Single powder for .480 Ruger 350-420-grain bullets?

[Naphtali]

I'm attempting to simplify my 7.5-inch Super Redhawk .480 Ruger reloading by limiting myself to two powders and three bullets. Modest loads I have firmed up. I ask for assistance for hunting loads.

To shoot with 350-420-grain plain-base cast bullets while keeping operating pressures beneath 39,000 PSI, what single powder provides acceptable performance throughout the bullet range? If compromise is necessary, sacrifice bullets/performance above 400 grains.

Until yesterday I believed Lil 'Gun was the answer. In the thread, "454 Casull/Lil'Gun Cast Info Request," the consensus appears to be that Lil 'Gun burns hot, perhaps erosively, while yielding mediocre accuracy in .454 Casull cartridges.

[454PB]

I don't own a 480 Ruger, but I think you may be missing an opportunity by writing off Lil'Gun. It shoots just as well in all my magnum handguns as H-110, WW 296, and WC 820. It's biggest advantage is that it produces more velocity than any of the previously named powders and at what "seems" to be lower pressure. It also has not shown the load density problems and squib possibilities that H-110 and 296 do. As far as the hot barrel reports, I haven't seen any more heating than any other powder creates. You can't fire high pressure, high velocity loads without heating.

For $20, you can find out for yourself.

[freedom475]

Naphtali..If you have modest loads firmed up I would say you also have your hunting load...unless your going after something that bites back. A 400gr. at 1000-1100 will pretty much "Thump" anything that walks hard enough.

I don't own a 480 but do have a 475Linebaugh FA83. I too would like to find an accurate "Do-All" powder for it but I'm not sure if it excists. I have been doing a lot of testing lately with it and 400gr cast.

Lilgun= this stuff is one of the most accurate I've found. But the muzzle blast and flash is intense to say the least. The front sight will hit you in the face if your not careful....The recoil is the most I've found with the 475. Even loads that are 200fps slower than H110, Lilgun makes a faster sharper recoil... Lilgun now is resurved where it is best suited thats my 22Hornet.

Unique= the most accurate reduced load powder I've tested. 10shot cloverleaf at 50yrds.... But it will pressure spike on you when it reaches its max....my chrony for 475linebaugh...9gr=930fps/10gr.960fps/11gr=1150fps..thats a big pressure spike for one grain powder. I just looked in a new manual(think it was Speer) 13.5gr max..I think not... in my gun This seems very unsafe to me.

Titegroup=shot 2lbs through hunting season and it works well but is not as accurate as I would like..also hits high left from my gun. Makes a nice Quiet round..at 1050fps 400gr. boolit was quite effective on the elk, deer and bobcat I shot with it this year.

H110 is probly the best all around powder I've used but it is just a little more power than I need. The reports I've read say this powder will remain stable up through 60,ooo without a "Pressure Spike". which is way past the 20-40,000 where most of us prefure to operate.

Trailboss= a nice accurate plinking load but it is so slow in fps that its hard to get boolits to fly very far on the Great Plains of Montana.

I just bought a lb of Blue Dot to test...I will know soon if this is "The One" I'm after?

[Lloyd Smale]

if i had to pick one powder only and use it for full power and low power loads id probably pick 2400 it will get you close to top end loads and still load down low enough to make comfortable loads. 110 aa9 and lilgun all work on the top end but dont load down near as well. If you are happy with loads that top out at around 1100 or maybe a tad more hs6 would be another good one to try.

[BABore]

WW 296 for hunting loads

I've found Lil Gun to be spikey at top end and you'll give up a little velocity with 2400 although it's very accurate.

WW 231 works real well for plinkers as well as Unique. Hodgdon's lists TiteGroup as a good low end powder, but I've never had the accuracy with it.

[dubber123]

if i had to pick one powder only and use it for full power and low power loads id probably pick 2400 it will get you close to top end loads and still load down low enough to make comfortable loads. 110 aa9 and lilgun all work on the top end but dont load down near as well. If you are happy with loads that top out at around 1100 or maybe a tad more hs6 would be another good one to try.

I think I'll go with Lloyd on this one. H-110/296 would probably get that last few fps. for you, but it downloads poorly. Shot some 475 loads with 2400 this weekend, and it was very easy to get a 400 gr. to 1,200 fps. at mild pressures, the cases simply fell out, and it shot in 3/4" at 25 yds. off a crappy rest. This was no where near max, but it got "most" of the power with no trouble. No need for a mag primer with 2400 either.

[Naphtali]

My query is, perhaps, unclear. Sorry.

My modest load will use Unique and 325-grain bullet.

Rather than identify a velocity wanted for bullets in the 350-420 grain weight range, I identify a pressure range -- in the lower-to-middle of Hodgdon's .480 Ruger pressure data. Velocities will vary considerably by bullet weight variance. I have not yet purchased molds. I bought boxes of 100 bullets in several weights. But the weather here is unpleasant, so nothing has been done.

While it is likely that I will settle on a WW bullet weight between 360 and 380 grains, I attempted to frame my query to yield wiggle room on mold selection.

[dubber123]

I think I will stay with my pic of 2400. Downloaded too far, and it doesn't burn well, but in the pressure range you indicated, I think it would work well.

[Lloyd Smale]

I based my choises on years of chronograph readings. I know guys who load down aa9 and even 110 and seem to find decent shooting loads and even load them with std. primers but if you run them accross a chrono. Youll find big swings in velocitys. 110 lilgun aa9 and other ball slow burning powders need pressure to burn right. One example is wc820 (aa9) this year we were testing alot of it in 44 mags with 240 grain bullets. If you got down below 19 grains velocitys went crazy. Sometimes as much as a 300 fps swing. To get it to burn right you needed about 21 grains with a stad primer and if you used a mag primer you would be able to sneek down to 19. Now we shot some groups at 25 with loads as light as 17 and actually shot great groups but with velocity swings like we were getting i wouldnt guess it would do the same at a 100 yards and wouldnt want to trust it for a hunting load. Load a 300 grain bullet and most of these problems went away. Just because a loading manual says a powder will work for your application doesnt guarantee anything. A different bullet design or a slightly longer barrel with change everything. A great hunting load with the 480 would be a 400 grain bullet at about 1100 fps. 2400 is the ideal powder to do that and even sneek it up to 1200 if your careful. To give a set in concrete answer as to what is going to shoot the best in your gun is impossible. Only way your going to find that out is to put in time at the loading machine on the bench and accross a chrono. But if your planning on loading anything that lower in pressure then full power id stay away from 110 and lilgun. aa9, h4227 and 2400 are much better for that.

[6pt-sika]

I had a pair of SRH's in 480 in the past !!!

I used a lot of H110 but with jacketed bullets .

For cast loads I used AA1680 the most and it believe it or not were my most accurate loads !

[44man]

Might want to find a load with HS-6. I have a mild load for the .475 that is extremely accurate. Recoil is nice and it has reached 1" at 50 yd's. It could just be the best powder for your needs.

[Naphtali]

Regarding "what shoots best in my specific SRHs," so long as the powder selected has flexibility with charge weight and bullet weight, I should be able to develop a successful load.

Successful will be based upon rapid (for me) three-shot groups at 60 meters with support. The load must be light enough for me to actually fire three aimed shots rapidly. Rapidly, for me, is about every four-five seconds. Sixty meters is my limit for where I believe I can maintain groups consistently smaller than eight inches -- that is, within four inches of point of aim -- at speed.

And incidentally, the terrain where I hunt will limit shooting to closer range than my limit so long as I will not consider cross-valley shooting. Since I'm gearing the load for elk, I intend to reduce the likelihood of having to track a wounded animal through Lolo. It's job enough to get the sectioned animal to a road head.
***
Where can I find data or manuals current for the powders you are suggesting? Hodgdon's online .480 Ruger data, while more thorough than most, has nothing on Alliant powders or on reduced loads except for Trail Boss.

I find nothing for other powders online comparable with Hodgdon's data. And you have opened my mind to several choices I had not considered. That's good.
***
Does it matter significantly that I use only magnum primers in Starline brass?

[BABore]

Speer has a couple of data sheets for their GD bullets that use a variety of powders. The Lyman 48th Ed. has 480 data, but nothing for cast, not that it has held me up any.[smilie=1:

[454PB]

I just bought the new Speer manual #14, and it has some good load data for 480 Ruger.

Regarding Lloyd's last post, I had a squib load using WC820 (AAC#9 equivalent) in my .454 Casull due to a light weight boolit and powder charge. I've also had hangfires using AAC #9 with light boolits.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Great thread . Naphtali; Did you find the perfect powder. At this point I'm dealing with quite a difference in impact with different bullet and boolit weights as far as the iron sights on my 7.5" SRH.
Glen.

[High Desert Hunter]

For myself, I have had the best luck with HS6 and Longshot, for top end loads, 300-MP has performed better than H110, this is in my SBH with the 6 1/2" barrel.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

What boolit weight and velocity ?

[High Desert Hunter]

I am shooting 360 to 420 gr bullets, I load for a target velocity of 1100 fps.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

I've never tried 300 MP.. I'll check it out. Thanks. How do you like your Bisley ?

[osteodoc08]

2400 is a decent choice of a do most powder. It can be loaded up and down.

I prefer 296 for too end hunting loads in all my magnums. I've shied away from Lilgun but never had issues.

[High Desert Hunter]

I love my Bisley! Only thing I would have preferred was a 5 1/2" barrel, but it is close enough. I have only run about 5 or 6 hundred rounds through it so far, much more pleasant to shoot than top in loads in my 454.

[Tracy]

I have a Super Redhawk .480 and have never fired a jacketed bullet in it. I was actually given a box of factory ammo, but it's still on the shelf. To me there is one perfect powder for .480 with cast boolits, and that powder is 2400. I suspect it works great with jacketed bullets too, if one saw a need for them.

[osteodoc08]

I suspect it works great with jacketed bullets too, if one saw a need for them.

Nope. Can't think of one. :castmine:

[Cold Trigger Finger]

I love my Bisley! Only thing I would have preferred was a 5 1/2" barrel, but it is close enough. I have only run about 5 or 6 hundred rounds through it so far, much more pleasant to shoot than top in loads in my 454.

I'm thinking I will try the 4 5/8" Bisley Blackhawk 480. As soon as I can. I've got the 7 1/2" SRH for hunting. The 4 5/8 would be pretty great for a chest holster or lots of other packing options

[Cold Trigger Finger]

But the 6 1/2" Is pretty awesome. Actually, I'de like both the 480 and the 454. I really like Ruger Bisley's, in case I haven't mentioned that before; -)

[Greg S]

HS6 works great in a 475 LB WITH 380-425 gr pills as 44 Man said. Running Mihec 477-640 HP @ 1150.

[5.7 MAN]

HS-6 13-14 grains pushes 330 grain to 400 grain bullets right in the 1100 FPS category. I'll keep some unique around but HS6 is now my go to powder.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

This thread is quite an education. I've never considered any powder but the strongest for large caliber handguns. I have run Rl 7 and 4198 for lower velocity loads .

[Cold Trigger Finger]

HS6 works great in a 475 LB WITH 380-425 gr pills as 44 Man said. Running Mihec 477-640 HP @ 1150.

What weight boolit does that mold throw ?

[str8wal]

HS-6 is hard to beat for a good all-around powder. Not in the same league as H110/296 for magnum loads but dang close.

[jaydub in wi]

What weight boolit does that mold throw ?

There is a thread in the closed group buys section. The plain base boolit is listed at 410 grains as a solid and 385 as a hp. I bought one but haven't cast with it yet

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Ok. Thank you.

[sixshot]

I use 4227, 2400 & HS6 in the 4 different 480's I've owned for less than full throttle loads. These guns have accounted for 2 moose & 1 bison. For full power loads H110 is probably the best powder I've found.

Dick

[Ramjet-SS]

#9 has a sharp pressure rise at a little over max.

For me top end loads are not important.

Accuracy however is very important. Seeing that most hand loading is done for affordable practice and just plain fun. I would suggest that 325 grain WFN at moderate velocity from the 480 it will take game effectively out to 150 yards. Even Elk. You will rarely recover the bullet because of pass through. I use a load of Unique in a 475 Linebugh rifle once shot a doe facing me center chest that bullet traversed the entire length of the that big ole baloney doe a exited just to the right of her ____ you mow what. She rolled backwards kicked twice and that was ready for field dressing. That was at 80 yards. I am huge fan of Unique....

[Cold Trigger Finger]

With the 480 , my initial loading concern was for max killing effectiveness at very close range. Now , tho I still want a load for that . I also want a plinking load. Something like a 325 gr @ 800-1000 fps. Where does one find Unique loads for the 480.??

[Ramjet-SS]

Start with 8.5 Grains work up to 11.5 Grains as the max watch for signs of pressure.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Ahh, thank you. That would make for a nice plunker. Economical too.

[Three44s]

I think that for the parameters the OP has set forth, HS6 or 2400 would be the best.

Personally I don't shy away from Lil'gun one bit and the alleged erosion in a 454 does not worry me when I am stuffing and shooting a 480. Both are revolvers and that's about where the comparison ends.

If I were limited to one powder choice for the rest of my life, then I would order a truck load of HS6. Fortunately I am not so constrained.

Best regards

Three44s

[High Desert Hunter]

199591

This has become my go to bullet, from an NOE mold.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

What weight ? That hollow nose is huge !
Looks like the Mihec 45 mold Boolits I just got.
I'll prolly only use the flat nose inserts .

[chuckbuster]

Most of this discussion has been around powder. My Opinion you need a MiHec 477-640 mold on the shelf if you going to feed a .480. As for what it weighs my alloy GC'd Lubed and ready to go as a solid is 420-425gr range. Small HP about 405 and Large HP 390-395.
Kevin

[Cold Trigger Finger]

I guess the HP and cup nose inserts would be a good thing for alot of users. The only thing I wonder about is how well the cup nose will retain weight when slammed into big bones like in moose or bear. Grizzly/brown bear.
I don't need expansion for caribou. If the boolit is in the right spot, they die pretty quick. If not, good luck finding them.

[Ramjet-SS]

I did testing on that bullet as I have that mould and shoot that bullet from a 20" lever gun in 480. It is devastating as large HP but the button drives deep in wet news print. If I were concerned about penetrating the shoulder of charging bad attitude bear the solid is best bet and it does NOT have to be loaded top end moderate loads of that bullet in the 900-1000 FPS traverse 36" of wet news print and then through a 2x10 board at the back of my wet news print holder. For other game such as the Caribou that large Hp at 900 FPS will devastate the boiler room of that animal and that is with a alloy similar to #2. I have some of the deep HP they weigh around 370 Grains.

PM me your address if your not in California I will mail you 10-20 or so to play with.

My favorite load is 9.0 grains of Unique with that bullet from my 480 Ruger Lever gun.

[wl620]

I shoot an accurate molds copy of a keith bullet that weighs 350 grs. over hs6 in my 61/2" bisley and the above mentioned mp 477-640 in solid form over alliant 300mp from an older target gray super redhawk.
The hs-6 load is very accurate and after considerable testing proved to be the best for that gun. I shot up quite a bit of h110 in the SRH with excellent results, but I am getting better velocity over my chronograph and the same size groups with 300mp and i dont have to buy magnum primers to use it. I use federal 150's with it and cci 300's with the hs6.
I still tinker with different loads some but these are the ones I'm stuck on and both guns will shoot good groups with either load.
300mp is usually cheaper than h110 or most other powders in the same burn rate

[dougader]

Just to bring this up again, that MiHec bullet, large hp, has been used by Sixshot, Zeus, Fowler and others over on the Single Actions forum to take all kinds of game from wild hogs, deer, elk, moose and Bison. Their load has been been around 13.5 grains of HS6.

An earlier post here talked about the newer 4.6" Ruger SBH Bilsey in 480 and I will say if you're interested go ahead and get it. It's what I would have purchased initially if it had been offered with the 6.5" model. As it is, I sold my 6.5" in order to get the shorty, and I just love the shorter barrel and how handy it feels in comparison. The fit and finish is better and the cylinder lockup is great. Trigger was lighter on the 6.5" model, but not bad on this one. The grips just don't fit on these new Rugers, but some hand-fitted walnut grips from my 6.5" SBH fit this new one pretty well.

I have loaded 12 - 15 grains Blue Dot with the MiHec hp of about 395 grains. Powder coated, Sixshot sent me 100 to try out and I love it. I have my own mold now but haven't cast my own yet. I was aiming for 1000 - 1050 fps and i think it was about 14 grains BD that got me there with the 6.5" barrel.

BTW, my gun barrels measured 6-3/8" for the long barrel, and 4-19/32" for the shorty.

[JSH]

I also have the Mihec mold. I have not shot near as much of them as I would like too.
We hear about hard or soft alloys. I had mentioned in one of Dicks threads, the term "tough" should be included as well. There is a happy medium in the mix. To hard and it can shatter. To soft and it will come apart like putty.
This is where a known alloy comes in handy, along with one doing some testing in some type of media. Shooting big hogs, elk and moose is way off from shooting a whitetail.
Jeff

[daleraby]

I've been experimenting a bit with Accurate #11FS using 400 grain cast bullets. The working theory being that it's basically Winchester 296/Hodgdon H110 but flash suppressed, which could be useful if something big black and dangerous comes to the edge of the campfire light some evening. Sights with watch lume infused paint on them is perhaps not a bad idea for this application.

Haven't done much hunting with .480 Ruger yet... though I can say for certain that it is somewhat overkill on cottontail rabbits, at least if you plan to eat it.

Recoil is pretty fierce, but most would expect that, nicht wahr?

[Groo]

Groo here
I have a 475 and suggest a sub 400gr bullet you like [350-375ish] and something easy to load up or down like 2400.
Best would be Trailbose {fullcase to bullet and mag primers} and a magnum powder you like,,, or something like Unique for all.
Ps. 400+ boolets are only "NEEDED" for African game or "Tanks"

[bigboredad]

Take a look hs-6 and 4227. I like both and use a lot of those powder

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