454 recoil

In my limited experience, .454 out of a Super Redhawk had more brutal recoil than the more powerful .460 did out of an XVR. (I actually enjoy the latter.) Of course, you could put that same .454 into the XVR, but I've never bothered to try.
 
Unless you're going with a X frame (460 S&W), I personally would find a BFR in 475 Linbaugh/480 Ruger and it will be all you need and then some. That is what I did and normally just shoot 480's through it. It has the short cylinder which I like over the long cylinders famous with BFR's. Of course there are the Freedom Arms revolvers which are great.
 
Toney said:
I've always been a recoil junkie, I was really disappointed the first time I fired a 44mag.

I wasn't at all with the 454, 13 times in a row was all I could handle .
Click to expand...
I shot my 454 today. About it was atleast 15 rounds of hornady 300 grainers. I found out if i hold it tight it hurts worse. Lighten up the grip just a hair and let the recoil do its thing and its not to bad at all. Could probly shoot it 50 times with no problem

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk
 
Cracked, ruined my inlaid wood grips due to recoil. These Hogues help a lot.
My two worst recoiling handguns are this SRH .454 and a Scandium .357.

454SRH-1.jpg
 
22-rimfire said:
So, did you buy the Taurus Raging Bull in 454 Casull?
Click to expand...
I did 6.5 inch nickle finish. The recoil is bot so bad atleast so far with full power hornady loads. The 260 or 240 grains from hornady puts on a show though. The jets if flame that come from the ports are intense.

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk
 
I have a 7 1/2" SRH in 454 and 6" GP100 in 357. Both guns come with the exact same grips. There is no comparison between the two. I have comfortably shot hundreds of rounds of full house 357 magnum in one trip to the range. The recoil is mild and the gun is pleasant to shoot. The 454 is an entirely different animal. With loads equivalent to or a little hotter than a 44 magnum, it has a definite increase in recoil over the 357. With full house 454 loads, it is brutal. I once had to stop after 60 rounds because I was bleeding on the gun. I have long since switched to a Pachmayr grip. It doesn't really soak up anymore recoil but it does help with control and the grip slipping in the hand under recoil.
 
My first FA revolver was a 6" .454. Loaded 250 grain rounds to 1650 fps which is "moderate" load for a .454 as one can get a bullet that light up to 1800 fps... Recoil from a SA rolling up in your hand is not pleasant. I tried a few 300 grain factory loads and they were much worse. 20 rounds in an afternoon of shooting was all I could do.

After about a year of shooting the gun I could tell it was starting to damage my wrist and elbow. About that time I exchanged some emails with John Taffin. He told me what big bore shooting and done to his joints. Shortly thereafter I found an identical gun in .41 Magnum and the .454 went down the road. I can shoot that .41 all day long with the heaviest loads, as in 300 grain bullets at 1260 and 255s at 1450 with zero issues.

At that same time I had two friends who had long barreled Super Redhawks in .454. Shooting them with the factory rubber grips was not near as bad as a single action gun. Another friend bought one of the S&W 500s with the ported 8" barrel...it was more pleasant to shoot with full velocity 440 grain loads than the FA was with the 250s...

About three years ago I again tried another big bore this time a FA 83 in .475 with a 6" ported barrel. Tried .480 Ruger type loads of 330, 400 and 440 grains at only 1100 fps...again a no go for me...

As to the Ruger Bisly grip that doesn't roll as much...person opinion is that these grips are going to cause even more damage to ones wrist and elbow as the shock goes straight back into the palm of ones hand...

I can shoot my .41s all day long...and I also bought a 4" 500 S&W that is much more fun to shoot than any of the other big bores...without all the damage...

Bob
 
Interesting post RJM52. Interesting that the 475/480 caused you wrist issues at the power level you mentioned. Could be the FA revolver design.

I might add that the 480 Ruger is no slouch in the recoil department and it hurt the first time I shot it more than a couple rounds. The caliber pretty much works as designed in factory loads as a 44 mag + or 44 mag ++.
 
Last edited:
My .44 mag SBH with the wood, plow handle grips is fun for a while but my hands are very large, which makes it impossible for me to get a full grip. Needless to say, when you combine only getting 4 out of your five digits on the grip, a little sweat to further challenge your grip and then the recoil of some warm magnum rounds it can get fairly tiresome. I simply picked up a cheap pair of Oaklai fingerless shooting gloves and it has made a night and day difference, the palm allows me a very secure purchase for the parts of my hand I can fit on the grip and the wrist strap gives my wrist more support than I need.
Anyway, it works for me and I think the gloves were in the neighborhood of $14. The downside is that I comfortably shoot more .44mags than my wallet cares for me to shoot..:D
Beyond that, the gloves are just nice to wear for extended range visits with my other firearms as well.
 
Last edited:
Can't really say that the FA .475 was causing any discomfort to the wrists and elbows like the .454 did. I just found the recoil unpleasant. Had the gun for about a year and think I put about 300 rounds through it.
 
Smallest 357 I ever owned was an ADC stainless derringer.
My buddy has a 7.5 SRH 454.
Absolutely no comparison, and I used to keep 145gr Silvertips in that derringer. I also have a 2.5 Model 66 and it is a powder puff compared to that 454.
 
Some years back, I returned my .44 Mag. SBH 10.5" to Ruger to have a canted barrel corrected. They weren't able to fix it, and the next production run of the gun was still a few months away, so they offered to replace it with a revolver of my choice, at no charge. I chose a .454 SRH 7.5" in Target Grey.

I hadn't stocked up on reloading supplies for that particular caliber when the gun arrived, so my first rounds through the SRH were the factory 260 gr. Magtech SJSP ones. These were pushing around 1800 fps and recoil was decidedly stout, even with the Hogue "Tamer" Monogrip installed on the SRH. The recoil didn't bruise or draw blood, but you wouldn't want to shoot more than about 20 rounds per range session.

Then the reloading supplies arrived and I started working up a load using 250 gr. semi-jacketed projectiles and H110/W296 powder, finally settling on a recipe that produced around 1620 fps. With this load and velocity, recoil went from "uncomfortable" to "tolerable" and shooting between 60 and 80 rounds per range session was no longer an exercise in self-mutilation. The .454's trademark muzzle flash and concussion will still turn heads at the range, but you'll still be able to feel your hands at the end of the session.

If you own a .454 revolver, you really owe it to yourself to handload for it.
 
I like to hear the echoing sound...from the surrounding hills around our gun range, after I fire a round from my 454 Super Redhawk with a 7 1/2" barrel.

The replacement Hogue rubber grips, is a definite plus in recoil management than the original factory grips.

I limit my shooting sessions to about 20 rounds, while shooting full power 454 loads. Uncle Mikes padded finger tipless shooting gloves are a plus. I also like Golds Gym finger tipless gloves with a Velcro wrist strap.

I originally wanted the SA Freedom Arms 454...but due to sales price concerns --- I bought the Ruger.

The single action's recoil, will have a tendency to roll upwards in the hand grip, while the double action SRH will tend to have more recoil push straight back in the hands compared to the single action Freedom Arms.
 
Well now I'm a little scared. My LGS had a 20% off used guns sale and there was this 7.5" SRH in .454 that I've been eyeing so I put it on lay-a-way. How does the Hornady 240 grain XTP load compare in the recoil department? That was the lightest .454 load they had in terms of bullet weight.

On second thought, I may start with a .45 Colt cowboy load and work up. I reload so I can go as far as the "Ruger Only!" loads before I have to change brass. Even then, I can work through the lighter .454 loads until I reach my limit.
 
The way to calculate the threshold of recoil pain is 20 psi on skin.
That is not easy to do with rifles, as we are never sure how many square inches are in contact with the recoil pad.

With handguns we also need to know the effective mass of the hand.
 
Last edited:
My LGS had a 20% off used guns sale and there was this 7.5" SRH in .454 that I've been eyeing so I put it on lay-a-way.
Click to expand...

I bet you'll enjoy it, especially since you said you've been thinking about it for a while. Goodness, even if you don't like it, you'll have found out first hand what all the fuss is about the .454 so that will count as a plus.

Also, as you mentioned, because you reload you can make this gun do whatever you want from mild to wild.

Good luck.
 
First of all, when comparing recoil in handguns, compare using the same bullet weight, if you're going to compare a .454 Casul to a .44 Magnum, use similar bullet weights, say 300 grain for both cartridges.

Bullet weight has the most effect, or rather bullet weight/revolver weight. A light revolver, loaded with a heavy (for caliber) bullet, is going to whip back much more violently than the same load in a heavier sixshooter.

I've shot some pretty wrist wrenching .44 Magnum handloads using 325 gr. bullets in my Super Blackhawk, and 350 gr. bullets in the .45 Colt. And I've fired some pretty tame (comparatively) .454 loads.

So far as my experience is concerned, the hardest kicking handgun I've ever shot was the .45-70 loaded with 500 gr. cast bullets.

Bob Wright
 
Just remember, if you buy a nice revolver in .454 casul and end up hating the recoil, you can always shoot .45 colt out of it. Much more plesant. I'm developing carpal tunnel in my wrists and have broken my main hand's index finger twice and middle finger once so 357 mag/45 colt are about as big as I go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top