[Marshall Stanton]

The New Ruger .480 is factory loaded with a 325g Hornady bullet loaded to 1300+ fps.   Most existing .475 caliber bullets are on the heavy side for this new cartridge, being 385-420 grains in weight.   Beartooth now offers a jacketed bullet alternative for the new Ruger .480.  We have come out with a .476"-355g LFNGC bullet specifically for this application.   It should be an excellent "Step-Up" loading from the factory bullet weight, and offer superior game performance in all aspects.

This new bullet also has the appropriate Nose-To-Crimp length for the Freedom Arms 83 in .475 Linebaugh for those wishing to use a lighter bullet in these guns.

To see the details on meplat diameter, nose-to-crimp length, overall bullet length and bullet ordering information, click on the link below.

New .480 Ruger 355g LFNGC Bullet​

This should fill a badly needed slot in our bullet lineup.   We tried to anticipate this need as soon as the .480 Ruger was announced, and put wheels in motion to have this available as soon as possible to fill this need.

Please let us know what you think of our new bullet!

God Bless,

Marshall

 

[Southpaw]

Marshall,
Hodgon has load info on their site for a 405gr cast bullet at over 1300fps.  I was wondering if you plan to offer such a bullet.  I'm looking for a heavier bullet at a lower velocity between 1200 to 1300 fps for BIG brown bear, close quarters protection.  I want to keep the velocity down to reduce the risk of the bullet fragmenting if it strikes bone.
I was hoping to be able to use your 420 gr gas checked. I've seen the .480 and there's about 1/8" left in the cylinder with a 325gr bullet. so overall length of the cartridge could be increased. What would your thoughts be on that? Thanks

 

[Marshall Stanton]

Both Hodgdon and Accurate are currently doing pressure testing and load development with the 420g LFN and WFN bullets in the .480 Ruger, and that information should be available any day now.   You'll notice that the NTC length of our new 355g LFNGC bullet for the .480 Ruger takes advantage of that extra cylinder room, and leaves less compromised case capacity due to our longer nose length.  

Also, I assure you that you won't have any fragmentation problems on big bears using our bullets.   The alloy we use is only 3% antimony, then we heat treat the bullets to get the hardness up to 21 BHN.   The purpose of the low antimony content is two-fold.  One it is roughly 6% heavier for volume than linotype alloy, and secondly it is much more ductile, being much less brittle than the higher antimony alloys.  The heat treating boosts the bullet hardness, yet at the same time the bullets aren't brittle as with the higher anitmony alloys.

I sincerely doubt that we will tool up for a 400 grain bullet anytime in the near future.   We have two .476"-420g gas checked designs, one an LFN profile and the other a WFN profile with a wider meplat.  Now, we have the 355g LFNGC bullet as well.   It should be well suited to the case capacity of the .480 Ruger and be capable of some very surprising velocities due to the nose profile, the amount of the bullet outside the case and the lower friction coefficient of the alloy bullet vs. the jacketed pills Hornady is selling for this cartridge.

Looking forward to other's observations and comments as well!

God Bless,

Marshall