.454 Casull vs 500 Linebaugh?

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I am curious as to the ballistics of these cartridges. Which one is more powerful? I tried a .454 Casull and I thought the recoil was horrendous. Of course, the person or animal on the other side of the barrel is in far worse shape. ;) Anyone knowedgable about these handcannons?
 
I have fired Ruger Redhawks converted by Hamilton Bowen to .475 Linebaugh and .500 Linebaugh. Both revolvers were fitted with full underlug barrels, 6" and 4" respectively. The .500 with full-power Buffalo Bore ammo lifted as much in recoil as the Ruger Super Redhawk in .454 Casull with Winchester ammo. However, the .500 did not have the sudden and painful torque of the .454 Casull. The full-power .475 loads were even easier to shoot than the .500, but this was likely due to the individual gun weights.

The .475 'training' loads from Buffalo Bore were really quite pleasant.
 
454 Casull & Linebaugh Comparisons-

I found a site http://www.realguns.com that has a online calculator for recoil and according to that my 454, .475 and .500 all generate about 65 lbs of free recoil, the trouble with math is you just can't trust it. Caliber size does make a difference with bullet weight and velocity the same, for an example I'll use a 410 gn bullet at 1500fps. In the 454 Casull it's a violent twisting of the wrist and arm, in the .475 Linebaugh it's a slower but more violent shove and twisting, about 30% more, then comes the .500 Linebaugh, loaded to this level nobody really wants to shoot it more than twice. When shooting from the Keith sitting position with a tipped over shooting bench for back support your vertigo is affected (nausia) with a couple cylinders fired with both Linebaughs. Somehow puking and shooting just don't go together..Roy
 
Personally, I won't shoot a .500 Linebaugh.

Several of my friends who are big bore fanatics (they shoot full power .475'sa for fun) have managed to dent their hats or cut their heads with .500 Linebaugh revolvers.

To me, after a few cylinderfuls of full power .475 hunting ammo, full power .454 loads were mild and just what the doctor ordered to fight off the flinchies.

A .500 Linebaugh five shooter is just a bit more fun than I can tolerate. I will let you guys tell me how much fun they are.

Doc Hudson
 
...confused again....

I'm not quite sure how the term 'FUN' fits in when talking about plinking around with a handgun designed for bringing down Two Ton animals with one shot. IMHO, the practice sessions would be too short and preclude obtaining the
confidence required to fire on tusked and growling beasts.
It would seem to me that there are few men who could handle
these thunder-guns in a life threatning situations.

If a .454 isn't bid enough I don't want to go with a handgun
only. A heavybarreled shotgun w/slugs OR a .416 up would be my cup of tea, thank you very much.

Still use my wrists as Designed dewey.
 
Call me a wimp if you will, but after firing a 454 twice I'll stick with my weenie .44 mag. I remember there was a time when this was considered a powerful handgun. I think it was way back when Clint Eastwood was a bad*** on the bigscreen.
 
I agree Rock_Jock. I felt the .454 Casull had too much recoil for me as well. Since I don't live in Grizzly country, I think I can get by with a .44 magnum. ;)
 
Craig:

I found some crazy rich dudes who hunt in Africa and made loads for the .454. I thought I remember seeing a load something like 360 or 410 giving off a tad over 2000 me.
 
The .
454 loads I was shooting were 300 gr. JHPs at about 1500 fps.

Not mazimum loads but full blown hunting loads, not plinkers.

Doc Hudson
 
Well, Doc...

...that load is good for 1500 ft.lbs of ME.

That's painful in some rifles; in a revolver...well, what the heck. Don't shoot it anymore than you want. :cool:

BTW, if you venture north, we can borrow a .500 Linebaugh from my favorite gunsmith and check out the recoil at the nearest outdoor range.

For some reason, nobody with an indoor range wants us shooting that custom Ruger. Can't imagine why...
...probably has something to do with not being able to offer range ammo in that caliber. :)
 
Zander,

I am going to be in Nashville the week of Independence Day. I will be glad to watch you shoot that monster. I'll stick to .45's and smaller thank you.

Doc Hudson
 
Doc, I was just curious because even the Corbon 454s shooting 360s@1500 shouldn't be anything close to mild when even compared to a 475 (not to mention 454 handloads).

Yes 300@1500 are indeed very mild in comparison especially since a std load of mine in the 44Mag hovers right below that mark (and my heavy "not insane" loads are doing ~1550fps from the 7.5inch SuperRedhawk).


-CAL
 
I've shot hot loads in my 45 Blackhawk, plus full power 44 magnums, and though they are quite tolerable, I can't imagine anyone wanting to shoot something with more recoil!

You may get away with that kind of wrist impact for a while, but I suspect it will do you permanent damage over the long haul, if not sooner!

Remember that soft white squishy stuff between your bones? Believe me, it will fracture and tear with that kind of abuse, and no one can accurately predict just how much your joints can take!

Please be careful, and don't use those big bore, full power, bone crushing loads, for practice or plinking. It may be fun now, but years from now, you could pay a very high price for the kicks of recoil! :(

Bill
 
I remember when the .44 mag was THE revolver for big and dangerous game. I got mine for griz pro. Sure, bigger is usually better for griz, but mine gives me the peice of mind that I need when hiking. If I was SURE I'd have a run-in with an angry bruin, then I'd have my 12 gauge slug gun along. I did want a .454, but after careful consideration and reading the posts of many on this board, I don't think I want to subject my wrist to that kind of damage. My .44 will do fine...
 
I know that there will be many who will disagree, but I truly doubt that a .454 can be made to do anything a .44 Remmag can not be loaded to do.

Doc Hudson
 
I remember when the .44 mag was THE revolver for big and dangerous game. I got mine for griz pro. Sure, bigger is usually better for griz, but mine gives me the peice of mind that I need when hiking. If I was SURE I'd have a run-in with an angry bruin
Click to expand...

Haven't you heard, bears are tougher now.
 
454

I shot my first 454 redhawk the other day,no thanks, they dropped the ball on this one, it,s painful. I read the other day some dude talking about how pleasant it was to shoot. He was either shooting light loads or he is a liar. I,ve been shooting 44,s of every breed for over 30 years now with everything you can stoke in them, some probably not safe, so I am not a recoil shy person. I have not deer hunted with anything but a handgun in 12 years, and I tell you that put new life in hunting deer for me, I love it. 2 years ago I bought a raging bull 454,8-3/8, taurus mounts, burris scope, the recoil is not much more than some of the non ported 44,s. Ruger has never gave any thought to shooter comfort in their 44,s. I,m not knocking ruger as I have 5 of their 77 rifles, they make a fine gun. Taurus did their homework with the grips and porting, and mine will shoot 1 inch groups all day with 260 winchester partition gold from sandbags. I promise you ruger will not sell many 454,s until they make some changes.
 
Pachmayr Decelerators

All my Redhawks wear Pachmayr Decelerators. My 44 and 45 Redhawk often stretch from test loads. (Got a 300g to 1800fps from the 44. Only one shot, though LOL.)

This grip works perfect for me; it allows a high-n-tight grip for fast draw IPSC/USPSA, and provides recoil relief for those 'special moments'.

My wrists are not squishy yet (had operations on both, not gun related).



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"all my recoil is factory recoil"
 
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