454 Casull in Ruger Alaskan... loading thoughts...

M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
I'm working my way loading ammo for my snubbie collection... I looked at what I had to load for my 454 Casull Alaskan next... I had some Cast Performance 265 grain heat treated gas checks I marked to use for 454... since this is in the Alaskan ( short barrel )... I was thinking faster / fastest powder listed in the load books, because of the snubbie barrel length, & since this is a light weight bullet by Casull standards... my newest Lyman shows a recipe for accurate #9 ( which I bought originally for 50 A.E. & have a couple bottles ) thinking this might be Ok to try... looking for a good efficient load... ( any suggestions welcome )
 
Last edited:
I load a lot of magnums, including .454, but I'm not much for short barrels in them, though I can give you my experience with non-magnum shorties.

The conventional wisdom and theory behind fast powders in short barrels seesm to make a lot of sense, but in a .38 snubby, out of Red Dot, Bulleye, Unique, and Blue dot, I got my best velocities (148gr DEWC) with Blue Dot followed by Unique, followed by Red Dot Followed by Bullseye.

With .25acp, 35gr Gold Dot, I got my best velocities from Unque, followed by red Dot, Follwed by Bulleye.

This is a limited scope, but these sure do seem to defy conventional wisdon by 180 degrees.

I have no expereince with AA powders, but years ago I did experiement a lot with powders besides 296/110 for my 7 1/2" Casull. Nothing else came close to performance, but other less slow powders produced less flash and recoil, but sacrificed a lot of velocity in return. I'd expect for you to see similar results in your short barrel, in spite of conventional wisdom.

At the time I bought Feedom Arms, they provided handload data for it, and it had lost of "reduced" .454 loads for non-Freedom Arms bullets, (which was the only company that made suitable full power bullets at the time). The load data on their website now is only for FA bullets, but is comparable to XTP-MAG in jacket and hardness contruction.

Ultimately, some experimentation is is called for, and your end goal and expected useage will be a factor in whether you need max velocity is necessary or whether something more comfortable might be in order.
 
been wanting to chat with you anyway about the 25 ACP... ( I built a revolver, 6" barrel in 25 ACP & have been loading, mostly processing brass, for the 25 ACP revolver, the last 6-8 months...finally hoping to spend some quality shooting time since the weather has warmed )

as far as the Casull... I guess I bought the gun for fun... but rationalized it's use as a "get off me" bear gun... so loads I'm looking for are going to be hotter than 45 Colt, but no need for any more muzzle blast & flash than necessary with the short barrel on such a high pressure round...

the load books I looked at all the powders are very close in burn rate ( except Unique I think is quite a bit faster, but meters a little tougher ) so in reality, there is likely very little difference in what I'll see for muzzle "effects"... the bullet weight also figures in on my choice, since it's the lightest of the bullets I'm finding load data for, the faster powders seem like the best option???... I'm planning on about 1/2 way or just a bit more on powder charges... hoping for somewhere around 1200 - 1300 FPS, at that bullet weight
 
You are in luck. Check out the starting loads here:

http://www.freedomarms.com/loadingdata.pdf


Keep in mind that standard jacketed bullets for .45LC shouldn't be driven above like 1400 or 1500 fps, so full power Casull loads should only be done with hardened core bullets such as XTP-MAG, but these starting loads should be what you are looking for. I remember doing some Blue Dot loads that were great, and super clean, and had a really neat fireball flash. :D

Also, for a wider range of input, you can look at Ruger Only .45LC load data, and with you being an expereinced reloader, who is working with a gun with a large margin for error, you can take a 45LC, add a little to the published max 45LC charge, and begin working up from there.


.25acp revolver sounds super fun. I'll bet you can greatly exceed pot metal stamped gun loads for that!
 
I'm outside the box a little on the 25 ACP revolver loads, & using AA#5 powder... went through & sorted a couple 1000 matching headstamp cases by length, uniformed flash holes... have 4 bullets I'm playing with... some factory lead bullets I was able to buy a bag of 1000 of a long time ago... my machinist buddy made me a custom mold, factory FMJ bullets, & the Speer Gold Dots... I'm hoping to actually replace the 22 LR as a plinking & small game / varmint round, with the 25 ACP... in fact I'm working on a 16" Contender barrel in that caliber... Ballistics By The Inch published data shows 16" is about the maximum length for efficiency of factory 25 ACP cartridges... buy running a little slower powder for the revolver & single shot rifle, it should be quite interesting... & once all the brass work is done, loading goes pretty quick... the cartridge is subsonic out of my revolver ( I'm sure I could load it hotter ) but at current load levels, it's ear protection optional, & at the very least, super pleasant to shoot

these are the bullets I already had purchased quite a while back, & marked them for use in the Casull... I think they are either intended for 454 Casull, or likely the Ruger only 45 Colt loads...

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1988117280/cast-performance-bullets-45-caliber-452-diameter-265-grain-lead-wide-flat-nose-gas-check
 
Last edited:
Midway doesn't list the brinell rating of those bullets, but judging by the description, they should be able to easily exceed regular jacketed LC velocities should you decide to go up there, and will easily perform well in the 1300-1400fps range. I was doing 255gr hardcast SWC with no gas checks at Casull velocities.

The one thing I found with .25 acp is that you are doing microsurgery, and its hard to keep a consistant speard as the tiniest variable really affects results. I weighed ever charge. My next test will be with all matching brass, and all of it trimmed to the exact same length.

I have 50gr cast bullets I bought years ago. They are fun to shoot, but accurracy is poor from my Raven.

50gr FMC/FMJ shot well.

35gr Gold Dots far exceeded all accuracy expectations in my gun.

I think your results in your revolver will be much better in every way. I was getting in the mid 900's fps with Gold Dots, which really has me thinking its potential for small game from a real gun far exceeds 22lr, and is more on par with .22 mag.

Wonder what a case full of Blue Dot or 296 would do :D
 
I think variances in cartridges as small as 25 ACP through 22 Hornet ( for example ) make bigger differences than those variances make on larger calibers... I have a flash hole measuring tool, & the range of R-P brass I kept ( using R-P because as I bought 1000's of range brass, that was the brand with the highest quantity ) I found 3 definite different flash hole sizes, which is why I went through the work of uniforming the flash hole... also noted about .015 - .016" differences in lengths... so far I'm not trimming, I'm sorting by .003" lengths in a group, & keeping the 2 medium length groups, overs & unders sold at the local gun show... I expect better than 22 LR accuracy... I have not chronoed these yet, but all the 25's put a much more resounding smack on my steel Cowboy targets, than any of my 22's do

had a guy on anther forum recommend longshot for less muzzle blast on the Casull... at work, I don't have a burn rate chart handy, but buying handgun powders is still pretty spotty... so I'm hoping I can load a bunch of cartridges within an acceptable range, with powders I currently have :)
 
The need for speed.

Logical thinking that a fast powder in a short barreled gun will yield your highest velocities as the powder will burn more completely than a slower powder will.

But the fact is that you still get your highest velocities in short barreled guns with the slower speed powders. Granted you will get more velocity out of those powders in longer barrels but all other things being equal magnum speed powders in short barrels still produce more FPS than fast ones.
 
BLUE DOT and UNIQUE

I use Blue Dot in my .454 Casull, Alaskan. 18 grains of BD and my 315 grain cast bullet averages 1,180 fps. The same amount of Blue Dot and my 265 grain cast bullet gives me about 1,235 fps. 11 grains of Unique under the same 265 grain bullet averages 1,020 fps.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks for the replies guys...

one thing... AA #9 is not really a "fast" powder... it's still a magnum powder... it's just one of the fastest listed in the books for use...
 
Last edited:
The link I posted to Freedom Arms .454 load data has listings for AA9 that put them where you want to be. Since you already have it, that would be a good place to start.
 
I was thinking about starting at 25 grains of #9 & thinking work up as high as 28 or 29 grains???

I'm going to try using up some old CCI 450's, we inherited from MRS dad ( always been properly stored )... hoping they still have plenty of punch to light off those charges... still trying to decide if I want to load up ammo that could sit around for several years with the older primers, or if I should buy a new box for "business" ammo???

I have 3000 of the old blue diamond in orange diamond CCI primers in small rifle magnum I need to get used up somewhere...
 
I don't know if these will help you or not. If you have a favorite loading supply store close by that has a copy of the latest Speer manual, in the 454 loads at the very end thee are some reduced loads for the cast RCBS 45-270 SAA bullet. The velocities listed run up to around 1200fps but I do not remember what the barrel length was. The nice this is they used the 454 cases so you didn't have to have both 45 Colt and 454's to use the loads.

these are the bullets I already had purchased quite a while back, & marked them for use in the Casull... I think they are either intended for 454 Casull, or likely the Ruger only 45 Colt loads...

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/198...nose-gas-check
Click to expand...

Those are the bullets I started out shooting in my Raging Bull. They really shoot well over a goodly dose of AA-9, but then again I have a couple or three inches of barrel on your Alaskan too. Their price however ended up costing me who knows how much overall since due to the cost of getting two boxes of a hundred delivered, I decided I could cast my own cheaper:rolleyes::rolleyes: (sounds familiar huh) No really I CAN cast my own cheaper, it's just what it lead to that cost me out the wazoo..

Back to the loads though, AA-9 is one of my go to powders along side some surplus 297 I got a while back. Between the two there isn't much difference in the velocities or downrange performance. I however did switch over to the Lee 452-300 RF instead simply due to that was the closest I could find to the above Cast Performance bullet in a 6 cavity mold. I haven't noticed the extra little bit of weight has added much if any more recoil.

Hope this helps
 
as far as the Casull... I guess I bought the gun for fun... but rationalized it's use as a "get off me" bear gun... so loads I'm looking for are going to be hotter than 45 Colt, but no need for any more muzzle blast & flash than necessary with the short barrel on such a high pressure round...
Click to expand...

I can't help any on loads for the 454, I've never loaded any.
As a "get off me" bear gun a big fire ball out the muzzle may not be all bad, singe some hair off him old bruin may change his mind about you.:D
 
WOW... no chance of double charging using AA #9... I loaded up 10 rounds ( noticed I didn't have a specialty crimp die yet ) had the dies a while, & thought I had that covered, since the 454 Casull Alaskan is the only gun I've had factory ammo jump crimp on...

10 rounds each with 26 grains of #9... not quite a compressed load, but darned close... I want to get a better crimp on the bullets before I try firing... :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top