Subsonic 454 Casull?

[toledo]

Was able to get some stuff done today. First try was the trailboss just to see how it went. 8 grns is considered a full load by Hodgdon. It was Hollywood quiet. Not much different than a suppressed 22. It only gave 616 fps. While fun, it was time to move on obviously. With titegroup, I got up to 8.7 grns and around 950fps. I recovered one of the 300 grain Speer deep curls and it had zero deformation. Looked like it could be loaded again. With this being a hunting project, that's just not going to jive. Swapped over to a 385grn lead swchp .452 airgun bullet with a nice big cavity. Due to the reduced friction of the lead, I was able to get back down to 8 grns of titegroup and bring the noise level back down some. 3 shots at 1059, 1063, and 1049. Good enough for now. Next stop will be to test accuracy and further confirm velocity consistency. Please note that case OAL is above the standard max for 454 casull. Overall I am very happy with the noise. It is hearing safe while also having the power to lung/shoulder shoot deer and pigs.

 

[25-20 WCF]

....Primer pockets measure the same in the photo. .45 Colt uses LP, .454 uses SR.

Well it actually depends on when the cases were made. Years ago .454 Casull cases used large primers: Speer #11, page 449. They would be younger than any balloon head .45 LC cases.


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[toledo]

Update. Went ahead and seated the bullet to 1.755 and was able to drop down to 7.6 grains of titegroup and maintain average velocity of 1045. 4 shot group at 25 yards shows "sufficient" accuracy for intended use. All my feeders are set between 50-75 yards. Will test accuracy at those ranges then some little piggy will be the final test hopefully by this weekend.

 

[Varminterror]

Well it actually depends on when the cases were made. Years ago .454 Casull cases used large primers: Speer #11, page 449. They would be younger than any balloon head .45 LC cases.


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All a distinction without a difference - the photo above was misrepresented, it doesn’t depict modern 454casull brass beside modern 45 colt brass.

 

[murf]

Due to the reduced friction of the lead

I disagree. the bullet is much heavier than the deepcurl bullet and that should be the reason you had to reduce the load.

murf

 

[toledo]

Took advantage of the cloudy afternoon and went to go sweat it out in the blind. Not the boar I was looking for but a decent one. 75 yard shot. Didn't take a step.

Head was down eating quartered towards me. Entrance high in front of shoulder.



Small exit behind opposite shoulder.

 

[murf]

success! slow and heavy is the way to go.

murf

 

[toledo]

I held off on bow hunting this season because we never see any good bucks that early and so I could save my doe tags for some rifle projects. Took the high wall to the bow blind this afternoon to pop a doe. Entry was dead center chest from the front. Bullet stuck in the skin after about 30 inches of penetration. She ran about 30 yards with a blood trail comparable to an expandable broadhead. Crazy how much noise the bullet makes on impact. Think this will be my go to for hunting the rut this season.

 

[toledo]

50 yard high shoulder shot. Shoulder, spine, shoulder, exit.

 

[Snidely70431]

A .38 S&W pistol cartridge is factory loaded at between 620 and 760 fps. Why would you think that a load designed to exit at 1000 fps would stick in a barrel? I have loaded a muzzle loader down to as slow as 547 fps and never had a bullet get stuck.

 

[Rule3]

Amazing, the OP is out shooting/hunting and some folks are still debating about "nothing"

 

[jmorris]

Sometimes you only have time to read the first post.

 

[Rule3]

Sometimes you only have time to read the first post.

or none of them and just the title

 

[toledo]

Got another round of bullets delivered with a softer mix. I think 2% tin, 98% lead. Cameras have shown a nice boar showing up every night between 800pm-130am. Decided I'd camp out 75 yards from the feeder until the solar lights start to die down. About 1015 my motion detector goes off but the lights are fading. Can barely make out his silhouette but get an angled away shot that I know will work. Entrance was further back than I wanted. No exit but the bullet obviously did its job up through the vitals. He ran about 35 yards. Super fun shooting stuff with this setup. 4 shots..2 deer, 2 hogs. "pfffft.......WHACK!!!!"

 

[gotboostvr]

I'd like to see the recovered bullet with the softer alloy from that hog if you can.

Looks like a great rig! In a perfect world, I'd find an old Rossi 92 454 and suppress it.

 

[edwardware]

I would just look up 45 LC data for that bullet and use starting loads. . .

Yup. You're shooting a Streeeeetched .45 Colt, so start there and increase charge to achieve velocity.

 

[edwardware]

dupe. . .

 

[toledo]

I'd like to see the recovered bullet with the softer alloy from that hog if you can.

I really wanted to go after it but just couldn't bring myself to go to digging through a gut shot pig of that size and odor. Might go back with the metal detector once the buzzards are done.

 

[toledo]

While admiring my prior kill with my bullet buried somewhere in that hunk of nasty, I came to the conclusion that the kids really needed a metal detector.

The buzzards and yotes made quick work of the edibles. A few quick sweeps with the detector to locate what I thought was my bullet. But I instantly recognized it as one of the disk that's in a Winchester pdx1 .410 load. Somebody was severely under gunned! A little more looking and I found my bullet. Better expansion but it obviously tumbled. Dont know if it might have been unstable prior to impact so going to do some longer range paper testing.

 

[murf]

your slow twist 454 casull (compared to the 45 colt) will not stabilize that heavy bullet. 325 grain is about the heaviest bullet that will stay stable at distance in that cartridge. your distance, on the other hand, doesn't seem to mind.

luck,

murf

 

[toledo]

your slow twist 454 casull (compared to the 45 colt) will not stabilize that heavy bullet. 325 grain is about the heaviest bullet that will stay stable at distance in that cartridge. your distance, on the other hand, doesn't seem to mind.

luck,

murf

Thanks. I haven't been able to find twist rate on the high wall. Anybody have that info?

 

[toledo]

A buddy has been after this heavy 9 for the last two seasons. He drove back to town mid last week for a four day hunt. Cameras showed his deer had been through but only in the dark. Knowing this was a solid 6-7yo deer, I talked him in to hunting with this gun for the true test. I knew from the hogs that it should get it done just fine and the shots from this stand are all within range. The morning started slow. Seemed the rut was winding down. The does more at ease again. Around 9:00am, his deer pops out in a spot where nothing ever comes from. Ive gotten 100 pictures of this deer in the last two years and never seen him in person. Now, as if finally scripted in, he just appears for my buddy on the first morning of the hunt. I ID'ed him quick. "That's your deer" followed by a shot that "sounded good". Like he shot a watermelon. But the deer acted like nothing was wrong. He trotted off about 30 yards and hopped a fence like a bad dream. We both looked at each other like "what just happened". I could see that he stopped as soon as he got out of the open but didnt know for sure what he did from there. We gave him 15 minutes and then snuck out to go eat breakfast and try not to think about it. On returning, he had not taken another step from where he was last seen. A double lung shot a little far back that took a little longer to take affect. Ive seen deer act exactly the same way with the same shot from a bow. The bullet did not exit but you could see the lump under the skin.







Entrance side.







Exit







The recovered bullet speaks for itself! Over 2x expansion while maintaining the shank to drive penetration.

 

[BreechFace]

A buddy has been after this heavy 9 for the last two seasons. He drove back to town mid last week for a four day hunt. Cameras showed his deer had been through but only in the dark. Knowing this was a solid 6-7yo deer, I talked him in to hunting with this gun for the true test. I knew from the hogs that it should get it done just fine and the shots from this stand are all within range. The morning started slow. Seemed the rut was winding down. The does more at ease again. Around 9:00am, his deer pops out in a spot where nothing ever comes from. Ive gotten 100 pictures of this deer in the last two years and never seen him in person. Now, as if finally scripted in, he just appears for my buddy on the first morning of the hunt. I ID'ed him quick. "That's your deer" followed by a shot that "sounded good". Like he shot a watermelon. But the deer acted like nothing was wrong. He trotted off about 30 yards and hopped a fence like a bad dream. We both looked at each other like "what just happened". I could see that he stopped as soon as he got out of the open but didnt know for sure what he did from there. We gave him 15 minutes and then snuck out to go eat breakfast and try not to think about it. On returning, he had not taken another step from where he was last seen. A double lung shot a little far back that took a little longer to take affect. Ive seen deer act exactly the same way with the same shot from a bow. The bullet did not exit but you could see the lump under the skin.



View attachment 960673



Entrance side.



View attachment 960674



Exit



View attachment 960675



The recovered bullet speaks for itself! Over 2x expansion while maintaining the shank to drive penetration.



View attachment 960676

View attachment 960677

View attachment 960678

awesome!

 

[Dudedog]

I came to the conclusion that the kids really needed a metal detector.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Why not sure a 45LC?