Any Info on the New Ruger .480?

H

Hook_N_Bullet

New member
Has anyone heard or read any data on this new load? I was excited when I first saw it in an NRA Magazine, but have since heard it is only slightly more powerful than a .44 Magnum, and nowhere near a .454 If that's true I'm not sure what market Ruger is trying to hit. My way of thinking is if you are going to profuce a cartrige called the .480, it should be able to stop tractor trailors:)

Any opinions or directions to magazine articles would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave
 
It's got me confused too. On small to medium game it looks like a killer due to the wide meplat, but it's not pushing a 325gr bullet much, if any, faster than a .44mag. I'm not sure what they were going for. If it manages to catch on, it would make a nice woods load, but so does the .44mag, .45lc, .454 downloaded, etc. Who knows?
 
The little I'd heard indicated a rip-off of the .475 Linebaugh, although no comments on whether they'd be similar dimensions.

I don't want to be cynical, but they may be loading it in wimp factory loads and leaving it to the handloaders to push the limits while denying factory liability. Also, it might reduce lawsuits by incompetent to shoot it ( or handle any firearms for that matter ) idiots by keeping recoil levels down so the front sight doesn't end up as deeply imbedded in the middle of their foreheads.

I hope I'm wrong but I'm guessing Ruger wimped out on standing up for firearms rights, and is showing their character by swiping Linebaugh's legacy while diminishing his name in order to give undue credit to a good but gutless firearms designer who won't admit his designs could hurt anything other than a game animal you have a tag to collect.

Then again, maybe I shouldn't watch too much news and then spew my frustrations with other situations by nailing someone here to the wall before he's been proven to deserve it.
 
My opinion of Ruger went down a notch when I was able to flip through a law enforcement supply catalog/magazine. Not a grocery store wanna-be variant, a REAL one.

Hmmm...guess what Ruger was advertizing? A 9mm/.45 (your choice) subgun somewhat like the MP5, bananna clip at least 10" long, select-fire.

It appears Ruger really believes in arming law enforcement at levels way beyond what "mere mortals" are allowed to score. And they won't even admit to the general public they make such a critter.

Not good.

Anyways. As to the .480, what was recently pointed out to me by Roy was that the bigger the bore, the more total ballistic energy you can get with less peak PSI pressure spikes. Plus, Hornady is Ruger's partner in this venture, supplying what they claim is a good JHP hunting projectile "tuned" to this particular caliber. In JHPs, tuning the expected velocity to the projectile's expansion rate can yield excellent results. If it was just Ruger involved I'd be less likely to believe that this combo could work. As is, if somebody can't handle Casull/Linebaugh power levels but needs a bear defense gun, it might actually be a viable alternative?

Jim
 
Think of it this way: the .480 Ruger will serve as a relatively inexpensive mid-velocity/practice load for those with .475 Linebaughs. I don't expect Hornady to charge $100+ per 50rds like Buffalo Bore.

Another point is that this round might cause someone, say Taurus or Dan Wesson, to make a .475 Linebaugh revolver just to thumb their noses at Ruger.

In addition, if the pressures are low enough, wouldn't the .480 Ruger make a suitable candidate for a lever-action like the Marlin M1895? (But then again, I'm one of the weird folks who think that the .450 Marlin would be nifty in a short-action bolt rifle.)
 
Jim, those subguns are an Uzi variant the rights to which were bought by Ruger a few years back. But I'm glad to hear of others who are profoundly suspicious of Mr. R.

And Daniel, I'm the kinda guy who'd like to chamber a Ruger #3 to take 458x2 American ( 458 Win case shortened to 2" ) or rechamber to one of the old west "extra-long" 45 cartridges.
 
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