Taurus Raging Bull .480 Ruger

[pacecars]

I have traded my way into a 5 inch stainless steel Taurus Raging Bull .480 Ruger. I figure the cartridge is perfect for cast bullets and plan to use 425 gr or so LBT WFN style bullets to hunt with. Are any of you familiar with this model and/or any other ported models and how they do with cast bullets?

[pacecars]

Also any suggestions on holsters?

[Lefty SRH]

I have a Ruger SRH in .480R and love it. Don't know anything about the Taurus model but I can suggest a chest style holster for hunting. Diamond D Custom Leather will take care of you.

[ben lurkin]

Did the same thing for the same reason about a month ago except I have the 8-3/8" barrel. I'm still gathering reloading supplies, etc. For mine. I'm considering the 335 gr. LEE gc mold so I can get rolling.

[Lefty SRH]

Is the Taurus a 5 or 6 shot?

[pacecars]

It is a 5 shot

[Packy]

I have the Taurus 8 3/8. I shoot the lee 400gr, it shoots good with 20 grs of 296. Tryed 20.5 and 21 grs of 296, didn't seem to be as accurate, so just went back to 20 grs. I didn't have much luck with the lee 325. The ports do get some lead in them but is easy to clean up.

[warf73]

I don't have a Taurus but do shoot a SRH in the 480 and love it. I'm still working on load devoplment but getting closer to what I want.
81356
Here is what the boolit looks like naked.
81354
Its a mold made by Tom at Accurate Molds.
81355
Here's what it looks like compared to a Lee 400gr. (Lee on left Accurate on right)
81353

If you would like I can send ya 20 or so lubed and sized of the 385grs as I sold off both of the Lee molds I had. Send me a PM and will set it up if you like.

Warf

[Lefty SRH]

How hard are you pushing those 385s. Is your gun brushed stainless or that grey finish Ruger has?

[warf73]

Its the Ruger Target Grey, as for the load 25grs of 296 which is doing good but the loose nut behind the trigger needs more practice. I'm getting 4~5" at 100 yards which is ok but I think it has to do more with me than the gun/load. I need more trigger time and more offten to get better with the gun, every trip out I get better but still have 1 or 2 fliers which blows the group.
I'll get there as these big bore pistols aren't as easy to tame/master as the 357 mag and 44 mag.

[Lefty SRH]

I have a hard time hitting 100yds. I know it's me and not the gun or load.

[pacecars]

I got the Simply Rugged Sourdough in the mail yesterday!

[dmize]

I have the short 480 Raging Bull,a SRH 480 and a BFR 475/480.
The Taurus will never shoot with a Ruger,I have been trying for 3 years with 4 different bullets.
I settled with the Mihec 480 bullet with the largest HP,about 385 grains and 20 grains of H110, I also shoot it with 10 grains of Unique.
I tried the Lee 325 but it hates it.
People seem to get too hung up on the port thing,yes it does get some lead up there,but nothing that a bronze bristle brush and some Hoppes wont take care of. Even tho after shooting all of mine I think the Taurus ports are more "show than go".
Now for the bad news,when it gets back from Taurus,been gone 4 months this time it is headed down the trail and I am either going to get A Ruger Alaskan or get another SRH and cut it down.
I am NOT bashing Taurus, I like mine but I am tired of MINE breaking. And in its defense I shot the holy snot out of this thing.
If I were you I would treat it the way a bunch of people suggest treating older Smiths. Find a good hunting load and another lower pressure "shooting load"

[Lefty SRH]

I have the short 480 Raging Bull,a SRH 480 and a BFR 475/480.
The Taurus will never shoot with a Ruger,I have been trying for 3 years with 4 different bullets.
I settled with the Mihec 480 bullet with the largest HP,about 385 grains and 20 grains of H110, I also shoot it with 10 grains of Unique.
I tried the Lee 325 but it hates it.
People seem to get too hung up on the port thing,yes it does get some lead up there,but nothing that a bronze bristle brush and some Hoppes wont take care of. Even tho after shooting all of mine I think the Taurus ports are more "show than go".
Now for the bad news,when it gets back from Taurus,been gone 4 months this time it is headed down the trail and I am either going to get A Ruger Alaskan or get another SRH and cut it down.
I am NOT bashing Taurus, I like mine but I am tired of MINE breaking. And in its defense I shot the holy snot out of this thing.
If I were you I would treat it the way a bunch of people suggest treating older Smiths. Find a good hunting load and another lower pressure "shooting load"

What sort of problems have you had with the Taurus? I figured that would be a pretty stout wheelgun considering its 5 shot vs. 6 in a Ruger?

[dmize]

Went out of time once,had a local smith fix it. It did it again and sent it to Taurus.was gone 3 months that time. This time it broke a pin somewhere in the trigger mechanism,could not pull hammer back for a single action shot but could pull trigger for a DA shot,catch the hammer and cock it for a SA shot.
It left in May this time and still not back.
I was attracted to it because it is a very compact size for being a 480. And at that time Ruger offered the Alaskan that the barrel ended at the shroud.
If I had it to do over again I would have picked up another 7 1/2 SRH and had the barrel cut back.
My plan now is to replace it with the New Alaskan that is supposed to be coming out sometime.

[Lefty SRH]

I've owned the .44 Alaskan and have played with the .454 Alaskan. I hope I get a chance to play with the .480 Alaskan at some point. I really enjoy my 9 1/2" .480 Ruger SRH

[fabgrunt]

Haven't fired the Taurus. I have a 7-1/2" SRH with a scope that I routinely take deer hunting. I've loaded a bunch of Hornady 325g XTPs, and both 275 and 325g gold dots. I have a batch of the Barnes 275g XPBs now that I need to find good load data for. I have not yet loaded any cast bullets yet for it. With the 325s, I can routinely get get 3-4" groups at 100yds. That may be my limit, and not the load or the gun. It is only a 2X scope, and my eyes are not what they were 30 years ago! I love the .480. More power than the .44, and not as snappy as the .454.

[pacecars]

Heading to the range tomorrow thanks to warf73's generous offer.

[warf73]

Hope you had a good day at the range.
Let me know which worked out better for you :)

[warboar_21]

I have a 7.5" Ruger Super Redhawk in .480 Ruger. I shoot the Lee 400gr. It's a great mold. I use Unique for plinking loads and I use H110 for the full power loads. 8-10 grs of Unique and 20-21.5grs of the H110. The 400gr has a nice wide meplate. Kind of reminds me of the 300gr .452 bullet.

[pacecars]

The 385 gr bullets worked very well. I set up some bowling pins at 25 yards and hit it every time and rolled them back past 50 yards. Recoil is not too bad with 21 grs of H-110. I picked up a Lee 400gr mold so i will give it a try soon

[hodgeswalt]

Not to hi-jack this thread, but can anyone tell me what scopes or red-dots you have found to handle the recoil on the .454?

Thank you,

Walt

[paul h]

The discontinued simmons gold medal 2-7 will handle anything a handgun can dish out, same for the leupold handgun scopes. Those are the only ones I'll trust. My gold medal never faltered on various t/c contender barrels or several thousand rounds through my 480.

[dmize]

I ended up putting a Burris on my 454 SRH. Also trash canned the Ruger rings and put a Weigand mount on it.
May just have been me but with the 454 the Ruger rings are a scope destroying joke.
Also after a great deal of research I put an Ultra Dot 30 on my 475 BFR.
As a side note.....My 480 Raging Bull has now been back in Taurus' hands for almost 7 months.......