480 Ruger

[High Desert Hunter]

Sure wish either Rossi, or Ruger would get some new 480 Ruger leverguns in circulation. I would love to have one, but 2K is awfully steep for a Rossi.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I really like the .480 Ruger cartridge.

I have a Ruger lever gun (Number 1) in .475/.480

I also have a cool double rifle in .480.

[High Desert Hunter]

I really regret not buying a 475/480 Ruger No. 1 when I had the opportunity. As to the double rifle, that is off the charts cool! Yours is the second one I've seen.

[Paul105]

Scott, that double gun is really cool!

[Scott Tschirhart]

Ruger No. 1

[yooper2]

Very cool double! I'd love to see another 480 levergun in production, particularly if it was made by someone other than rossi but I'd grab one if they were once again available. A trapper length carbine would be of particular interest to me, ton of useful power in a very handy package.
I really love my Bisely 480, I like that it is very effective even when not pushed hard and it's an usually accurate revolver.


Eric

[AJMD429]

.
Even bigger bucks that a $2,000 Rossi, but the Big Horn Armory 89 is made in 475 Linebaugh/480 Ruger

https://www.bighornarmory.com/product/m ... linebaugh/

I got my 500 S&W 89 when they were ‘only’ $2,500 or so.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’m going to sell the .475 Ruger No.1.

I’m really not using it. But this double rifle is fascinating to me.

[JimT]

Paco took a nice Gemsbok with the 480 pistol.

https://leverguns.com/africa/images/paco_gemsbok.JPG

[Scott Tschirhart]

I think it’s a heck of a good idea for a cartridge that gives some serious big bore power without heavy recoil.

Ruger had the right idea.

[Bill in Oregon]

I had a .480 in a French Gray Super Redhawk and as much as I wanted to like the cartridge for its ballistic excellence, it just wasn't any fun in my hands in that particular platform.

[GunnyMack]

Ruger #1 eh? Hmmm... 475 eh?
No idea if I would ever use that for anything but im intrigued.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I had a .480 in a French Gray Super Redhawk and as much as I wanted to like the cartridge for its ballistic excellence, it just wasn't any fun in my hands in that particular platform.

I think I would prefer it in a Ruger Bisley.

[GunnyMack]

Was your #1 a factory chambering or did you have it rebarreled?

[Scott Tschirhart]

Was your #1 a factory chambering or did you have it rebarreled?

Factory chambering and I believe I have the factory box.

[AJMD429]

I think it’s a heck of a good idea for a cartridge that gives some serious big bore power without heavy recoil.

It seems like with today's steels handling higher pressure and today's more modern powders, we don't really need long cartridges to get big fat bullets moving at a pretty reasonable pace. Sure, you still need a 458 Lott or 500 Nitro if you want a huge bullet going really fast, but if you want an almost-huge bullet going pretty-darned-fast the shorter cartridges like 480 Ruger and 500 Smith and Wesson really do the job. The advantage is a shorter and lighter action (and if you want to think about 'tactical' stuff, greater capacity in the magazine). The 480 Ruger in the Rossi can be had in the 16" 'trappe' version and is extremely lightweight and handy, and even a 480 Ruger/475 Linebaugh or a 500 S&W in the Big Horn Armory 89 in the 'carbine' configuration is almost identical and heft and size to a Marlin Guide Gun.

That's a heck of a lot of rapid fire foot pounds of energy and relatively convenient levergun packages...!

[AJMD429]

I think I would prefer it in a Ruger Bisley.

A Ruger Bisley in 480 paired up with that Ruger No1 for sale here would be quite the ticket. Although I love leverguns, for the true hunter, there is something special about a single shot, especially one as classy as the Ruger No1. Unlikely a person would need a second shot on any game in North America, plus I have a Ruger No1 in 7mm Remington magnum, and they're actually extremely fast to reload. Faster than a break open shotgun for sure, at least for me. In 480/475 it would be kind of like a superbly accurate rifled slug gun.

[High Desert Hunter]

All this 480 talk, took the Bisley out and ran a few rounds through it. Burned up the last of the 355gr I had loaded, rang the steel at 50 yards every pull of the trigger, and a satisfying ring it is! A lever action breech loader would compliment the 5 shooter quite well!

Dave

[Scott Tschirhart]

A 325 grain bullet over 10 gr of Unique is a very powerful load that is easy to shoot and has reasonable muzzle blast. Jeff Quinn came up with this load and it’s a good one.

[Grizz]

A 325 grain bullet over 10 gr of Unique is a very powerful load that is easy to shoot and has reasonable muzzle blast. Jeff Quinn came up with this load and it’s a good. One.

do you know the velocity Scott ?

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Is there a thread where you go into detail about this double gun in 480 Ruger? I think I recall a thread about Lil'gun use in it. But I don't remember the maker or the details of the rifle.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Here’s an article on the Ruger No.1

https://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-No1-475L.htm

Here’s the article on reloading the .480 and it has the Unique data.

https://www.gunblast.com/Loading_the_480.htm

[Scott Tschirhart]

Is there a thread where you go into detail about this double gun in 480 Ruger? I think I recall a thread about Lil'gun use in it. But I don't remember the maker or the details of the rifle.

I don’t think I’ve ever written anything in detail about the double rifle, but I will think about it.

I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to take it on a hog hunt which seems to me to be the perfect use for it.

[High Desert Hunter]

Bobby Tyler has a 475 Linebaugh No. 1 for sale, but it is way too rich for my blood.

[GunnyMack]

Scott, I took would like to hear the whole story about your double!

[AJMD429]

.
I've been a fan of the Ruger lever action since I bought a '96/22' many years ago. Some traditionalists roll their eyes but Marlin and Winchester and Savage I'll have similar looking firearms that became 'classics'. Ruger came out with that series in 22 long rifle, 22 Winchester rimfire magnum, 17 Hornaday rimfire magnum, and 17 Mach 2, and then eventually 44 magnum.

I love the Ruger 96/44, because it holds plenty of ammunition for practical hunting, with its four round magazine, yet the magazine can be removed from the gun and the gun emptied easily if you come in from the cold with stiff fingers wearing gloves and fogged up glasses. It also allows for those who have to get in and out of vehicles or cross roadways during their hunting to stay legal versus crossing a road in some places being illegal with a lever action rifle and tubular magazine full of cartridges. It also is easy to put a good scope or receiver sight on.

If that action had remained popular, I wonder if they would have brought out 45 Colt or 357 magnum, or 32-20, or any number of other so-called 'pistol cartridge' lever guns. When they came out with the 480 Ruger, I was young enough to be unimpressed because it isn't a magnum powerhouse and seemed silly if you have the alternative over 475 linebaugh, with the cartridge diameter being the main limiting factor in the revolvers we were talking about at the time. However, when it came to long guns, everything was custom and nothing really hit the market.

I always wondered what would have happened if Ruger made a 480 Ruger chambered 96 lever gun. I'm not sure if that action would withstand the pressures, although 44 magnum is some pretty serious pressure, so it may have been possible.

Anyway, I think the concept of a wide meplat bullet of hardcast lead flowed moving around a thousand feet per second or slightly less, makes an incredibly useful hunting cartridge, or for that matter, home protection cartridge. At longer ranges, a person would need to have definitive knowledge of the range of their game or target, but with today's technology it's not entirely unreasonable to think that a person could have a 480 Ruger equipped firearm with an integral scope and rangefinder, making the rifle capable of adequate accuracy out to at least a couple hundred yards. Many people would roll their eyes and complain that it is not politically correct to have a scope with a laser rangefinder integral to it, on a lever action rifle, but to those people I would respectfully say "...You're crazy....!!!". Pretty much all firearms innovations have been crazy at first and the ones that are practical wind up being adopted and the ones that are not practical were abandoned.

Hopefully people will continue to experiment with firearms chambered in 480 Ruger and it will continue to be a viable option. I happen to have skipped up in diameter to the 500 Smith & Wesson so after 45 Colt and 45-70 the next thing in my armamentarium is 500 Smith & Wesson. However, the concept of a big fat bullet moving subsonic velocity still seems hard to beat, whether you are talking 45 caliber, 48 caliber, or 50 caliber.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Bobby Tyler has a 475 Linebaugh No. 1 for sale, but it is way too rich for my blood.

Dang!!! $3249.99!!!

I had no idea that any No.1 was worth that much

[Grizz]

Whoa Doc . . . you skipped 49 caliber?

[High Desert Hunter]

Bobby Tyler has a 475 Linebaugh No. 1 for sale, but it is way too rich for my blood.

Dang!!! $3249.99!!!

I had no idea that any No.1 was worth that much

That's what I was thinking!