454 in a lever rifle

K

kcub

New member
Rossi the only one?

16 or 20"?

Can you safely use 45 Colt? I have a Freedom Arms 454 and was cautioned not to use 45 Colt (unless you get an extra cylinder) because it would leave a ring and be unsafe given the high pressure of the 454.

How does recoil compare to 44 mag in a lever rifle? My Henry recoil is surprisingly mild in 44 but its heavy being the brass one with octagon 20" barrel.
 
It is no more unsafe than using .38 Special in a .357 Magnum. You just have clean the chamber so the longer round will go in all the way. I shoot .45 Colt In a Redhawk all the time. I just have to brush the chambers before a .454 Cassul will go all the way in if it is dirty.
 
My Rossi 454 won't feed 45 Colts. My Navy Arms(Rossi) 357 has fired a ton of 38's and I shoot 357's through it without cleaning all the time. If it chambers easily, you'll probably be OK.
 
As far as I know Rossi is the only one.I have one,20",stainless and love it.

I thought about a 16",glad I stuck with the 20"

Yes you can safely shoot 45 colts,but don,t think of it as the same as 38special through a 357mag.The 454s pressures in factory loads are usually around 51,000-55,000 about 10,000 more than a max 357mag load.Do yourself or the person standing next to you a favor and clean it before loading it up with the 454s. Don,t be mucking with the pressures of a 454.

My 357 mag and 44mag,also Rossi,s,have the classic metal buttstock,the 454 has a recoil pad. Does that tell you anything? To me the 357 is a house cat,44mag a large bobcat,454 a t-ed off African lion.But it,s still a blast to shoot.But I don,t think you would want to shoot it all day though.
 
I was actually just shooting mine yesterday morning. I have a Rossi 454 blued 20 inch. I do shoot 45 colt in it but I clean it frequently and I only shoot FMJ bullets. No LRN bullets. It does not cycle them very well. Have to jiggle the lever a lot or single feed. Cycles anything in the 454 perfectly and smoothly.
Recoil is stout but manageable. I would compare it to shooting a shotgun with 3 inch shells high brass. Shoot a box and you'll feel it at the end of the day. Tons of fun and I love the gun.
 
Maybe 24" is a good idea in this caliber, I assume they make it.

I've discovered that Winchester Super-X silver box 454 recoil least, about like 44 mag in a handgun,I assume the same in a rifle but I've never tried yet.
 
Rossi made 24" octagon barrels for the 92,but I don,t think it was available in the 454,at least Iv,e never seen one.

My Win Super-X box say,s reduced recoil on it. 250 jhp at 1300 muzzle,yes they are tame compared to the 300 xtp Hornady at 1650.

Why am I glad? The 454 20" has plenty of kick for me,a 16" would have even more.
 
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