Buffalo Bore 480 Ruger 370gr LBT-LFN – Commanding Hard Cast Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 480 Ruger 370gr LBT-LFN is the full power load in Buffalo Bore’s 480 lineup. A 370 grain hard cast lead flat nose at 1300 fps produces roughly 1388 ft-lbs, and unlike a hollow point it is not designed to expand at all. It is designed to go through. Twenty rounds per box, item 13A/20.

• Buffalo Bore 480 Ruger 370gr LBT-LFN Overview
• 480 Ruger Hard Cast Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 370 Grain Flat Nose Bullet Penetrates
• Specifications
• Range Notes For This Heavy 480 Ruger Hunting Load

Buffalo Bore 480 Ruger 370gr LBT-LFN Overview

The bullet is an LBT pattern lead flat nose cast from a hard alloy with a gas check on the base. LBT stands for Lead Bullet Technology, the shop that popularised these profiles, and the design brief was always the same: a wide flat meplat, a full calibre driving band, and an alloy hard enough that the bullet arrives at the far side looking much as it did leaving the muzzle.

The gas check is a copper cup crimped onto the base. It stops hot propellant gas from cutting the lead at these velocities, which is what keeps the bore from leading up. Without one, driving a cast bullet to 1300 fps in a 480 would leave you scrubbing for an hour.

The 480 Ruger itself is worth a word. It is a shortened, lower pressure 475 Linebaugh built for the Ruger Super Redhawk, and it gives you most of the big bore performance with meaningfully less recoil, which is what makes the Buffalo Bore 480 Ruger 370gr LBT-LFN practical rather than punishing.

480 Ruger Hard Cast Ammo Ballistics

1388 ft-lbs from a revolver is substantial, but the number undersells what this load does. A non expanding 370 grain bullet with a wide flat nose uses its energy for depth rather than for opening up, so the useful comparison is not against a hollow point of the same energy.

Momentum is the better measure. A heavy, blunt, hard bullet at moderate speed will drive through a shoulder blade and keep going, and that is exactly the job a big bore hunting revolver exists to do. Buffalo Bore’s lower recoil 480 load at 1000 fps is rated to penetrate roughly five feet in living muscle and bone, and this one is running 300 fps faster.

Recoil is real but not unmanageable in a heavy revolver. A Super Redhawk or a Freedom Arms in 480 weighs enough to soak up a good deal of it, and most people find 480 Ruger hard cast ammo easier to shoot well than a 454 Casull.

Why The 370 Grain Flat Nose Bullet Penetrates

Expansion is a trade, and on large animals it is usually the wrong side of the trade. A bullet that opens makes a wider wound but gives up depth, and against a big hog or a bear at a bad angle the thing you need is to reach the vitals, not to make an impressive hole in the first six inches.

A hard cast bullet refuses the trade entirely. It keeps its full weight and its full frontal area, and it keeps going. That is why this style of bullet has dominated big bore revolver hunting for decades despite offering nothing clever on paper.

The flat nose is what makes it work rather than just pass through. A round nose of the same weight tends to push tissue aside and leave a narrow track. A 370 grain flat nose bullet punches a clean full calibre hole with sharp shoulders the whole way, which is both a better wound and a far better blood trail, and it is why deep penetrating handgun ammunition is built this way.

And the 480 gives you a genuinely large hole to start with. At 0.475 of an inch the unexpanded bullet is already wider than most expanded 44 Magnum bullets, which is the quiet advantage of going to a big bore in the first place.

Specifications

Range Notes For This Heavy 480 Ruger Hunting Load

Shoot it from a rest or from sticks, not off a hard bench. A full power 480 concentrated into your shoulder and cheek over a sandbag is how people develop a flinch, and a flinch costs you far more accuracy than any load ever will.

Keep sessions short. A heavy 480 Ruger hunting load is expensive and punishing to practise with, so sight in, confirm, and stop. Fatigue ruins more groups than anything else with a big bore revolver.

Expect more fouling than a jacketed load leaves. Cast bullets carry a lubricant and the cylinder face and forcing cone will look dirty after a session. The gas check keeps actual bore leading modest, but give the barrel a proper look when you clean.

Think about what is behind your target. A heavy 480 Ruger hunting load will pass through most things you shoot with it. That is a feature in the field and a serious liability anywhere with buildings in the background.

Deep Penetrating Handgun Ammunition Availability

This deep penetrating handgun ammunition is in stock and ready to ship from MAG5 Firearms, a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Ammunition orders ship to most states, and local customers are welcome to pick up in the shop. If you need case quantities or another 480 Ruger hard cast ammo option from the Buffalo Bore catalog, call us and we will check what our distributors have on hand.

Manufacturer details are on the Buffalo Bore site. For a heavier bullet in the same calibre see the 480 Ruger 410gr LBT-WFN. For more energy still, compare the 500 S&W 375gr Barnes XPB, or browse our full ammunition selection.