454 Casull 300 gr

6GunJustice

6GunJustice

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Been looking for some for quite awhile. Anyone know anywhere I can find these in 300gr?

Considering reloading, although I've never done it before. Last resort. My buddy has a Lee press he will lend me, but I fear buying the primers/shells/powder is hard to find as well.

6Gun
 
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Biggest issue with .454 can be cost. Starline used to have very affordable brass but like everything it has crept up and up. I used to reload full power ammunition with virgin brass and 300XTP for under $1/EA. I can hardly find the bullets for $1/EA these days.
 
^Yikes!

If I decided to, how many times could/should I re-use the brass? I have 60 shells used once (Winchester & Hornady), and now 60 new rounds (Hornady, $3 each before tax).
^ The Winchester was a 250gr round ... good to reload that brass at 300gr?

Edit: changed Remington to Winchester

6Gun
 
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Out of a revolver I would expect you to lose the brass to split mouths before anything else. Since full power loads need a heavy crimp to avoid bullets walking out and binding your gun up that can be as little as 3-4 times.

I am learning with my Rossi R92 that one load seems to be it for about 10-20% of the brass that seems to come out with a slight bulge. The rest stays straight and can be loaded again for either, the bulged stuff gets reserved for revolver only as it's completely supported in the stretched then resized area.

Fired .454 brass isn't loaded with respect towards it original factory specs. You can use whatever suitable weight you want. I hope that makes sense?
 
Okay, seems pretty straight forward ... inspect the brass for wear (bulges, split mouth). I have a Ruger Super Redhawk revolver, so once fired 'should' be ok.

"Fired .454 brass isn't loaded with respect towards it original factory specs" ... is 'full power' more than 300gr factory? I ask because a friend from way back used to make reloads (full) and that is when we started using the term 'Hand Canon'. I'll have to dig up my Speer book and take another look.

6Gun
 
The brass will be usable for any safe load you will find. The best way to determine if a load is safe is to get it from established sources like loading manuals or powder manufacturers. There is a lot of .454 out there that runs much less that full power/pressure. Federal Fusion and Winchester Silvertip come to mind. Hornady custom is "full power" if you need a reference.
 
If I do decide to reload one day, I will do very thorough research and maybe fire out a PM or 2 for advise. I would want to be 110% sure I know what I am doing (and my options) before I even consider starting. For now 3 boxes will keep me happy as I only occasionally shoot my Ruger ... my friends often hi-jack my gun at the range because they find it a novelty to fire off a few rounds and feel the awesome power. Then I maybe get a turn! lol

6Gun
 
Henry @ Budget has most of the powders listed on the 300 gr load on Hodgdon online and 270gr & 325gr cast. Higginsons has/had 300 gr plated, which I've read that you can load to jacketed levels. I've loaded a few of the 300 gr plated in my 45 colt but only a few. So I can't say either way how good they are.
You'll shoot way more with the big magnums reloading for them.

Clint
 
Snider shooter said:
If the alloy used is hard enough you can but most aren’t. I use a hardness of 20 to 21 in my Ruger Super Redhawk with out problems. If your going to shoot cast coated or lubed you want a harder alloy. Otherwise your going to get leading rather quickly.
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I don't think you understood what I said. Even thick plating will be blasted off. Properly alloyed and sized/lubed lead is good to go, no argument there.
 
Snider shooter said:
I do agree plating isn’t enough. Powder coating would likely stand up better from what I have been reading. I lube my bullets and haven’t tried powder coating yet.
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I powder coated some bullets with Phantom Gloss Black for my SRH revolver. Even down around 45k PSI I had bad leading, despite a rather thick layer of PC. The only way I could stop it was to add a gas check, which I wanted to avoid. I am going to do more testing one of these days but my initial attempts were definitely disappointing. I have a .454 rifle now so my motivation level has gone up quite a bit. Plinking with bullets costing well over $1 each is just too much these days.
 
H110 or W296 is an excellent powder in the 454, but don't try to make light loads with them. I have been using 325 gr hard cast gas check bullets in both of mine(Revolver and rifle) and am happy with them. I do not load to max but they are well beyond hot 45 Colt levels.
 
OP,
IF your Ruger BH has a fully supported chamber to the rim,(counterbored) brass is reloadable multiple times.

454 brass fired in double action revolvers will have a web bulge that can not be sized out w/a standard full length resizing die.


I have Win,Hornady,StarLine brass that has been reloaded multiple times that was run thru my Freedom Arms Model 83's.
 
Thanks Dans ... good to know. Will check when I get home, quite sure my DA revolver doesn't have counterbored chambers.

6Gun
 
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