06 May 2002, 10:24
<holdson4>480 ruger
ive heard that there is alot of "un-tapped" potential in this round in factory loadings. is anyone hand-loading this caliber and getting substantial increases over the factory rounds? also on a side note i am new to revolver calibers and was looking at this one because winchester is now chambering a 94 lever rifle in it. the idea of a good brush hunting gun with a compatible back-up handgun intrests me greatly. until now the most potent i could find was 44 mag in both. also any guesses as to what max loads out of a 20" lever gun might look like balistically?
thanks,
wes
07 May 2002, 05:42
Allen GloreHaven't shot anything with my 480 Ruger yet so can't compare it to other handgun cartridges that I have shot something with. I do have several different cast bullets that I can load compared to the 2 jacketed bullets made by Hornaday for this round. Loading 310, 390, 420 and some 460's that Paul the Cast Bullet moderator made for me. I would not trade the 480 for another handgun cartridge. It can and will do everything the 44 Mag or 454 Casull ever thought of doing.
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AlleninAlaska
Go to the favorite loads forumn, I have most of my loads posted there.
As far as the potential of the round, IMHO it is at it's best with 400 gr @ 1200 fps. I've seen my buddy push 400's 1350, but recoil is much higher, and I don't think the terminal effects will be much improved. I push my 460 gr 1050 fps.
The SRH is a very, very accurate gun. With worked up loads, most cast bullets will group 5 into 1" at 50 yds. I've shot a 100 yd 3 shot 1 1/2" group.
As far as rifle performance, I'd expect 400 gr @ 1700 fps to be possible from a 20" tube. That'll give the 45-70 a run for its money.