How Rare? BFR 480

[philoe]

Many years ago I stepped into the local gunshop and they had this single action monster in the discount rack. It came in a BFR shoebox and the guy that processed my paperwork made me feel like a clown for buying it.

At the time I was looking for a big bore single action for hunting game in the Mid South.

This thing fit the bill to a T. I had done research on BFRs and knew about the frame strength, etc.. I knew that because it was a JT prefix it was good to go from a reliability standpoint. # is JT009xx . What I never knew, and what I need from THR is how many of these things were made? Unless I am mistaken, anything currently produced in .475 is a Linebaugh/ .480 Ruger, not simply .480.

It is tremendously accurate and is surely worth more than the $xxx I paid for it 8ish years ago.

I truly am curious how many of these that they made in .480 R. Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MaxP]

I would suggest contacting Magnum Research for that information.

 

[philoe]

Thanks to MaxP for giving me the kick I needed to find out more about my BFR. Although I haven't picked up the phone yet I did get quite a bit of information on the history of the BFR from a post titled "History of the BFR" on the Kahr facebook site, which was penned by the founder Jim Tertin. Part 1 is below my post. Parts 2 and 3 are on that site, posted in Dec. of 2017. I now know why I haven't seen another short framed Magnum Research BFR.in 480 Ruger!

View attachment 947242

 

[earlthegoat2]

Found a hen’s tooth it would seem.

 

[mokin]

This is an interesting thread. Evidently the revolver is rare enough that we should have more pictures of it.

 

[philoe]

Here are a few pics.

What I find interesting is the production date of sometime in the 2nd half of '01, but Ruger didn't unveil the .480 Ruger until '03 if I am not mistaken. This makes Jim Tertin's comments about rechambering these early 480s to 475 Linebaugh a real interesting twist to the story.

The only other mystery is how that this beauty sat for 11 years unsold in a very popular gunshop in Memphis, TN. It was purchased in July of 2012.

View attachment 947531

 

[MaxP]

The .480 was actually released 2001. I bought my first Super Redhawk in .480 that year.

 

[Jack19]

That is a thing of beauty!

 

[philoe]

I appreciate that. I also appreciate MaxP for chiming in. Only in reading quite a bit of the history of the .480 Ruger over the past few days (many stories written by him) did I just now realize who he is :0
Last week on the t.v. (Hulu, Netflix or Prime, can't remember) I was given suggestions of programs I might like based on the nonsense I watch. So instead of watching a western like usual, I went with a handgun hunting program called Big Iron. This whole thread should be titled Big Irony. MaxP is on the damn show and I just figured this out this morning.

 

[captain awesome]

I just watched an episode on amazon...free with prime. Awesome show Max.

 

[Obturation]

Awesome revolver. I don't know how rare or valuable it would be, if I were you I would just shoot and enjoy it.

@MaxP is an great wealth of knowledge and experience, big iron ain't half bad either. I've got 2 of his books that I've really enjoyed too, he's an asset to this forum.

 

[MaxP]

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen!