454 Casull Anybody?

[Rugerdiggs]

Got a Ruger Alaskan in 454 casull that should be here at the end of the week or first of next week. It has the short 2.5" barrel and looking to get some advise on loads for it. Here is what i currently have and have on its way as far as supplies.

120+: pieces of new starline brass primed with small rifle magnum primers
100: pieces of new NAA brass
200: 345gr hard cast lubed bullets, bhn suppose to be 20+
100: 325gr swift A-frames
1lb of lilgun
1lb of h110
3 piece set of rcbs carbide 454 casull dies
Also have some 45lc brass coming

This is all together a new cartridge for me, have read a good bit on it and some say if the the bhn is above 18 no gas checks needed and some dont even lube them, i am pretty new on shooting lead cast out of magnums, any advice on this would help.

Also not sure on the primers, is small rifle magnum good or will small rifle be better or will it be determined by which powder?

I have both powders above on hand but if need to get different one will try to find some.

My goal for this pistol is to shoot hogs or deer around here but main goal other than having a hand cannon is to have a good handgun for future elk hunt to have in bear country. If the A frames shoot well that will be the bullet for bear and cougars from what i have read but have no experience with them.

Any and all help and advice will be thanked

 

[Hairtrigger]

I have not handled an Alaskan but have owned Rugers in both the 9.5" and 7.5" barrels
I still own a Super Redhawk with the 7.5" barrel.
It takes me a bunch of practice to handle the 454 loads, I shoot it much better with 45C loads. About August I start with 45C loads and work up to my hunting loads and by Oct I am much better with the recoil
Using a Burris scope I can consistantly hit clay pigeons at 200 yards with the gun from a bench and 300gr cast bullets

 

[Rugerdiggs]

That's impressive, what kind of load data you using?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

This is all together a new cartridge for me, have read a good bit on it and some say if the the bhn is above 18 no gas checks needed and some dont even lube them, i am pretty new on shooting lead cast out of magnums, any advice on this would help.

Lead bullets should either be VERY hard for anywhere near ful throttle in a 454 and/or gas checked. I personally won't run lead above 1,200 fps or so in a pistol or 2,000 fps in a rifle as it's just gonna get messy. Not lubing your bullets is a sure way to learn new lead removal methods because a brush and solvent won't be cutting it. You don't need a hard bullet for every situation but for the 454 I can't think of a situation that a soft swaged pill would be enough.
I currently don't own a 454 but have a 44 and my brother has a 460. He's shooting 405 grain lead rifle bullets swaged down to .452. I'm sure he's over 1,200 fps with it, but it's a **** hard bullet and it's his pistol so I don't have to clean the lead out of it. I use either a 200 or 240 loafing at 1,200 fps out of my 44 with herco or true blue. If I go jacketed I swap to aa#9 and a 240 hornady.

 

[Hairtrigger]

That's impressive, what kind of load data you using?

I am using a 308gre cast bullet with gc over H110 powder

 

[Grumulkin]

My advice would be to use H110 and not Lil' Gun.

Some time ago there was a thread on another forum regarding Lil' Gun in Freedom Arms revolvers. According to the guy in charge at Freedom Arms at that time, Lil' Gun causes very rapid forcing cone damage and deterioration in accuracy in their revolvers.

 

[AKGuide]

In my 7.5" Super Redhawk I load the 325 Swifts to 1550 fps using H110. Using W296 (same powder I believe) I push the cast performance 360GC at 1503fps. This isn't recommended from cast performance as you have to be careful with heavy lead bullets as they may start to pull from recoil. They recommend not going over 1425 fps. I suggest once you shoot two or three bullets start keeping an eye on the remaining and use them as first shooters the next time. Starline is the only brass that I use, it is good stuff. With the 360s I shot a young moose and it went from the chest and exited the right ham, amazing penetration. I have also shot a caribou at 200 yards using the swifts and the terminal performance was great 3/4" hole in and 1" hole out gelling the boiler room. If you are going to scope it make sure the scope is top of the line as the casull is a scope eater. Safe shooting

Reuben

 

[lloydsmale]

ive had a number of 454s through the years and one was an alaskan like yours. Mine liked a 300 grain cast rcbs swcgc with 24 grains of 2400. It shot that load way better then anything else i tried. Gas checks at those levels may not be absolutely nessisary. You might get away without leading if thats your consern but ive found especially with top end loads and doubly so for the high pressure loads used in a 454 that gas checked bullets will 9 times out of 10 be more accurate the plain based no matter what alloy is used. Just a side not but i used to shake my head when shooting that alaskan. It was hands down the most comforatble 454 ive ever owned to shoot with top end loads and i cant say why. Another cool thing with the one i had was that i had it cut for moon clips. It would shoot 454s and 45 colts with or without moon clips and with moon clips made for a model 25 smith it would shoot 45acps too.

Got a Ruger Alaskan in 454 casull that should be here at the end of the week or first of next week. It has the short 2.5" barrel and looking to get some advise on loads for it. Here is what i currently have and have on its way as far as supplies.

120+: pieces of new starline brass primed with small rifle magnum primers
100: pieces of new NAA brass
200: 345gr hard cast lubed bullets, bhn suppose to be 20+
100: 325gr swift A-frames
1lb of lilgun
1lb of h110
3 piece set of rcbs carbide 454 casull dies
Also have some 45lc brass coming

This is all together a new cartridge for me, have read a good bit on it and some say if the the bhn is above 18 no gas checks needed and some dont even lube them, i am pretty new on shooting lead cast out of magnums, any advice on this would help.

Also not sure on the primers, is small rifle magnum good or will small rifle be better or will it be determined by which powder?

I have both powders above on hand but if need to get different one will try to find some.

My goal for this pistol is to shoot hogs or deer around here but main goal other than having a hand cannon is to have a good handgun for future elk hunt to have in bear country. If the A frames shoot well that will be the bullet for bear and cougars from what i have read but have no experience with them.

Any and all help and advice will be thanked

 

[BridgerMT]

Dont use that starline brass unless it is NEW Brass... I have had a big problem with that brass swelling up in the cylinder and it's a MF to eject the cases after there reload..

454 Casull Super Redhawk 9.5 barrel...

 

[AKGuide]

I have never had the problem with getting stuck cases only after firing 45lc without cleaning the cylinders or not tumbling dirty brass. I also load 325 gas checks to 1550 that have the same point of impact as the swifts. Way cheaper to practice with and sight in.

Reuben

 

[Hairtrigger]

Dont use that starline brass unless it is NEW Brass... I have had a big problem with that brass swelling up in the cylinder and it's a MF to eject the cases after there reload..

454 Casull Super Redhawk 9.5 barrel...

I would polish the chambers

 

[BridgerMT]

All my other brass does not stick,,,,,nor does any new ammo it has nothing to do with polishing the chambers.I am sure that would help in the reloaded starling brass!!! but if starline is the only cases sticking why use it

 

[Grumulkin]

There is NOTHING wrong with Starline brass.

If you shoot ANY kind of brass at the top pressure the 454 Casull can operate at (i.e., 60,000 psi) and the chamber of the gun it's originally shot in is larger than the chamber of the gun it's reloaded for, you can get sticking of the cases. Also, with the 454 Casull you need to full length size the case.

Also keep in mind that originally, the 454 Casull was only available in Freedom Arms revolvers. Being a single action revolver, only one case is ejected at a time. Also, in case you've never seen a Freedom Arms revolver in person, the chambers are very precise and highly polished which assists in ejection. If you're shooting a double action revolver, you'll be ejecting 5 cases at once which makes ejection more difficult. Add a dirty or not so polished chamber and the problem is worsened. For brass used in a double action revolver, it might be necessary to lower the load a bit to avoid hard ejection.

 

[lloydsmale]

the problem with them isnt starline brass. IF anything starline brass is the best handgun brass made. It holds up much better then ww does. The problem lies with your ruger. The steal they made those 454s and 480s out of has to much flex in it. When you fire the gun with full pressure loads the chamber walls expand along with the brass when the contract they grab hold of the brass a bit to much. There is some help wiht polishing but for the most part dont expect to run loads with the same pressures your going to be able to run your freedom arms 454 at. Stick to the middle of the row book loads for the 454 and youll be fine. Actually the 480s were more trouble yet. When there bigger bore the cylinders are bored out to have less meat in them and they tended to be rough and could use a polishing. Operate a 454 at 47000 psi and it will usually eject fine do the same with a 480 and youll be pounding out cases.