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
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
