Paul,

I agree with your comments and feel that the SRH is a great handgun for the money.

I know you have shot several times as many rounds through your 480 then alot of us combined but I have yet to see a SRH shot loose enough to require it to be brough into my shop for tightening.

Perhaps that is because Ruger wants to do all of their own repairs in house.

Anyway, I have a SRH in 44 MAG that I load far above what the book tells us to, that being a 300 gr WLNGC at nearly 1500 fps. I do have several thousand rounds through that handgun and it still shoots 3" groups at 100 yards.

THe 480 Ruger is a different cat. As you said, it has the bullet weight and diameter to do 95% of all the handgun hunting chores out there with no need to even come close to straining the SRH.

One thing I have come to learn and respect from Ruger is that they make their firearms as "idiot proof" as possible. I will say the 480 has the smallest margin of error of them all, at least when looking at cylinder wall thickness. But they would not be able to market a round/handgun combe that would not handle 150% loads safely, not in todays market.

Should we load the 480 up that hot, hell no, its like loading the grand old colt up to 454 pressures, theres no need.

The Colt will easily hit 1300 fps with a 300-325 gr LBT design, just as the 480 will hit 1150-1200 fps with the 400-425 gr LBT. Both with mild pressures compared to even the 44 Mag and especially 454.

Any one who has driven a +400 gr hard cast at +1100 fps into the vitals of a big game animal know that velocity means very little in this relm of big bore handgun hunting or any other traditional handgun hunting.

From what I have seen the SRH and the 480 are a great combo, only thing I would like better is a 4 5/8" bisley in 480 Ruger with a five hole cylinder, would, I feel, be the best pack revolver ever. That is what the Freedom Arms greatest advantage over the SRH is, compact power.

For a dedicated hunting revolver though, this means very little to me at least.

Good SHooting!!!

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