I am hoping to buy an Alaskan in this caliber soon, and am presently rounding up reloading components. Can anyone who has slugged their .480 barrel please tell me the measurement? Should I order hard cast bullets swaged to .475" or .476"?

Is this figure consistent between guns, or would it be advisable for me to just wait and slug my own barrel before ordering bullets? I was hoping to get a head start on working up some loads so I'll have some ammo to shoot when I finally get my sweaty hands on the Alaskan...

Thanks very much.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Their are no absolute and constant truths in the world of cast bullets, but one rule of thumb is that revolver bullet should be sized to fit the throat. Ruger throats vary, 0.477" is a number that I hear a lot.

In the end, the only way to know the optimal diameter is to experiment with different diameters and see which one shoots best, or if even makes a difference.

In general, it is a waste of time to slug modern barrels. They are usually within 0.001" of spec.

The exception would be slugging to see if there is a restriction where the barrel screws into the frame.

Truth be told, you should do just fine with .476" diameter bullets. I've shot .452" bullets from a .45 Colt cylinder down the barrel of a .44 Magnum and vice versa. Swaging the bullets down to .432" made for a tighter group than the .432"s rattling down the .45 Colt barrel. However, inside of 25 yards, hitting small game such as a rabbit would have been easy.

I cast my own bullets for my SRH and size them .476". I use either the Lee 400 gr. FN or the 400 gr. RCBS SWC, both loaded with Win. 296. Most shots stay within 2-2.5" at 100 yards. Overall groups are under 4" - I assume the fliers are probably my fault.

Thanks, guys. I realize that fine tuning bullet diameter can be of benefit, but with a 2.5 inch barrel I'm not after bullseye performance. Just "Bear's Eye".

I'll order the .476" size.

John Davies
Spokane WA

I also cast my own and size .476", despite having .478" throats it is the most accurate revolver I have ever shot.

Personally I think the 2 1/2" barrel is too short, and I'd recomend getting a 7 1/2" or 9 1/2" and having it cut back to 5". You'll have a packable and shootable gun in that configuration.

Stick with a 400 gr hardcast over 21 gr H-110 sparked by a CCI 350, I consider it the gold standard 480 load.

Paul, have you chronographed that load? I haven't reloaded in over 15 years, but plan to start again at some point, but I've been using Buffalo Bore's 410 grain load at 1200 fps and have been very happy with the accuracy (haven't tried this load on game yet).

Paul, sending you a PM....

From my 7 1/2" 480 it clocked 1170-1200 fps, depending on bullet, have used that load with a 390 gr LFN LBT, Lee 400 gr, and a custom 400 gr mountain mold. All bullets with that load will print 1" at 50 yds for 5 shots. My buddies 480 had a tighter cylinder/barrel gap and would clock 1250. I think a 5" 480 with a tight cylincder gap could also clock 1200 w/ the 400 gr load.

To me that load is perfection, as much power as I could concieve being needed in a reasonble weight iron sighted sixgun, and manageable recoil. I've shot much more powerful sixguns, but the recoil is so severe that they are unmanageable.

Got the pm, am working on reply.

Thanks Paul!

Also try water dropping WW boolits, let them age a few days and see if they grow larger. Don't size them, just rub lube in the grooves or pan lube them. If you have a gas check boolit, just run it into the size die far enough to crimp the checks.
Casting hotter, around 800 degrees, will also expand the mold more and make the boolit larger.
That way you can try sized and unsized to see what shoots best.
My boolits drop at .476 and age to .478 and thats how I shoot them.