New toy- a T/C in 454 Casull

bullsi1911

At the gun show yesterday, with birthday money burning a hole in my pocket.  Came across a deal, and ended up getting a 45 for my 45th birthday.



Encore in 454 Casull. A round I already reload for, and one I’ve been wanting to play around with more- especially with iron sights.

Plus, this can be a good platform for other rounds with some of the really cool options from MGM. 

Better pics later, but I know next to nothing about these guns.  Any tips, tricks, warnings, etc... would be appreciated

earlyagain

Do they make a fore end that matches the grip???

Ernie Bishop

Nice cartridge!

I had a 454 in a FA revolver for a number of years. 

Break Opens can be more sensitive to forend pressure than say a bolt action would be. 

Little slower lock time with an external hammer. 

The Encore does give you a lot of flexibility, and I have seen them shoot some pretty good groups.

I picked up a G-2 myself during the late summer, but haven't shot it with either barrel yet. 

In my 454 I used H-110, Remington 7 1/2 primers and the 300 grain XTP (Magnum) bullet.

Zee

Love the cartridge!

Like the platform. Have a couple frames and several barrels. 

They are a good platform for the type of hunting you commonly do. Gives you a plethora of options in barrels and configurations. A really fun toy. 

Recommend a trigger job and rifle length forends, even on pistol length barrels. I have MGM D/T for the rifle length Forend when they make me barrels. 

I really recommend custom barrels as most all the factory ones I’ve ever messed with have side to side wobble in lock up. 

I hated TC for years until I discovered MGM. 

Diver43

Nice pick up, Congrats

knitepoet

Nice score

Jay

100% what Ernie and Zee said. 

I love the 454 cartridge. Very versatile by itself. From 45 Colt level up to screaming fast and heavy bullet loads. 

I used Stratton Custom for my trigger job and also bought one of his rimfire conversion kits for my Encore. Steve’s a very nice guy and does good work, IMO. I specified 2 lbs on my trigger and that’s exactly what it is and crisp. My buddy also used him, but went less than 1 pound. Don’t remember how light, but it’s ounces. Also a very nice trigger job. But I believe Steve cautions against going that low. Might not last very long. Shoot Steve an email if you’re so inclined and he can go over everything with you. He had mine done and back in my hands in about a week and reasonably priced. Yours already has the overtravel adjustment screw, so that saves a little expense. 

CHIRO1989

Ernie Bishop said:

Nice cartridge!

I had a 454 in a FA revolver for a number of years. 

Why did you get rid of it? My only experience with the round was n a FA and it was stellar. 

bullsi1911

earlyagain said:

Do they make a fore end that matches the grip???

I’m sure they do.  But that rubber grip sure seems to fit my hand well.  But the proof will be in the shooting tomorrow.

bullsi1911

Ernie and Zee- thanks for the info.  You guys are a big part of the reason most of my hunting guns are now pistols.

bullsi1911

Jay- I am a big 454 fan as well.  Been running it in a SRH for a few years, and that was a big reason why I grabbed this one.

Thanks for the info on the smith.  I’ll keep that in mind.

bullsi1911

As promised, more pictures!

Ernie Bishop

CHIRO1989 said:

Ernie Bishop said:

Nice cartridge!

I had a 454 in a FA revolver for a number of years. 

Why did you get rid of it? My only experience with the round was n a FA and it was stellar. 

I wasn't hunting that much with a revolver at the time.  Money was very tight, and I needed to come up with money for a down payment on a vehicle, so the FA was sold.  No complaints about the FA Field Grade revolver.  I took about a handful of deer sized game with it.

Ernie Bishop

bullsi1911 said:

Ernie and Zee- thanks for the info.  You guys are a big part of the reason most of my hunting guns are now pistols.

That just gives me warm fuzzy's all over

Zee

bullsi1911 said:

As promised, more pictures!

That’s a pretty cool holster!

Zee

I have tried hardcast and XTP on game. Preferring the XTP results from my .454 Casulls. 

bullsi1911

Zee said:

bullsi1911 said:

As promised, more pictures!

That’s a pretty cool holster!

I do not remember where I got that, but it was supposed to be a universal “gun bucket” holster used for CASS that would work for any single action and could also hold mares legs, etc... Did not really work for those, but it’s pretty slick for the T/C.

Just got back from the range.  Fired off some puffball rounds that I had running at .45ACP velocities just to get familiar.  Then I fired one full bore hunting load that I still had left over.... don’t have the exact load in front of me, but this is the important information:





Well, that was invigorating!

The extra noise brought over the range safety officer that told me I could not fire handguns on the 100 yard rifle range, and would have to take this to the 25 yard handgun bays that do not have benches to sight in from (too low).  I was not going to argue with the RSO, because that’s just bad form.  I will be talking to management over the next few days and figure out how I am supposed to sight in hunting guns.  Anyway, based on this one shot... it hits about 2 feet high at 50 yards.  

Jay

I was going to mention that the felt recoil with the Encore is substantially greater than with a revolver.  But I knew you'd figure that out for yourself... 

Zee

RSO to the rescue!!!

Yet again. 

Ernie Bishop

It can generate some recoil for sure. 35-40 rounds was the max I could do in a session with my FA.  Mine was magnaported.

Glad you go it out.

bullsi1911

Did some shooting today with a couple different loads I had laying around. 

Had some “puff ball” 454 loads that are basically 45ACP velocities

Not bad for iron sights off a field rest with iron sights.  But... I knew I could do better

then some 45Colt loads I had lying about

That’s much better.  I’ve taken a deer with this load a few years ago out of a rifle.  I think this one may get some use on varmints

i dug out the heavy recoiling .454 stomper loads...


That at was going good till the flinch crept in and totaled the group.  Boy, if you hold that thing like a normal pistol, that spur on the trigger guard will eat up your knuckle.  That’s why the pros do 3 shot groups, not 5!

Part of the reason I was doing this was to empty some casings to start doing some load development  for both the SRH and this gun.  Hoping to get one load that works well for both since I only have about 20 rounds of my hunting loads left.

suggestions on bullets or powders to start with?

zorba

Range?

Jay

bullsi1911 said:

suggestions on bullets or powders to start with?

240, 250 or 300 grain XTP bullets + W296/H110 powder for full power loads. Lil Gun will also work well. For a good midrange load, I do 240 XTP Mag bullets and Accurate No9 powder. Not as stout as the W296 loads, but still has some good velocity and not as much blast and recoil. 

Gene L

A .454 Casull ain't no toy!  That's a serious shoulder-twisting round!

Jay

Here’s a few from my notes on loads I’ve used that worked well. Of course, double check load manuals and use your judgement. I couldn’t find any of my accuracy notes on them, but I only add loads to my book if they shoot well. Which I consider to be 1/2” or less at 25 yards or 1” at 50. 

240 gr Hornady XTP Mag
28.4 gr Accurate 9 powder
CCI small rifle primer
1.745” COAL
avg 1729 fps - std dev. 13 fps 

exact same load except 36.7 gr W296 powder
avg 1847 fps - std dev. 27 fps 



300 gr Hornady XTP 
24.7 gr Accurate 9 powder
CCI SR primer
1.765” COAL
avg 1510 fps - std dev. 12 fps 

Velocities out of an 8” barrel revolver

earlyagain

I recently read a very interesting treatise on Accurate No. 11FS Flash Suppressed Spherical Propellant. It reported a potential for this powder to give greater velocity than H110/W296 generating the same pressure. Something to keep in mind if more lab tested data becomes available for this powder.

jbohio

Cool toy! I'm running 300 gr. Hard cast, and XTPs from my 454.  Pretty much max loads of H110.  I think my cast load clocks over 1600 from my SRH.

shootbrownelk

Ernie Bishop said:

Nice cartridge!

I had a 454 in a FA revolver for a number of years. 

Break Opens can be more sensitive to forend pressure than say a bolt action would be. 

Little slower lock time with an external hammer. 

The Encore does give you a lot of flexibility, and I have seen them shoot some pretty good groups.

I picked up a G-2 myself during the late summer, but haven't shot it with either barrel yet. 

In my 454 I used H-110, Remington 7 1/2 primers and the 300 grain XTP (Magnum) bullet.

that's the same recipe that I use in my Ruger SRH for elk.  Works great.

earlyagain

I had occasion to closely inspect a 454 Casull Ruger SRH yesterday. My prior perception of that gun was a cobbled together brick with 45 caliber delivery pipe. I could not have been more wrong. That revolver is a precision instrument made with exacting detailed quality throughout. To say I was impressed would be severely understated.