What’s up with all the used 480 Rugers on the market?

[nicholst55]

Poking around on the interwebs, it looks like there's little to no 480 Ruger brass or ammo available. Seeing how it's taken a couple of years just to get 9mm back on the shelves, I suspect some 480 owners may have given up on ever shooting them again.

I was just going to comment on that. Factory ammo is almost impossible to find, and extremely expensive when you do; along the lines of $80 for 20 rounds - or higher. Brass for the .480 is impossible to find. Starline may make a run next year sometime (I just exchanged emails with them on this subject). Hornady has supposedly stopped selling the brass, and now only sells factory ammo. I recently saw some Federal .480 brass in a picture, which is the first I knew that they had ever made anything for this cartridge. Right now, your only choice for brass is to buy Hornady .475 Linebaugh brass and trim it down to .480 size. Starline is accepting backorders for .475 brass, but not for .480. Wonder what percentage of the people ordering .475 brass really want .480?

Another note: You can form both .475 Linebaugh and .480 Ruger brass from .45-70 brass. Any brand other than Winchester requires inside reaming, and the rim needs to be turned down a bit unless your revolver was made to accept the .45-70 rim diameter. Oh, and Winchester .45-70 brass is made from unobtanium at this time.

ETA: I just checked both Hornady's and Federal's websites. Hornady lists one .480 Ruger factory load and no brass; Federal doesn't list anything for the cartridge. Plan accordingly.

[TurnipEaterDown]

The 475 Linebaugh, before commercialization, was a shortened 45-70 straightened out.
(BTW: The brass holds up fine to max loads, unlike some manuals will make you think.)

The Rim Diameter is a primary difference between cut off 45-70 and commercial 475 brass. The rim was reduced to fit the Freedom Arms guns. The loading gate is not of a size that would allow the rim to be that large. I also Think that the cylinder dia on a FA gun is smaller than a Linebaugh converted Ruger.

Tim Sundles (Buffalo Bore) had the first commercial 475 Linebaugh brass made. This was done in parallel w/ an agreement that had FA offering guns chambered in 475 Linebaugh. Would have been a bad business risk to invest the money required to get commercial brass w/ no commercial factory gun so chambered.
This brass Also had thicker walls at the mouth at least -- Dies ARE different for 475 Linebaugh between those designed for converted 45-70 brass, and BBA / other commercial.

While I Think cutting down Commercial 475 Linebaugh brass would work for a 480 Ruger, I never tried. Could be there is an internal taper issue, maybe not.
It Might be that cut down 45-70 brass would work for a Ruger gun in 480 Ruger, might Not, I am not sure -- again, Linebaugh modified the cylinder diameter. If this diameter change is what allowed the rims to be as big as a standard 45-70, then again there would be an issue in a stock Ruger even if the loading gate is big enough.

Why did Linebaugh modify the cylinder diameter? It wasn't just strength.
Linebaugh started w/ the 500, and that was made on the 348 Winchester cut down.
The rim here is same size as 45-70 (0.002 drawing diameter change, but pretty irrelevant), but more "normally" proportioned to what people see as on a rimmed revolver cartridge, and a gun could be made to work w/o unreasonable modifications.
So, Linebaugh chose a gun and made mods to accommodate a rim ~0.610 on the 500. The 475 was a reaction to 348 brass getting scarce and endangering sales of 500 conversions.
FA didn't do that (probably smart), and this is (at least one reason) why you don't see a 500 Linebaugh in FA guns, but you can get a 50 Wyoming express -- 0.500 bullet and belt instead of 0.512 bullet and rim: It fits the gun architecture and the Linebaugh 500 does not.

[TurnipEaterDown]

Buffalo Bore Ammunition is available in 480 & 475, though pricey:

[nicholst55]

Ammoseek currently shows no .480 Ruger Ammo available. Granted, it doesn't check everywhere (including Buffalo Bore) (who shows one load available, for $5 a pop). With the one load that Hornady shows, that gives us two choices for factory ammo...

[TurnipEaterDown]

Not to nit pick availability, but I see 2 loads for 480 Ruger available at BB.
Point being, it is available.

As far as price comparison, it is probably best to compare prices of ammo for different different chamberings from one company. Not too useful to compare the price of say surplus greek 30-06 ammunition to Swift A Frame assembled 30-06 ammunition. And then say that at $4 per round for Swift ammunition, the 30-06 is just too expensive to shoot anymore.

Buffalo bore has available:

Heavy 480 Ruger Pistol and Handgun Ammo
Heavy 480 Ruger Ammo - 370 gr. L.F.N. (1,000fps/M.E. 821 ft.lbs).

Heavy 480 RUGER LEAD FREE Pistol and Handgun Ammo
Heavy 480 RUGER LEAD FREE Ammo - 275 gr. BARNES XPB 1,500 fps

Many guns people like on here don't exactly have a plethora of availability (22 hornet, 218 bee, 25-20, 250 Savage, ... 300 Savage ... 35 Remington...etc. etc. etc.), so if a lack of factory ammo (especially right now) is a good reason to sell guns at throw away prices, well then by all means, please let me know where I can round them up at those throw away prices.

Me, if I was super hard pressed, and had a 480 Ruger gun around w/o brass, I would look at auctions or converting 45-70 brass. Buy 2 boxes of factory ammo, it's less than 1000 large rifle primers at "reseller" prices people are paying at auction these days.
Heck, better yet, at a throw away gun price you can get a few boxes of this "5$ a pop" ammo, save the brass, and reload for a really long time while still staying under the price of a brand new 44 or 454 that has ammo available at Dicks sporting goods.
Oh, excuse me, Dicks doesn't sell that type of thing anymore. Much more into ladies w/ purple hair trying to advance "equity in sports", along with pink tennis shoes for men.

[LabGuy]

I love my 480. The big problem is the lack of loaded amo to shoot. Yes I load my own but my local indoor range will not allow reloads and they don't carry any for you to buy. I keep a couple of boxes of new on the shelf to take with me if I go there to shot, but hard to replace.

Your mission should you decide to accept it is to “make handloads that look like factory loads” and put them in a factory box. I used to do this with 45 Auto at a local range. Much easier to keep up with revolver brass.

[rintinglen]

I think that the lack of readily available ammunition at reasonable prices is driving many of these sales. A 100 bucks for 20 rounds is mighty steep. And that's if the fellow owning it is savvy enough to track down a boutique outfit that many have never heard of. If you don't reload, you are probably SOL. If he has checked his local shop with no luck, maybe gone to a gun show or two with no results, and then checked a couple of the big online dealers who are out of stock, who can blame him if he wants to get rid of a boat anchor he can't shoot.

A few years back, I bought a nice Colt Police Positive 32-20 for 450 bucks with box, because the guy at the gun show selling it said, and believed, "you can't get ammo for it any more."
Well, I had brass, and molds, and primers, so for me it was a no brainer. But for most of the clientele passing his booth, it was of no value. It is a 98% gun, with just a slight wear ring on the cylinder, so nice in fact that I don't shoot it anymore. But I could and did when I bought it.

[wilecoyote]

here we have different examples of guns led out of the way by similar factors: .22short and .22magnum remain a big no-no to buy and hard to sell.
.22short was chambered in technically outstanding Olympic pistols,
now out of competition circus, no one hand loads it, and ammo becomes hard to find.
.22 magnum even worse, because ammo has much higher costs, if you can find them_
I never loved rimfires, anyway_
about bigger bores, I started hand loading after bought my first .44, o.c.,
and since I have always viewed obsolete or new exotic calibers with extreme suspicion, anyway.
even more if they do not appear in the tables of possible conversion from other brass/calibers_

[FergusonTO35]

Your mission should you decide to accept it is to “make handloads that look like factory loads” and put them in a factory box. I used to do this with 45 Auto at a local range. Much easier to keep up with revolver brass.

This 100%. I would bet that they don't give it a second thought as long as it's in a factory box.

[rintinglen]

You know,at the Gun Club the other day, I observed something that made me think there's another reason for the big boomers crawling out of the safe and into the display case: Age. As I looked up and down the line at the range Thursday, more than half the shooters were my age or older, and several appeared to be even more feeble than I am.

The earth shakers are definitely out for me. 454, 460 S&W, 475 linebaugh? I've shot them in the past, but that man no longer exists, except sometimes in my imagination. I am just shy of 70, and I have bad wrists from a cycling accident. For me, anything over the 44 mag is out, and even those I limit to 250 grain boolits and 20 grains of 2400. Heavier loads are for younger fellows.

[Hiright]

I saw a 480 Alaskan for sale at the LGS. Excellent price and looked NIB. Story was the seller had fired it twice and came back and traded for a 357. It did have a 20 round box of BB ammo with 2 fired cases that was for sale with it. I got home and started doing a little research since this was to be my first 480. No brass, limited bullets, limited factory ammo and no dies available made me decide to pass on it. That was over 2 months ago and the Alaskan is still there. Price is still listed the same but I think they might come down another $50 or so now. I'd like to be able to justify it but...

[wilecoyote]

You know,at the Gun Club the other day, I observed something that made me think there's another reason for the big boomers crawling out of the safe and into the display case: Age. As I looked up and down the line at the range Thursday, more than half the shooters were my age or older, and several appeared to be even more feeble than I am.

The earth shakers are definitely out for me. 454, 460 S&W, 475 linebaugh? I've shot them in the past, but that man no longer exists, except sometimes in my imagination. I am just shy of 70, and I have bad wrists from a cycling accident. For me, anything over the 44 mag is out, and even those I limit to 250 grain boolits and 20 grains of 2400. Heavier loads are for younger fellows.

fully agree, since my 1st try with 454 & c., 20 yrs.ago_ headache followed their boom anytime: thanks but no, thanks_
beyond the .44magnum, all my fun become a work, and I'm a lazy guy since forever.
btw, I'm the 2nd owner of a 29-2 bought from the 1st owner with a 50rd. Norma box. inside 44 loaded + 6 empty

[shooting on a shoestring]

Hiright, Grafs has dies in stock in 3 brands for 480 Ruger. They also have Hornady 475 Linebaugh brass that can be trimmed to 480 Ruger length, at least enough to get you running until Starline makes a run. Accurate Molds has a dozen or so mold designs to choose from is running on about a 6 week turnaround time. I believe all the ingredients are available.

Oh-oh. Did I just talk myself into it??? Noooo…. That’s not how it’s supposed to happen!

[Anchorite]

All the attention seems to be on polymer guns and smaller diameter ammo…..we all know that demand dictates what gets produced.

[gnappi]

Some say that FA and BFR revolvers may chamber cut down length 45-70 without trimming the rim. My Ruger SBH will not chamber cut 45-70 at all.

I'd rather shoot a .480 than a .454 Casull or even my .44 mag.

I recently trimmed 500 pieces of .475's to .480 length and I already had ~300+ native .480 brass so I'm set. If I live long enough to go through them and .480 doesn't become available I'll cut down another 500 Linebaugh cases!

[Ed K]

I'd rather shoot a .480 than a .454 Casull or even my .44 mag.

And you're talking 48Kpsi 480 loads?

[gnappi]

And you're talking 48Kpsi 480 loads?

Factory fodder, whatever they are and I'm pretty sure they're not that hot.

Anyway, so far my 480 reloads are up there but comparing my upper tier .44 and .480 reloads the .480 wins every time. I don't have the .480 as long as .44's but if I were forced to pick one it would already be a tough choice.

[FergusonTO35]

I wonder if Buffalo Bore would sell you brass if you ask them nicely? They could probably charge close to the same as loaded ammo and people would still buy it.

[gnappi]

I saw a 480 Alaskan for sale at the LGS. Excellent price and looked NIB. Story was the seller had fired it twice and came back and traded for a 357. It did have a 20 round box of BB ammo with 2 fired cases that was for sale with it. I got home and started doing a little research since this was to be my first 480. No brass, limited bullets, limited factory ammo and no dies available made me decide to pass on it. That was over 2 months ago and the Alaskan is still there. Price is still listed the same but I think they might come down another $50 or so now. I'd like to be able to justify it but...

I've never been a fan of big boomers in little guns, and I can see where the original owner of the Alaskan could be turned off by it. My motto? Big bore, big gun... bigger bore , bigger gun still!

I get shooters who do not reload passing on a gun where ammo is either unavailable or silly expensive. Reloaders for a revolver are a different story where the ammo in question has a parent cartridge that's more available where brass loss is near zero unlike an automatic where ejected brass loss is a waste of forming time. With the .480, bullet molds, dies and .475 brass to cut down are all available.

Anyway, when I was looking, my .480 SBH with 5.5" barrel was for sale with dies, 50 rounds of loaded ammo, 50 empty cases, and some powder and it didn't stop me from jumping in head first and now I'm glad I did. I sort of wish I could produce huge quantities of .480 from .475 and sell them, if for nothing else but to help save this excellent cartridge.

[Ed K]

Enough of the 480 "kool-aid". Loaded to it's potential a 480 is way worse than the 44mag. The original press on this from Ruger/American Rifleman 20 years ago was a slight-of-hand: the loads were light. Sure the 454 can be rough but loaded at SAAMI max the 480 is right there. Nobody is going to be wishing for a 480 to shoot after firing the 454 if they are loaded the same.

Now you say you don't want to fire your 480 loaded like that? Fine, don't fire a 454 that way either. There is no free lunch with straightwall mag revolver cartridges: pump the bore diameter, bullet weight and pressure and it only gets worse.