Using 454 as 45 colt

R

revolvers_good

New member
Hi all, my first post on this forum.

Looking for input from 45 colt shooters. LGS has Freedom arms model 83 454 in stock. I've wanted Freedom Arms for a while, and would like a 45 colt.

I know I can use this to shoot 45 colt. I don't think I'd shoot much more than a handful of 454's. Is there any downside to using a 454 as 45 colt.

Thanks for responses.
 
I have no experience with the .454 (thought I would chime in anyway:D), but I would think that it would be similar to shooting .38 spl in a .357.

I'm sure someone will come along and give more info, but I have read that it is very doable.

I do like the .45 Colt round. Have a couple three of those.
 
The only downside to 454 as a 45 colt regular is that most 454's weigh considerably more due to the amount of recoil of the cartridge. I would think that the added weight in most cases would make for a sweet shooting 45 colt thought.
 
One minor thing,,,

You'll probably get that pesky carbon ring buildup in the cylinders,,,
Like when I shoot .38 Specials in my .357 Magnum revolvers.

Aarond

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I have a .460 which shoots .454 and .45 Colt. The revolver is FUN to shoot with .45 Colt and I have not seen a down side yet. As someone pointed out, these revolvers are heavy which means very light recoil with the .45 Colt but not a light gun at some 4.5 lbs. Good luck and I hope this helps.
 
Freedom Amrs does not recommend shooting 45 LC in a 454 cyclinder. They recommend you buy a seperate cylinder for 45 LC.

Granted, I do not have Freedom Arms but a SRH in 454 Casull (some day I will have a FA). I do not shoot 45 LC in the SRH either. I use Casull brass at 45 LC pressure levels. It avoids the crud ring. The 454 is a very high pressure round.
 
I have seen the same warning on the Freedom Arms on several posts. I have the Ruger Alaskan and it is a great gun. I have found if I shoot the .45s and finish with .454 they are very tight to eject and sometimes stick pretty hard. All is fixed with a good cleaning.

A point to consider if you only shoot a "few" .454s, is if you shoot one in the cylinder, shoot them all. Even in the best ammo there is some crimp jump. Putting unfired ammo back in the box that was in the cylinder when others were fired may be setting you up for a full blown jam down the road due to crip jump.
 
I have a super redhawk 454 and shoot 45's in it all the time, love the Ruger Only loads in the redhawk. Shootin the 45 Colt Ruger Only load in full load 2400 is great fun, very accurate and can shoot them all day. Shootin a 454 full load in the 454 is like getting hit on the end of the gun with a baseball bat. First 3 rounds are fun and accuuate and it goes down hill fast with more cylinders full. Probably have gone thru 7 or 8 hundred 45 Colt shells 100 of the 454 shells, I don't think anything could hurt a 454, as for cleaning, I don't know yet as I haven't had to remove a ring from the 45's yet. Charlie
 
You could get a couple of Ruger Blackhawks for less than one FA. If you haven't shot big bore, than the Colt will be palentee!
 
Others have mentioned the potential problem of a carbon build up from firing shorter cartridges, and still others have claimed no, or minor, problems in doing so. Freedom Arms guns have tight chambers, which is one of the reasons they discourage the practice. If build up is not completely removed and full pressure 454s are loaded, even if the chamber easily, the build up can cause a pressure spike due to increased resistance as the bullet exits the case. Can you o it? sure. I don't do it in my Freedom.

I think a better solution is to load 454 brass to .45 Colt ballistics. Just because it's a 454 does not mean that it has to be loaded to full pressure, elephant tumbling loads. Load it down or up to suit the task.

JW
 
I've been want a strong 45 Colt DA for a while to go with my Blackhawk. The only one that is capable of handling the Ruger-only loads though is the Redhawk but it is only available with a four inch barrel (I'd like a longer one), the discontinued 5.5" and 7.5" ones rarely come up for sale and even the new ones are few and far between. I'm considering a 454 instead, either a Super Redhawk or a Raging Bull (leaning towards the Ruger, I already have a GP100 and an SP101.) I would only shoot 45 Colt in it, I have no want or need to shoot the 454. The carbon build up in the cylinder would be a non-issue, so would there be any other downsides?
 
I like the F/A's, I have the model 97 in .357, but...

+1 to 'if you don't shoot a lot of big bore, the .45 Colt will be plenty of cartridge'.

You could get a Ruger RH/SRH/BH in .45 Colt, a reloading kit and plenty if reloading components for the price of the F/A.

OTOH, if you have the means, the F/A's are a joy to own and shoot. I think a reloading set up is best accessory for any revolver, especially to tame the .454 for practice loads.
 
FA's are made very precisely and to tight tolerances. Chambers are minimum spec. As long as you thoroughly clean the chambers when going from .45Colt to .454, it'll be fine.

Or you could just load .454 brass to whatever power level is desired.


You could get a couple of Ruger Blackhawks for less than one FA.
Click to expand...
And have half the gun. If what you want is an FA, no Ruger will do.
 
Buy the gun if it's in your price range. Down the road buy a .45 cylinder.
Click to expand...

Bingo. I never had any problems shooting 45 Colt from my 454 FA cylinder. Just shoot the 454 if you have both ammo types with you at the range that day and clean well afterwards. The FA is very tight cylinder! It will NOT take sloppy reloads or sloppy factory ammo. I actually had more problems with factory than I did reloads, but I'm good, what can I say? LOL.
 
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