[electric wombat]

I just recently purchased a witness match pistol in .40 S&W. Like any true "gun nut" I'm already thinking about my next purchase. I was going to go with a .22 like the ruger mark III or browning buckmark. Then I thought I want to go for one of the big boys. Now I'm looking into either a .44 mag or .454 casuall. Maybe some of you can help me narrow down my choice as far a calaber goes. I've shot a few .44 mags but never had the pleasure of shooting a .454.

1) Is there much more felt recoil in the 454?
2) What are the pro's & cons of each?
3) Are there any advantages/disadvantages of one over the other?
4) Any models to suggest i should start looking at in either calaber?

Keep in mind that I really have no purpose in buying a large calaber revolver other than I want a gun that makes a really big boom :) Well i guess one purpose would be to use it in bowling pin matches & shooting steel plates & such, but either calaber would work fine for that.

[Jeff F]

The .454 is a completely different world compared to the .44 magnum.

[Redhawk1]

I have both the 44 Mag and 454 Casull. The 454 Casull is a big step up from the 44 Mag. But the good thing is, you can usually shoot 45 Colts in the 454 Casull if you get tired of all the recoil.

If I had to pic one over the other, the 454 Casull would be my choice.

[longhorngunman]

As a friend of mine once said after shooting my Ruger SRH .454 Casull, "The .44 Magnum has some oompth behind it but this thing is like shakin' God's hand!":D The .454 really is in a whole nuther league. With that said, go get you one! Every gun connosier needs at least one really big boomer. I won't lie the Ruger SRH while very strong is a relatively light gun for this caliber. If your worried about too much recoil I'd suggest you get the S&W 460Mag revolver. That X-frame is huge and the weight plus porting will soak up a lot of recoil. Plus, then you can shoot 460Mag, .454 Casull and 45 colt;). Now if your really a sadist go get you one of those .454 Alaskans and stoke it up with some Cast Performance 395gr's and a lot of H110 powder.:evil:

[Sergeant Sabre]

1) Is there much more felt recoil in the 454?
The recoil of the .454 is positively brutal. The .44 is nothing by comparison.


2) What are the pro's & cons of each?
The .454s claim to fame is velocity. It can push 300gr bullets into the 1650fps neighborhood. This allows a flatter trajectory than most other handgun rounds.
On the other hand, this comes at the price of brutal recoil and muzzle blast that will vaporize your eardrums. I bet if you crunch the numbers the trajectory difference out to 100yds is minimal. Additionally, .454 ammunition is very hard to find compared to the .44.
The .454 is especially attractive to the hand loader, however. Loads are available from light .45 Colt levels, to full-snot shake-the-earth .454. This, and the very wide selection of bullets suited to the .454, makes the .454 an especially versatile option to the hand loader.
The .44 really needs no explanation. It just works. Recoil is high, but not like the .454. 300gr bullets can go in the neighborhood of 1200fps, which will put quite a hurtin' on most anything. Buffalo Bore and Double-Tap have a few Ruger-only loads that really take the .44 up a notch. Also on the plus side, ammunition is available in most any hardware store.

3) Are there any advantages/disadvantages of one over the other?
Didn't you just ask that?

4) Any models to suggest i should start looking at in either calaber?
There are quite a few good examples of each. The Smith & Wesson 629 is probably the classic double-action .44. The strength of the Ruger Super Redhawk will allow use of the heaviest loads, however. In a single-action, the Ruger Blackhawk variants are popular.
In the .454, the most popular is probably the Ruger Super Redhawk. It's put together pretty well and its durability is off the chart. The Raging Bull has sold quite a few copies, with mostly positive reviews as far as I know. If you have money to burn the Freedoms Arms Model 83 is probably the finest example of the .454. I've read a few good things about the Magnum Research BFR in .454, as well.
I have experience with the Super Redhawk in particular. I own a .454 and my Dad owns a .44. Despite practicing with the .454 I still shoot the .44 better. I think the action of my Dad's .44 is also much better than the .454. The hammer spring on the .454 has to be so heavy to ignite the hard magnum rifle primers the cartridge uses that the double-action pull is totally unusable. The heavy spring also gives the whole action a "heavy" feel and the friction it causes between the hammer hook and sear degrades the single-action trigger pull significantly. My Dad's .44, without a need for an extra-stiff hammer spring, is butter-smooth with a wonderful single-action pull.

[ez45]

454 casull has 70% more recoil than a 44 magnum assuming both guns are of the same approximate weight and you are shooting max saami spec loads of both.

I shot a freedom arms 454 once and loved it.

[357mag357]

Check out the price of the ammo in 44mag/special and 454 casull. The last time I priced 44mag it was 29.99 for 50 rounds at a gun store. You will do better at Wal-mart. I have a smith 629 with a ported barrel which I love. If you do get one you will need to start reloading to keep the cost down. Good luck.

[jungleroy]

I shoot the steel flip down plates at the local club with my SRH-454, there is the boom, and the plate flips back with such speed that it just seems to disappear. I don't recall hearing the usual clang, either :D
I have also shot the plates down with my friends 44mag redhawk, there was the boom and the clang as the plates went down, but I could see them flip back.
Truly, the 454 is in a class all it's own when compared to the 44.
This is just my view of the differences between them.
If you have the opportunity to try out a 454, I would suggest it.

[lvcat2004]

I have a 454 Casull in 8 inch compensated Taurus Raging Bull and just LOVE shooting it. If you ever get a chance to shoot a 454, then you woudn't be asking the question :D It's really in a different league compared to a 44 Mag., and the only downside would be cost of ammo, which if you reload, wouldn't be a big problem. And with that kind of recoil and shock wave going through the whole body, you're not gonna go through too many ammo:rolleyes:

I occasinally shoot 45 Colt, but I hate cleaning up the ring it leaves in the cylinder, so I'm usually sticking to 454. 45 Colt used to be cheap a year or 2 ago....like $15 for a box of 50, but not it's like double that...:uhoh:

[BigG]

I shot a Freedom Arms five shooter and enjoyed the experience as it was free ammo.

But, I much prefer the .44 S&W Magnum as a handgun and if I wanted something harder hitting I would reach for something shoulder fired. YMMV

[Redhawk1]

BigG, just because you don't see or want any thing over a 44 Mag, does not mean other's don't. I am an avid handgun hunter, my 460 and 500 Mags get the call 95% of the time. No need for a rifle unless I am doing long distance shooting.

[BigG]

No problem, Redhawk - I don't buy Rugers either. ;)

[The Tourist]

I live in Wisconsin where just about the biggest thing on the average hunt is a whitetail deer.

We do have bear, but usually black bear.

Granted, a responsible hunter can reload and tailor his .454 loads to the game he is after. However, a .44 Rem Mag should cover more than 75% of the stuff we hunt in our area.

[ArmedBear]

454 casull has 70% more recoil than a 44 magnum assuming both guns are of the same approximate weight and you are shooting max saami spec loads of both.

Bear in mind that perceived recoil is not linear. There's a threshold, below which recoil can be "no big deal", and above which it can feel brutal. Sometimes a 15% increase will cross the threshold and feel like a LOT more than 15%. Given that a .44 is near the threshold for many people (above it for some), this is something to consider.

That said, .454 revolvers will shoot .45LC cowboy loads, just like a .44 will shoot .44 Specials, or a .357 will shoot .38s.

I shot a Super Redhawk in .480 a few times. It really wasn't bad. Not a pleasant afternoon's beer can blaster, but it was entirely manageable. .480 is probably worth a look (but does not have a compatible low-power round like the .357, .44 and .454 do).

[Cosmoline]

With powerhouse loads the Casull is a real beast. I'd estimate twice as much felt recoil as a similar size .44 Mag firing maxed out loads. There's a great deal more PSI in the chamber, and the recoil feels very snappy. I would strongly advise starting with the .44 Magnum.

[ArmedBear]

Long, heavy barrels, and thick Hogues, are your friends, also.:)

[electric wombat]

I would strongly advise starting with the .44 Magnum.


I've shot many a .44 mag & to me the recoil is pretty tame. I don't feel much difference between shooting a .357 mag & a .44 mag. Only problem I have is with the grips on some, like the colt anaconda. I don't care for their factory grips they rub aginst my hand the wrong way & make a little raw spot on the web of my hand. Put a nice set of wide combat grips & shoot it all day long.

After reading the comments & looking around at what's on the market I'm thinking about the ruger super redhawk in .454. Can anyone comment on their accuracy & how they are to shoot?

[Master Blaster]

Get a .22lr it sounds like you dont have one and they are fun to shoot.

I always go to the range with at least one .22 in addition to any other caliber I may be shooting. If you have children or a wife or girlfriend they will also enjoy shooting the .22.



Not sure if you reload, but 454 cassul is a caliber to reload, ammo is quite expensive.

[Snapping Twig]

I have several .44's in various barrel lengths from 3" to 7.5" and one of the original Freedom Arms .454's with a Mag-Na-Ported 7.5" barrel and ebony grips.

I see the .454 as twice the gun the .44 is in recoil and downrange power.

The Casull rotates in my hand the way a Bisley grip should and the ebony grips allow this to happen which mitigates felt recoil. I can't imagine how sticky rubber grips would feel, but I wouldn't want to find out either.

My .44's are for the most part DA, so smooth wood works well there, but I do have a SBH and the cavalry handle sucks, not to mention the Dragoon trigger guard! I'll be swapping the grip for a Bisley one day.

Compared to the Casull, a .44 is much easier recoil-wise, but follow-up shots aren't quite possible without target reaquisition just the same.

The .44 is more versatile and it can shoot Spl. rounds, but for hunting, the Casull with a scope is choice and as was mentioned, you can shoot .45LC with it.

[longhorngunman]

The SRH .454 Casull is one heck of a gun. Overbuilt, like most things Ruger. And the Redhawk is a six-shot compared to most other .454's that are five. Ruger uses a special alloy to make the cylinder so that even though it's thin it will handle the .454 easily. I have to be careful with just how hot I load my handloads though because some loads are so hot that the hammer wants to jump back and unlock the cylinder under recoil.To put the .454 in perspective most .44mag loads top out in the high 30K Psi range probably Garrett's and Buffalo Bore's are in the 40's. The SAAMI specs for the .454 are 65,000 Psi which is more than some Magnum rifle rounds. And I'm sure some handloaders flirt with higher. BTW if you want the best of the best if would be hard to beat a Freedom Arms 83 in .454 . Wonderfully made revolver and can easily handle the .454, just not cheap. You can buy 3 SRH's for one FA 83.

[Markbo]

Come on, step up! Get a .460 S&W Magnum. Then you can shooter .454 Casull as your plinker loads! :D

[BroughtEnoughGun]

Dont know about a .44 Magnum, Never shot one, I like you seen .454 and said HOLY S#!% and bought it...The only thing that came form it was buying a 500 S&W maybe 2 months later, been in love with my big bores ever since... :D