.480 decline

[bigbore5]

An ovate 500 on the modified Super frame is a dream of mine. Talk about a big SP101!

[bearskinner]

I think the feel of the SRH and recoil absorption is much better that the standard Redhawk. I carried a shortened 45 Colt (3”) standard Redhawk for years, as a backpack carry, packing meat out, without my primary hunting handgun. Once the SRH Alaskans came out, I have either a .454, or now a .480 as my side arm.
The cure for hard to find ammunition like the .480, is cast and handload. You will always have ammo and be able to taper loads to your needs, at a much discounted cost.

[ldmay375]

I am a fan of the .475's. I have 475 Linebaughs and 480 Rugers.

I really like the Ruger cartridge. I think it is just right for my purposes. I have them in the Alaskan, Super Redhawk, 5" Super Redhawk, and both of the Bisleys. I like them all.

The 4-5/8" Bisley and 5" Super Redhawk are big favorites.
In my opinion it is a great cartridge. If it would have came out prior to the 475 Linebaugh, I would probably only own the 480's.

[bigbore5]

Aug 7, 2023 21:31:19 GMT -5 leftysixgun said:

As much as I hate to say it, I see the 475L going away before the 480 Ruger. Yet I own both and a fan of both. Push come to shove, Ill turn my 475 brass into 480....

I don't think the 475 will be going anywhere. It's still chambered by three manufacturers. Freedom Arms, Magnum Research, and Bighorn Armory.

There's a really good chance a third company is looking at beginning to produce their own line too.

In addition, it's a popular cartridge for conversions by big name smiths like Bowen, Huntington, Reeder, and of course don't forget there is still a Linebaugh making guns.

[boxhead]

So to my OP, much less than 1%?

[bigbore5]

If S&W picked it up and called it the 480 magnum it'd be an instant hit. They won't chamber a cartridge with Ruger's name on it

[gnappi]

Aug 12, 2023 5:51:52 GMT -5 bigbore5 said:

If S&W picked it up and called it the 480 magnum it'd be an instant hit. They won't chamber a cartridge with Ruger's name on it

Agreed, this appears to be an "our name on the cartridge will leave a legacy" or non support of a cartridge with a competitor's name on it mindset is silly.

Thankfully there have been instances when the popularity of a cartridge by shooters forces the bean counters to capitulate and support something with the name of another company. The .357 Sig or .40 S&W are good examples. Then later the lemmings follow the latest trend and drop them for whatever the FBI or LEO departments use. :-)

[contender]

"If S&W picked it up and called it the 480 magnum it'd be an instant hit. They won't chamber a cartridge with Ruger's name on it"

There's no real cooperation between these two companies. S&W tried to build something that was copyrighted by Ruger,, and there was a potential lawsuit. S&W decided to drop it. So, marketing is a part of an issue in some cases.
Then you have S&W wanting to be known as having "The most powerful caliber in the world, and will blow your head clean off," attitude. (Dirty Harry made that statement, and ever since,, S&W has pushed to live up to that. Ruger has been smart enough to build guns in calibers like the .40 S&W,, but S&W won't build anything with the Ruger name on it.

I think the .480 Ruger will enjoy a life similar to the .41 magnum. Always around,, but only appreciated by "those that know."

[cas]

Example, .44 Remington Magnum... and Remington is omitted and mostly forgotten. Mark our guns .44 Magnum. Can't do that with the .480 Ruger.
.475 Special would have worked (Ruger does/did chamber guns in .475 Linebaugh, so it would have made sense) Big bore people would have known what it mean, regular shooters would have though "Oh... "special", I know what that means... 38 special, 44 special, mild and pleasant to shoot."


.480? What's that remind you of? It may make a few people think .470 NE, I think most people would bring to mind puny .380 pocket pistols. Eww who wants that?

(I know those two contradict each other, but still)

[ldmay375]

Perhaps if Ruger makes another go with the 480 in a Marlin, it would get a bit more notoriety. If it was a successful attempt, unlike Marlin's 475/480.
I would certainly be very tempted by a stainless Rossi. Perhaps they will make a new production run.

[45bbh]

I've debated on one over the years, never pulled the trigger though. To me, the concept is fine, but I guess in practice it's a rather niche product. Better than 44 Mag? Yeah, but people have a hard enough time shooting 44 Magnum and let's face it, the 44 Mag is sufficient for 99.9% of people who hunt with a handgun. Another issue for me was bullets. I don't mind hardcast but with a couple of exceptions, pretty much everything in .475" is hardcast and frankly I like to have more options that include jacketed bullets. I do think the timing was bad for the 480R, it came out around the same time as the 500 Mag, which is a bigger, badder cartridge...which offers a good mix of hardcast and jacketed bullets and it just punches a bigger hole.

I agree with others that only offering it, initially, in the SRH was a mistake.  I think Ruger would do well to make the 500JRH mainstream by offering it in their SRH and SBH revolvers, which may also boost the life of the 500 Special. IF someone has a 44 Mag and wants bigger, are they going to consider the 480R or just go on up to the .500's? The downside to the 500Mag is the size of the gun, I have a 3.5" PC 500 that isn't that big but still, a normal sized gun in .500 would be ideal and the 500JRH can fill that role perfectly.

[bigbore5]

Or even the 500 special would cover about everything in the US.

[princeout]

Hot .480’s out of the Rossi carbine just feel right. When prices on them got crazy, I really thought about selling it but just couldn’t.
If Ruger would bring it out in the 1895 or 1894, I’d pick one up. If I hadn’t retired, I would have eventually picked up a BHA in 480/475

Tim

[edk]

Aug 12, 2023 23:00:10 GMT -5 ldmay375 said:

Perhaps if Ruger makes another go with the 480 in a Marlin, it would get a bit more notoriety. If it was a successful attempt, unlike Marlin's 475/480.
I would certainly be very tempted by a stainless Rossi. Perhaps they will make a new production run.

That post was worth a chuckle 

• If Ruger makes another go with the 480 in a Marlin
• And if it was a successful attempt
• I would certainly be very tempted by a stainless Rossi

[bigbore5]

I would be very tempted by a 475/480 Marlin now.