I can't speak of the 480 coming from a rifle, but I can coming from a handgun. Like nomercy, I bought a first-run 480 Ruger SRH with the 9 1/2 barrel. It was topped with a 4X Leupold and I took three deer with it ranging from 10yds up to 90yds. Back then, the only factory loads for it was the 325gr XTP from Hornady and it certainly did the job well. As for how it does on bone, I can't say. All of the shots on deer were either double-lung or lung/heart shots and none of the three went over 15yds before piling up. Now that there are more factory loads and plenty of handloads for it, I'd say that it would be a fine for an "in-between" caliber.(44-454)