475 Linebaugh / 480 Ruger and Tim’s musings and use thereof in the wilderness
Transcript
Introduction: Starting Fresh (Take Two)
All right, hi folks. Tim Sundles here with my absolutely beautiful, wonderful wife Kim doing the filming.
We had to start over because on the first take, I forgot to say I had my absolutely wonderful, beautiful wife Kim here doing the filming.
(Kim interjects) – That’s not true. He misspoke.
But anyway, she’s here doing the filming—that’s probably a good thing.
.475 Linebaughs and .480 Rugers
I really want to talk about .475 Linebaughs and .480 Rugers.
The .475 Linebaugh is not my go-to cartridge for stopping big bears. I use a .500 Linebaugh or a .500 JR.
However, I have used .475 Linebaughs, and there's no fly in the ointment. They’ll kill big things with a plumb—if you use proper ammo.
That’s one of the things I’m finding more and more with shooters. Most shooters are entry level—or they’re not deep into this. There’s just so much to know, and unless you’ve spent a lifetime doing it like I have—well, I still know less than I know. It’s impossible to know everything.
Custom Guns: Bowen and Clemens
These .475s work really well on big game. I’ve used them. Let me show you some of the guns I have, the ammo I carry in them, and why.
Let’s start with the blued guns. I don’t carry these as much because I’m really hard on my guns. I don’t throw them off cliffs or anything, but I neglect them. They get rained on, they stay wet. I don’t care—I don’t have time to baby my guns. They’re a tool.
Bowen Nimrod
This is a Bowen Nimrod—Hamilton Bowen made this for me over 30 years ago. The stocks are bighorn sheep, which are now illegal to make into handgun stocks.
Don Mahalavik made these grips for me. He was Elmer Keith’s gunsmith, and when I moved to Salmon 35 years ago, he was still in business. I was taking him these early .475s and .500s from Linebaugh, Bowen, Clemens, Huntington—and he was putting custom grips on them.
David Clemens .475
This is a David Clemens .475—appointed differently than the Bowen. The Bowen has a 5½-inch barrel with a barrel band; this is a straight 6-inch barrel.
It also has Mahalavik bighorn sheep grips. As far as workmanship—equal. Fit, finish, mechanical function—they’re both stupendous revolvers.
What I Carry Most: Freedom Arms .475
Now let’s go to the one I carry the most when I’m carrying a .475.
It’s a Freedom Arms Model 83, stainless, with an octagonal barrel.
It came with a spare .480 Ruger cylinder. I bought it used—it came with a box of Buffalo Bore ammo with five rounds missing and the gun.
You know what happened:
Someone bought it, had all the custom upgrades done—action job, black Micarta, octagonal barrel—fired five rounds and said, “To hell with this.” Then sold it.
I bought it in a gun shop 9 or 10 years ago for $1,300—with the spare cylinder and ammo. I love it. I carry it mostly because it’s stainless—I can’t really hurt it.
How I load it:
First two rounds: Expanding 400-grain Speer soft points
Last three rounds: Hard cast penetrators
That’s an old Africa trick—first shot is a soft, everything after that is a solid. If your first shot doesn’t do the job, it’s either running at you or away from you, and penetration becomes everything.
Freedom Arms Serial No. 51
My next most-carried Freedom Arms .475 is a field grade with doll sheep grips, also made by Mahalavik.
I was working with Jack Huntington and Bob Baker at Freedom Arms to design the .475 Linebaugh to fit in their smaller ratchet system. We turned the rim down—made the head smaller so it would fit.
John Linebaugh didn’t want that. He wanted the .4570 rim, which only works on Ruger frames—not Freedom Arms.
So I said to Bob Baker:
“Hey, can I get the first one made?”
He said:
“We start new series at serial number 50, and that’ll go in our museum. You can have number 51.”
So this is serial number 51. It’s just kind of cool. Doesn’t really matter when you're shooting a big bear between the eyes, but it’s neat old stuff.
Ruger Super Blackhawk in .480 (Converted)
This revolver was so overdue. I don’t understand big companies like Ruger.
It’s their Super Blackhawk frame, chambered in .480 Ruger. People were asking for this for decades.
Eventually Lipsey’s did a run, Ruger made them, and I bought one.
I sent it to Jack Huntington and had him lengthen the chambers to .475 Linebaugh—not because I needed more power, but because I like versatility.
If I’m carrying it and I can’t find .480 ammo but I can find .475, I want to be able to shoot it.
Tom Ords’ Custom .475 Ruger
A guy named Tom Ords, also a big bore guy, bought the same gun and had Jack:
Cut the barrel to 3½ inches
Add a barrel rib, barrel band
Custom grips (some kind of horn)
Free-spinning pawl
Jack also lengthened the chambers to .475 Linebaugh.
People have told me, “You shouldn’t shoot .475s out of a .480.” Of course, they’ve never done it, never hand-loaded, but they’ve got an opinion.
I don’t know how many .475 rounds I’ve fired through mine—a bunch. No problems. No extraction issues.
Spare me the lecture. I’ve done it. It’s safe. These Ruger 5-shots are strong. No reason to think otherwise.
A Redacted Story, and a Message on Federal Overreach
We’re doing this video for probably the third time because my wife talked me into deleting a story.
It was about me having to shoot a protected species one day. It was a good story—a true story—but we took it out.
We’re getting threats now—likely from federally paid operatives—because I’ve spoken out against the Forest Serviceand U.S. Fish & Wildlife.
These people break laws all the time. Their very existence isn’t even constitutional.
So I’m backing off on some of these stories. But to me—if a bear charges you and you shoot it, that’s not illegal. They may call it illegal, but the Fifth Amendment says you don’t have to self-incriminate.
“Shut up. Get out of my face. I’m taking the Fifth. I want a lawyer.”
Bonus Gun: Freedom Arms .500 Wyoming Express
This Freedom Arms revolver isn’t part of the .475 discussion, but I want to show it.
It’s chambered in .500 Wyoming Express, with an extra cylinder in .50 AE. I bought it used.
The .500 Wyoming Express was Freedom Arms’ own .50 caliber round—but they doomed it by only letting one ammo maker and one brass maker supply it.
Before COVID, I talked to Bob Baker, asked for sample cases and drawings. I planned to talk to Starline about doing a run—maybe just for me.
Then COVID hit and shut that down.
Coming Soon: .500 Linebaughs and the Ronnie Wells Gun
We’re doing a video next on .500 Linebaughs, .500 JRs, and all the packing-size .50 caliber revolvers—not the giant X-frame Smith & Wessons.
I’m also waiting on a Ronnie Wells .500 Linebaugh to show up. It’s not my gun, but I saw it take a Cape buffalo a couple months ago.
Most of my contemporaries—Clemens, Bowen, Huntington—are gone or retired. That’s why these stories need to be told now.
When I get that Ronnie Wells revolver, I’m going to line up all my .500s—I have more of those than .475s—and we’ll go over why they are the ultimate stoppers for packing-sized revolvers.
Closing Thoughts
Folks, I hope you have a great day. God bless, and we will catch you on the next video.
