Picking up a .480 Ruger Super Blackhawk, anybody with cartridge advice?

[bpatterson84]

Getting a great deal from a buddy on one of the new 5 shot Super Blackhawk Bisleys in .480, looking forward to a good time with a new thumper! Any favorite molds? Preferred load data? Im gonna put in an order for a few hundred pieces of Starline brass, probably go RCBS dies unless anyone has other convincing recommendations.

Been using the search feature and google over the last couple days, really looking to absorb some experience with the caliber, interested to hear about your experience! Oh, and I cast and load for my 5" John Ross S&W 500 very warmly, so I'm not new to recoil!

[DougGuy]

Check for boolit fitment in the throats when you get some cast up and sized and the gun gets there. You would want them to slide through with finger pressure and have an even drag on all throats.

[bpatterson84]

Will check, as always. Have you had to ream any of the throats on these new Rugers yet?

[DougGuy]

Yep, they are still America's favorite kit guns.. Did a 500 S&W with .5005" throats which went out to .502"

I am noticing that with these big bores, heavy boolits are really long, and they seem to have a definite growth factor as opposed to a shorter boolit in a smaller caliber. Meaning that the .475" and .500" boolits tend to gain over a thousandth as they sit and age harden after casting and lube/sizing. I think it may be proper to think double the amount of what I call "wiggle" room to allow for growth. If you size to .501" throats may need to be .5025" for proper fitment after they have sat for a few months.

This would be double the .0003" to .0006" that a .44 or .45 caliber boolit will grow as it hardens. It is my belief that the longer the boolit is, the more it pushes outward as the length contracts, and the diameter has to go somewhere so as boolit size keeps getting bigger and longer, expansion from age hardening will increase exponentially.

So, if this is not only true, but halfway accurate, sizing throats .0005" to .0008" above boolit diameter would be sufficient for most heavies in .44 and .45 caliber, but not enough for the 480 and the 500 guns. They may need .0015" to .002" over boolit diameter.

Also I would not be concerned with having a throat .002" above a freshly cast and lubed cast boolit, at the pressures these two monster caliber guns operate, there is no way on planet earth that the boolit won't slug to fit the throats before they leave the cylinder. You *WILL* have proper fitment, and also at the pressures these two operate at, it is critical that the throats be sized correctly to fit the boolit to avoid any chance of excessive pressure *IF* you are loading to the recommended max.

One more thing to consider would be this. IF you are loading heavy for caliber boolits to the max, and those are cast very hard, BHN22 or greater, I am not certain how much if any, a .002" over bore diameter boolit would cause pressures to rise when it hits the forcing cone. I feel that there is no need for concern if they are typical magnum alloys, BHN18 or less, but it may be worth considering in the most extreme scenarios, heavy boolit, hard alloy, water dropped, these are the boolits that would grow the most as they age harden, and it may be the smarter thing to do would be to size them a second or even third time, so that the boolit could be held to no more than .001" over groove diameter, and the cylinder throats held to no more than .0008" greater than boolit diameter. This would pose less resistance than a boolit .002" over groove diameter, and would see less pressure rise from swaging the boolit at the forcing cone. I would only consider this with the extreme hardest of boolits. Anything BHN18 or softer wouldn't even be a concern.

The 480 Ruger and the 500 S&W are in a whole new ball game, and when loaded to the maximum recommended pressures should be loaded with much more caution than standard magnum handgun loads. Extra care should be paid to fitment of the boolit in the cylinder throats, charges should be weighed individually, case neck tension and crimp should be very evident in finished ammo. This is not Dirty Harry any longer, this is WAY more gun than Dirty Harry was totin' around.