Ruger RedHawk or Super RedHawk .44 mag or .454 Casull

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pringles

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The RedHawk in .44 Mag can shoot .44 special and the .454 Casull can shoot .45 Colt and I imagine .45 colt +P or other hot hand loads in .45 Colt. In either case you can plink with lighter loads if the .44 mag or 454 Casull has too much recoil.

Is .454 Casull difficult to find? I looked quickly and didn't see it readily available.

How does the recoil of the .44 mag compare to the .454 Casull.

Which would you choose for hunting white tails if legal here or on a hunting trip in the States?
 
The felt recoil will depend a lot on the weight of the revolver.

In my 52 oz Super Redhawk, 300 gr Cowboy Winchester loads at 900 fps feel like .38 Special wadcutters from a K frame S&W, 300 gr .454 Casulls at 1650 fps have VERY stout recoil and twist the wrist like a jiu jitsu wrist lock even with Uncle Mikes shooting gloves on.

To be fair the .454s do have around double the kinetic energy of a .44 magnum.
 
The 44 magnum is no where's near the power of the 454 Casull. I bought my RSRH to shoot full power 454 loads not to down load.
I allow no one to shoot it unless I know they have shot magnum handguns before due to heavy recoil. It is a nice gun and is available new which is the route I took. I don't recommend such a heavy gun to someone new to handguns. Unless you reload the rounds are getting pricey. Find one and shoot it before you buy.
 
I am kind of getting the impression that the .454 Casull is a little bit overkill. The .480 Ruger sounds interesting as well being between the .454 Casull and the .44 mag. Where can you buy the .454 Casull and .480 Ruger. Are they difficult to find? Thanks.
 
Since we live in a communist country and can only shoot paper with it, it's all overkill lol.
 
How deep are your pockets..
Love my 454C ,, great cartridge ...even better with a 16inch rossi.. any how..
Try to get at least a 7.5 barrel or even a 10 barrel of you get the 454C.
I get 1650 with a 300 gr. Out of a 7.5 inch freedom arms 83
Lil gun is the good powder for full power loads.
Recoil is very tolerable in a heavier wheel gun..nothing more then proper grip.

Enjoy the fire balls, last half hour of legal range time are the best..... 44mag is still very nice .. GET BOTH ..my $.02
 
VERY few folks I know of are OK with shooting much in the way of .454Casull. Unlike the X frame guns that take the big bore stuff the Super Redhawk is not all that heavy. So the kick really comes through.

On the other hand the .44Mag even at full pressure is not that bad out of a Super Redhawk. You KNOW you're shooting something but it's not a "wrist wrecker" like the Casull is.

On the third hand the others are correct and you can easily enough load down to a power level a bit under full and tune the recoil to your personal level of enjoyment. You can even tune them down to cowboy action pop gun loads if you want to introduce someone to the gun that you know will be recoil sensitive. So there's much to be said for whichever version you go for.

Now if you think that at some point you will want to get some other big bore revolver that shoots the same rounds then you might want to consider the .44Mag. Because the only other handgun around that can shoot full pop .454C rounds is the big X frame S&W 460.... which thanks to the weight would aid with taming the recoil.

Big bore dino, is it the Lil Gun that give you the good fireballs? My own favorite for big wings of flame is 2400. Followed by H110. It would be nice to know of another good powder for making a good flame show.
 
I find that IMR 4227 gives a decent Fireball but the best fireballs out my pistols happens when I fire my 30-30 contender. The thing I like about firing the 454 is you can feel a shockwave hit you in the face and chest. I push my cast 250gr at 1640 using H110 which is my normal load. Currently in the middle of working up a load with IMR 4227 and 325 gr cast bullets. Been debating on getting a Freedom Arms but I haven't decided which model or caliber.
 
I was thinking the same thing about the .45 colt, it gives me lots of options. I first started looking at revolvers chambered in .45 colt and I liked the idea of its versatility with loading heavier loads but then most of the revolvers chambered for it couldn't take the higher pressures. I found myself just wanting to move up to something stout enough that I didn't have that concern at all. With the Super RedHawk I can shoot any .45 colt that I can find or load them myself really heavy. I am a bit concerned that the revolver itself will be ridiculously huge and cumbersome though. I should see if I can find one somewhere to see what it feels like.
 
45 colt is easier to find than 44 special if you don't reload.

The Super Redhawk Toklat with a 5 inch barrel will be big but not massively large. They are hard to find though.

Another option is the S&W 460 with the 5" barrel. Can still shoot 45 and 454 but it is very large.
 
Two other guns that will take higher pressure loads and will put into 44 magnum power are Ruger Blackhawk and contender. Both of these guns allow performance to be greatly increased over regular 45 Colt loads and keep size and weight down. I won't hot load my 45 Colt due to having weaker guns chambered in 45 Colt and risking destroying the guns. I want more powder I have my Casull or Contenders chambered in rifle rounds. Sounds like you have chosen the 45 Colt and want a gun capable of magnum performance. The Blackhawk would be the way to if you can live with it being a single action. The contenders are single shots with interchangeable barrels in different calibers.
 
Also just to add, if you are serious about a handgun hunting trip to the US, you might want to check the laws of the States you are likely to go to. Some have minimum barrel length restrictions.
 
The 44 magnum has dropped plenty of deer out of lever rifles around these parts so don't feel like you'll be sacrificing anything by going with the 44. I'm just such a huge fan of the 44 it's hard for me to endorse anything else other than the 500 if you want "more". I like the Casull, don't get me wrong, but it's a handful for most.
 
Go with 44-Magnum.

The availability and cost of factory ammo is vastly different between the two calibers.

And if you reload;
The availability and cost of brass is vastly different between the two calibers.
 
I have .454 in a Freedom Arms M83. This gun has great grips, easy to hang on to. That being said I doubt I have shot 25 .454 through it. I really like the .45 Long Colt as a round. Having a .454 you can shoot .45 LC all day long. There is only 0.10 inch difference in the .454 vs. the .45LC so I don't think this is a big deal, same deal as .38 Special in .357 Mag basically, every does this. The .460 is closer to 0.5 inch longer if I recall correctly. I don't think you should shoot .45 LC or .454 in a .460 but the gun is marketed as compatible. One note of caution, if your shooting .45LC in a .454 make sure you clean the cylinder really well before you shoot the .454. You can damage the gun I think. If you are planning to load a .45LC up to .44 Rem Mag I think it would be better to get .454 brass and cut it down the 0.10 inch. The .454 brass is thicker than the .45LC. This was tried years ago and this is why there is a .44 Rem Mag as far as I have been able to understand. The .45LC brass just cannot handle the .44 Mag loads.

I am ordering another .454 Monday. Last hurrah before Justine takes away all my guns!

Like everything else on the internet. Take my free advice for what it is worth, what you paid for it.
 
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I have a S&W XVR 460 Hunter and the long barrel makes it a very accurate revolver. It will chamber and fire 460, 454C and 45LC interchangeably. The ported barrel reduces the recoil substantially and is not a brute to fire like a regular non ported 454 Cassul revolver. S&W states that it has incredibly low recoil for all loads and its true. Our indoor pistol range has a no magnum policy and when I bring this out the reaction is "hey, no magnums", I just reply i'm just plinking with 45LC and its like shooting a 9mm pistol with the 45LC rounds.
I bought it for deer hunting in Pennsylvania.

From S&W;
• Removable, interchangeable compensator
• The highest velocity revolver in the world - 2330 FPS/200 grain!
• The most powerful .45 caliber revolver in the world - 2400 lbs/ft!
• If you zero its sights at 200 yards you will bag your buck with a center hold 0-250 yards with no hold over! Just center it and fire. The 460XVR will do the rest
• Gain twist rifled barrel for superb accuracy
• Lighter loads that the 460 will also fire include .45 Colt and .454 Casull
• Incredibly low perceived recoil for all loads
ALL BACKED BY OUR SMITH & WESSON LIFETIME SERVICE POLICY.

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Check out the sale at Dante Sports right now... Google "Dante Sports" and then search "Ruger"... they have some incredible deals on Red Hawks and other revolvers/pistols.
 
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