I read on another site about some .480 5 shot 7.5" guns. Does anyone know of a dealer that has these in stock? I wasn't aware that Ruger had released the 5 shot in anything onther that the short barrels.

Thank you.

Ruger isn,t really known for being dummies , but in this 1 area , well a couple others also, they were pretty stupid ...........The 5 shot 480 Ruger SRH was discontinued .

I feel the same way, I was going to order one of the 5 shot 480's, but I never got the chance before Ruger decided to make a stupid move and discontinue them. So I ended up getting a 6 shot 480, and it is a shooter.

Now if they would make a 480 Super Blackhawk that would be something.

Welcome to the forum, Leonard! If you do a search here, you will see that we have discussed this ad nauseum. So we don't rehash this......

It is a shame that Ruger never produced the 5-shot, but they were aparently losing money on the .480. And I agree they should have built a .480 SBH......

It seems my source's source was in error and these are (were) 6 shot.

Leonard, Ruger anounced that they were going to build a 5-shot to replace the 6-shot, but it never made production.

Is it reasonable to infer that a major part of the decision to pull the plug on five-shot SRH 480s was that liability issue associated with its ease of being converted to 475 Linebaugh?

quote:

Originally posted by Naphtali:
Is it reasonable to infer that a major part of the decision to pull the plug on five-shot SRH 480s was that liability issue associated with its ease of being converted to 475 Linebaugh?

Not when there's only 2,000 psi difference in pressure between the two....... It was a marketing decision. The .475 Linebaugh almost became the caliber that the SRH was chambered in.

Ruger has been traditionally hypersensitive to liability issues -- I think they lost a case in the 1970s that brought jury irresponsibility to their attention? Ruger's issue would not be any nominal pressure difference. It would be that an entity other than Ruger would have made the alteration, but Ruger would retain liability were the alteration botched. That's what I think precipitated discontinuance. Of course, Ruger could have offered the revolver in 475 Linebaugh and obviated the issue, but that would kill the 480.

It was a marketing decision. The SRH has no inherent weaknesses and the Casull in standard loading produces significantly more pressure than either the Linebagh or the .480.........Corbon sells loads that go around 70,000 psi.......

People have already reamed out 6 shooter 480's to 475 Linebaugh. I haven't heard of any of those conversions failing. I think one reason why is that that the DA grip frame just isn't conductive to handling severe recoil, and most folks hands will give out before the gun does.

I see it as a simple marketing issue. Most folks will get 44's, 45's or 454's for their generic whitetail and hog gun. Once Smith came out with the 500, they owned the market for biggest and baddest. A few of us realized that the 480 when loaded to reasonable levels offered a jump in performance from the 44 mag, w/o a huge jump in recoil.

The 6 shooter 480's can have sticky extraction. Mine is mildly sticky with factory Hornady ammo. Honestly I like that, as it gives me a pressure indicator. My handloads just drop out, hence are running milder pressures. I did get some outright sticky extraction when I was working up loads with a 460 gr bullet and hit 1150 fps

quote:

Originally posted by Naphtali:
Is it reasonable to infer that a major part of the decision to pull the plug on five-shot SRH 480s was that liability issue associated with its ease of being converted to 475 Linebaugh?

This assumption make zero sense. If this were the case then Ruger would need to cease Firearm production alltogether, since any firearm can be converted to an caliber/chambering if the owner so desires. Of course Ruger is not responsible for after market conversion, since they have no control over them.

i heard some talk about 5 shot 480 alaskans but have never seen one and have never heard of a long barreled version.

I don't think Ruger ever built the 5 shot 480.

It wouldn't be the first time Ruger anounced a gun that never made it to production.

I really think the .475 popularity and ease of buying one killed the .480. They just were not selling enough. If they had just turned the gun into a 5 shot .475 at the start instead of wanting their name on the caliber, it would sell like hot cakes.
There is not a thing wrong with the .480 but I did the same thing. I bought the BFR .475 instead. Buying a .480 instead of the .475 is like buying a .44 special instead of a .44 mag.
Pencil necks behind a desk can kill a lot of good things.
Ruger is and has been very stubborn since they started. They never listen to the shooters.
They have even screwed up the best guns ever made, the Mark I and II.

I'm sorry I got everyone worked up over this. Whitworth, I've followed the past chats over the .480; however, Ruger seems to do some strange things and none of us knows all that happens.

Did Ruger make any 5 shot .480? I saw an ad on Gunsamerica for one of the short ones at the time Ruger said they weren't going to make them any more. Was the ad wrong or did they make a few in the Alaskan?

Not that many folks follow the left handed communications, but many claimed that Ruger would (did) not make a .375 Ruger in SS for left handers...then someone bought one...and the dealer claimed he could get more!

Sooo, when I read this post on another site: "I have a chance to pick up (4) Ruger SRH .480 Ruger 7.5" 5-shot handguns..." (that turned out to be in error) I didn't want to loose out IF there were some small number of 5 shots in 7.5" out here and if there were, I thought some on this site might know where they were.

A thought for the future...is there a chance that someone (I'm thinking Davison's?) could have Ruger make them a special run of say 200-300 5-shot .480's. I'd want to be on that list! I think there would be plenty of others on that list as well.

Again, I'm sorry for stirring things up.

LeonardC, don't worry about it.

Yes they did release a few of the Alaskan 5 shot 480 Ruger's, but none of the 7.5 or 9.5 inch barrels.

I still think Ruger screwed the pooch on that one.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:
LeonardC, don't worry about it.

Yes they did release a few of the Alaskan 5 shot 480 Ruger's, but none of the 7.5 or 9.5 inch barrels.

I still think Ruger screwed the pooch on that one.

That's what I think as well. They did blow it, but if they can't sell 'em, no reason to keep building 'em. I think that an SA .480 would have sold like hotcakes, and the .480 should have been a .475.......oh well!

It is my understanding as well that some 5-shot Alaskans made it into production.

While I don't know anything about the 5 shot 480, I do know a little about Rugers "Distributors Runs". I'm the one who bought the 375 Hawkeye LeonardC referred to. Actually my wife bought it for my B-day. Anyway's, I asked the dealer how he came by a rifle not shown on Ruger's web site, and if it was actually a new release. He explained Ruger often releases these Distributor Runs and they are sometimes as few as 20 firearms. I don't know if Ruger releases handguns in the same manner, but it would explain the rumors of the 5 shot 480's.

BTW, I have a 6 shot Ruger 480 and although I was a little concerned with the thin walls between the cylinders at first, It hasn't been a problem.

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:
LeonardC, don't worry about it.

Yes they did release a few of the Alaskan 5 shot 480 Ruger's, but none of the 7.5 or 9.5 inch barrels.

I still think Ruger screwed the pooch on that one.

That's what I think as well. They did blow it, but if they can't sell 'em, no reason to keep building 'em. I think that an SA .480 would have sold like hotcakes, and the .480 should have been a .475.......oh well!

It is my understanding as well that some 5-shot Alaskans made it into production.

I agree Whitworth, I would of bought a Ruger 5 shot Blackhawk 475 Linebaugh from Ruger. Had they got smart and made one. But I am having one built by Gary Reeder. Ruger's loss.

I over looked the 480 for many years, but I think it is a great round.

Thanks Double AA. This brings us to the question of how does Ruger make the decision to make these small runs of guns and how do we "little people" find out about the run and who has them for sale?

We all seem to agree Ruger made and sold some short 5 shot .480's, so they have the tooling, etc. to make them...just needed longer barrels! If they never made any of the longer ones how did they KNOW they couldn't sell any of them? If there isn't a large enought market to support a constant run, why not a special run of X number?

quote:

Originally posted by LeonardC:
Thanks Double AA. This brings us to the question of how does Ruger make the decision to make these small runs of guns and how do we "little people" find out about the run and who has them for sale?

We all seem to agree Ruger made and sold some short 5 shot .480's, so they have the tooling, etc. to make them...just needed longer barrels! If they never made any of the longer ones how did they KNOW they couldn't sell any of them? If there isn't a large enought market to support a constant run, why not a special run of X number?

If one wants a longer barrel just have a longer barrel installed. Problem solved

Exactly!! You could easily have a longer barrel installed......