Handgun Hunting Powerhouse

Nearly 30 years after Elmer Keith discovered the .44 Special and its capabilities, Dick Casull began experimenting with the .45 Colt using many loads, sixguns, and powders. Casull, a young gunsmith at the time, started his experiments in the early 1950’s. Instead of using the .44 Special, which was only available with balloon-head brass, the .45 Colt had already made the transition to solid-head brass. That made it Casull’s choice to come up with the power he wanted.

I started my sixgunnin’ adventures just a few years after Casull started working seriously with the .45 Colt and it isn’t difficult for me to understand why the Colt Single Action had a special spot in his sixgunnin’ soul. Now that he had strong brass the Single Action Colt would be the sixgun used to come up with the power he wanted for what he would call the .454 Magnum (actually nothing else at the time was available). The Colt is not a very strong sixgun, and Casull’s first efforts made it obvious what he wanted was a lot more than the old Colt could deliver. He was definitely disappointed with his first experiments.

The Colt, originally a black powder arm, definitely had to be altered and somehow made stronger. New firing pins were developed to withstand the pressure and frames were re-heat treated. However, his loads blew cylinders and top straps and not only were the loads too powerful they were not all that accurate. Barrels of a higher strength steel were used. The results were the same, namely disaster.

His initial goal was a 230-grain bullet at 1,800 feet per second. This was at a time when factory loads for both the .45 ACP and the .45 Colt were less than half this. This was also in the days before H110 and WW296 and the best powder available was Hercules 2400, however he had ignition problems.

A special tool was made to ream the primer pockets of the solid head .45 Colt brass to accept rifle primers. He still had problems with ignition so he began experimenting with duplex loads, that is, two layers of different powder in the same brass case. He still had the problem of a sixgun strong enough to hold it.

Something would have to be done to alter the Colt Single Action to give it more strength. He turned to 5-shot cylinders as this would place the locking bolt notches in between the cylinder chambers giving the cylinder more strength and provide more steel between the chambers. He also had to redesign the ratchet at the back of the cylinder and alter the hand in going from six shots to five.

The .454 Arrives

Now the .454 Casull has its own case. Since 1983, the .454 Casull 5-shot revolver has been manufactured by Freedom Arms, and in the 1990’s the Raging Bull from Taurus and the Ruger Super Redhawk .454 arrived.

The .454 is a straight-walled cartridge case which is 1/10-inch longer than standard .45 Colt brass. Original brass used large rifle primers, however, this was soon changed to small rifle primers to give more brass in the head of the case.
For my use in loading for the .454 I prefer to use Starline brass and Remington 7-1/2 small rifle primers (the latter has been recommended by Freedom Arms since they switched to brass with small primers). Most of my loads, the vast majority for the .454, are assembled with either H110 or WW296 powder.

The .454 cartridge, especially at the top end, is not for the casual reloader. The Freedom Arms .454 Casull especially is built to exacting tolerances—it has to be to accept the pressures we are talking about here—and will not normally accept casually assembled reloads. Reloads must be specifically and carefully tailored to fit the chambers or the reloader may find himself with a large quantity of ammunition that won’t fit the precisely line-bored chambers. Keith-style .45 bullets of any weight from 255 grains up may not fit the chambers of the Freedom Arms revolver because of the wide shoulder of the bullet in front of the case. The answer is to crimp the loads over that front shoulder.

There is simply no slop built into a Freedom Arms revolver so brass must fit perfectly. Trying to resize with .45 Colt dies may or may not work; dies labeled .454 Casull will normally size brass tighter than standard .45 Colt dies. This not only ensures the loaded rounds will fit the Freedom Arms cylinder, it also provides maximum bullet/case tension to prevent bullets from moving forward under recoil in the cylinder as the gun is fired. Actually, since I began loading for the .454 I also use the .454 sizing die on all of my .45 Colt cases. With the .454, primers must be seated exactly flush or even slightly below or the Freedom Arms cylinder won’t rotate. I recommend a quality priming tool separate from the reloading press itself.

When it comes to bullets—whatever your choice—it is best to make a couple dummy rounds first and make sure they fit the tight cylinder chambers of the of the Model 83 Freedom Arms revolver. (The cylinders of the Ruger Super Redhawk, which is labeled for use with both the .454 and the .45 Colt as well as the Taurus Raging Bull are more forgiving than the Freedom Arms cylinder.)

Bullet selection for the .454 is critical. Jacketed bullets designed for the .45 Colt may be used in the .454 Casull with complete success if they are used properly. None of these bullets are designed for the velocities possible in the .454 Casull and there is a possibility of .45 Colt bullets coming apart under high pressures. Jacketed bullets designed for .45 Colt use should be held at muzzle velocities of 1,600 fps or less.

When I was shooting long-range silhouettes on a regular basis using the .454 my bullet of choice was the Speer 260-grain .45 Colt JHP and my loads reached 1,600 fps from the 10-inch barrel of my Model 83. I also found very quickly the Lyman cast bullet 454424 Keith bullet, which works so well in the .45 Colt, would not shoot well when driven at .454 Casull muzzle velocities.

I’ve tried about every load level there is in the .454 Casull using both Freedom Arms factory brass and Starline brass. SSK’s 340-grain truncated cone cast bullet can be driven over 1,800 fps, however I prefer to stay down around 1,200 to 1,500 fps for comfort. Dick Casull not only developed the cartridge and designed the Freedom Arms Model 83, he also designed an excellent bullet mold for Lyman which is 454629GC. This is a 300-grain, flat-nosed gas-check bullet which can be driven to a full 1,800 fps with excellent accuracy and also used in the .45 Colt at around 1,200 fps, again with excellent accuracy. As with all cast bullets for the .454 this one is sized to 0.451 to 0.452 inch.

The .454 brass case is a reloader’s dream come true. Matched up with the Freedom Arms Model 83 results in the ability to come up with loads which will deliver outstanding accuracy with both cast and jacketed bullets at velocities from a mild 800 fps to high-pressure 2,000 fps loads and beyond. In addition to both Ruger and Taurus offering .454 revolvers there are several custom gunsmiths also building 5-shot .454’s on Ruger single- and double-action sixguns.

If you do not reload, custom handloads turned out one at a time are available from Garrett Cartridges of Texas. My friend Ashley Emerson recently purchased Garrett and moved it to Texas and has now expanded the line to include the .454 using a 365-grain hardcast bullet at both 1,350 and 1,650 fps. I used the former on a bull elk and a bison this past fall with the results being instantaneous—the freezer is now filled with elk and buffalo meat.

Caution: Trying to build duplex or triplex loads can be dangerous and with today’s powders there is no need to even consider it. Dick Casull himself would tell any of us to stay away from mixing powders as H110 or WW296 can do anything we need to accomplish in the .454 Casull.

Freedom Arms
P.O. Box 150, Freedom, WY 83120
(307) 883-2469
www.freedomarms.com

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