45 colt to 454 casull, worth it?

[Randominator]

If you are interested in the 454 I would definitely recommend shooting a single action chambered in 454 before purchasing one. Let's just say the recoil is quite different than other cartridges.

I have a friend who had a custom revolver built in 454 and after one cylinder, he has shot nothing but 45 Colt in his. The 45 is an outstanding hunting round and with the proper bullets, can cleanly take a wide variety of animals.

When I was looking for more power in a hunting revolver, I had a Ruger Redhawk rechambered to 429 GNR. This is the 454 necked down to .44. I shoot 250 grain FNGC's at 1710 fps., 240 grain XTP's at 1675 fps., and 310 grain FNGC's at 1430 fps.

 

[J E Custom]

I just saw that ruger is now chamfering there Blackhawk with a 5 shot 454 casull and 480 ruger cylinders. I currently have a Blackhawk in 45 colt that I love to shoot full bore with 250s at 1450fps. Since I saw the new chamberjng I have an ich for the 454. My question is, is it worth the upgrade in power to the 454 over the colt. Which I would trade in the current Blackhawk for the change. At the time being, all that gets hunted with the revolver are squirrels and deer. And still have yet to take a shot at a deer. If I go the 454 it will more than likely get scoped to hopefully make use of the rxtra velocity and flatter trajectory. So is it worth the extra performance potential and recoil of the 454 even though the colt will take care of any rampaging squirrel with authority. And will mostly be loaded and fired at upper end colt power anyway.

All opinions and tips welcome.

Kyle

If you have the itch, scratch it.

If I was think about an up grade (And I am)over my 454, I would go to a 460 S&W because it can/will shoot the 460, 454 and the 45 long colt.

I looked at the 500 S&W but the pistol generally was to large and bulky to carry. I fired the 460 with full house loads and could not tell much difference between it and my 454. I also shot some 454 ammo and long colt in it and it was great with the 454 and very nice with the long colt.

I will say that the shape/brand of pistol makes a big difference in the more powerful cartridges. I started with a 44 supper Black hawkand it had quite a bit of recoil due to its weight and western stile. later I bough a super red hawk and the difference was amazing. when I moved up to 454, I bought another Ruger and found it to be a little abusive to the hand. a friend had a Raging bull by Taurus and I found that the design, fit and weight reduced the recoil considerably with the 300+ grain bullets. The reason I recommend the Smith is because of it's design and fit that reduces recoil with full house loads. I have always been a big fan of the Ruger pistols, but in a big powerful cartridge, it will make a huge difference and prevent you from going to the long colt because of recoil. (If you are going to shoot nothing but 45 Long colt, just get a Ruger Vaquero.

The big Smith is well built and is a pleasure to shoot with all of the ammo I shot. So the hunt is on
for one that I can afford. if I cant buy a good used one I will save my pennies and buy a new one.

For carry, I will look/get one with a 5" barrel, for hunting I will get the 8" barrel. there is a longer barreled one, but it is to long for my taste/use.

Just a thought

J E CUSTOM

 

[Kroberts]

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. I ended up having a local gunshop order the 454 casull in the ruger super blackhawk bisley. I opted for the Blackhawk since the freedom arms is WAY out of my price point right now. The BFR is still on the pricey side and just a little large for my taste at about 10 oz heavier than the ruger, and the new ruger will be about 8 oz heavier than my current Blackhawk. Plus I enjoy tinkering with a firearm to get better accuracy if the Blackhawks finish quality is a little under the BFR. Even the new ruger is stretching my budget pretty good with saving for my last semester of school this fall. But with the distributor for the shop saying the only plan to get a small handful of the casull chamberjng a in, I decided to jump on it and put my nname on one.

Kyle

 

[Pdvdh]

Hold on snugly for the first round or two. Then, once you're certain it won't break your wrist, you'll be able to settle down to a more comfortable hold.

 

[yorke-1]

Congrats on the new addition, I think you'll be pretty happy with it. You may want to look into a set of custom grips depending on your hand size. A set of grips which fit your hand well will make a huge difference in how the gun feels.

 

[Gary Kaney]

J E Custom
Did you ever look into the 475 Linbaugh. I have a F.A. in the 475. It's one hell of a round. Getting hit with the 454 Casull is like getting hit by a Ferrari. Getting hit with the 475 Linbaugh is like getting hit by freight train. Just my thought/ experience.

 

[J E Custom]

J E Custom
Did you ever look into the 475 Linbaugh. I have a F.A. in the 475. It's one hell of a round. Getting hit with the 454 Casull is like getting hit by a Ferrari. Getting hit with the 475 Linbaugh is like getting hit by freight train. Just my thought/ experience.

Yes, I looked at the 475 but it fell short of the 454 Casull and the 460 S&W in energy

The best ammo I could find for the 475 was 1300 ft/sec for 1501ft/lbs of muzzle energy. (It is almost a perfect match for the 45-70 1330 ft/sec for 1590 ft/lbs of energy.

The 454 was/is 1900 ft/sec for 1932 ft/lbs of muzzle energy.

The 460 is 2000 ft/sec for 2309 ft/lbs of muzzle energy.

All of this ammo is with 300 to 400 grain bullets.

The 475 is a great pistol round but with over 800 ft/lbs of energy more I would still have to go with the 460 Smith for a heavy hitter that is manageable .

I already have a TC Contender in 444 marlin that pushes a 265 grain bullet to 2400 ft/sec for 3389 ft/lbs of muzzle energy, but it is not for the faint of heart and it is a single shot. (It is not that much fun to shoot many times ether).

All of the big bore pistols are good self protection weapons, but they must be manageable to be of any value for defending your self on something determined to have you for lunch.

J E CUSTOM

 

[blacktail 8541]

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. I ended up having a local gunshop order the 454 casull in the ruger super blackhawk bisley. I opted for the Blackhawk since the freedom arms is WAY out of my price point right now. The BFR is still on the pricey side and just a little large for my taste at about 10 oz heavier than the ruger, and the new ruger will be about 8 oz heavier than my current Blackhawk. Plus I enjoy tinkering with a firearm to get better accuracy if the Blackhawks finish quality is a little under the BFR. Even the new ruger is stretching my budget pretty good with saving for my last semester of school this fall. But with the distributor for the shop saying the only plan to get a small handful of the casull chamberjng a in, I decided to jump on it and put my nname on one.

Kyle

You will not regret the Bisley SBH. They are a lot of gun for the money. I have one and enjoy shooting it, Very accurate. It is not a Freedom Arms in fit and finish, but it is not bad at all. And at a fraction of the price. The grip fit seems to be the biggest issue with thees Single actions.