Information on 454 Casull

[el Godfather]

Dear THR:
Can some one tell me about the 454 Casull with respect to it maximum energy and velocity? What is the round good for and what it is really beneficial for? How does it measure up to 480 Ruger or 460 SW? I know 500 SW is much more powerful than it, but what is 454 missing that 500 has?

Finally, I came across Ruger Alaskan in 2.5". What a blast it would be to shoot! Talk about the muzzle flash. I am contemplating buy it dow the road (12-18months out). What other good revolvers can you recommend in this caliber both hunting and defense?

Thanks

 

[ATLDave]

This book http://www.amazon.com/Big-Bore-Revolvers-Max-Prasac/dp/1440228566 has a whole section talking about the various big-bore revolver cartridges. If you're seriously contemplate getting into that stuff, it may be worth the $ for a read.

 

[PJSprog]

The S&W 460XVR, of course, will shoot the .460 Magnum, .454 Casull, and the .45 LC. It's the big bore revolver over which I currently drool.

Regardless of what you choose, you're probably going to spend a fair amount of money on a gun to fire those cartridges (I think the XVRs are around $1200). You will definitely want to do your homework before making a decision.

 

[el Godfather]

Thanks.

So 460 will also shoot 454 and 45lc without any cylinder changes?

If so its like 357 using 38s. Worth buying then just .454? Will .454 shoot 45lc?

 

[k80]

Yep

 

[Zaydok Allen]

The S&W 460XVR, of course, will shoot the .460 Magnum, .454 Casull, and the .45 LC.

This is correct. If you want one that you can practiaclly use for hunting, AND dangerous animal defense, look at the 460V. It has a 5" bbl, and if you are a larger guy it handles well for it's size. You will loose some velocity though as the original design was for an 8 and 3/8ths inch bbl. I carry my 5" on the hip in big bear country, but need suspenders to keep my drawers up.

.454 Casull seems to max out around 1950 ft lbs of energy from factory ammo, and some pretty stout speeds. .460 magnum is the fastest production pistol cartridge out there from a long bbl. A 200 gr. bullet will hit 2200 ft/second out of the 8" bbl (Hornady and CorBon). Buffalo Bore makes some 460 ammo that will hit over 2800 ft lbs of energy at the muzzle, so you are getting into rifle caliber energies there.

I like the S&W 460 becaus eI can shoot .454, .45 Colt, and .45 Schofield out of it, and it's the reason I went with it over the .500 mag.

The 500 will shoot a much heavier bullet (500grs I believe) and will pass by the 460 for muzzle energy a little bit. It is onlt by a few 100 ft lbs though, and the ammo is more expensive. There is a 500 special cartridge out there. I'm not knocking it, as I wish I could afford to have one of both, but I don't see that it offers enough of an advantage to warrant buying one.

The Alaskan is a fine firearm, but you are going to loose A LOT of velocity shooting a .454 out of it. Just saying, if you don't care, then have at it.

 

[el Godfather]

460...
You make a very good case.

I have already started looking into it and the 360gr underwood ammo that yields 1900fps and 2850ftlb.

 

[dickydalton]

I have the 8 3/8" with a 2-6 power scope on it and load my own so the bank doesn't break. I love it and it shoots way flatter than the 500. If sighted in right you can shoot point blank to 200 yards. It kicks lighter than my 629 44 Mountain Revolver with full loads, but make sure you wear hearing protection. It makes my 30 Carbine Ruger Blackhawk sound like a cap pistol.

 

[farm23]

I bought a Freedom Arms 454 25 years ago and have taken all NA big game. if I were to get another big bore I would have more choices but I would probably stay with the 454 since it has proven to be effective.

 

[CraigC]

All the .460 gains you over the .454 is range. Same for the .454 over the "Ruger only" level .45Colt. If you want to shoot at critters at 200yds, then the .460 is for you. If not, then perhaps something that fits in a more packable package is a better idea.

 

[Saleen322]

With the 460, you have the 454 and 45 Colt if you want to reduce the load. Also the 460s, at least the ones I have seen, are all very accurate so it will not only pack the power, it can deliver it on target at range.

 

[Edster12]

You can also shoot 45 Colt out of the 454. I don't really see any advantage going to the 460 unless you want to stop an elephant vs a bear.

 

[41 Mag]

I can only comment as to the 454. Mine is chambered in the 8.375" Raging Bull from Taurus. While I hear a lot of talk of Taurus quality being substandard, in my Bull I have not found that to be the case. Maybe I was lucky. The longer ported barrel on it somewhat helps with muzzle rise, but it also gives you a bit more felt recoil in the palm of your hand. Having shot a couple of Freedom Arms I would MUCH prefer one of those but I didn't complain about what I got.

I have only shot 50 rounds of factory through it and they were presented to me along with the revolver. Since that time I have mainly shot either a 260gr JHP or mainly cast bullets through it. I use it for hunting and have found no reason what so ever to need anything with more power.

With the 260gr JHPs I was running them around 1850'ish and they were as accurate as anything I have shot, easily grouping 2" or less at 50yds from a rest and many times from a standing two hand hold. I picked out the Cast Performance 265gr WFN GC as the first cast load for it and those also shot excellent. I dropped many a feral hog with them and hod no issues with penetration or wasted meat. They would easily shoot from nose to tail and then some on a 200# hog.

My next cast loads were my home poured Lee 452300 RF which is also gas checked. Poured from straight air cooled wheel weight alloy they are awesome out to 200yds. I have shot several hogs and finished off one deer with them and the performance in all cases was outstanding. I load these to a mild 1550fps over a dose of 296 or AA-9. Either one will shoot a clover leaf group from 25yds standing. My longest shot on a hog was 87yds and it literally rolled it rear over ears. I tested out the Lee 300 air cooled against water dropped, using the exact same loads and found the air cooled shot much better. The attached targets were shot standing two hand hold at 25yds using both AA-9 and 296. THe tight groups are the air cooled and the others well they didn't even cut the bull at all. The other one is a 6 gallon bucket of water we shot at 50yds just to see what it would do. That is the moment of impact as best as I could catch it on my video camera.

This all said, if I could afford the Casull version I would have had it. I didn't purchase the Bull it was a present. I got it before they came out with the 460 so I had nothing else to compare it to other than the Freedom Arms. Even so the price of the 460 is out of my range or funds so I will be happy to just keep on plunking away with my Bull. I just do not see much if any advantage of having it over what I already have. However if I had it, I would probably think the same way about the 454.

 

[Edster12]

I can second 41Mag's vote for the Raging Bull. Mine was NIB and I have no issues with the workmanship or quality of the product. I have the 6 1/2" barrel model. To date I have probably close to 300 rounds thru it. I reload so the cost of ammo is almost manageable.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

460V

 

[el Godfather]

Side note: can 410 be shot out of it?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Can some one tell me about the 454 Casull with respect to it maximum energy and velocity?

You can easily get those numbers from the calculator supplied by Hnadloads.com. Just plug in the bullet weight and the velocities reported in the load manual and they supply the energy data.
http://www.handloads.com/calc/quick.asp
For an example, a 260gr bullet pushed to 1954 fps will generate 2,204 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle.

What is the round good for and what it is really beneficial for?

Hunting and defense against things that want to eat you while you are out in their domain.

I know 500 SW is much more powerful than it, but what is 454 missing that 500 has?

Actually the 500's real advantage is the ability to shoot bullet weights which are much heavier than the 454 Casull and 460 Magnum will. If you're looking for velocity the 454 and 460 are your choices, if you want really heavy bullets the 500 is your cartridge. even though handloading will allow us to load what we want for the most part when it comes to bullet weight the 500 takes over where the 454 leaves off.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

There is a Taurus .454 that can shoot .410 shells out of it, but not a 460 that I know of.

I guess what I like about the 460V is that I can shoot it accurately one handed out to about 40 yards. The longer bbl versions are too nose heavy for me to do that. Two handed..... Further. But then my eyes aren't strong enough unless shooting at a large target. If you scoped one, I suspect 100 yard shots would be a breeze, but that is contrary to the shorter bbl IMO. If you want loooong range accuracy, the longer bbl will get you a flatter trajectory and be easier to hit with.

 

[Domino300]

"There is a Taurus .454 that can shoot .410 shells out of it, but not a 460 that I know of."

It's called the Raging Judge, 454, 45 and 410.

 

[Saleen322]

The biggest difference is the 460 can shoot under 2" @ 100 yards.

 

[CraigC]

...but what is 454 missing that 500 has?

The .500 is a bigger hammer.

 

[Saleen322]

The .500 is a bigger hammer.

I love it!!

 

[Rock185]

Godfather, I can tell you that whatever the .454 Casull is missing, I don't want! Hornady 300 grain factory ammo averages 1585 FPS in my Freedom Arms revolver with 4.75" barrel. I've shot .44 Magnum revolvers for 40 years, but the .454 is a whole "nuther" thing IMHO...