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Ruger .480 or .454

hawkflyerhawkflyer Member Posts: 51 ✭✭
edited June 2003 in Ask the Experts
I want a new pistol that will tame any North American game (mostly whitetail). I like the .454 and that it will also accept a .45 for fun shooting. Is the energy of the .454 that much higher than the .480 and thus make it harder to control? How do the balistics compare? Is the .454 not fun to shoot after 50+ rounds at the range? Also I want to find a nice lever in the same caliber as the pistol. I see Winchester has the .480. Are there any .454 levers out there?
Thanks

MDK
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Comments

  • agloreaglore Member Posts: 6,012
    edited November -1
    If you want to shoot bullets of 300 grains or less, stick with the 454. The 480 will surpass it with bullets weighing from 390 to 460 grains. My favorite load in my 480 is with a good dose of H110 and a 390 hard cast GC'ed bullet running at 1425 FPS. Winchester has announced the M94 will be made in 480 Ruger but I don't think you will be seeing any too soon on the shelves.

    AlleninAlaska
    Delta Firearms & Supplies
    http://canadianfirearmsexchange.com

    aglore@gci.net
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  • kingjoeykingjoey Member Posts: 8,636
    edited November -1
    Allen hit it on the head. The 480 has a larger surface area which will allow a heavier projectile to be accelerated at similar speeds and similar pressures. To get a 454 to accelerate a heavier than standard projectile to high speeds would put you at risk of overpressure in a cartridge that is already super-hot. All that aside, either should do fine[;)]

    Love them Beavers
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    SUPPORT THE I.N.S. , THE COUNTRY THEY SAVE COULD BE YOUR OWN
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  • SilverBoxSilverBox Member Posts: 2,347 ✭
    edited November -1
    The .454 is fine to shoot for a box of 50, the cost of the 50 rounds is not so nice.

    My dad has the Ruger Super Redhawk .454 with the 9 1/2 inch barrel. Its nice and heavy, the recoil isn't bad at all. Well its not um mild, but its managable. He probably fires about 4x more .45 LC's out of it then .454s when plinking, because of the price difference in the ammo. His favorite thing is to give a guy whose visiting and wants to shoot it a cylinder of .45 LC's with one .454 mixed in their and see if they can tell which one it is *winks*
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  • SunraySunray Member Posts: 773 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No handgun round will "tame:" all game in NA. You shoot a big bear with a handgun round and you'll just annoy him. For mainly deer, gut a .44 Mag and load down to .44 Special velocities to screw around with. If you're just looking for a reason, (you don't need an excuse, you're full grown. 'I want', is reason enough. Have the wife call me I'll sort her out for you. HAHAHAHA!!!) to buy a big bore, consider ammo availablity first and foremost.
    "His favorite thing is to give a guy whose visiting and wants to shoot it a cylinder of .45 LC's with one .454 mixed in their and see if they can tell which one it is *winks*" Is a really quick way to discourage a new shooter. It's not funny and gives the rest of us a bad name. Tell "daddy" to quit it.
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  • gskyhawkgskyhawk Member Posts: 4,773
    edited November -1
    I've had both in the 7 1/2 version and flat did not like the 454 , it found the way it recoiled was very hard on the wrist , a kind of twisting motion , so I traded it off for a 480 which I found to be much more enjoyable to shoot , if you can call either of them enjoyable when shooting them[8D]
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  • SilverBoxSilverBox Member Posts: 2,347 ✭
    edited November -1
    Sunray,

    Your way to uptight. He tells them he's doing it and generally they are not inexperienced shooters or wussy's who cry about a lil recoil.. Its fun in my opinion, I like shooting it with both mixed in. If I'm practicing seriously I only shoot one type of ammo at a time, but for general plinking I see nothing wrong with mixing it up for fun.
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  • ranger37ranger37 Member Posts: 182 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hi there.....

    If your going to go that big, go all the way and get the S&W 500....I think you`ll be happy with that.

    DO RIGHT GUNSMITH, INC.
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  • queeksdrawqueeksdraw Member Posts: 274 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My only experience with the 480 is the changing of scope rings. I'v put three sets on mine, darn thing keeps ripping the screws in half. First set only lasted 14 rounds. And blowing holes in my sand bags has become an everyday thing. But it sure is fun finding out how long the next set will last.

    You'v gota kill it to grill it
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  • hawkflyerhawkflyer Member Posts: 51 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    queeksdraw,
    What scope are you using? I am interested in mounting a scope or aimpoint but with what your saying is the energy is ripping anything heavy right off.

    ranger37,
    I want to kill game, not my arms. I just read a review of the 500, ouch!!!

    Sunray,
    I lived in Kodiak, AK for 3 years and you are right, a handgun would not be my first choice for big brown (although its been done, hell its been done with a bow). But, it sure is nice when that rifle dinner bell sounds to have close quarters defense.

    I do like the fact that you can shoot a 45 out the 454 at the range for practice and wallet. I dont know if I want all that energy tearing this old body apart. I dont reload so I dont care about anything outside of factory loads. I am getting a lot out of this and thanks to everybody fot your input. Keep it comming.



    MDK
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