454 Casull & Starline Brass

[neal7250]

I loaded up some 454 Casull (6ea) for testing in my Super redhawk. I used a 300 grain speer gold dot bullet, Starline Brass, and 30.5 grns of h-110. I also used WSR primers.

The brass was very hard to extract, and did show some pressure signs. This was below the maximum load, and I was going to work up from there. But I took a time out to try to figure this thing out.

Has anyone had any problems with the starline brass?

 

[suemarkp]

What reloading book are you using? According to the Hodgdon website, the max load for a 300gr flat nose bullet is 30 grains of H-110. Seating depth of various bullets can allow a little more or less powder depending on how long the bullet is.

Try 28.5 grains of H-110, or perhaps 1 grain more, and see how things work. H-110 isn't very forgiving and doesn't give you a lot of room to change power. Lil' Gun may be a better choice as it seems to run at a lower pressure for similar performace.

I remember reading a comparison about 454 brass a while back and I thought Winchester was the strongest and thickest.

 

[philbo]

Per Speer manual #14, page 997:

If you experience hard extraction in double-action revolvers using Straline cases, reduce the charge weight one grain and test again.

 

[jerkface11]

The Ruger .454 Super Redhawks use a fairly elastic stainless steel for the cylinder. This stretches when you fire it then relaxes making it very tight on the brass with hot loads.

 

[neal7250]

I droped down to 28.5 grains, and all seems to be well. I'm going to slowly work my way up to 29 GR to 29.5 grns.

 

[hawkeye1]

I had the exact same problem with my super redhawk. It did not matter if I used my own reloads using 30.5 grains H110 and 300 grain home cast or if I used factory ammo. I called Ruger, and they had me send the pistol back in with spent brass from the gun. They cleaned up the holes in the cylender and I have never had an extraction problem again. They took care of it quickly and efficiently. That load I mentioned will shoot 4 inch groups at 100 yards from the bench if I hold on. By the way, I had to almost pound my brass out of the cylender before I sent it back to Ruger. Hope this helps.

good shooting

 

[neal7250]

God bless you Hawkeye. That was some great info. I'm going to call Ruger in the morning.