:
Have faith and just a little patience guys, expect an announcement from Ruger in about 6 months as that will be 3-4 months after I confirm an order on a "Custom" 5 shot .480. Always works that way,
You can thank me later
Kevin
I acquired a mid frame 45 about 2 months prior to Lipsey announcing the flattop 45. I have a 5 shot custom 480 and I am hoping........ Lipsey you there?
Frank Castle
Single-Sixer
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2009
- Messages
- 146
I wish Ruger would make a 480 in any gun....
mohavesam
Hawkeye
Taurus Raging Bull 480R
Rossi made a 92 carbine in 480R
T/C Encore in 480R is he only Encore handgun you'll ever need.
Bill Ruger and John Linebaugh reportedly made a gentleman's handshake agreement that Ruger wouldn't market a 5-shot SA to compete with Linebaugh's money-maker. I wasn't there but read tihs in print a couple times.
If only for the sake of having a copy of the first Ruger handgun using the first Ruger-proprietary handgun cartridge - you need one.
Get one while they're still affordable!
Rossi made a 92 carbine in 480R
T/C Encore in 480R is he only Encore handgun you'll ever need.
Bill Ruger and John Linebaugh reportedly made a gentleman's handshake agreement that Ruger wouldn't market a 5-shot SA to compete with Linebaugh's money-maker. I wasn't there but read tihs in print a couple times.
If only for the sake of having a copy of the first Ruger handgun using the first Ruger-proprietary handgun cartridge - you need one.
Get one while they're still affordable!
Sooo, at some point, am gonna get my SBH tweeked into a .480... Maybe. I would guess, that since Ruger platforms are the basis of these and so many more custom guns, its a no loss scenario for all. Still, they did come back out with the smaller framed .44spec in BH and Vaq.. Guess we'll have to wait and see. steve b
chris_
Blackhawk
If you're going to pay money to have that done, may as well have it done up in 475L. You can shoot 480 brass out of the 475 but pump it up past 480 if needed, you know, should your house be charged by African bull elephants.steve b said:
Bob R
Single-Sixer
The Super RedHawk is a real hunter friendly handgun.
We have factory rings in 1" as well as 30mm.
We have a quick change front sight system, and Marble makes a Fiber Optic sight that is great when the light is low in the woods hunting.
Next we have Hogue Tamer Grips to tone the recoil down a little further.
We have spring kits if the trigger is not to your liking.
With the 480 Ruger we have as much bad as the average guy would care to shoot. We have what I consider to be the right amount of power for a serious hunting handgun, and the revolver is in a manageable size. As was said above the 480 does not have a sharp recoil impulse. I can shoot a box of hunting ammo at one time if I cared to with no problem.
We also have the best value in a high performance hunting revolver that can be had. The 480 Ruger Super RedHawk gives the most Bang for your Bucks.
What was the problem with the 480 Ruger? I have heard several things mentioned. Filling a gap that did not exist, etc. I think the problem was ammo cost. Hornady and Speer think they can charge whatever they feel like for ammo. When the cheapest ammo you can find is $2 a shot, people who buy their ammo at the store do not shoot much. The 480 Ruger never had any cheap practice ammo made for it. Until I started posting on the Handgun Hunter Forum, I never realised how many serious handgun hunters their are who do not reload.
Reloading the 480 makes it into a do everything handgun. With 8 - 10 grains of Unique under a cast bullet, we have a field carry load for general plinking that you can shoot without ear plugs. My plinking load has enough power for a deer at 50 yards. I have been making snake shot loads for mine. The 480 snake load holds around 180 grains of shot, a Speer 44 mag shot shell only has 135 grains. The shot shells work great for snakes.
In jacketed bullets we have them in 275, 325, and 400 grain. In lead bullets we have them in 355 to around 410 grains that are common. I believe I even have some Berry plated HP bullets in 328 for practice and plinking.
I like the 480 Super RedHawk enough that I have 2 of them. My 7.5" is my open sight plinking gun, and I have a 9.5" outfitted with a 30mm UltraDot, and everything else I described above except the springs. This gun did not need any action work. It is my hunting revolver.
I ended my deer season yesterday afternoon with a doe, and a 5X6 Buck that looked about like the one pictured at the first of this thread. If it had not been so brushy, both would have went down in sight from where I shot them. Great performance using a 355 grain Oregon Trail True Shot LWFP GC bullet.
I have no plans of ever replace my 480 Super RedHawk with another hunting Revolver. For me it is about as good as it gets.
Bob
We have factory rings in 1" as well as 30mm.
We have a quick change front sight system, and Marble makes a Fiber Optic sight that is great when the light is low in the woods hunting.
Next we have Hogue Tamer Grips to tone the recoil down a little further.
We have spring kits if the trigger is not to your liking.
With the 480 Ruger we have as much bad as the average guy would care to shoot. We have what I consider to be the right amount of power for a serious hunting handgun, and the revolver is in a manageable size. As was said above the 480 does not have a sharp recoil impulse. I can shoot a box of hunting ammo at one time if I cared to with no problem.
We also have the best value in a high performance hunting revolver that can be had. The 480 Ruger Super RedHawk gives the most Bang for your Bucks.
What was the problem with the 480 Ruger? I have heard several things mentioned. Filling a gap that did not exist, etc. I think the problem was ammo cost. Hornady and Speer think they can charge whatever they feel like for ammo. When the cheapest ammo you can find is $2 a shot, people who buy their ammo at the store do not shoot much. The 480 Ruger never had any cheap practice ammo made for it. Until I started posting on the Handgun Hunter Forum, I never realised how many serious handgun hunters their are who do not reload.
Reloading the 480 makes it into a do everything handgun. With 8 - 10 grains of Unique under a cast bullet, we have a field carry load for general plinking that you can shoot without ear plugs. My plinking load has enough power for a deer at 50 yards. I have been making snake shot loads for mine. The 480 snake load holds around 180 grains of shot, a Speer 44 mag shot shell only has 135 grains. The shot shells work great for snakes.
In jacketed bullets we have them in 275, 325, and 400 grain. In lead bullets we have them in 355 to around 410 grains that are common. I believe I even have some Berry plated HP bullets in 328 for practice and plinking.
I like the 480 Super RedHawk enough that I have 2 of them. My 7.5" is my open sight plinking gun, and I have a 9.5" outfitted with a 30mm UltraDot, and everything else I described above except the springs. This gun did not need any action work. It is my hunting revolver.
I ended my deer season yesterday afternoon with a doe, and a 5X6 Buck that looked about like the one pictured at the first of this thread. If it had not been so brushy, both would have went down in sight from where I shot them. Great performance using a 355 grain Oregon Trail True Shot LWFP GC bullet.
I have no plans of ever replace my 480 Super RedHawk with another hunting Revolver. For me it is about as good as it gets.
Bob
Tommy Kelly
Buckeye
I have 2 handguns in the 480 ruger one is a redhawk 7.5 the other is a BFR 475 linebaugh/480 ruger. I got the redhawk from my son used. It had a pretty set of finger groove wood grips on it and also had the factory rubber grips with the wood inserts. I took it out and shot 6 shots through it with the wood grips. This gun was painful to shoot with the wood. I got to thinking and the same grips fit my 454 alaskan so I ordered a set of the rubber grips for the alaskan with the zorbathane insert in them. They made the redhawk a lot milder to shoot. I never tryed the original rubber grips with the wood inserts. I now have a shootable gun that isn't brutal to your hand.
tek4260
Buckeye
Something to look at:
http://www.reedercustomguns.net/forum/index.php?id=9504
http://www.reedercustomguns.net/forum/index.php?id=9504
That looks more like a 3-3/4" barrel. I like Gary's work and even the black chromex finish; its just his scroll work and big, cursive markings that don't sit well with me.
Sixshot from Idaho posts here and he has a gorgeous 5 shot 480 that Alan Harton made for him on a stainless Bisley frame; it is fitted with Sixshots' gorgeous white holly grips.
Sixshot from Idaho posts here and he has a gorgeous 5 shot 480 that Alan Harton made for him on a stainless Bisley frame; it is fitted with Sixshots' gorgeous white holly grips.
