.45 Long Colt in Alaskan .454 Casull?

[KMO]

I have a fellow wanting to sell me his Ruger Alaskan .454 because it hurt his hand. He said .45 Long Colt can be fired through this revolver. I hate to be ignorant, but is this true? I haven't been in the revolver world in recent years...

 

[Blue Brick]

Yes look at pic.

http://ruger.com/products/superRedhawkAlaskan/specSheets/5301.html

 

[KMO]

OK..I looked at it, but where does it say anything about .45 Long Colt?

 

[Gottahaveone]

OK..I looked at it, but where does it say anything about .45 Long Colt?

Well, only across the bottom of the pistol barrel.
".454 Casull cal & .45 Colt cal"

 

[DammitBoy]

Yup, fires both just fine.

Great gun.

 

[mgkdrgn]

If you don't reload already, you might want to consider starting. 45 Colt will cost you about $1 a round ... and you reload for about 17 cents. Doesn't take long to recover the cost of a simple reloading setup, and big straight wall pistol cartridges like that are stone simple to reload.

 

[KMO]

Well, only across the bottom of the pistol barrel.
".454 Casull cal & .45 Colt cal"

Ahhh...There it is. Went & got some glasses. So, any opinions about picking up one of these bricks at a good price?

 

[Maxinquaye]

I've got one up for sale in the handguns section. They're fun guns. Torquey with full house factory ammo!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

KMO,
FYI, you can fire a .45 Colt and 454 Casull in a .460 S&W Magnum too...

 

[loadedround]

The 454 Casull is just the 45 Colt on steroids.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The 454 Casull is just the 45 Colt on steroids.

I agree and it's in line with the 38 Special/.357 Magnum and .44 Special/.44 Magnum...

The 454 Casull called a Casull for the maker instead of a .45 Magnum. At least they called the the next in line to the 454 Casull a .460 S&W Magnum, as they should.

 

[jaybirdjtski]

The Alaskan can be nasty with full power 454 loads but it was designed as the ultimate sidearm when traveling in bear country. I have the 7.5" version Super Redhawk in 454 and have Hogue Tamer grips. No problem. You can carry some fearsome loads, 345 grain hardcast, that sort of thing when needed. If you handload, you can load 454 Casull cases with Trail Boss and shoot very comfortably. Like 750-800 fps. I would suggest NOT shooting 45 Colt but simply loading down 454 Casull brass. Residue can build up and make extraction difficult. I think the 454 is a versatile round. You can load it for coyotes to deer to moose or just load for range practice. My SRH is very accurate and with the 7.5" bbl, the recoil is really not much worse than my S&W Model 29. The Alaskan model is somewhat of a specialty handgun (in my opinion) with the short barrel but it sure seems to be in demand with the prices it commands.

 

[MCMXI]

KMO, I have an Alaskan and have shot mine with maximum published .454 Casull loads (H110 powder and 300gr bullets) and it's no big deal. I have no intention of shooting .45 Colt loads through it since I have a bunch of other .45 Colt revolvers for that. The biggest surprise for me with the Alaskan is how accurate it is for such a short barreled revolver. When I took it to the range for the first time, my shooting buddy couldn't believe it when I put all six shots on an 8" paper plate at 25 yards, double action and offhand. You can see the cartridge designation on the barrel very clearly in the photo below. It's a great revolver and I'm seriously considering buying the .44 Magnum version at some point. As others have mentioned, if you don't reload and shoot regularly, it won't be long before you've spent more money on ammunition than on the revolver itself. If you do reload, you'll still spend more but it'll take a little longer and you'll have more fun doing it.

 

[CraigC]

A cartridge does not need a "magnum" moniker to deliver the goods. It is what it is and Dick Casull had every right to put his name on the cartridge that was the result of a lot of years of work. Unlike most other "magnums", the .454 was his own creation from start to finish. It was not birthed at S&W and Remington like the .44Mag. He started in the 1960's, building custom guns, starting with specially heat treated Colt's with oversized cylinders. He pushed 260's to 2000fps in .45Colt brass! Later designing and building (from scratch!) what would eventually become the Freedom Arms model 83. No sir, Dick Casull's name 'should' always be associated with that cartridge. Rather than getting lost in a generic "magnum" handle just to fit some folks' preconceived notion of what a "magnum" is.

 

[dairycreek]

This is my Alaskan in 454/45 and, to the OP, it will chamber and fire both the 454 and the 45 Long Colt. It is a surprisingly accurate pistol and, given to the grip construction, handles recoil exceedingly well.

Both rounds (454 & 45) are really expensive and, for me, reloading was the answer to power and flexibility. Great revolver.

 

[Dnaltrop]

correct me if wrong, but don't you get the similar fouling you see in a .357 shooting .38 spl when shooting .45 in the .454?

I seem to recall someone advising to shoot the 454 first, then the .45's and clean after them .

 

[KMO]

Bought It...

Well, I took a short business trip this week and finally met up with this guy with the Ruger Alaskan .454. It was in new/used condition at nearly half the market price. The former owner told me it was his first firearm. He seemed almost frightened of it, and he was obviously relieved to be selling it. He even tossed in the one and only box of ammo he ever purchased for it, minus 6 rounds. I truly believe those were the only 6 rounds ever fired out of this revolver. It is as new, except he never cleaned it after it was first fired about a year ago. I took it home and 30 minutes later this gun was in perfect condition. I'm anxious to take it out this weekend. What kind of earth-shaking fun should I expect out of it?

 

[Slamfire]

What kind of earth-shaking fun should I expect out of it?

Tell us after you have shot 44 rounds of full power Casull through it.

I got tired of being beat up by 44 Magnum loads, and that is a wimp compared to 45 magnums.

 

[Cards81fan]

If I found an older 6-shot in .480 Ruger, I'd likely snatch it up.

 

[MCMXI]

I'm anxious to take it out this weekend. What kind of earth-shaking fun should I expect out of it?

That depends entirely on you, the ammunition, your tolerance for recoil and your shooting technique. When I shot my Alaskan for the first time, I loaded up two sets of .454 Casull loads using a 300gr Laser-Cast bullet with 29.0gr and 30.0gr of H110. The 30.0gr load develops around 1,720fps from a 9-3/8" revolver with 53,700 CUP. Compare that to Cor-Bon's 300gr JSP load generating 1,650fps (don't know barrel length). I have no idea as to the velocity loss due to the Alaskan's 2-1/2" barrel as I didn't chronograph the loads, but I can assure you that I could shoot either load all day long. As it was, I made quick work of the 40 rounds that I had put together and wish that I'd made more. In summary, the Alaskan isn't even close to the beast that some make it out to be. The weight of the revolver, the ergonomics and the grip all work well together to make the Alaskan a sweet package. You did VERY, VERY well to find a virtually new revolver at half price. I paid around $700 for mine NIB.

 

[dairycreek]

What kind of earth-shaking fun should I expect out of it?

You will find that it is a surprisingly accurate revolver given its short barrel length. I advise that you begin shooting it with 45LC to get accustomed to how the gun performs and feels in your hands. The 45LC loads range from really mild to pretty stiff. Really hot 45LC loads can easily exceed 44 magnums in power and the Ruger will handle them with ease.

There is also a wide range of 454 ammo choices from somewhat mild to "wrist twisting" heavy recoil loads. One of the things I really like about the revolver is that there is a very, very large range of power choices when it comes to ammo selection.

You will find that the Alaskan is accurate, flexible, and a lot of fun to shoot.

Make sure you wear hearing protection as the sound is simply fierce.''Have fun!

 

[timney t]

I love my 454. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest when I'm hunting deer with a recurve in predator country.

 

[Stainz]

Don't forget, the .454 SRH - including the Alaskan - can also chamber and shoot the shorter still cased .45 Schoffield rounds, too. Good luck on finding them, too, but a few smaller sources still make them. Their rim is 'normal' sized - ie, larger than the dimunitive one on a .45 Colt. I had my .45 Colt Redhawk's ejector star skip over the rims and jam easily - don't recall that happening more than once with my SRH (Never with .454's!). Let gravity help - eject with the muzzle up.

An important caveat re .45 Colts and a .454 - always clean the chambers well before inserting .454 Casulls. Anything, like the carbon/lead residue from shorter cased .45 Colts, that slows down the crimp release or impedes the bullet movement in the very high pressure .454 Casull round's operation can result in a dangerous pressure spike. It's fun to launch rounds at over twice the max .44 Magnum KE level - and still want to do it again... and again! Eventually, you get older... my SRH was ultimately traded in on a new .357M - to launch .38's with... my wimpification!

Stainz

 

[Silent Sam]

Factory 300gr Gold Dot ammo shoots @ just over 1300fps out of my Alaskan. Heavy 45 Colt loads will easily do 1000-1100 fps. I don't think you really need much more.