.44 Magnum & 454 Casull

[outrun]

In other words in a revolver chambered for .44 Magnum are they interchangeable?

I have shot revolvers a few times for pure plinking. I can not remember exactly but one of them we could switch to lower cost rounds.

The ones I have shot were the 38 Special, "Dirty Harry," and a Colt. 38 seemed potent kick wise, but the Casull felt the meanest.

 

[moribundman]

A 454 Casull is a stretched .45 round. How'd it fit a gun chambered in .44? Not to mention the .454 Casull packs more whoop (Is that the correct jargon?

) than a .45. I think it's overkill for plinking, even if you go Dirty Harry on their lids, and more suitable to protect yourself from grizzly bears or rhinos when camping in the wild. Even the .454 LC will be too much. I wouldn't mind owning a set of single-action six shooters chambered in .454 Casull -- for those relaxed high noon black powder shootouts in the park on Sunday.

Look at this puppy:

http://home.snafu.de/l.moeller/Bilder/Ruger_Super_Redhawk.gif

 

[msparks]

Ummm no a .454 cannot work in a 44mag But you can use .44 specials in a .44 mag.

On the other hand a .45 Long colt will work in a .454 but the .454 will not fit in the .45 colt.

 

[msparks]

quote:

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The ones I have shot were the 38 Special, "Dirty Harry," and a Colt. 38 seemed potent kick wise, but the Casull felt the meanest.

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You can also switch rounds of a .38 in a .357 mag. The .357 is a tad longer so it won't fit in a .38 special.

 

[1sttruck]

The .454 Casull makes for an expensive, portable package with decent energy for hunting. The guns seem to set up pretty tight so dirt can be a problem. A .44mag is less expensive, a lot more manageable, ammo is much more available, and it still packs decent energy in a pistol. People who use to shoot a lot of .44 mag at the range seemed to favor the Ruger Super Blackhawk as it held togther, was accurate and affordable.

 

[Shannow]

As others have said, different case dimensions, different diamters, and way different operating pressures and ballistics.

I've got one of these in .44Mag, and reloading is around 26c per round (Oz).

Similar rifle (South American Rossi) is available in .454...apparently they hurt pretty bad both ends.

 

[Schmoe]

Since we are on guns, I have a question....
I have a Champion 12 guage, full choke, single barrel shotgun that I got from my Dad, that got it from my grandfather. I can't seem to find anything about them on the web. Does anyone know anything about this particular make?

 

[JohnBrowning]

Moribundman, I have a Ruger SuperRedHawk as well. I bought mine with the 9.5 inch barrle though. I am built like a lumber jack so even with the 9.5" barrle I can carry it concealed with no problem.

My Sportsman's Club only has 240 meter range for me to play around with but with iron sites I can hit the Ram at 240 meters all day long! It also works great for deer,racoon,ground hogs etc.......

If I had to go into a combat area tomorrow rest assured my Ruger would get a black paint job. Unlike the 9mm issued to U.S. troops one shot from a .44Mag will drop a man in one shot if placed right!

It is amazeing how much damage a slow moveing 310 grain projectile can be on tissue!

 

[Ryan00TJ]

quote:

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It is amazeing how much damage a slow moveing 310 grain projectile can be on tissue!

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Civil War soldiers found that out as the 58 caliber rounds weighed around 500 grains and moved 800ft per sec. Rounds impacting bone would shatter the bone and the only resulting course was amputation of limb. Even with modern medicine this is still the only cure for a wound like that.

 

[thooks]

Price some .454 Casull ammo.

.44 mag ain't cheap, either.

.38 special is about the cheapest revolver ammo.

9mm is the cheapest auto ammo, usually can be had for $.12 per round.

 

[TurboLuver]

Others have covered the question pretty well. I am a big fan of the 454 casull, and until the S&W 500 came out it was my most used hunting handgun. I still prefer the 454 for hogs though, and a 360gr hard cast wlngc moving at a shade over 1500fps is big medicine on pretty much anything. Here is my hog gun...

 

[msparks]

A .44 mag is capable of taking every animal on the face of this earth to include elephants and brown bears. They have loads up to 320 grain hard cast bullets for max penetration. The .454 doesn't have as many loads but has a lot more power for taking larger game. I have a Super Blackhawk that I enjoy shooting and taking hunting. If I needed more I would move up to some type of rifle round in a handgun. Say a .308 or something.

 

[TurboLuver]

If you handload for the 454 you have as many if not more choices than with the 44mag.Also IMO if you need something in a handgun more than a 44 I would assume you would be talking about large dangerous game and in that case I would not even consider a single shot Thompson Center type handgun even in a rifle caliber, just to risky.

 

[1sttruck]

"A .44 mag is capable of taking every animal on the face of this earth to include elephants and brown bears."

People do carry them for bear protection in Alaska, my brother does, but the standing joke is to file the front sight off so that it doesn't hurt as much when the bear jams it up your *** :^)

An article in 'Rifle' from years back recorded what it took to bring down 62 brown bear. I think the record small round was from a native women picking berries, who ear shot one with a .22 and killed it. On the other side of the coin one brown took 22 rounds of .338 mag (which fared poorly comapred to other rounds) from the hunter and guide before going down for good. In another case one brown was found next to two hunters, all were dead, and they also found an empty .44 mag and two empty rifles.

 

[416Rigby]

I have a Freedom Arms .454, a Ruger Super Redhawk in .454, and a Super Redhawk in .480Ruger. I vastly prefer the Freedom Arms pistol to the Rugers, it doesn't smack my knuckles when I fire it. Ruger needs to redesign their trigger guards on the Redhawks.
As for bear and pistols, I'll stick with large-caliber rifles for that. A .416 works wonders on big, mean critters.

 

[TurboLuver]

I agree with 416Rigby, I would prefer a large caliber rifle where dangerous game is present,but I would still keep my 4inch S&W 500 handy as well.

 

[1sttruck]

I don't have the link handy, but I did run across a recommendation from Fish and Game in Alaska ion the minimum for bear protection, such as for people doing float trips and such; a 12ga with slugs or a 30.06 with 180gr Nosler Partitions. Pepper spray was effective, but nothing is 100%.