454 Casull fun

Congrats. I've had mine a few years now and it's a solid hand cannon. DA grip frames like the SRH tend to not roll up on recoil so it is crucial you have something like the Hogue's on it when shooting full power ammunition.

I like using heavy bullets in the .454 but they will all shoot high (300+ grains and up) with the stock front sight. If you run out of rear sight adjustment you'll have to do what I did and find a replacement taller front sight. I have a .452" mold from Lyman that cast a 325 grain GC bullet, an LBT mold that casts a 340 grain GC and also bought some 360 grain commercial hard cast GC I'm anxious to try out some time.

On left in the family portrait:

Iwsbull said:

I bought a 454 in SRH with 16 rounds of ammo out of a 20 round box and another full box. It had the older hard as a rock grip and after 6 rounds I began to understand why he sold it. I replaced the grip with a Houge Tamer and pair of fingerless padded gloves from Harbor Freight. Wow it is not much more than my SRH in 44 magnum. It turned it into a lot of fun to shoot I fired off the 30 rounds I had and was impressed with the accuracy and am looking forward to starting to reload for it. Now I just need to figure out what mold to buy I am leaning toward Accurate’s 45-300K.

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Excellent! They are great revolvers! What do you intend to use it for?

Congrats. I love my 454 SRH

Iwsbull said:

So roughly how many top end loads do you get out of your brass and at the Ruger only levels to mid Casull levels how long does brass last? Or will the primer pockets be the first to go?

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One full power load on new brass is what I do, then they get relegated to reduced plinking loads after that. I had a lot of Remington brass and a couple cases split full length on the first firing. I've not had that problem with WW or Starline brass. If you load down to .45 Colt +P level they should last as long as the case mouths hold up.

Nice! I’ve had my 7.5” for several years but don’t shoot it much. I did load up a batch of 300 gr XTP mag bullets in new starline nickel plated brass over a less-than-max charge of H110 recently. They’re sure purty, hopefully I’ll get a chance to shoot a few soon.

Have fun with the new toy!

Stay safe.

I recommend getting a lee factory crimp die, that way you can pretty much rule out crimp jump. In my opinion it works much better than roll crimping. You can tell the difference if you’ve ever tried to pull a bullet with an inertia puller, or whatever that plastic hammer thing is called.

I prefer heavier bullets for 454 casull. I'm not casting yet so after screwing around with bullet weights and designs i found the 300 grain xtp for a hollow point and 360 grain wfngc bullets from trueshot (oregon trail) to be my favorites. Load both over h110/w296 and haven't found anything that wont do. I recomend starline brass (although some cases are overly hard and have had a couple split on first loading with no pressure signs and all other cases were totally fine, could feel the hard ones when resizing). Remington 7 1/2 primers i have found are the best and what is recomended by FA, sometimes theyre tough to find in my area. As far as case life is concerned, if i will be using the gun for serious work i only use new brass otherwise after 4 loadings or so i just keep the charges to a sane level and havent had trouble. I have some federal cases that have been loaded 10+ times and pockets are still ok.

My favorite two bullets in .454 that can take full advantage of the velocity potential are the 250 Barnes XPB and the 300 (and 325) grain Swift A-frame. With these two bullets there is no guessing if they can handle high impact velocities or not.

MaxP said:

My favorite two bullets in .454 that can take full advantage of the velocity potential are the 250 Barnes XPB and the 300 (and 325) grain Swift A-frame. With these two bullets there is no guessing if they can handle high impact velocities or not.

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Well max, i honestly must say there is no ones opinion on this matter that i respect more than yours. I'll grab some a-frames and work something up to see how i like them.

Thanks! They work on virtually EVERYTHING. I’ve used them on deer and seen them used on water buffalo, and they just work as advertised.

I took my 454 SRH to an outdoor range the other day, I used 325 gr shooting a steel target out at 100 yds. Later I went up to the target and found it punched 2 holes clean through. Impressive!

Propforce said:

I took my 454 SRH to an outdoor range the other day, I used 325 gr shooting a steel target out at 100 yds. Later I went up to the target and found it punched 2 holes clean through. Impressive!

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Shooting holes in steel is impressive indeed, but consider the cost of replacement.

MaxP said:

My favorite two bullets in .454 that can take full advantage of the velocity potential are the 250 Barnes XPB and the 300 (and 325) grain Swift A-frame. With these two bullets there is no guessing if they can handle high impact velocities or not.

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I have not used Barnes XPB's myself but they just look like they can cause a world of hurt with that huge cavity up front.

Apuesto said:

I have not used Barnes XPB's myself but they just look like they can cause a world of hurt with that huge cavity up front.

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i shot a mountain lion in the chest with one and the damage was impressive to say the least.

Max, what is your experience with xtp mags?specifically 300 grainers going around 1900 fps. Are these more of a deer bullet? Or are they tough enough for moose? Hit any shoulder bones?

Alaskan Ironworker said:

Max, what is your experience with xtp mags?specifically 300 grainers going around 1900 fps. Are these more of a deer bullet? Or are they tough enough for moose? Hit any shoulder bones?

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Interested in @MaxP 's answer. I load the 300 xtp mag regularly, honestly the reason being that they're common and easy to get. I have done some testing with them, at 1450 fps they will penetrate well but expansion is not huge. Depending on what you're looking for they do a decent all around job but i feel like they favor penetration over expansion. Haven't used them on genuine flesh and bone but on rotten vegitables and mushy watermelons they do ok. I think they are well made and accurate from my SRH.

That is an awesome revolver!

Alaskan Ironworker said:

Max, what is your experience with xtp mags?specifically 300 grainers going around 1900 fps. Are these more of a deer bullet? Or are they tough enough for moose? Hit any shoulder bones?

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I have found them to be hit or miss, so I have trouble trusting them - especially at 1,900 fps. They’re not bonded and bothers me. I was with a friend when he shot a smallish (350-lbs) red stag with a .45 Colt loaded with 300 grain XTP Mags. One essentially disintegrated and the other’s nose folded over and it took a dramatic turn. They’re fine for deer, however. I just think the .454 deserves premium bullets to take full advantage of the velocity potential.

Not that I can carry his water bottle, but I second @MaxP’s reservations with XTP’s and the 454 Casull. They’re a suitable low cost deer hunting bullet which won’t break the bank even if you keep it as your practice/plinking bullet, and do well in 44mag and hot 45colts, but the 454C is too much case, and anything bigger than deer is too much work to be done for the risk.

I’ll also second the affinity for the 300 A-Frame.

Welcome aboard. I bought a Toklat when they first came out but, haven't shot it much. I've so many just never got around to it.
Steve

S.B. said:

Welcome aboard. I bought a Toklat when they first came out but, haven't shot it much. I've so many just never got around to it.
Steve

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That Toklat is a good one, Steve!