MatthewVanitas
Member
Back nearly 20 years ago, some notable sixgunners got together and created the 480 Achilles cartridge. As Jim Taylor notes in his article, there's no practical use for this cartridge, and the team's motto was "undaunted by common sense."
Fundamentally it was an exercise in getting the largest bullet possible into a standard Peacemaker, with a six-shot cylinder rather than going down to five-, and the solution ended up being a .477" heeled bullet (imagine a huge .22LR, essentially) placed directly on a .45 Colt case. It ends up giving you a 290gr soft lead bullet cruising around 800 fps. Personally I'm a fan of low-and-slow and don't hunt, so this project sounded pretty engaging to me.
Here's the full writeup: https://leverguns.com/480/480_achilles.htm
I'm selling off a few spendy safe-queens I don't use, which is freeing up some cash, and since I like impractical things and big bullets, I'm debating getting a 480 Achilles conversion done on a Ruger. Afaik cylinders can be relatively easily modified by just removing the step from a .45 Colt cylinder so it's straight-through, accommodating the wider bullet. I'm not clear on whether it's possible to bore-out the stock Ruger barrel, or totally necessary to fit a new .475" barrel to it.
It appears the initial work was done by Gary Reeder on a Cabela's Millennium, but I was thinking of having this done on a Ruger New Blackhawk (or find a New Flattop model?). I don't know for sure whether a gunsmith would want to just remove the step from a .45 Colt cylinder, or whether it'd be easier to use a .357 Magnum or .44 Special and expand the chambers.
So far as finding someone to do it, would folks think Reeder is the best place to start asking (I'm just concerned that he does pretty fancy/spendy stuff and don't know if he does more straightforward work too), or are there other gunsmiths with whom I should inquire? Anyone have a strong opinion on what base sixgun would be best, of the SA Rugers? I don't know enough about the Old Models to be excited by them (since I can get free-spin modified onto a New BH, and the transfer bar doesn't bother me), so I was thinking just modifying one of the Anniversary Flat-Tops. Also though I normally favor Ruger stainless for simplicity of maintenance, since this would be a fun-gun I'm thinking of going blued, and rather than worry about scuffs I'm thinking either I or the gunsmith could do the "artificial aging" to make it look worn, both for coolness and so I don't need to fret about the finish.
I hope a few other folks find the 2004 Taylor article interesting, and I'm open to any suggestions as I consider this little project!
Fundamentally it was an exercise in getting the largest bullet possible into a standard Peacemaker, with a six-shot cylinder rather than going down to five-, and the solution ended up being a .477" heeled bullet (imagine a huge .22LR, essentially) placed directly on a .45 Colt case. It ends up giving you a 290gr soft lead bullet cruising around 800 fps. Personally I'm a fan of low-and-slow and don't hunt, so this project sounded pretty engaging to me.
Here's the full writeup: https://leverguns.com/480/480_achilles.htm
I'm selling off a few spendy safe-queens I don't use, which is freeing up some cash, and since I like impractical things and big bullets, I'm debating getting a 480 Achilles conversion done on a Ruger. Afaik cylinders can be relatively easily modified by just removing the step from a .45 Colt cylinder so it's straight-through, accommodating the wider bullet. I'm not clear on whether it's possible to bore-out the stock Ruger barrel, or totally necessary to fit a new .475" barrel to it.
It appears the initial work was done by Gary Reeder on a Cabela's Millennium, but I was thinking of having this done on a Ruger New Blackhawk (or find a New Flattop model?). I don't know for sure whether a gunsmith would want to just remove the step from a .45 Colt cylinder, or whether it'd be easier to use a .357 Magnum or .44 Special and expand the chambers.
So far as finding someone to do it, would folks think Reeder is the best place to start asking (I'm just concerned that he does pretty fancy/spendy stuff and don't know if he does more straightforward work too), or are there other gunsmiths with whom I should inquire? Anyone have a strong opinion on what base sixgun would be best, of the SA Rugers? I don't know enough about the Old Models to be excited by them (since I can get free-spin modified onto a New BH, and the transfer bar doesn't bother me), so I was thinking just modifying one of the Anniversary Flat-Tops. Also though I normally favor Ruger stainless for simplicity of maintenance, since this would be a fun-gun I'm thinking of going blued, and rather than worry about scuffs I'm thinking either I or the gunsmith could do the "artificial aging" to make it look worn, both for coolness and so I don't need to fret about the finish.
I hope a few other folks find the 2004 Taylor article interesting, and I'm open to any suggestions as I consider this little project!
