Range day with a 454 Casull

gdawg

gdawg

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Well I took out my Freedom Arms 454 for the first time. I was thinking it might be not be too bad, it is a fairly large heavy revolver and I've shot a short barrelled Super Blackhawk 44 which I found manageable. I was shooting Federal Fusion 454 ammo which is actually a little tamer than other brands. But wow did this thing thump and hurt. A couple cylinders was all I could do and I certainly 'perfected' the flinch. I couldn't even go back to 9mm. Clearly I'm getting soft. I'm glad I did not get a shorter barrel length.

Anyway I bought it mainly because I wanted the revolver (not the calibre) and the revolver is a thing of beauty. The tolerances, smoothness and finishing are pretty exceptional and this is the basic field grade, not the premier grade. It came with a scope. Maybe I'll put it back on. That might help add some weight.

First time out with the Anaconda too. That was a 'close-to-last' impulse buy. It is nice, but I still prefer the S&W 29s and 629s.
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gdawg said:
Well I took out my Freedom Arms 454 for the first time. I was thinking it might be not be too bad, it is a fairly large heavy revolver and I've shot a short barrelled Super Blackhawk 44 which I found manageable. I was shooting Federal Fusion 454 ammo which is actually a little tamer than other brands. But wow did this thing thump and hurt. A couple cylinders was all I could do and I certainly 'perfected' the flinch. I couldn't even go back to 9mm. Clearly I'm getting soft. I'm glad I did not get a shorter barrel length.

Anyway I bought it mainly because I wanted the revolver (not the calibre) and the revolver is a thing of beauty. The tolerances, smoothness and finishing are pretty exceptional and this is the basic field grade, not the premier grade. It came with a scope. Maybe I'll put it back on. That might help add some weight.

First time out with the Anaconda too. That was a 'close-to-last' impulse buy. It is nice, but I still prefer the S&W 29s and 629s.
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Used one of those for a silhouette match one time. Beautiful revolver. One of the few I wore a glove for though. - dan
 
The frontier is the one handgun I wish could have bought. I have the Super Redhawk in 454. Awesome gun. I load mine to the max with 300 gr cast bullets. Love the shockwave when it hits you. I fired 80 rounds one afternoon. I was shooting other pistol also but kept going back to the 454. My wrist and palm of my hand hurt for 3 days. I now try to keep it under 30 rnds. I bought it for the power so don’t down load it. I’ll go to a smaller caliber if I want less power. It’s fun to be hammered by a few rounds, just learn your limit.
 
Beautiful revolver gdawg. I've always wanted a Freedom Arms 454. I bought a Toklat to stay busy with in anticipation of eventually buying a FA....but then you know the rest of the story...(n):(. Anyway, the Toklat is a handful, literally.
 
I was wondering about Ruger SRH and if the rubber grips would absorb the recoil a little better. I can imagine the shorter barrel of the Toklat would have quite a bark.
 
I have a Ruger Super Redhawk in 454 Casull. Not sure the loads I’ve put through it exactly… always seemed pretty manageable to be honest, but it is a heavy revolver.
 
I had both the premier and field grade with 6” barrels. The premier had a hardened insert in the forcing cone area. Sold the premier to a friend who took it to Africa as a backup gun for lions. He’s grateful he didn’t need to use it.

I have a Leupold scope on mine and shoot 300g cast bullets with gas checks with 25g of Win296 powder. Not absolute max loads but more comfortable than what the reloading manuals recommend. Phenomenal accuracy at 100 yards, 1-1/2”to 2” 3 shot groups two handed off a bench. Various other reduced cowboy loads with Unique powder were pleasant to shoot but accuracy was best at only 4” groups at 50 yards.

In retrospect I wished I bought that FA in 44mag. Had all sorts of plans to hunt with the 454 in the USA but didn’t happen.
Its a beautiful safe queen now. No regrets, finest revolver Ive ever owned by a mile.
 
The wonderful thing about powerful firearms is knowing the ceiling is always there if really needed.
The fun thing about powerful firearms, especially premium, well designed & executed ones is discovering all the power levels in between.
 
CobraGT said:
I've run .454 through my S&W .460 a couple of times; gun's comped and heavy enough that it doesn't feel bad at all. I actually enjoy shooting it a lot more with .454 than .460
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I don't own, but have shot both .460 and 500 S&W Magnums, and although it took some time for the smile to subside, they are just plain ridiculous. They may as well have just made them single shot handguns, because any follow up shots are occuring well past anytime soon.
 
Painkillers said:
I don't own, but have shot both .460 and 500 S&W Magnums, and although it took some time for the smile to subside, they are just plain ridiculous. They may as well have just made them single shot handguns, because any follow up shots are occuring well past anytime soon.
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Yep, I agree. Exactly why .454 is nicer through mine most of the time.
 
Certainly is good to see gun guys talking hand guns out in the forum
not hiding away like criminals society has made us out to be.

Sad to say Canadians will not see hand gun sales or exchanges publicly again.
 
I’m with you on that.
460 has a weird torque impulse that twists the gun to the left (rotation) in my hand.
Still accurate but weird.
454 is jumpy but fine. 45 long colt is like a pellet gun that costs 150$ per shooting session😂
 
scott.y. said:
I’m with you on that.
460 has a weird torque impulse that twists the gun to the left (rotation) in my hand.
Still accurate but weird.
454 is jumpy but fine. 45 long colt is like a pellet gun that costs 150$ per shooting session😂
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Obviously shooting factory.
I reload so $150 goes a long way. After shooting 454 the 45 Colt just seems weak.
 
Snider shooter said:
Obviously shooting factory.
I reload so $150 goes a long way. After shooting 454 the 45 Colt just seems weak.
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The last time I qualified for my ATC I brought 150 rounds of .45 Colt 300 grain LRN Cowboy loads.

The Pistol Chair who was doing the qualification asked me if that was going to be my carry load and I said "Yes. Skeeter Skelton wrote about seeing .45 Colt pass throughs on horses after gunfights."..............

He said OK.........
 
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