Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Lighter end 454 loads?

Just picked up a Ruger Super Redhawk 7.5" 454. Havent shot it yet, but have shot several 454s in the past. To me being used to the 44 mag, the recoil is a bit on the excessive side for an extended shooting session. Aware of the fact that i could shoot 45 colt but the shop i bought it from gave me 100 pieces of new 454 brass that was traded with another gun he sold on gunbroker and i bought a set of dies and lacking any colt brass id like to use the brass i was given. Anyone have any loads that will be a bit on the lighter side recoil wise? I know light is a bit of an oxymoron with the 454, but my surgically repaired hand can only take so much of a beating in one shooting session. Thanks

I think I'd start with 45 Colt ammunition. It runs from mild (cowboy loads) to wild and several manufacturers to that. I like Buffalo Bore ammo that has a 45 Colt load with a 325 gr LBTLFN that would work for your heavy 45 Colt load. Frankly this load will handle virtually anything in the US and many other countries. You will not be under gunned for anything. You don't say what you are going to use it for but I've had a number of 454's and as I get older (I'm already old) I've gone to that load even for Alaska. I think I'd go slow, with your surgically repaired hand, as there is no good reason to push it.

If i wasnt given the 454 brass i would stick with the 45 colt. Guess what im looking for is a load that would be equivalent to a mid range colt load but out of the 454 case. For now it will just be a range gun and maybe taken on a whitetail hunt as i have a few 44s set up for the hunting i do. This wasnt a gun i was particularly looking for but was offered a great deal by the shop owner i do most of my business with and it somehow followed me home!

Anything 300 grains with 16 grains of hs6 powder. Start there.

Trail Boss powder is what you are looking for. I use it in my 454 for the same purpose as you. I remember velocity being in the 900-1000 range and was more than sufficient for whitetails with 240-260 gr bullets.I used Hodgdon's recommendation using Trail Boss to come up with my load. It is slightly under the determined maximum so there is room for a little more velocity or one can go down a fair bit too.

There are recipes in the yearly Hodgdon reloading magazine using Universal and Titegroup too. They take up where Trail Boss stops and are decent hunting loads too.

I'd use Universal and HS6 and start low-middle of Ruger/Contender loads for the 45 Colt.

Personally, I’d stay away from the 45 Colt brass , though it certainly can be used, because of the potential for forming a carbon ring in the cylinder. You have the .454 brass .....use it. I’m using 13.0 grains of Unique under 300 grainers in my 460 S&W, for a pleasant load, running just over 1000 fps. 12 grains in your .454, might be a good place to start! memtb

As usual, Sarge nailed it the first post.

Thanks for the suggestions guys! As far as the listed powders i have somw universal handy so i can try that first. As far as the carbon ring, Ive always heard a big deal made of it but Ive shot 1000s of 44 special brass through Magnum guns, 38 thru 357 etc, and never had this issue, although i always shoot the magnums first in a range session and thoroughly clean the gun afterwards. Is it really that big of a deal?

Not if you clean the ring.

Do you cast bullets?

I shoot cast bullets “only”, except for this bunch of 300 grainers that I practically stole. I was always concerned with any residue potentially left by the shorter cases, as I’m lazy and don’t clean the firearms as often as I should! memtb

Understand the twist rate of the .454 demands as fast as you can shoot. Less is a noise maker.

No its not. This is a myth and absolutely not true.

I've worked with several FA 83's in 454 over the years and always found best accuracy with maximum charges of H110 but never really liked the blast and recoil. Any more, I tend to load milder loads with Unique, HS6 and 4227 and cast bullets in 454 brass. Freedom Arms lists all kinds of load data on their site that go from mild to wild and would be a good resource:

http://www.freedomarms.com/loading/index.html

Not sure how light you are thinking, but 33.5 of H110 under a 260 gr jacketed bullet yields around 1,700 fps.
It is enough less to be more enjoyable, but maybe not enough less for extended range sessions.

I have used Unique and HS6 for lighter loads, both worked well.

240-260 gr bullets are plenty for deer, paper too.

Excellent article by Brian Pearce on 45 Colt https://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/PDF/HL%20246partial.pdf

marktheshark, you can use a lot of the mid-range 45 Colt load data in your 454 brass, just expect velocity to be a little lower because of the extra case capacity. If you want a real nice one to shoot that's effective without being "too much", start with a ~255-ish gr Keith or other cast flat nose over about 10gr of Unique. Just seat to the crimp groove on that 454 brass. You'll probably have to bump that charge up a bit, I'd look for about 1,000 fps. You should be able to shoot that as much as you like without discomfort, and brass will last a long time too.

Be a little cautious with using H110 or 296 load data from 45 Colt (too much of a reduced load can act strangely with those powders), but most others are OK.