480 Ruger w/Lee 475 rf

[DLCTEX]

One of my sons has had to make a move that will not let him take his firearms, so he is leaving his Tarus in 480 Ruger with me for at least a year, and his rifles and Browning Buckmark with a brother. I am considering the Lee due to the boolit not requiring a gas check and will keep velocity at 1400 fps or below. I am considering 4227 for powder. Anyone have experience with this load? What do you think? Need input, please. DALE

[wolfman]

I am running the Lee 400g, pan lubed with Felix lube, over 19g of Lil-Gun, which is giving me 1,100 fps from my 7.5" RSRH. Leading is minimal, I am getting 2" groups at 50yds with this load, and plan on working it up a little warmer over the winter.

[Glen]

That combination will work just fine. For details see:

http://www.lasc.us/480Ruger.htm

[sagacious]

I seem to have one of the 'fast' 480 Ruger SRH's. From the 7.5" barrel, I get 1334fps avg with 21grs WW296 and the 400gr LEE bullet cast from linotype or equivalent hardness. Never a speck of leading, cases fall free, and accuracy is fantastic. 20grs WW296 with the same bullet gives 1286fps avg. In his article on the 480, Fryxell lists WW296 as consitently accurate with each of the bullets he tested, and as "very accurate" with the LEE 400.

I have found this caliber to be quite 'user-friendly'.The only time I ever had any leading at all with the 480 was when I was testing a subsonic recipe using the LEE 400 rf cast from quenched ww alloy and Unique. The leading was so horrific that I quickly abandoned the 'low-vel' project and now shoot the 21gr WW296 load as the standard load for the gun, since it works so well. Maybe with more tweaking the subsonic load might have worked fine, but for target plinking, other guns perhaps better suited anyway.

Hope this helps-- good luck, and have fun.

[44man]

Yes, go with 296 and the Lee will work fine even with water dropped WW's. I use that boolit a lot in my .475 and it shoots good.

[DLCTEX]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to take it hunting next week with factory ammo, but look forward to using cast next fall.

[sagacious]

Yes, go with 296 and the Lee will work fine even with water dropped WW's...

Agreed completely. That's why I mentioned linotype "or equivalent hardness."

What charge weight do you load the LEE 400 to in your .475?

[outdoorfan]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to take it hunting next week with factory ammo,

Quick, somebody get a rope!

[Vance in Ak]

Great info guys!
I just started casting for my 480 using the Lee mold & WW alloy. I water dropped some & didn't some others. I'll be loading them up with H-110.
I think I have one of the "slow" 7.5" SRH 480s. With 24.5 gr h_110 & 365gr Performance Cast bullets I was only geting about 1164fps.
By the way, with the Lee bullet which crimp grove are you guys using?

[Frank]

sagacious said

I seem to have one of the 'fast' 480 Ruger SRH's. From the 7.5" barrel, I get 1334fps avg with 21grs WW296 and the 400gr LEE bullet

Not like it matters, but I think your data is in error.

[sagacious]

Not like it matters, but I think your data is in error.

With respect, no sir, that information is correct as shown.

On what basis do you suggest that there is an error in my data?

[sagacious]

Great info guys!
...
By the way, with the Lee bullet which crimp grove are you guys using?

I'm using less powder than you, but I use the top crimp groove. I haven't tested velocity/accuracy with the lower crimp groove and my reload recipes.

The only difficulty that I had with loading the 480 was from a set of steel RCBS dies-- RCBS had no carbide dies for the 480 at the time (they do now). Using the steel dies presented a severe chore in resizing 2000 480 cases I got from Hornady's testing dept. Hornady had just released nitride dies for the 480Ruger/475Linebaugh, so I bought a set immediately. They've been a pleasure to use ever since, and the supplied seating sleeve works great for both the 400gr XTP's as well as the LEE 400. I also prefer the crimp formed by the Hornady dies to that formed by my older set of RCBS dies.

I bought the 480 as a sort of project gun, and happily anticipated that I would be working-up loads for it, tweaking lube recipes, buying custom molds, etc. As luck would have it, the 21grs WW296 recipe and the LEE 400 are what it really likes. That load does everything the 400gr XTP does, only much cheaper and with just that much more satisfaction.

Hope this helps, good luck.

[Frank]

sagacious said

With respect, no sir, that information is correct as shown.

On what basis do you suggest that there is an error in my data?

No basis at all. Sounds like you have a handle on it. Happy New Year!

[sagacious]

No basis at all. Sounds like you have a handle on it. Happy New Year!

And I wish you a happy and prosperous new year as well!

[sagacious]

...
I think I have one of the "slow" 7.5" SRH 480s. With 24.5 gr h_110 & 365gr Performance Cast bullets I was only geting about 1164fps.
...

A while back, I recall reading an article or two that reported top-end load maximum velocity for 480 SRH revolvers that consistently differed by about 200fps. I believe that Fryxell's article "The 480 in Perspective" touches briefly on this observation. I don't recall any explanation for this difference, and I'm not sure it means anything anyway.

One might anticipate that if the WW296/H110 data for the 480Ruger was 'padded' (I'm not suggesting it is/was), then one might likewise expect the 475Linebaugh data would reflect the same 'padding.' It does not. The Hodgdon/Winchester reloading site data shows top-end lead loads for the 480Ruger that use 4.2 grains less WW296, and at 3300psi less pressure than the 475Linebaugh using the same 405gr lead slug-- but the 480 max recipe is only 65fps slower than the 475.

This inference of some 480SRH revolvers differing distinctly in top-end velocity does offer something in the way of an explanation for the occasional testing result that differs markedly from the Hodgdon/Winchester reloading site data. It also seems to match other independent data.

I wonder, though, if there could possibly be a contributory factor, such as a difference in the internal volume/capacity of available brass. My 480 brass is Hornady headstamped, has been trimmed to 1.275" and weighs about 140.5 to 141.5grs, and is of older production. What does your brass weigh?