480 ruger load work

[TCTex]

Gents, this is an awesome post for me!!!

I have sent my 480 SRH off to be trimmed off to 5in and will be working up loads for it in the next month or so…

I am laughing because I have been loading the 325gr Lee bullet on the second crimp line. I was not pushing it, but I was getting an easy 1400+ fps out of it with a 9.5in barrel. I know I will lose some vel with the 5in barrel, but I just don’t care. I doubt my game will notice the difference either… LOL

[paul h]

Get the hornady 480/475 4 die set and be done with it. You can't remove the expander ball from the belling die as it is a one piece die, but it is properly sized. With at least a 1000 rounds of full patch through my 480, I've never had a bullet jump and tie up the gun.

I've never had an issue with brass sticking, I just use it as a pressure sign in my gun when working up loads, and keep my loads to the point that they have no resistance on extraction. You can surely load the gun to the point that the brass will be sticky on extraction! The reason I got rid of my 460 gr mold is that I'd worked up loads that didn't stick, but after the loaded ammo had sat for some time, the loads were sticky on extraction. My thinking is that the brass after it had sat was getting a tighter grip on the bullet, either that or the bullets had age hardened and the increased resistance to engraving had jumped pressure. Whatever was going on, 460 gr really seems like too much bullet in the 480.

I would really caution against loading 400's past 1200 fps, as fealt recoil increases tremendously and IMHO the DA grip is not the best for handling heavy recoil. I also highly recomend the hogue grip as the factory ruger grip will result in the trigger guard mashing your second finger, and I've had the frame of the gun that extends slightly above the factory grip cut the knuckle on my thumb.

I know it probably sounds wierd, but I find the recoil from the 400's more managable than pushing 300-325's at 1400+ fps. The light fast bullets have a sharper recoil and blast. The 400's just have a big push.

My next gun project is going to be getting a 9 1/2" srh 480 and wacking it down to 5" as a gun I can pack in a chest holster. I'll keep the cutoff section of barrel for converting a SA ruger.

[calinb]

The FCD sizes the case/boolit as well as crimping.....
Subsonic came up with a good test to prove it to yourself. Size a case and seat a boolit without crimping and seat a boolit without sizing and crimp to your hearts content. Then pull the boolits and see which one is harder to pull.

Interesting, but I think there's a better test to explore the merits of crimping as an aid to thwart bullet creep. Size two cases and seat two bullets in them--one with a crimp and one without a crimp.

[calinb]

Get the hornady 480/475 4 die set and be done with it. You can't remove the expander ball from the belling die as it is a one piece die, but it is properly sized. With at least a 1000 rounds of full patch through my 480, I've never had a bullet jump and tie up the gun.

I've only shot 100 rounds or so but the bullets aren't creeping with my moderate loads and 393 grain Lee bullets loaded with the Lee set. Still, I'd like to minimize the chance of a malfunction.

My thinking is that the brass after it had sat was getting a tighter grip on the bullet, either that or the bullets had age hardened and the increased resistance to engraving had jumped pressure. Whatever was going on, 460 gr really seems like too much bullet in the 480.

Don't bullets typically age soften after an initial brief period of hardening? Does brass age soften?

I would really caution against loading 400's past 1200 fps, as fealt recoil increases tremendously and IMHO the DA grip is not the best for handling heavy recoil. I also highly recomend the hogue grip as the factory ruger grip will result in the trigger guard mashing your second finger, and I've had the frame of the gun that extends slightly above the factory grip cut the knuckle on my thumb.

I've already worn a blister on my second finger after several dozens of moderate rounds from the trigger guard hitting it. I quit shooting when the blister started to bleed. I just ordered the Hogue Tamer Monogrip grips. Unlike other Hogue grips, it has cushioning in back. I have both Hogue and Pachmayr grips that I like on other revolvers and figured I'd try the Monogrip. As factory grips go, I actually don't think the stock SRH grips are all that bad. I'd probably get a callous on my second finger and stop bleeding, if I kept the Ruger grips on it. On the other hand, grips are a inexpensive potential improvement!

I know it probably sounds wierd, but I find the recoil from the 400's more managable than pushing 300-325's at 1400+ fps. The light fast bullets have a sharper recoil and blast. The 400's just have a big push.

That's actually the argument I've heard in favor of the 480 Ruger over the 454 Casull. That and bigger but slower bullets often kill game better than faster and smaller ones--even with their greater kinetic energy!

[Three44s]

To me the answer was apparent after shooting a 480, and previous to that I'd shot 454's, 475's and 500's. Simply put the 480 gives the most big bore punch of heavy bullet at moderate velocity without generating brutal recoil or requiring an exceptionally heavy revolver to house it. The 454 generates a much sharper recoil pulse. I can't quantify more effective on game other than the 480 making bigger holes ~10% more frontal area.

How much to shoot a 480? I've never bought factory ammo. Brass is ~$60/100, commercial cast ~$40/100, powder and primers ~$12, so a bit over a buck a round to get started if you roll your own.

Simply put the 480 is powerful, accurate, and shootable to me that is the trifecturate in revolvers, I've shot many revolvers that were capable of two of those tasks, but very few that did all three at the same time. It's also been very easy to load for and not all picky with bullets as I've shot cast bullets from 275 gr to 460g and with load work every single one of those bullets would group 5 into 1" at 50yds and all running velocities between 1000 fps to 1200 fps. Note, scoped and from a benchrest.

Very, VERY well said!!!

I traded my SRH in .44 for a .480 in the same with a 7.5" barrel last fall. I have not taken much time to work with it yet but the above statements mirror my thoughts!!

Taking it one more step:

The .480 is operating at a lower pressure than the .454 and it's more in line with what most of us are casting.

Therefore we are getting more penetration, less recoil and less reason to lead.

Gotta like them parameters!!

Three 44s

[calinb]

Very, VERY well said!!!
Therefore we are getting more penetration, less recoil and less reason to lead.

Gotta like them parameters!!

Three 44s

Yeah--too bad it didn't sell. Oh well, people buy stuff for the darndest reasons (the movie, Dirty Harry, for example)!

At least its unpopularity allowed me to pick up a pristine and almost new in box 480 SRH at a recent gun show at a great price. I am very happy that a good friend, who has high recoil tolerance, told me he'd never want to shoot a 454 Casull after his first experience. His review motivated my research that led me to the 480 Ruger.