Puma 92 in 475 linebaugh possible?

[Saz]

I recently purchased a puma 454 with a 16" barrel, and it got me to thinkinng a little bit...... Yeah, uh oh........
Anyways, After talking to a few people about it and looking around a little it seems like there are plenty of 480 ruger pumas around. The opinion of most is that the 480 ruger is too slow. Most of them dont even realize that the 480 is basically just a shortened 475 Linebaugh. Now, since the pumas have been standing up to the 60,000 psi of the 454 fairly well, wouldnt it be able to handle the 475? Couldnt you just ream the chamber to the 475? Or am I completely missing something?

Dont get me wrong, I think the 480 ruger is a wonderful cartridge and so is the 475. The 475 (full power loads) is just too much recoil for me in a pistol. I think it would be just great for a camp/fishing/woods carry rifle. I live in Alaska and we run into some pretty big critters at times and I always have at least my .44 mag on me. I really like the short 92's for hiking around or on a 4 wheeler- such a dandy gun to carry. I think it would be a pretty interesting project if the rifle could handle it.

[piller]

The length of lever throw would, I think, prohibit a .475 Linebaugh cartridge from being used in a Puma. A little bit of lengthening the design of the receiver would make it work perfectly. I like the .480 Ruger a lot, and it has worked very well for me. However, a .475 Linebaugh levergun sounds good to me.

[Buck Elliott]

What you're "completely misssing" is the difference in cartridge length between the .475 and the .480.

Won't say it "isn't possible", to make a '92 into a .475, just that it is hardly worth the trouble and aggravation, not to mention fudging the safety factor of the little '92. Larger cartridge diameter means less metal in critical areas, such as chamber/barrel shank.

"Some say the .480 is too slow..." is a ridiculous statement, at best. No living, breathing creature on this continent can stand up to the trouncing a .480 can deliver.

"Fast" only extends your effective range a tiny bit, in the case of fat-bullet cartridges.

FWIW, I still dream of making a few .475s on my rifle platform, if I live long enough, and win enough lottery jackpots...

[piller]

The design would have to be changed. I just measured the opening in my Puma in .480 and there isn't enough length to throw the .475 Linebaugh brass clear. Elongating the receiver would be necessary if you were to need to eject a loaded round.

[1886]

What you're "completely misssing" is the difference in cartridge length between the .475 and the .480.

Won't say it "isn't possible", to make a '92 into a .475, just that it is hardly worth the trouble and aggravation, not to mention fudging the safety factor of the little '92. Larger cartridge diameter means less metal in critical areas, such as chamber/barrel shank.

"Some say the .480 is too slow..." is a ridiculous statement, at best. No living, breathing creature on this continent can stand up to the trouncing a .480 can deliver.

"Fast" only extends your effective range a tiny bit, in the case of fat-bullet cartridges.

FWIW, I still dream of making a few .475s on my rifle platform, if I live long enough, and win enough lottery jackpots...

I agree with Buck. The .475 in a carbine certainly has a romance to it but the .480 carbine offers plenty of extra barrel length to fully utilize the case capacity of the .480 with a slow burning powder such as H-110/296. A 430gr. LBT style bullet at 1400f.p.s. will make just about any critter cough up a lung. There were rumors of Marlin offering a rifle in the .475 several years ago. It did not happen for a good reason. Best Wishes, 1886.

[piller]

I'm not downing the .480, don't get me wrong. It is a great cartridge, and I even took a Water Buffalo with it at AOA down in Hondo, TX. 86er would not have let me if he thought the round wasn't enough. I was using 400 grain JSPs powered by ww296. It took several shots, but the was partly my shooting it too high in the body. I later thought to ask where the heart was, and found out it is very low in the chest. My first two shots would have gone right through the heart if I would have shot 4 inches lower, and not where a deer's heart would be. Still, if you want to take a ruler to my Puma, you will see that there isn't a large enough ejection port to remove a fully loaded .475 Linebaugh round. That is my main point.