Any 454 Casull stories

My uncle has one and its the only revovler my dad likes for some reason....maybe its the cannon aspect...


I read a news clip once about a 7-8 year old kid whos daddy let him shoot it and he got killed by the recoil. The gun maneged to hit him in the head! (freak accident) Some dude was even standing there with his hand over the barrel so this wouldnt happen, but he just got cut or something....

Although I think the development of the .454C could have been a case of oneupmanship, I think the primary reason was for hunting.

The only stories I have are when I had heard a .454C Casull revolver being fired a few stalls over in an indoor range. The sound was so loud it reverberated between the walls enough to fool me into thinking someone was firing a full auto in short bursts. (25 yd range) I went over the see what it was and it was someong shooting very hot .45LC through his .454 Casull (before they were called Model 83s). He let be try a couple rounds with the target (silhouette) out at ~7 yds. I was anticipating the recoil too much and, although aiming for the center, was not even on paper. The quality of the gun, though, had really impressed me. The empties just fell right out. Went and got one a couple of years later. Shoot much better with it now.

A couple of years ago, a friend (of a friend) from MI came down and we all went out to the range one day and I brought my .454 Casull (again bought before the Model 83 designation) along. On the firend's first try, he held it with the weak hand cupping the strong. The problem with this hold is that the meat of the weak hand thumb is at the sharp corner of the bottom of the grip. As expected, under recoil, the grip dig very hard and fast into his weak hand and stung him pretty good. The target was about 10 feet away and was missed. (He had watched me and the other friend shoot it first and I think, like me the first time around, the blast and noise intimidated him causing him to overcompensate for the recoil.) After that first round, he was taking out the biggest divits I've ever seen with a handgun never touching the target once. We all had a good laugh and he had a sore hand for the next few days.

I shot one cylinderful out of a guy's Freedom Arms .454 Casull a number of years ago.

Although I'm no pansy, it was more than I could find enjoyable, kicking about double what my 6 1/2" Model 29 S&W with factory 44 Magnums would. No wonder he let me shoot it (and anybody else who wanted to, which weren't many )

But the piece itself was a superior piece of workmanship, making the knock off .454 Casulls look like a cement block in comparison to a gold bar. Just beautiful!

jeepmor said:

I suspect, but am not sure, that one set of reloading dies will accomodate both the 45 colt and the 454 casull.

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It's better to reload the Casull with its own dies.
Here you can read something about my gun.

It is for sure productive of ''stiff' recoil! I must confess I have yet to put mine to the acid test to get a result with hunting - both times I decided to tote .454 instead of rifle - saw zilch!! In fact am tempted also to take .45-70 BFR out as a hunting revo too.

I would tho - with SRH in particular, take a shot to between 50 and 75 yards with ease - with a rest available 100 yards is no problem - I am talking accuracy mainly. But with an ME of 1850 ft plbs with hot loads, throwing a 300 XTP pill - that is gonna be pretty effective!!

Even tho for pure recreational shooting, steel plates etc - the caliber is a blast - literally - and have to say I have not as yet bothered to load any 45LC to shoot thru it!

So - SRH is my chosen platform and it reacts well - the Taurus is also OK but a tad less controllable. Added a small firestorm pic from the Bull - many folks have seen it but, shows the dragon breathing .454!!

(I am going to drop this over to revolver sub forum)

I harvested a deer with mine 7.5 inch FA .454 two years back - using a 300 gr Laser Cast bullet. Shot was about 60 yards, the bullet pentrated thru the chest cavity of the deer, I didn't spend a lot of time looking for it becase it was late in the day. There wasn't much meat damage, which was nice. The deer dropped right where it was standing.
These days I spend most of my time shooting my Ruger Alaskan, again with those Laser Cast 300 gr bullets - I've got a lot of them. At 50 yards I have no trouble ringing the metal gong at our outdoor range - it's a nice gun to shoot, very accurate. It's also a nice gun to carry when I'm out scouting around, picking huckleberries, etc. Don't even know it's there.
I started shooting the .454 in 1988, when I bought my first FA handgun. I looked at the S&W 500's but they're physically too big for me to carry. If I were looking for a gun like that, I'd probably go with the FA Wyoming Express, I really like their handguns.

you will love it.

I got my first 454 in 89, a used field grade model 83 FA. I was love at first blast. Since then, I have upgraded to a premier grade, and I still like to shoot it whenever I can. I believe it has made me a better shooter, as the magnificent blast and recoil have taught me, with much work and concentration, to overcome them and utilize the accuracy built in to this gun. On many informal shooting sessions out in the Nevada desert, I have managed to impress my buddies with the accuracy of the gun and the round. Truth to tell, once you become accustomed to the blast/ recoil, it begins to not seem all that bad, and you lose your concern about shooting other big boomers. And there is nothing so satisfying as being able to send that big nugget downrange and decisively smack your target. Although it will buck, I have never really not been able to hang onto and control, at least to some extent, my 454, even when shooting FA's own factory loads, which were hot.

Jeepmor: First, a point of caution...wear hearing protection. I have owned a FA 454 since the late eighties and have shot it enough to have a few stories and know that it is a capaple cartridge. A center hit on a ground squirrel pretty much obliterates it (specially lengthwise), bang flops on coyotes at 192 and 115 yrds, jackrabbits at well over 100 yds, maximum splat factor on jacks when they are sitting facing away (close is best), a 10" X 16" gong @ 500 yds (2nd shot), takes the heads of snakes clean off. I've also missed plenty of easy shots but it wasn't the gun or caliber's fault. dvnv

Have you considered a 44spec/44mag revolver?

Same benefits, 44m ammo is less expensive than the 454 stuff I believe . . .

P95Carry said:

... In fact am tempted also to take .45-70 BFR out as a hunting revo too....

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Please do. You must unleash the beast and let us (or at least me ) know
how it performs for hunting.

I'm impressed with the workmanship of the Freedom Arms revolvers, but I've come to detest the recoil of a single action - the grip shape just doesn't suit me, and the high bore line creates a truly unpleasant torque. (And it's not just the powerful .454 cartridge - a 6 1/2" S&W M29 is much more pleasant to shoot for me than is a Ruger Super Blackhawk, both shooting the same ammo.)

HankB: I don't think the SA style has more problem with recoil for me but my life is too short to shoot a Ruger. Everybody I know that buys one immediately has to "fix" the trigger pull, "fix" the accuracy, ad nauseum. If they are such a good value, why do they pay to get them changed? JMTC, YMMV, etc.

If I got a SA it would be Colt or FA. Probably not, though, as I am very satisfied with the DA Smiths.

decided quite a while ago I needed a 454 got a raging bull after numerous problems and many send backs I finally got them to send me a new gun I never even removed it from the box I took it striaght to the gun man and traded up for a ruger super redhawk. because I don't like longer barrel legths I cut the barrel to 5" and re mounted the front sight. It has been my constant companion on the farm since. I have taken two deer with it that dropped in their tracks. and a couple wild cats that dropped where the bullet dropped them. (just cats gone wild not anything spectacular) I split a set of hogue wood grips and they replaced them with a set of rubber ones that are not as pretty but are much more comfortable. I shoot my own handloads pushing a 300 grain cast lead bullet at about 1550 fps. I have a snake fobia and carry first round up with a shot cartridge in the warmer months and they do a darned good job on the critters. Never fired a 45 LC but I realy like my 454. and since I have had it I can shoot most beautifically with my 44 and 357. Once you develope the good habits to fire the 454 the rest are like shooting 22's.

This is actually the best selling point to me for owning a pistol in this caliber over stepping up to one of the .500 S&W models

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IIRC - Corbon is making .500 special as now, so you have (basically) the same alternative as you do with the .454.
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BigG said:

HankB: I don't think the SA style has more problem with recoil for me but my life is too short to shoot a Ruger. Everybody I know that buys one immediately has to "fix" the trigger pull, "fix" the accuracy, ad nauseum. If they are such a good value, why do they pay to get them changed? JMTC, YMMV, etc.

If I got a SA it would be Colt or FA. Probably not, though, as I am very satisfied with the DA Smiths.

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My Ruger Alaskan has had zero problems - I have had quality problems with other Ruger revolvers, but none with this most recent one. I think it's being made in small enough quantity that quality is being maintained.

I have one of the Ruger SRH's in 454 and love it. It's really a three caliber gun: 45 colt light ***** loads, 45Colt+P that are equal to or greater than most 44mags and then you have the cream of the crop the mighty 454 Casull. Don't believe the stories of it breaking your wrist or flying back into your face, it's a very strong gun to shoot no doubt but it is controllable even with the hot 300gr's. Shot a jackrabbit that was tearing up the garden once, hit him in the side at 20 yards, pretty much tore him in half. Still not any different than a ballistic tip .223 at around the same range. BTW if you can't afford the Freedom Arms gun(and yes they are very nice ), I don't think you can go wrong with the Ruger. Ugly, hell yeah, but it seems to be a very stout and reliable gun that can take the repeated hammering of the round, also it's a true six-shooter also.

rick_reno said:

My Ruger Alaskan has had zero problems - I have had quality problems with other Ruger revolvers, but none with this most recent one. I think it's being made in small enough quantity that quality is being maintained.

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How's the recoil on that Alaskan with .454s? Does it twist any or just lift?