quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Whitworth, you are wrong. The Freedom .475 with a 7-1/2" barrel weighs 50 oz. (3.2#)
The BFR weighs 56 oz. (3.5#)
That is enough to tame a lot of recoil.

The grip angle on the FA handles recoil better than the BFR, so it's a wash as far as I'm concerned.

Not for me. I have to have John bring me his .475 so you can see for yourself.
I don't know if you want more cut fingers though!

The only one that cuts my hands is that damn plough handle....... Oh and I have shot the FA in .475 and have not found it objectionable in the least.

I think you're splitting hairs!

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
The only one that cuts my hands is that damn plough handle....... Oh and I have shot the FA in .475 and have not found it objectionable in the least.

I think you're splitting hairs!

Better than splitting your forehead

LOL! Yes indeed!

Doesn't the finger cutter, head busting .50 Alaskan have a Bisley type grip?

Nope, never hurt my hands. That handgun would be virtually uncontrollable if it had the standard grip on it. Nice try, but you are wrong.

Here is what I found out from Hamilton Bowen about converting my 480 to 475 or 500.
It's been edited down to just the main point...

Bowen Classic Arms will chamber the .480 in both the New Model single-actions -- the Blackhawks, Bisleys and various Vaqueros -- and the standard Redhawks. All will be 5-shot guns. We will not, under any circumstances, rechamber the new 6-shot .480 Super Redhawk cylinders for the .475 Linebaugh. This is an exceedingly dangerous idea in our view.

Which brings us to a few general observations about the new .480 and .454 Super Redhawks. There are two considerations to bear in mind when contemplating custom work on these guns. In our experience so far, it is nearly impossible to remove the barrels from these guns (at least the .454's). There is considerable evidence of thread galling/welding/melting which could just as easily occur in the receiver as the barrel. So, we are very reluctant at this writing to shorten barrels because they cannot be remove without the potential for receiver/barrel/finish damage. This means that we cannot recylinder the new .480 Super with a 5-shot part to accommodate both the .480 and the Linebaugh cartridge. All of our current .454 and .475 Super Redhawks are built on the .44 Super which has proven a dependable and trouble-free candidate for such work.

The other difficulty in working with the new-style Supers is the finish. We do not know quite what it is or how to match it which has considerably dampened our enthusiasm for working on the guns. About the only way to refinish them in the trenches is to bead blast off the battleship gray paint and apply a frosted matte finish. We will probably consider performing our basic 'Standard Issue' pkg. on these guns but only with the understanding that we cannot be responsible for the finish. While damage is extremely unlikely, it would entail a trip to the factory to repair. In any case, we expect to decide on this shortly.

Mr. Pepper, give Jack Huntington a call - (530)268-6877. My .475 Linebaugh SRH started life as a .480 and he built a 5-shot cylinder for it. He will not use the original 6-shot cylinder. That said, keep in mind that only 2,000 psi separates a .480 from a .475 Linebaugh.

Jack built my .500 Linebaugh on my old .454 SRH. He can and has removed many .454 barrels from SRHs. No, it's not easy, but it is certainly doable.

As far as finishes are concerned, I kept the grey finish on the .475, and opted to remove it on my .500.

I'm sending you a PM.

Yes, Jack has done exceptional jobs on Whitworth's guns. They not only look good but they shoot good.

I'll give him a ring and see what he has to say.
That's all I'm looking to do to mine is step it up
to the 475 and still use the 480 stuff I have to plink with or sell off the brass.
I enjoy your guys post about the 475 and 500.There is hogs in and around Cocke and Sevier counties,just none where I live in upper East Tenn. Bears is plentiful so are old Chevys

mr. pepper, here in W. Tenn. we don't have the hogs or the bears. But, if the rumor mill is running correct, the hogs may be headed our way from Mississippi. If and when they get to the farm, my plan is to commence treatment with a .44 factory 240 XTP at 1350 fps. That's about all the recoil I'm up for, although I too enjoy reading about the .475s and so on.

Now, I don't know if I'll be around long enough for those bears to visit us...that's harder to say..

Funny thing I seen last week here near Harpers Ferry, WV. A few lighted signs warning about a bear crossing on US 340. The signs are now gone.
Maybe the bear went home!

quote:

Originally posted by mr.pepper:
I'll give him a ring and see what he has to say.
That's all I'm looking to do to mine is step it up
to the 475 and still use the 480 stuff I have to plink with or sell off the brass.
I enjoy your guys post about the 475 and 500.There is hogs in and around Cocke and Sevier counties,just none where I live in upper East Tenn. Bears is plentiful so are old Chevys

Converting a .480 to .475 would be even cheaper than what I quoted you because you can use the same barrel -- this is what we did with mine.

I'm gonna call him after the
holidays and see what it will cost me
for the conversion and maybe a few other
options.
See what you got started...all this excitement
is just too much

here is my 500 jack built from a 44 srh



here is what i did offhand at 50 yards

Nice shooting, TBEAR!

thanks shooting the big guns is out for a while i injured my hand and wrist at work.

NIIIIICE, TBear. I hope your hand gets better fast.

since i've put the ultradot just haven't taken time to print it yet

Sorry to hear that your hand is injured, TBEAR. Hope you get well soon.

A bit ago CDNN offered BFR 475's for $500. I happened upon one that also included a second JRH extended grip frame with black micarta grips and 5 boxes of factory ammo for $750, a bargain. I sent it off to Alan Harton to have the barrel whacked to 5 1/2", a banded front sight added, a trigger job with stop and a major slimming of the grips to fit my hand (JRH must have gorilla hands!). I have the original grip frame and grips sold so for around a grand I have this.



It weighs 54 oz which is ~6 oz more than my Bowen 500 L Nimrod and with the new grip frame is quite easy to handle. I have only had it out once to date as I work/live 10,000 miles away from it but it was easy to put 5 inside 4" at 50 yards using Montana Bullet Works 400 gr WLN and 22 grs of H4227 for ~1150 fps. I am totally impressed with this BFR. CDNN had 50 AE's BFR's a bit ago for $600. Now there is a cheap way into the 500 JRH.

400 grains of bullet and 22 grains of 4227? I used to shoot 21 grains behind a 210 in a .41! Stoke it and go...

quote:

Originally posted by Doubless:
400 grains of bullet and 22 grains of 4227? I used to shoot 21 grains behind a 210 in a .41! Stoke it and go...

WHY? Is a 400 grain bullet going to bounce off something he's shooting at 1150 fps?

IIRC, the .50 AE starts life with a chamber a bit bigger then the .500 JRH. I think you need a new cylinder if you are going with the .500 JRH, not sure about the barrel, however.

Others have done this conversion, and it works, though the brass gets stretched a bit.

Boxhead:

That's a beautiful gun. Wish I'd beat you to it...

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
Mr. Pepper, give Jack Huntington a call - (530)268-6877. My .475 Linebaugh SRH started life as a .480 and he built a 5-shot cylinder for it. He will not use the original 6-shot cylinder. That said, keep in mind that only 2,000 psi separates a .480 from a .475 Linebaugh.

Jack built my .500 Linebaugh on my old .454 SRH. He can and has removed many .454 barrels from SRHs. No, it's not easy, but it is certainly doable.

As far as finishes are concerned, I kept the grey finish on the .475, and opted to remove it on my .500.

I'm sending you a PM.

I called Jack got quotes on the 475 and 500 conversion. Now my question is 475 or 500?
He told me about you and king kong...

The .475 and .500 Linebaugh with Bisley grips leave my middle finger knuckle battered and bruised. I am a big guy and generally handle recoil without major concern. So how does one prevent trigger guard slam with a Bisley Grip?

quote:

Originally posted by mr.pepper:I called Jack got quotes on the 475 and 500 conversion. Now my question is 475 or 500?
He told me about you and king kong...

I can't help you with that decision as they are both great calibers. If you are on a budget, the .475 should be considerably cheaper to build on that .480.

King Kong is the reason for this thread!

I'm going to do the 475 conversion as soon as I can. As far as the 500L that may come later on.
There's only 300 bucks difference between the conversions...depending on what one wants done.

quote:

Originally posted by mr.pepper:
I'm going to do the 475 conversion as soon as I can. As far as the 500L that may come later on.
There's only 300 bucks difference between the conversions...depending on what one wants done.

The barrel is the difference. I have exactly what you plan on building and it has exceeded all of my expectations by a long shot. Keep me posted, please!

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:

quote:

Originally posted by mr.pepper:
I'm going to do the 475 conversion as soon as I can. As far as the 500L that may come later on.
There's only 300 bucks difference between the conversions...depending on what one wants done.

The barrel is the difference. I have exactly what you plan on building and it has exceeded all of my expectations by a long shot. Keep me posted, please!

Calling Jack Monday to make arrangements to send him my SRH and go from there.

Excellent! You won't regret your decision! Keep me posted, please.

2 things I'm debating on is the finish and the 6 month wait...Anywho I'm going to ship it to him
later this week or first of next week.
As far as I am concerned its a go on the conversion to 475!

Excellent! Actually, in the realm of gunsmiths, 6 months is a pretty quick turnaround. What are you thinking with regards to the finish?

Either leaving as is or a finish like your 500L at the top of this page.
I still have to get to reloading space finished.
I haven't been this anxious over something since
I was a kid!

That's really great! I understand your anxiety! Keep me posted please!

The ruger 480 barrels are exceptional, the groups I mentioned in the accuracy thread are from a ruger 480 srh, and my buddies shot just as accurately.

Jack does great work, my buddy has had him build him several guns. I've long wanted to send my 480 to Jack, have it bobbed to 5" and polish the cylinder and barrel for a two tone look, and no problems matching the finish. Jack has done alot of srh conversions, so has no problem removing the barrels, though that won't be needed on your conversion.

475 vs. 500, neither is the wrong choice. You'll likely find .475" component bullets are easier to come by, S&W's 500 kinda messed things in up in the 50 world so that .512" component bullets just aren't as common as they wood be if the big Smith had used the larger bullets.

If you can't kill it with a 400-450 gr .475" bullet at 1200-1300 fps, it's time for a big rifle, not a slightly bigger handgun.

Paul:
You bring up a great point.

What about a conversion to .500 JRH?

I haven't followed prices on .500 caliber bullets, since my Max uses .510"s, in the .510 GNR, .500 Linebaugh mini and maxi.

Do you see great deals on .500 caliber bullets often?

I just had about 500 rounds of 325 seconds, 27.00 for 100 bullets, .475 Linebaugh loaded by
Andy Rowe, at about 1350 fps.

I've been wondering if you see many deals like that on .500 caliber bullets?

With big guns, it might be better to have all three calibers, .475, 500, and .510, so you can pick up great deals in each.

I've been debating about getting a .500 JRH BFR, or, Just getting one of the monster smiths, so I can shoot both .500 JRH, and, .500
S&W.
Waiting for a great deal to cross my path on either.

Grizzly is supposed to start making .500JRH ammo, and, BFR is supposed to start offering the BFR single action in .500 JRH as a standard caliber
as well.

GS

quote:

The .475 and .500 Linebaugh with Bisley grips leave my middle finger knuckle battered and bruised. I am a big guy and generally handle recoil without major concern. So how does one prevent trigger guard slam with a Bisley Grip?

Posts: 11 | Location: Alabama | Registered: 10 May 2010

Me too, I REALLY hate the Bisley. A Freedom will beat me silly without the rubber grips. I had to sell my SBH Hunter Bisley. And that was just a .44.
It is a girly hand grip!

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:

quote:

The .475 and .500 Linebaugh with Bisley grips leave my middle finger knuckle battered and bruised. I am a big guy and generally handle recoil without major concern. So how does one prevent trigger guard slam with a Bisley Grip?

Posts: 11 | Location: Alabama | Registered: 10 May 2010

Me too, I REALLY hate the Bisley. A Freedom will beat me silly without the rubber grips. I had to sell my SBH Hunter Bisley. And that was just a .44.
It is a girly hand grip!

No, it's a grip for those who don't have obese knuckles.

We will see when even more blood flows!
Bring a LARGE first aid kit!