Young whipper snappers. I was around before there even was a 454, and, got one of the first guns designed to shoot 454 level loads, in a sixgun. It's actually number 25:
The original reason was some of us felt we needed more then a .44 magnum for dangerous game. There is a place for carrying a backup gun that is capable of stopping big dangerous game, be it brown bear, cape buffalo, lion, etc.
The .454 was as big as you could put in a 6 gun at that point, and still carry the gun without horses and a cart to pull it. I've got 25 pages of letters to and from John Linebaugh, discussing gun designs. I've talked to Ross Seyfried for 45 minutes about the in's and outs of hunting a cape buffalo with a .45 Seville, identical to mine, except for the sites and barrel band. In fact, Linebaugh originally claimed this gun was Ross Seyfrieds, one of a pair.
The beauty of the .454 is it's just idling at 260 grain bullets at 1200 fps, which is pretty much all you'd need in the 48. It will also shoot 325-350's at 1350-1550, which does a pretty good job on just about any big game, hunting wise. I will say that 325's at 1350 fps, with a plow handle grip, are the limit for me. I liked this gun with 260's at 1450 fps much more, and, that load, with a Sierra or Speer HP, has proven VERY effective culling black bear.
I guess what I'm getting at is the 454 is fun to shoot, provided you don't go for the Casull pressures, of 60k.
Keep it at 44 magnum pressures, and, it recoils much like a 44 magnum.
I will say that the 44 magnum up requires grips, and a gun, that fits YOUR hand. Too small a grip, can't shootem if you have big hands, and vice versa. The grips on the Seville above were custom made by Jack Huntington, who happens to have the same size hands I do. They make a WORLD of difference. My point is, everyone's perception of
both calibers is going to be severely affected by if the gun fits them or not.
So, your question should really be who here owns a custom gun, with grips that are fitted for their hands, in either caliber? This is NOT the case of one size fits all.
I owned the above gun from about 1980 till 2005. I sold it because it was getting to be too valuable to shoot, and, someone really wanted it. He now shoots loads inbetween 45 Colt, and 454, and has 6 shots...
It's recoil is all I'm willing to put up with. 
