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Recently it came to me while mulling over the expenses of getting the .45 colt/.45 acp redhawk and eventually getting a .454 super red hawk cylinder for it, versus getting the super alaskan and eventually getting Hamilton Bowen to put a 4.25" standard redhawk barrel on the gun,

that I could trim .454 starline cases to 1.285 and use them for heavy 45 colt/low .454 loads in the standard .45 redhawk cylinder (provided everything was to spec)

Differences would be lower chamber capacity which I see leading to higher pressure with the same bullet in either .454 untrimmed or 45 colt brass. With larger bullets I see this being more pronounced. Fingers crossed that ends up only meaning better accuracy, and flatter shooting with less powder.

My goal is to stick to mid 35k psi loads if possible, 45k being the max I think I would want to probably go in the handgun. Looking at 296 for powder, and also blue dot and unique.

Bullets I am interested in are the 255gr keith, the lehigh 205gr extreme defender, and perhaps a 325gr LFN and/or 360gr WNFPGC from oregon trail.

Velocities desired are between 1100 and 1500 fps with a 4.25" barrel.

Has anyone tried this, or have any input that could be constructive towards load development? I will probably work up from .45 colt starting loads and see how things look and measure out.
 
You could do whereof you speak but it would make more sense to just get the Super Redhawks, leave the 454 Casull brass as 454 Casull brass and down load if you choose to. You could still shoot 45 Colt ammo in it.

I think you would find that the novelty of having something that would also shoot 45 Auto ammo would wear off. Do you REALLY think you want to shoot 45 Auto ammo in it so much that you'll want to mess with clips?
 
Color me stupid, but I thought that a 454 Casul was nothing more than a lengthened 45 Colt – no? Why is it that standard 45 Colt cases won’t work for what you want?
 
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I still am not getting it...you wont be able to achieve the same velocity at the same pressure with the shorter case...what exactly are you hoping using cut down 454 brass will accomplish that 45 colt brass would not?
 
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They’re the same brass, just different lengths - there’s no increase in pressure tolerance by cutting 454 brass down to 45 length. Absolute waste of time.

The Redhawk cylinder cannot tolerate Cassull pressures, wrong metallurgy. You can easily hit your 35-45kpsi objective in the standard Redhawk cylinder. This is well documented. The standard Redhawk cylinder with standard 45colt cases can deliver incredible performance when loaded to the tolerance of the revolver. Lots of us have traveled this road.

Bowen won’t typically do the GP44 conversion on Alaskans, they need barrel shank to get ahold of, so he starts with 7.5” or 9.5” models. Don’t buy the wrong one.

Wanna GP44 style Redhawk for 1/4 the cost? Buy a red in 45 and a super red in 454, sell the super frame as parts, and transplant the cylinder assy into the red. Or send the super red back to Ruger claiming lost cyl assy, and pay a few hundred to have it replaced, sell it as a like new full revolver. Lots of us take this route.
 
They’re the same brass, just different lengths - there’s no increase in pressure tolerance by cutting 454 brass down to 45 length. Absolute waste of time.

The Redhawk cylinder cannot tolerate Cassull pressures, wrong metallurgy. You can easily hit your 35-45kpsi objective in the standard Redhawk cylinder. This is well documented. The standard Redhawk cylinder with standard 45colt cases can deliver incredible performance when loaded to the tolerance of the revolver. Lots of us have traveled this road.

Bowen won’t typically do the GP44 conversion on Alaskans, they need barrel shank to get ahold of, so he starts with 7.5” or 9.5” models. Don’t buy the wrong one.

Wanna GP44 style Redhawk for 1/4 the cost? Buy a red in 45 and a super red in 454, sell the super frame as parts, and transplant the cylinder assy into the red. Or send the super red back to Ruger claiming lost cyl assy, and pay a few hundred to have it replaced, sell it as a like new full revolver. Lots of us take this route.



I have definitely thought about the cylnder swap, too. I'll probably go that route because cost will be a factor. I was thinking that cut down .454 could deliver a heavy .45 colt performance with a little more of a safety margin and maybe better performance with less powder. Another issue the SRH would address is that the RH .45 is a round butt and I want to put roper style grips on it. I think there might be a square butt .45 RH around but I also like the ability to shoot .45acp from the gun because it's considerably cheaper to buy if I'm just plinking and don't have any handloads, etc. Also I have a 1911. I guess I could just send the square butt to tk custom if I really wanted it that bad. I also think that perhaps the small rifle primer in a cut down .454 could be more efficient with a somewhat lighter, yet compressed load.
 
No need for a Convertible Redhawk if you do get a SRH. TK will clip cut your 454 cylinder and all 3 can be used.

Accuracy ain’t great with the 45acp’s, but some guys like cheap ammo.

If you DO go with something foolish like swapping a Redhawk cylinder into a Super Red, look me up, as I will happily buy the Super Red cylinder assembly.
 
No need for a Convertible Redhawk if you do get a SRH. TK will clip cut your 454 cylinder and all 3 can be used.

Accuracy ain’t great with the 45acp’s, but some guys like cheap ammo.

If you DO go with something foolish like swapping a Redhawk cylinder into a Super Red, look me up, as I will happily buy the Super Red cylinder assembly.

Lol, the SRH cylinder would end up in the RH if I went that way. The .45acp thing isnt really a dealbreaker for me, just more I could do with a big box of ammo.

The appeal of the SRH to me is the double spring action and the gp100 grip peg that accomodates the grips. I like the alaskan but can't stand the square-to round of the long barrels.
 
They’re the same brass, just different lengths - there’s no increase in pressure tolerance by cutting 454 brass down to 45 length. Absolute waste of time.

The Redhawk cylinder cannot tolerate Cassull pressures, wrong metallurgy. You can easily hit your 35-45kpsi objective in the standard Redhawk cylinder. This is well documented. The standard Redhawk cylinder with standard 45colt cases can deliver incredible performance when loaded to the tolerance of the revolver. Lots of us have traveled this road.

Bowen won’t typically do the GP44 conversion on Alaskans, they need barrel shank to get ahold of, so he starts with 7.5” or 9.5” models. Don’t buy the wrong one.

Wanna GP44 style Redhawk for 1/4 the cost? Buy a red in 45 and a super red in 454, sell the super frame as parts, and transplant the cylinder assy into the red. Or send the super red back to Ruger claiming lost cyl assy, and pay a few hundred to have it replaced, sell it as a like new full revolver. Lots of us take this route.

On the website it says he likes to do the GP44 on alaskans because they don't have the scope mount cuts. Screenshot_20190214-214425.png
 
Pearce and others have proven 50,000 as sustainable in 45 Redhawks. Just calling a point to it - well documented if you follow these things.

Is it possible to launch a 325gr bullet at 1500fps under 36k pressure in .45 colt brass with regular large pistol primers? I'm interested.
 
I'd be happy with 1200-1300fps if the pressures were still on or lower. I think the small rifle primers of the .454 case will help to achieve this.
 
I actually looked and found some 325gr loads that are close to what I want with much lower pressure than I anticipated, so that's cool and a point toward the standard .45 redhawk. However, I'm having trouble finding good loads for the 255gr and definitely nothing good for the 205gr lehigh. Velocities for 200gr loads are way too low, and I know the all copper defender round is gonna be longer than a 200gr lead bullet so I thought maybe the 250gr data would be more indicative given its longer too but those velocities were lacking also. Point for the .454 alaskan.

Could you maybe point me in the right direction for a 1200-1400fps load for the 255gr keith and an even faster one for the 205gr lehigh defender? I could get it around 1800 or so in a .454 case but I'll do it in a colt case if it's doable.
 
We get 300’s to 1400+ FPS out of 44mags without even going over SAAMI pressure when seated to Redhawk cylinder length...

I think you’re overthinking this and ignoring a lot of experience many of us have been living a long time. You’re not gaining anything by going with shortened 454 brass - the brass isn’t adding significant strength, and you’re not getting significant velocity increase just by using small rifle primers instead of large pistol magnum primers.
 
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