I've shot the Raging Bull, and relatively speaking it doesn't recoil (porting tame it quite a bit). The SRH on the other hand lets you feel every foot-pound! I have two -- one in Casull and one in .480 and I love them both. Damn accurate and fun to shoot in my opinion -- but then again, I think my .458 Lott is fun to shoot.

I've got one in 454 and 480 - I really like them both. I have put a hogue grip on them, which improves their looks (in my opinion) and makes recoil easy to deal with.

I may be selling my SRH in 454, PM me if you're interested. It is a 7.5" with rings, box, factory grips, and the hogue grip. I've got some dies I would throw in too.

I have a SRH in the 480 and love it. I have tries different grips. That will change the recoil of the gun, more muzzle flip but less recoil in the palm, etc. The SRH is very tough. See if you like the balance in the SRH vs the Raging Bull. They have different balance and grip feel.

Hcliff

I've got the SRH in .44, .454 and .480...all are great, very accurate with the right loads. I don't find the .454 recoil to be too bad, but I'm relatively recoil tolerant. The .454 is less expensive to shoot than the .480 (I don't cast my own bullets, but do reload, and there just seems to be a lot more selection for the 454.

I got lucky this month and picked up two Leupold 2x EER handgun scopes, one used for $125 and one new for $169. They really help me shoot better. Put one on the 454; got it sighted in and immediately shot a 1.75" group of six at 30 yards. That's good for me...(no one has ever accused me of being a crack shot or anything!)

I've never shot the Raging Bull in .454 but have to assume the porting reduces recoil and increases muzzle blast a little.

hunter20ga

I was just on the Ruger web site they are bringing out a 2.5 inch SRH in .454 and 480. You really need a 2.5 454 should bark like crazy.

I have the SRH .454 and I like it quite a bit. I had mine ported by Mag-Na-Port and it changes the recoil quite a bit. Also changed out the sights to Ruger's gold bead front, V-notch rear, which is an astronomical improvement over the huge, imprecise factory sights. I went out for whitetail with it this year but didn't see anything. Right now, from a bench, I can consistantly group around 5" at 100yds with iron sights and my tuned handloads.

HOORAY, a man that reads the question! I too, was baffled by the responses. I can only add that the SRH is one strong gun and should never give a problem. I don't think there is a stronger double action made. I will kick myself forever for letting a friend talk me out of mine. But when you are retired and want something else, something has to go. I bought the BFR 45-70 and am not sorry because it is extremely accurate and drops deer like the hammer of Thor but I will always miss the SRH.

Thanks to everyone for their responses, and I hope you all had a good Christmas. If everything goes as planned I should have enough "stash" in about 2 weeks to pick up a SRH in .454

I think I'll pass on the 2.5" .454, that would be a handful!

My SRH is a 480, and it has about 3000 rounds down the barrel, I'd estimate at least 1/3 of the loads were at max pressure, and during load work up, I've probably put a couple dozen through it that were more then max. All loads have been cast bullets and handloads.

The gun is as accurate as it was when new, and the there appears to be no change is cylinder lockup or endshake. The grey coating has worn away from the front of the cylinder, and on the end of the barrel.

I've been very pleased with the SRH, accuracy has been outstanding, and durability has been great.