Calling all .454 Casull freaks!!

[P95Carry]

Ok ...... not too long ago picked up a used Raging Bull .... shot it tonight for first time .. NICE!! But hell ...... with ammo comin out at near a Buck a pop .... way expensive.

Have got a new bullet mold comin soon .... a 325 grn Lyman (#2660651) ... and got gas checks at ready, and sizing die etc..

Now .. I do have some load data but am interested to know what you guys are using .... give your thoughts if you will.

I'll say up front .... I will not take any suggestions as .... other than that ... suggestions. No liability etc ... it'll be up to me to assess and decide what i might try.

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BTW ... noticed how these rounds use small primers ... I guess better for pressure etc? I also imagine use of rifle primers might be worthwhile?? Tonight's load was 250 grainers from Winchester.

 

[rick_reno]

I shoot 300 gr. Laser Cast bullets in my FA 454's, haven't tried anything bigger. I used to shoot Hornady XTP (?) 250 gr. bullets, I'd like to go back to 250 gr. bullets but I bought a bunch of these 300 gr. and I have to use them up before getting something else. I don't care for the punishment these big bullets give, the 250 gr. loads were easier on my hands.
I have an old mould that Casull used to sell, it's a Lyman that produces a 285 gr. bullet. I heard Dick Casull worked with Lyman to develop this mould, it's a very accurate bullet but I stopped casting about 6 years ago, greased the mould up and put it in a baggie.
I've been using small magnum rifle primers in my 454 loads for about 15 years, it's what they recommended and I've stuck with them. Sometimes they're hard to find, I found a local shop going out of business 5 years ago and bought a couple thousand.
I only use H110 in the 454, everything else I've tried hasn't produced good results and by now I've tried a lot of powders.

 

[P95Carry]

Rick .... great! Thank you Sir. Just the sorta feedback I hoped for.

I know those heavy suckers are a tad punishing but may well explore the intermediate weights too. Wanna sell that 285 mold??

H110 was one direction I had thought towards ..... what sorta powder charges worked for you??

thx again.

 

[jjmorgan64]

I've had good results using Hodgdon Lil Gun, and the data off of there web site, has all of the velocity of H110 with less pressure.

As with H110 however, I've not heard good results from reduced loads.

 

[rick_reno]

Using 300 gr. bullets I've had best results with 29 gr. of H110. I did fool around with slowing it down a few years ago, I wanted to shoot it indoors during the winter and the range didn't want me using hot loads. I used 9 gr. of W231.
Nope, I don't want to sell the mould. I expect one of these days we'll have Democrats back in charge of things and the gun restrictions will ramp up. I pulled the mould out, it's a 454647BV. Maybe they're making it again, the 454 is popular these days. If you find one, these bullets do best with gas checks too.
I've never gotten any leading using the loads above, either with my cast bullets or Laser Cast. I've run about 1500 rounds thru my two guns.

 

[P95Carry]

Nope, I don't want to sell the mould.

No sweat Rick ...... had to ask tho!!

 

[Zeus]

I have several loads that I really like in my Freedom Arms. The one that I hunted deer with last year was a 300 grain XTP "magnum version". This bullet over 32 grains of 296 (not max in my gun) goes about 1600 and works VERY well on deer. Shot one at 65 yards and one at 110. Both had complete penetration with the one at 110 being from the front through the brisket out the right hindquarter (complete body length). I'm having a hankering to try a different bullet right now just to see what it will do. Kelly Brosts at Cast Performance Bullets sent me some 265, 300, and 335 bullets. The 265 comes out of my gun (7.5" barrel) at 1900, the 335 at about 1450-1500. The 335 hits like a tank but the 265 is like a laser. The 265 (if I can get it hitting like I want it) is the one that I would like to take for deer this year. The heavier bullets are very pleasant to shoot though. By the way, the 300 XTP bullet that I mentioned will flat out shoot. At 100 yards, the first group that I shot with 5 shots was just under 1.5" with 3 of the 5 being in the same hole. I'm going to put my 4x Leupold back on and start getting the 265s ready soon. Bullet data for the 265 and 300 grain Cast Performance slugs can be gotten from the Freedom ARms website (use data for their 260 and 300). May want to back off just a little to start and see how they do. the 335 data can be gotten from the Hogdon data magazine. Cant remember it off the top of my head. Good luck with it. By the way, I use small rifle primers for all of my 454 loads. For a good practice load (plinking), I use a cheap $35/1000 255 grain LSWC bullet over 10.5 grains of 231. This gives me a velocity of 1140-1150 fps. Very accurate load and a breeze to shoot. GS

 

[P95Carry]

Thx Zeus ...... more useful info.