.454 Casull reloads

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BLR 81

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Hey everyone, I need me some opinions... so I have a Rossi Puma 92 in .454 Casull that I got in December and finally got around to trying some home cookin' with. I'm using a 300-grain HDY XTP-mag hp, the gun LOVES Hornady's factory loads with these bullets..... My first try was with Win 296, but at 100 yards it spat em all over the paper. Does anyone have any experience with this cartridge out of a rifle-length barrel, and can you please share? (I'm just trying to avoid having to buy 15 cans of powder til I find the right one...):dancingbanana:

I'm an experienced reloader but mainly with rifle cartridges.... Not so versed with pistol powders.:p

Thanks in advance!
 
I have the same rifle, and I have developed full power loads with the same 300gr XTP-Mag bullet. The new hornady manual lists a max load of 31.5gr of H110 for this bullet.

A bunch of research ahead of time told me that H110 was most likely the best powder for the .454 if you want your loads to mean business, followed by Lil'gun. Trail Boss is also good for reduced loads.

However, in working up loads for this rifle using commonly available bullet weights I ran into something I never did with "normal" bottle necked rifle cartridges (my first pistol cartridge too)- once I got to basically medium level loads, velocity did not increase predictably with added powder as it has been doing with all my other rifle cases. What I found was that, at a certain point, velocity became erratic and stopped increasing before I got to max load. I was upset with this as I was basically maxing out at 1900 fps in my Puma with the 300gr XTP's, and I was expecting more (guys on some outdoor forums, particularly some Alaska forums are pushing their 7.5 pistols to this level with the same bullet!). I had also found heavy loads on the internet with quite a few fellows pushing heavier lead bullets (320gr - 340gr) to 2000 fps or faster, and so my rifle maxing out at 1900 with 300's was less than what I wanted...

Well somebody on this forum reccomended reading the writings of John Linebaugh regarding heavy loads. I read his stuff and his experience matched what I found exactly, and he explained that you actually needed to go heavier to go faster in big pistol cases (I'm paraphrasing) because lighter bullets would simply exit the barrel without creating enough pressure to get the most out of your power charge. This seemed to match data I found on the internet where guys were able to push 340's to the same velocity (sometimes more) than 300's. The "smaller" 300's were just too easy to push out the tube and the extra powder was just wasted.

I've got some completely custom gas checked 340's in-hand that I got via Accurate Molds in the U.S.A (custom made the mold for me) and then through the cast bullet guru Ben Hunchak (cast the bullets for me). I had these made up specifically to get the most out of my Puma in .454. I'm planing on writing a thread on them once I get to the range.

If you want some more loads (developed about four) then PM me. None of the loads I developed exceed maxmium published loads (not even real close actually).
 
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That cal. just screams out for a heavy bullet, big flat point, gas check, save the light jacketed for plinking. The Accurate Mold mentioned above is prolly the finest mold I have ever used, I salute the mold maker, and the guy from the Yukon that got it done.
 
Have any of you guys using the XTP MAG done any testing with regards to expansion? Or better yet shot game with them? I have read they are too tough, resulting in very little expansion even at rifle velocities.
 
Northman999 said:
Well somebody on this forum reccomended reading the writings of John Linebaugh regarding heavy loads. I read his stuff and his experience matched what I found exactly, and he explained that you actually needed to go heavier to go faster in big pistol cases (I'm paraphrasing) because lighter bullets would simply exit the barrel without creating enough pressure to get the most out of your power charge. This seemed to match data I found on the internet where guys were able to push 340's to the same velocity (sometimes more) than 300's. The "smaller" 300's were just too easy to push out the tube and the extra powder was just wasted.
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Just a dumb question. If you aren't generating the pressures and consistency with a slow powder and light bullet, wouldn't it be worthwhile to try a slightly faster powder? This is all we do with bottleneck rifle rounds, so why wouldn't that be the correct approach with the .454?

B said:
Have any of you guys using the XTP MAG done any testing with regards to expansion? Or better yet shot game with them? I have read they are too tough, resulting in very little expansion even at rifle velocities.
Click to expand...

How much bigger hole do you want than 1/2"? :eek: :D


Mark
 
mmattockx said:
Just a dumb question. If you aren't generating the pressures and consistency with a slow powder and light bullet, wouldn't it be worthwhile to try a slightly faster powder? This is all we do with bottleneck rifle rounds, so why wouldn't that be the correct approach with the .454?

Mark
Click to expand...

Mark, a faster powder may well have worked and I may try it with the 300's at a later time. I was kind of always wanting to go heavier than 300 anyway; 300 is just as heavy as I could find in my initial shop for supplies for this cartridge.
 
Tried the H110, groups were erratic; gonna try lil gun next. Also read reports that no. 9 works well, so that's also on my list.
 
Keep us updated, especially with your AA9 loads. It's the next powder I plan to try since it works so well with other cartridges I shoot.
 
Another new powder that I'm playin' with is 300-mp from Alliant, might work in the Casull/.460.....the bullets meant for the .45 auto may be small and lead at .451" and of course will not have a proper crimp groove, which is a good thing to have and use on hard kicking revolvers, even with light loads.
 
MiniMe said:
Hi Guys

I've also got a Puma in 454casull.
Can you guys share your recipes? I've got frontier 300grain bullets for now.
Btw, to reload light loads, can I use regular .451 bullets for 45acp?

Thanks
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You probably could, but you should be using .452 bullets for 45 colt/454 casull, or in cast .453-.454. The .451 will likely cause a lack of proper seal in the bore.

That also being said be aware that pistol bullets are designed to expand at lower velocities and if you power them up you will experience higher degrees of weight shedding. This is where casting your own hard cast shines as you can make a rifle bullet rather than a pistol bullet.

I can't speak much for recipes at the moment as I'm still working out a loading and haven't had much time to do it in. Maybe this winter I'll get it done. For the mean time I've just been loading 29gr of h110 over 300 gr FP hard cast and 22.5gr of h110 in 45colt cases with 250gr FP. These are moderate loads as I haven't had a chance to work up a max power one.
 
Freyr_255 said:
You probably could, but you should be using .452 bullets for 45 colt/454 casull, or in cast .453-.454. The .451 will likely cause a lack of proper seal in the bore.
QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip, but I mean to use the .45 acp bullets in very light loads with trailboss, around 800fps I think.....but now that you reminded about the seal, I remember they don't have a cannelure and everytime I don't crimp them well it is a pain to feed....

About casting my own....how bad/toxic is it to be melting lead at home??? Noob here....all i know is that lead is toxic.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
buckbrush said:
how much do the heavy loads recoil in a '92? The '92 is a very light gun for near 45-70 type loads.
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Recoils a bit. It has a decent recoil pad so really it's not bad at all. I'll update that when I put some heavier loads through it but so far it's kind of on par with most 30-cal centerfires.

About casting my own....how bad/toxic is it to be melting lead at home??? Noob here....all i know is that lead is toxic.
Click to expand...

As stated, well ventilated area is important. Other than that wash your hands, wear safety glasses and gloves, and cast away. I'm having issues right now with it being too cold out to cast properly. I need a larger heat source...thinking about using the turkey cooker to do my actual casting an not just melting weights. :p

Head on over to castboolits.com and read up on bullet casting if you're interested.
 
If i cannot do it in my basement, then it will be hard, with 2 little kids at home I cannot do it in the backyard, specially now that the older just learned how to open the sliding door.

I've heard of another method that is basically pressing a piece of lead tube in the shape you want and then sizing it. I believe it is called swaging or something like it, but all my google searches resulted in suppliers in the US only.

Anyone ever heard about it?
 
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