Taking the leap into .454 Casull....

[Jester560]

This will be my first step above .44 Magnum. Looking to glean any knowledge possible from those that have passed this way before me.

What I have gathered already is as follows:
1k CCI 450 srp mag
200 W-W brass
VV N110
Hornady 300gr XTP mag

[Borderland]

Rifle or revolver?

[Jester560]

Revolver- Taurus Raging Hunter 6.75

[Jester560]

Revolver

Taurus Raging Hunter 6.75

[JTMcC]

It's a significant step up.

454 is a pretty high pressure offering and produces significant recoil along with the significant power.
Does the 300 grain XTP hold up at 454 velocities? Maybe, I don't know.

You'll have some big fun, but if you decide you want bigger power with less violence involved, the bigger bore lower pressure rounds like the 500 JRH and 480 Ruger deliver.
If you decide you want the same, but more, the big Linebaugh's are always there to punish you ; )

Either way, enjoy it.

[okie john]

A few random thoughts:
Your job is to balance weight and velocity.
The tipping point for bullet weight seems to be around 0.21 SD. The tipping point for velocity seems to be about 1,100 fps.
Heavy bullets will go almost as fast as light ones but will penetrate more deeply.
Cast bullets can go faster than jacketed bullets of the same weight or go the same speed with less pressure.
Get comfortable with gas checks.
Light bullets don’t go much faster than heavy bullets like they do in rifles.
No revolver bullet has a good ballistic coefficient, which is nice because blunt bullets kill game faster than pointed bullets.
Velocity flattens trajectory, but there's only so much you can do with blunt revolver bullets that aren’t going very fast anyway.
At some point, a flatter trajectory only matters if you use optical sights.
H110 and WW296 are the same powder. They work best at top pressure so use something else for mid-range loads. They’ll erode bores if you shoot too much of them.
Read everything that Ross Seyfried wrote about the 45 Colt and the 454 Casull.

Okie John

[runngun]

Here are two lists of some of Ross Seyfrieds articles for reference, however he used heavy lead bullets (in 45 colt) almost exclusively, so not much on light jacketed bullets here. Interestingly, cylinder length, and not case length (45 Colt vs .454) was the limiting factor for max loads with the heaviest lead bullets (in guns of sufficient strength).

https://singleactions.proboards.com/thread/14540/little-ross
https://www.scoutrifle.org/index.php?topic=5120.0

[Jester560]

It's a significant step up.

454 is a pretty high pressure offering and produces significant recoil along with the significant power.
Does the 300 grain XTP hold up at 454 velocities? Maybe, I don't know.

You'll have some big fun, but if you decide you want bigger power with less violence involved, the bigger bore lower pressure rounds like the 500 JRH and 480 Ruger deliver.
If you decide you want the same, but more, the big Linebaugh's are always there to punish you ; )

Either way, enjoy it.

The Magnum bullets are made to stand up to the higher pressures and impact velocities. That is one of the reasons I decided to start with it and 300gr seems like a middle of the road size.

I will be testing from 250gr to 400gr bullets and as many different powders as I can lay hands on.

[Rock185]

I'd sure agree the .454 is a significant step up from .44 Magnum. I handled a couple Freedom Arms revolvers quite a few years ago. I decided to order one in .454, with an aux. .45 ACP cylinder. Having loaded and shot my share of .41 and .44 Magnum, I figured I had this recoil thing all figured out. Nope! The real .454 loads were, as they say, "a whole nuther thing". Most of my .454 loading was with jacketed 300 grain bullets, loaded down about 150 FS or so from the factory stuff. Recoil was still about half again more than my .44 Mag. loads. Glad I ordered it with the extra .45 ACP cylinder;-)

[farscott]

After twenty-five years with the .454 Casull in both FA revolvers and a T/C Encore, a couple of things work(ed) for me.

1) Do NOT load to maximum. Your wrists will thank you.
2) Plugs and muffs. Your ears will thank you.
3) I now stop at 300-grain at 1200 fps with most of my loads being 300-grain JFP at 900 fps. That load is enough for all non-dangerous game. The 300-grain 1200 fps loads will handle everything.
4) FA has a decent amount of starting load data at https://freedomarms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/454-Loading-Data.pdf that is recommended only for FA revolvers.
5). The FA bullets are expensive but good when you want to get above 1200 fps. I do not like the Hornady XTP in the .454 unless the velocity is kept below 1000 fps.
6) Clean the charge holes and forcing cone carefully with higher pressure loads. Do NOT ignore sticky loading or extraction.
7) The Redding carbide 3-die set is expensive but worth it.
8) No Lil'Gun powder for this round. It destroys forcing cones.
9) Magnum primers for heavy bullets.

[Borderland]

My neighbor has a Freedom Arms from an estate that he doesn't shoot. Not sure why he won't sell it but he's had it for several years. I didn't realize they made 45 APC cylinders for those. If he ever decides to sell it I'll make him an offer. I know what they're worth new. It's a fantastic revolver. I load 45 ACP. I wouldn't even dream of shooting 454. I don't have dental insurance.

[okie john]

1) Do NOT load to maximum. Your wrists will thank you.

So will your future self.

I grew up with lots of very accurate match-tuned guns, superb coaching, tons of range time, and almost unlimited supplies of ammunition. By my early 20's I was an excellent shot with rifles and handguns. Then I got a five-shot 45 Colt and felt that nothing less than 325-grain bullets at 1,400 fps would meet my needs. I shot that revolver very well at first but within a few months I developed a flinch that took years to go away.


Okie John

[willie]

I suggest you determine chamber throat diameter so you can match cast bullet diameter to them. PM me if you have issues finding correct size expanders.

Once I shot elephant rifles and hot 44 Mag loads for fun. Then one day I woke up with a terrible flinch. I still fight it. My opinion is that a 45 cal 255 gr cast swc at 1000 fps will penetrate about anything that walks in North America. You might do better with LBT style cast bullets which maintain velocity and especially accuracy at 100 yards better than do swc's.

Enjoy your revolver!

[R-71]

I took the plunge with a 7.5” freedom arms back in the 90s, I tried the 300 grain and 260 grain factory loads to start out. It took me a long time to get through that 50 r d box of 260 grain loads, they just hurt to shoot. The 300 was better and a better weight bullet for the 454 anyway. Back then I loaded the 300 grain bullets to around 1300 fps. I don’t miss all that power these days and I’m pretty happy with 1000 fps in all of my 44,45 &480 revolvers.

I don’t remember the specific load for that 300 grain XTP but it was very accurate bullet in my FA. I’m sure I used H110.

[sparkyv]

I wouldn't shoot any .454 Casull rounds out of anything lighter than an X-frame. :eek:

[Jester560]

I wouldn't shoot any .454 Casull rounds out of anything lighter than an X-frame. :eek:

Would you mind explaining a bit more?

[Tannhauser]

The Magnum bullets are made to stand up to the higher pressures and impact velocities. That is one of the reasons I decided to start with it and 300gr seems like a middle of the road size.

I will be testing from 250gr to 400gr bullets and as many different powders as I can lay hands on.

I have limited experience shooting .454 Casull, only a few times out of a range buddies Ruger Super Redhawk with 7.5” barrel. I don’t know specifics on the loads, but it was moderately unpleasant to shoot even from a big heavy scoped revolver with a shock absorbing grip.

I do have a fair bit of experience with the 300 gr .452 XTP mag bullet. For years I’ve used it with sabot in a .50 cal muzzleloader over magnum charges of BH209. My MV was around 1700 fps. Very accurate bullet. Terminal results on deer were devastating. Full pass throughs with significant destruction of bones and soft tissue. I would not hesitate to use this bullet on much larger than deer sized game.

[sparkyv]

Would you mind explaining a bit more?

Most firearms chambered for the .454 Casull are SA revolvers which are fairly lightweight and have plowhandle grips. The S&W X-frames are big and heavy and are fitted with Hogue Tamer grips, both of which help absorb the significant recoil.