New BFR .475

[44man]

My friend bill came over to shoot today. He had a new BFR .475 and Hornady factory loads with 400 gr bullets. He also had .480's with 400 gr and 325 gr bullets. He didn't have a new Ultra dot yet so we shot with open sights at 50 yards. I was impressed with the Hornady loads. All groups were from 1-1/2" down to 1". We sighted the .475's to center. The heavy .480's hit just above the paper and the lighter bullets hit at the bottom of the paper. Groups were the same as the .475's. Very consistent accuracy.
I put up a quart plastic bottle from coffee creamer and centered it at 100 yards with the first shot.
I was very impressed with the accuracy of the Hornady loads. Both of us have bad eyesight and sights were fuzzy as heck. I would love to see what these loads would do with a scope.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Respectfully sir, but my eyesight would be fuzzy too if I was shooting 400 grs out of a handgun.

Do you ever shoot .357s?

[44man]

Respectfully sir, but my eyesight would be fuzzy too if I was shooting 400 grs out of a handgun.

Do you ever shoot .357s?
.357---.357----UM, .357???? What is a .357? Is that a GUN? :bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:
Naw, sold mine years and years ago. I did love it, it was an 8-3/8" S&W with a rib and would do under an inch at 100 yards. I will always be sorry I got rid of it but I never had money to buy a new gun unless I sold another. Now a .44 with 330 gr boolits is a pipsqueek to me. I do love the big stuff.
You don't know what you are missing! :drinks::drinks:

[JesterGrin_1]

I am glad you had fun with the new gun but my eyes are fuzzy just thinking about it lol. And my right hand does not work well from thinking of the pain it would have caused lol.

I will keep with my teenie weinie itsy bitsy pipsqueek .44 Mag with the LEE 310Gr lol.

[Frank]

I would love to see what these loads would do with a scope.

44man, have you ever considered a scope with an elevation turret? You can run a ballistic chart and dial in your numbers. I remember you talk about holding over on a tree limb. Why guess with holdover, use come-ups if you are shooting long range.

[44man]

I have one! A Loopy with a turret but I can't use a scope for hunting in dim light. What is more important then hunting? I don't like to change the Ultra Dot settings so a tree limb works just fine! :mrgreen:
If I have to aim at a star, I know I am shooting too far. [smilie=1:

[dk17hmr]

I need to go to the 44man school of revolver shooting....I cant get better than 3" at 50 yards with my 454.

So are 480 in a 475 like shooting a 38 in a 357, besides the recoil.

[bisley45]

that is some good shooting I am going to have to get one of them BFRs.
are you goint to shoot in the june pistol shoot. I am hope you do to I need some competition:kidding:

[dubber123]

When I first got my .475, I shot alot of the Hornady factory load. (It was alot cheaper then). It was very consistant and accurate, around 1" for 5 at 50 yds., but not very powerful as .475 loads go. It only averaged 1,225 from my 4-3/4", well off their published ballistics.

[44man]

I need to go to the 44man school of revolver shooting....I cant get better than 3" at 50 yards with my 454.

So are 480 in a 475 like shooting a 38 in a 357, besides the recoil.
Yes but I really did not notice much difference in recoil. The light bullet .480 loads felt sharper to me.
I bought some .480 brass before I could find .475 brass for my BFR when I first bought the gun. Mine has never had a jacketed bullet through it. I tried to get the shorter brass to shoot but it never matched the full length brass with cast. It is OK but not what I wanted. So it surprised me that the factory loads shot so well.

Now which .454 are you shooting? If it is a Freedom or a Ruger, they seem to work best with 335 gr boolits or slightly under. They must be shot fast with the slow twist rates of 1 in 24".
I worked on a friends for a while and had ignition problems with all SR primers, even magnums. I actually had to go 1/2 gr over max with 296 to see any grouping.
I shortened .460 brass and went to a LP mag primer for a test and accuracy improved a whole bunch, ignition problems went away.
I feel the SR primer in the .454 is a poor choice and it makes powder selection critical. The wrong powder will increase pressure too much, too soon and might not get the velocity up enough to spin up a boolit. The slow powders that work the best are hampered by poor ignition along with too much primer pressure. You need primer fire without primer pressure.
Your groups just might not be your fault.

[dk17hmr]

Its a Ruger and a normal full power load is a 350gr Hammer bullet sized to .454 pushed by 30ish grains of H110. I have tried everything from 220gr-370gr in it and no matter what combo I shoot 3" is the norm, but a light load of trail boss or Red Dot in 45lc brass with 255gr Keith bullets will cut "one hole" at 50 yards.

[odis]

When I read this post I had to call the precision center about my order. Brett told me that they have started my gun but are waiting for the .45 colt reamers, I can hardly wait. odis

[44man]

Its a Ruger and a normal full power load is a 350gr Hammer bullet sized to .454 pushed by 30ish grains of H110. I have tried everything from 220gr-370gr in it and no matter what combo I shoot 3" is the norm, but a light load of trail boss or Red Dot in 45lc brass with 255gr Keith bullets will cut "one hole" at 50 yards.
I would be doing ignition tests with all primers but be careful. Make sure all boolits leave the barrel. I would almost bet there is too much variation. There is no other reason the Ruger will not group.
See if you can find some used .460 brass or just buy some and cut them down. I think you will be surprised. Then you can test a LP mag and a standard LR primer.
I watched my friend work with his Freedom for years and I have shot his loads many times with the same kind of groups you are getting. He has a Loopy scope on his too.
But I got the SRH down to 1" at 50 yards with the LBT 335 gr WLNGC and an Ultra Dot.
Watching Jerry with his gun turned me off to the .454.
Have to take a brass rod and a big hammer to pound out boolits/bullets when using starting loads. [smilie=1:[smilie=1:

[Mugs]

I've had the best luck with SR primers and ball powder using Rem. 7 1/2 primers.
Mugs
IHMSA 5940L

[crabo]

What kind of targets are you using at 50 yards with iron sights? I haven't really figured out one that I like for irons on a pistol yet.

[S.R.Custom]

You might try coyotes. Challenging, but very satisfying. :razz:

[JesterGrin_1]

Knowing 44MAN he is using Asprin's lol. :) They make a nice white cloud when hit lol. :) Another fun item is Glow Sticks at night :)

[dubber123]

What kind of targets are you using at 50 yards with iron sights? I haven't really figured out one that I like for irons on a pistol yet.

I like 2-3/8" black bulls painted on matte white paper. Not too big, not too small at 50. Yes you can shoot 1" 50 yd. iron sight groups. Target size matching is very important. Too big, you can wander all over, too small, is just as bad.

I shoot for a 6 O'clock hold, and if seriously shooting groups, I adjust the sights to group well below the bull. If it shoots in the bull, each shot is ruining your aiming point, if it shoots above, you can see the group forming, and it's a good way to ruin the last shot on a real wall hanger...[smilie=1:

[44man]

I like 2-3/8" black bulls painted on matte white paper. Not too big, not too small at 50. Yes you can shoot 1" 50 yd. iron sight groups. Target size matching is very important. Too big, you can wander all over, too small, is just as bad.

I shoot for a 6 O'clock hold, and if seriously shooting groups, I adjust the sights to group well below the bull. If it shoots in the bull, each shot is ruining your aiming point, if it shoots above, you can see the group forming, and it's a good way to ruin the last shot on a real wall hanger...[smilie=1:
Darn it dubber, how do you see the holes at 50 yards???? I have to walk down to the target to see what I shot! :mrgreen:
My target has a 6" black spot with a 2" white center spot. I split the center spot with the front sight.

[dubber123]

Darn it dubber, how do you see the holes at 50 yards???? I have to walk down to the target to see what I shot! :mrgreen:
My target has a 6" black spot with a 2" white center spot. I split the center spot with the front sight.

Well, our actual aiming spots are within 3/8" of each other. I do better with a 6 O'clock hold, even though I always sight in for dead on after group shooting. Thats one thing about the .475's and up, the holes do show up better! I have a .510" wadcutter that REALLY shows up at 50 yds.

I guess the thing is to find what works for you. I like the black bulls because they work for me, and because I used a Forstner bit set to make plywood stencils up to make from 3/4" to 2-3/8" holes, and just use flat black spray paint to make my targets. ( Cheap SOB). [smilie=1: I also have a supply of 24" X 24" paper, which helps keep me from being distracted by anything close to my aiming point.

[44man]

I am cheaper then you by a long shot! :mrgreen:
I give a target to a friend and he runs me off a huge pile on the copy machine at work. He must have brought me 20# of targets the last time. :drinks: Before I retired I would run the machines out of ink too. [smilie=1:

[woodsie57]

OK- Iron sights;Tremendous recoil, fuzzy eyesight, 1"@ 50 yds...... I've gotta touch the holes with my fingers.. Sincerely, Thomas...[anybody get it?]

[Frank]

"Many of the BFR's calibers will shoot groups of well under 2" at 50 yards with mechanical sights." - Magnum Research

[44man]

"Many of the BFR's calibers will shoot groups of well under 2" at 50 yards with mechanical sights." - Magnum Research
So will a lot of Rugers. I have actually shot several 1" groups with this one at 75 yards too.
The S&W would do 1/2" at 50 meters.
You will either cuss revolvers or love them.

[44man]

The Vaquero has tremendous recoil with a 347 gr Lyman, 21.5 gr of 296. It beat my knuckle so I put Pachmeyer grips on it. I compare it to the .475. This thing is death on deer!
Now something I found over the years but don't hold me to it, just my experience. The .41 and .44 seem to be harder to get consistent accuracy with cast boolits, in other words, a fantastic bunch of groups one day, then not so good next time. I did not see this with jacketed.
As the caliber gets larger, consistency appears to improve.
Nothing I can prove, just sticks in the back of my mind.
The only thing I can narrow it down to is that there is a difference in the brass and it has more effect then it does in the larger bores.
The next thing would be outside temperatures that make lube more slippery one day over the other and might be why some lubes hold down group size over others. Any difference in boolit release from the brass is not good.

[Frank]

So will a lot of Rugers. I have actually shot several 1" groups with this one at 75 yards too.
The S&W would do 1/2" at 50 meters.
You will either cuss revolvers or love them.


Looks good. Now what does it do when you shoot 5 5-shot groups at 50 yards with that load? Now that you're fresh from iron sight shooting the BFR, why don't you and Bill go take out the Vaquero and try it out? :p

[44man]

Looks good. Now what does it do when you shoot 5 5-shot groups at 50 yards with that load? Now that you're fresh from iron sight shooting the BFR, why don't you and Bill go take out the Vaquero and try it out? :p
The gun is consistent. I shot a lot of groups while working with the front sight to get the elevation I wanted. Each was small. I needed more metal added to the top of the sight because it was shooting too high. This was after fixing the sight.
I also had a nice doe facing away from me at 100 to 110 yards. I aimed just over her back and hit her in the neck, dropping her right there. Nothing more needed!
Bill does not shoot that good yet, throwing groups to the left. He did have some small groups but not where they should be.

[danski26]

What about the hole in the 5 ring in the picture?

[44man]

What about the hole in the 5 ring in the picture?
Staple tear, there are holes in the other corner too.

[Frank]

44man replies
The gun is consistent. I shot a lot of groups while working with the front sight to get the elevation I wanted. Each was small. I needed more metal added to the top of the sight because it was shooting too high. This was after fixing the sight.


So the heavy bullet prints high. That really is a gem, that Vaquero you have, and how you have it all dialed in. A remarkable achievement, 44man. :Fire:

[44man]

It is a wonderful gun and I am sorry Ruger changed it for the cowboy crowd. They should offer both versions. But they go where the money is, not many guys hunt with the Vaquero or shoot heavy loads.