Coal Dragger
member
I can't speak directly to the SBH vs SRH argument since I have only shot either one infrequently as I own neither although my younger brother owns a SBH and a friend of mine owns a SRH. I frankly don't care for either one of them all that much. The SRH is too big, too bulky, and I don't find the grips to be all that comfortable with full powered loads; the gun wants to beat the snot out of the web of my shooting hand. This is a complaint I have with most powerful double actions.
The SBH is also rubbish with full powered loads given the Single Action Army style grip that is too small for my hands, and that rolls excessively under recoil. Also Ruger saw fit to equip the revolver with a sharp corner at the rear of the trigger guard in some sadistic effort to make sure the gun draws blood whether you hit your target or miss.
The suggestion to seek out the Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley is sound advice given the superior grip frame shape, I have shot a few of them and they work much better. Another great grip frame shape is the Freedom Arms which has a longer handle like a Bisley but the top of the grip is shaped more in the manner of a Single Action Army, either way it works brilliantly at handling heavy recoil.
On the .44 Magnum vs. .454 Casull debate:
I, at one point, owned a Dan Wesson .44 Magnum. It was a steaming pile of poo, and was not pleasant to shoot, not especially accurate, and generally undesirable. So don't buy one of those. I traded it off on a Leupold 2.5-8X36 and have never regretted it. I have a friend who owns a gorgeous S&W M29 Classic .44 Magnum with a 5" bbl, I love that revolver but he refuses to sell it to me. I like the .44 Magnum pretty well, nice versatile caliber with plenty of power.
For many years I did not own any revolvers until Christmas day of 2011, whereupon I was presented with a Freedom Arms M83 in .454 Casull, Premier Grade with a 6" bbl.
Thus I have some experience shooting both rounds, at varying power levels of both. For my use I have developed a preference for the .454 Casull, but I reload and that opens a lot of options for me. At the upper end of the range the .454 Casull has a lot more power, but you pay for it in hard, sharp, heavy recoil.....with a healthy dose of noise and muzzle blast thrown in for good measure. With practice you can acclimate to the recoil and blast, just don't try to overdo your practice sessions. It took me awhile to work up to it, but I am comfortable with full powered loads. I do have a background in competitive pistol shooting, and I have a lot of trigger time to have worked on my basics of trigger control and sight picture. I will also admit a preference for heavier bullets since they push and roll more than lighter faster bullets that are very very snappy in recoil.
I have noticed no issues with brass sticking in the chambers of my .454 even with hot Hornady factory loads and maximum published loads in two manuals. Then again I am using a revolver with a 5 shot cylinder and very tight chamber dimensions. I have heard from sources both on the internet, and from the "gun shop" crowd that the SRH in .454 does sometimes have sticky brass issues. Part of this is of course the different alloy used in the cylinder as mentioned above, and the fact that since it is a double action you are trying to punch all 6 of them out at one time. Were it a single action with an ejector rod it probably wouldn't be an issue if the chambers expanded a smidge under pressure and returned to dimensions allowing individual cases to expand more than desired.
A .454 Casull will get you to 1900-2000fps with a 240gr bullet maxed out. That means a pretty flat trajectory for a big bore revolver, and a lot of energy. At the other end of the spectrum you can fling a 360gr bullet from a .454 Casull at around 1350-1500fps depending on just how much you hate yourself. Double Tap ammo even offers a 400gr bullet at a claimed 1400fps. I'll bet that one is fun. At any rate these are considerably more powerful than a .44 Magnum can offer, there is no replacement for displacement here.
Reloading the .454 is a bit more challenging than the .44 though since the large case means you need large powder charges just to get consistent ignition with most powders. So even your practice loads end up being powerful. Think practice loads that are as powerful as average .44 Magnum loads, for practice. I don't bother with .45LC since I have .454 brass, although I need to try some IMR Trail Boss to fill the cases for consistency on light loads. Factory ammo is also tougher to find locally, but I have the internet and two reloading presses so I don't care.
The SBH is also rubbish with full powered loads given the Single Action Army style grip that is too small for my hands, and that rolls excessively under recoil. Also Ruger saw fit to equip the revolver with a sharp corner at the rear of the trigger guard in some sadistic effort to make sure the gun draws blood whether you hit your target or miss.
The suggestion to seek out the Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley is sound advice given the superior grip frame shape, I have shot a few of them and they work much better. Another great grip frame shape is the Freedom Arms which has a longer handle like a Bisley but the top of the grip is shaped more in the manner of a Single Action Army, either way it works brilliantly at handling heavy recoil.
On the .44 Magnum vs. .454 Casull debate:
I, at one point, owned a Dan Wesson .44 Magnum. It was a steaming pile of poo, and was not pleasant to shoot, not especially accurate, and generally undesirable. So don't buy one of those. I traded it off on a Leupold 2.5-8X36 and have never regretted it. I have a friend who owns a gorgeous S&W M29 Classic .44 Magnum with a 5" bbl, I love that revolver but he refuses to sell it to me. I like the .44 Magnum pretty well, nice versatile caliber with plenty of power.
For many years I did not own any revolvers until Christmas day of 2011, whereupon I was presented with a Freedom Arms M83 in .454 Casull, Premier Grade with a 6" bbl.
Thus I have some experience shooting both rounds, at varying power levels of both. For my use I have developed a preference for the .454 Casull, but I reload and that opens a lot of options for me. At the upper end of the range the .454 Casull has a lot more power, but you pay for it in hard, sharp, heavy recoil.....with a healthy dose of noise and muzzle blast thrown in for good measure. With practice you can acclimate to the recoil and blast, just don't try to overdo your practice sessions. It took me awhile to work up to it, but I am comfortable with full powered loads. I do have a background in competitive pistol shooting, and I have a lot of trigger time to have worked on my basics of trigger control and sight picture. I will also admit a preference for heavier bullets since they push and roll more than lighter faster bullets that are very very snappy in recoil.
I have noticed no issues with brass sticking in the chambers of my .454 even with hot Hornady factory loads and maximum published loads in two manuals. Then again I am using a revolver with a 5 shot cylinder and very tight chamber dimensions. I have heard from sources both on the internet, and from the "gun shop" crowd that the SRH in .454 does sometimes have sticky brass issues. Part of this is of course the different alloy used in the cylinder as mentioned above, and the fact that since it is a double action you are trying to punch all 6 of them out at one time. Were it a single action with an ejector rod it probably wouldn't be an issue if the chambers expanded a smidge under pressure and returned to dimensions allowing individual cases to expand more than desired.
A .454 Casull will get you to 1900-2000fps with a 240gr bullet maxed out. That means a pretty flat trajectory for a big bore revolver, and a lot of energy. At the other end of the spectrum you can fling a 360gr bullet from a .454 Casull at around 1350-1500fps depending on just how much you hate yourself. Double Tap ammo even offers a 400gr bullet at a claimed 1400fps. I'll bet that one is fun. At any rate these are considerably more powerful than a .44 Magnum can offer, there is no replacement for displacement here.
Reloading the .454 is a bit more challenging than the .44 though since the large case means you need large powder charges just to get consistent ignition with most powders. So even your practice loads end up being powerful. Think practice loads that are as powerful as average .44 Magnum loads, for practice. I don't bother with .45LC since I have .454 brass, although I need to try some IMR Trail Boss to fill the cases for consistency on light loads. Factory ammo is also tougher to find locally, but I have the internet and two reloading presses so I don't care.