new guy with a new bfr

[5shotbfr]

howdy gents , greetings from a new guy

last week i received a nice longevity bonus from work . and then promptly spent it on what has been on my must own list of handguns ..
a shiny new bfr in .475 linebaugh , :grin:

this is my very first bfr and i cant wait till i save up the cash for everything i need to make it go bang . it may take me a month or two to get there but i think the waits going to be worth it .

i do have just a couple minor questions to satisfy my curiosity

i do not have any soft/pure lead on hand to slug the cylinder throats or bore . what can i expect them to measure ?

case life .. i am not set on shooting soft or near max loads i plan on going with what the gun likes to shoot , what can i expect for a normal case life shooting middle of the road loads ? i only ask to get an idea of how many i should buy , i plan on this gun getting a lot of rounds put threw it .

grips , are the factory grips good enough or would my hands be better served by upgrading


lastly , a big thank you to 44man , subsonic and all the others for all the great info you have already provided on the .475

[AK Caster]

As far as case life goes I can't remember the last time I had to discard a revolver case due to primers fitting loose or cracks in the neck. Currently reload for 44 mag, 45 Colt, 475 Linebaugh, and the S&W 500. Cases just seem to last forever and I rarely shoot "plinking" loads.

Grips? Try the revolver with the stock grips first. If you like them, good for you. If you don't, then try a different brand. Some shooters love the rubber grips for hunting while others hate them.

[2 dogs]

Start by shooting the largest cast bullet that will chamber.

I haven't worn out a 475 case yet, and I've been shooting 475 for awhile now

For my hands, factory rubber on a BFR works great !

[5shotbfr]

my plan is to start with the lee .475 mold to get shooting a little faster ... heck at $20 for the mold if i dont like it its not a expensive loss .. still cheaper then buying ready mades .
eventualy i'd like to get a good mold made in the style .44man is using .

also glad to hear case life is nice and long ... being a fairly high pressure cartridge i wasnt sure

[odfairfaxsub]

i have one in 500 sw and 45-70 a really fine revolver

[subsonic]

Don't waste your time with the Lee 400gr.

There are a couple of things I would change on my current mold if you go and custom order one.

5shotbfr, if you want my Lee 400gr mold, just pay $6 for USPS shipping and I'll send it to you.

[Whiterabbit]

for my hands, the factory grips were no good. My hands are an inch and a half wide, and about four feet long. The goncalo alves style grips with the finger grooves work much better for me. Except the pinky, I don't know why. But even with that there is a step-shift improvement in my groups.

[saz]

Congrats on a GREAT wheelgun. I dont know anything about the 475 other than what I have read here, but I have a BFR in 500 S&W that I absolutely love. As far as the grips go, take it out and shoot it first. The factory rubbers may work for you. Have fun with that cannon!

[dubber123]

I got into leading issues with the LEE 400 at about 1,100 fps. Other than that, it is a VERY accurate design, 1" or so @ 50 yds. on a good day. It shoots really well at "plinker" speeds also. I don't like the stock grips, mostly for aesthetics. Great gun and caliber choice. I have never lost a single piece of .475 brass, and mine has been fired at least 20X each.

[44man]

Every BFR in .475 I have measured has had throats at .4765" and grooves at .475". I would not even fool with slugging. Just use .476" boolits.
Leave the grips alone. Way too personal!
The gun is very forgiving from 400 gr and up. Just work a load for your boolt choice. 296 and a fed 155 primer.
Even the Lee 400 can shoot but 420 gr will do better. I have gone to 460 gr but there is just no need to go more. I am stuck at 420 gr.
Brass will last almost forever. Every single split case I ever had was at the first shot. CRAZY. Then I have gone over forty re-loads without a loss.

[5shotbfr]

subsonic
pm me an address and i will take you up on that offer , it will get me shooting a bit faster and give me something to do while saving for a good mold . ill pass it along to the next fellow after i get going .


i had to open the safe this afternoon and shove the bfr wayyyy in the back , the suspense is killing me already . i might have bought a box of ready made bullets to beat the monkey on my back if they didnt cost more then a die set

the 296 i happen to have on hand , but finding federal primers in my area is not always easy i will keep my eyeballs peeled for some

if patience is a virtue i am a sinner for sure

[5shotbfr]

gun porn for those inclined to look
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab11/stephen4570/1337022256.jpg

[DCM]

ALWAYS inclined to look!

Nice piece.

[44man]

subsonic
pm me an address and i will take you up on that offer , it will get me shooting a bit faster and give me something to do while saving for a good mold . ill pass it along to the next fellow after i get going .


i had to open the safe this afternoon and shove the bfr wayyyy in the back , the suspense is killing me already . i might have bought a box of ready made bullets to beat the monkey on my back if they didnt cost more then a die set

the 296 i happen to have on hand , but finding federal primers in my area is not always easy i will keep my eyeballs peeled for some

if patience is a virtue i am a sinner for sure
You should get along great with any LP mag primer, just do not go to a LR primer.
Once you get it going you are going to have a hard time putting it down! :-D
Subsonic will do you right, a right good man. I am so sorry we live so far apart.

[5shotbfr]

something i had not thought of before .
what lube are you guys using , i admit to being a lee liquid alox fan as it has always done me well in .38's and 45 colts at the moderate velocities i load at .
but i my doubts on using it for the .475 .
i need something thats suitable for pan lubing , as i dont have a lubrisizer

[subsonic]

I'm using LBT Blue and Jim (44man) uses Felix (FWFL).

[44man]

I'm using LBT Blue and Jim (44man) uses Felix (FWFL).
Both good and so is Carnauba Red. LBT Soft Blue is good as are many lubes the fellas make here. Speed green, etc. Darn, even 50-50 will work. Straight Alox? Not for me.

[MGySgt]

Try 2400 any LP primer and a boolit of 400 gr or better - you can go from 1,000 FPS to 1,400 FPS with 2400 with good accuracy in the 475.

[44man]

The caliber is indeed strange and so is the .500 JRH. Recoil can make your head shake but the darn things can stack boolits. I have shot larger and still got accuracy but I feel no need for larger. That gets to be a macho thing.
Even the JRH is a crazy thing for deer hunting because it will take anything on earth and so will the .475. I suppose it is like using a 45-70 rifle for deer when a 30-30 will do! [smilie=s:
I just love both and you will get used to the recoil, just hold it tight. After, the .44 mag will be a weak sister for recoil but is still one of the best for hunting.
I have not shot the .475 too much lately, seems like I grab the JRH more. No reason but both can be so accurate you might sell off your rifles.

[saz]

No reason but both can be so accurate you might sell off your rifles.

Not all of us can shoot like you can! :kidding:

[5shotbfr]

i dont see recoil being a issue for me , as 44man says you will get used to it .
i have shot a couple bfr's one in 45-70 and .500 s&w , while recoil was stout i didnt find either to be uncomfortable .
those two revolvers also made me want my very own bfr , i went with the .475 for one simple reason , i dont care for how the stretched frame guns look with that long cylinder .

not buying a box of factory ready mades to shoot this thing is getting harder to resist every day .



i could use a little more education before i do something dumb .

back in my younger days i bought a bisly ruger in .45 colt . the trigger pull was terrible , not gritty or creepy just very stiff .
i a fit of what i thought was pure brilliance i unhooked one leg of the trigger return spring , instantly turning a 7+ lb trigger into a nice 3 1/2 lb trigger .
i have put better then 5000 rounds threw it since with no ill effects i can find so far .

is there any possible downside to doing a redneck trigger job this way

[Whiterabbit]

dunno.

I tried that, and it made the trigger pull even grittier though lighter. So I paid what I now know is a correspondence school gunsmith for a trigger job (EVERYONE says they can work on single actions, I have come to learn), and now it feels the same, just with both legs of the trigger return spring attached.

[44man]

Not all of us can shoot like you can! :kidding:
Many here are doing it! I still think it is the load you find first, then you really do get better.
It is the old thing that if gun does not shoot, nobody can make it shoot.
It seems as if the larger calibers are easier to make accurate, faster.
The gun I hate to work with is the .357, it just gets so picky. As you go up the guns seem to get more forgiving and boolit variety you can use increases.
Semi wad cutters the exception, I can't get them to work. As caliber goes up they seem to get worse.
This is what I mean, these are the boolits the 45-70 BFR will shoot but there are a few missing, I ran out. All are accurate as can be. The .475 has done very well from 400 to 460 gr for me.
I was lucky with the JRH, the first boolit I made does it all.
Sounds funny with all the recoil.
I have never been harsh with how you fellas shoot, just what you shoot. I still see accuracy from most of you increase by leaps and bounds and more and more are getting used to the recoil.
Yeah, I have shot .357's that hurt when a .475 does not, some .44's will draw blood. Imagine a 4" .500 S&W! :veryconfu Some guns I would never shoot. I look at them, feel them and say "YOU SHOOT IT". :bigsmyl2:

[saz]

I am trying to get there 44Man!
I have tried a few different loads with my 500, and all of them had very respectable accuracy.
I think it was the easiest load to work up so far!

[paul h]

Congrats on the 475! It's become one of my favorite calibers, elbeit mine is the "special" version 480. I've found thte caliber to be exceptionally accurate over a large range of weights, and it's easy to load for.

As to brass life, I started with 200 hornady cases and over 4000 rounds later have only lost maybe a dozen to small case mouth cracks. I'm not one to keep records or segregate cases based on how many times they've been fired, so I'm sure some of those cases have been used at least 30 times. When I was first setting up my hornady dies I got a bit caried away with the belling and the crimp, which caused most of my cracked cases. Once I dialed the belling back to just enough, and backed the crimp off a bit, all was good.

I've used a variety of powders, but found with a 300-330 gr cast unique at about 10 gr will yield 1000 fps and outstanding accuracy. Not exactly a plinker load and certainly enough for the smaller big game species. Jumping up to the 400 gr I've used 2400, H-110 and Lil-gun. 2400 has a noteably sharper recoil impulse than H--110 and gives up some velocity. I ended up settling on H-110 lit off with CCI-350's. It's worked with 390-460 gr.

I've cast ww's air cooled and water quenched, plainbase and gas check. All work well, it's an easy caliber to load for. I'm suprised about the comment regarding the lee 400 gr. I have one of the prototype molds and it's worked well at 700 fps unique plinker loads up to 1350 fps out of my buddies 480. Just as accurate as bullets dropped from LBT, balisticast, Mountain Molds and NEI molds. I do think they tried to stuff too much bullet in their little 2 cavity mold, but can't dispute the results on targets.

For lubes I've used a variety, alox and rcbs were not so good, lbt blue, apache blue and lithi bee work great. I've even tumble lubed with ll a 310 lfn from a baliticast mold. Unsized they easily group 5 into 1" at 50 yds @ 1000 fps.

I hope mi-hec makes that 400 gr hp group mold, I haven't had a new 475 mold in awhile, and that should be a steller one both as an hp and a solid nose.

[bigboredad]

Paul you don't have to wait. Talk to Tom at www.accuratemolds.com let if you don't see what you want in his catalog just tell him what you want and I believe right now he saying 3 weeks and it will be in your mail box. His molds are top notch and the only one I will purchase anymore

[subsonic]

I just got mine in 11 days. The last one I ordered from him was about the same.

Why wait for a group buy and compromise?

[44man]

I am trying to get there 44Man!
I have tried a few different loads with my 500, and all of them had very respectable accuracy.
I think it was the easiest load to work up so far!
I have faith! :drinks:
I don't mind recoil but I am kind of chicken after all. I have never hurt my palm or wrist. Some guns even in smaller calibers are just too rough on my knuckle and I have had blood spray with every shot with a SBH and a sharp edge on the trigger guard. My hand has been checkered with 29's but still did not hurt. A Bisley beats me silly. I hate gritting my teeth to prevent movement at the shot.
The farthest thing from my mind is a 3# carry gun in a large caliber. I like the BFR grips and the gun weight, I can shoot them all day. Gun weight is so important. I wear a baseball cap and from the bench I have hit the brim a lot and think just how little it would take to reach my head! :mrgreen:
I watched a video of a guy shooting a little big bore and he directed the recoil so the gun was beside his ear, no thanks, you can't control a shot if you have to worry about where the gun goes.
We shoot stuff that nobody ever thought of but there are limits between having fun or getting stitches or life support. My friend split his forehead and got black eyes shooting my .475. He said he likes to hold his guns loose and let them "roll."
Fix the grips for pain and hold the gun right and see how much better it gets.
I confess to liking long barrels, heavy revolvers that look like short rifles and grips that work for me. I will not walk the path of a S&W alloy, 2" barrel shooting 320 gr boolits in a .44! That stupid thing would punch you in a .38! The Ruger Alaskan in .454, are you nuts?
Yeah, I am a chicken! I am not a big, macho tough guy, I am 74+.
I have watched big, strong, tough, macho guys flinch bad and tear my woods into tater furrows with the wrong gun. Hand them a big BFR and they do super.
The very best was a big tough White House security guy with a big head. He could not hold paper at 10 yards. My friend took his gun and punched out the center. The guy never came back! I hope he is protecting Obama! I tried to get him to shoot my .475 and never seen so much fear and sweat.
Long, long ago when I had my .44 flat top and we finished shooting a guy stopped to talk. He said he had a powerful gun, ever hear of a P-38? I handed him the .44 and talked him into shooting at a 55 gal drum in the field. It took some persuasion but he pulled the trigger. The barrel stopped 1/4" from his head, he turned white, said no more and left! Can you imagine handing him a .500? It has been fun!

[5shotbfr]

you fellows sure dont make it easy on a guy waiting to break in a new toy

[44man]

you fellows sure dont make it easy on a guy waiting to break in a new toy
You will be fine, it is a great gun with the perfect weight. Just hold very snug without going to a shake point. Don't strain. Forget the recoil and squeeze the shot off and the darn thing will hit where you are aiming.
I see a future love affair but you are not allowed to sleep with your gun, you wife will beat you worse then the recoil! :mrgreen:

[5shotbfr]

ah hah i knew i had an advantage .
i dont have a wife to beat me :happy dance: i only let my girl friend stay over two nights a week , so she doesnt get any crazy ideas

[5shotbfr]

woo hooo , good news for me . i payed all my bills , and had money left over .

10 minutes on grafs web site later and i have starline cases and rcbs dies coming my way:Fire:

[subsonic]

Your mold is leaving tomorrow too!

[5shotbfr]

[smilie=p: oh boy , its goin to be a good week