Which FACTORY 454 casull load is most appropriate for deer?

[WilsonCQB]

I'm looking to use my 454 casull for the deer hunt this fall. I have been looking over most of the ballistics on the 454 offerings.

I was wondering what you all think on the subject. Any first hand knowledge on which rounds seem to work well?

I was thinking of using Winchesters 260gr Nosler Partition bullet, but wasn't sure if that would have too much penetration.

I know the BEST way to go is a handload with a selected bullet type, but since I don't reload 454's I have to buy factory offerings instead (at least for this year).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Art Eatman]

I don't think I'd worry about it very much. Within self-imposed limits on distance, any Casull load oughta go right on through a deer.

For perspective, a good number of deer have been killed with a .357 Maggie and 158-grain bullets. Same for 180- and 240-grainers from a .44 Maggie.

Basically, your only "problem" is your own accuracy with your pistol.

, Art

 

[WilsonCQB]

Good point Art.

I'd still like to hear from some guys out there who have taken deer sized game with their 454's and give the rest of us newbees an idea of 1)what type of round you used and 2)how it performed.

 

[Drundel]

Well I bought my 9.5" SRH .454 with the intent on hog and deer hunting. Never even been out yet.

For factory loads, link this should work just fine.

But like Art said, its a .454 for Pete's sake, hit vitals with plenty of speed left and you are good.

I have some .45 LC +P SP that should work too.

 

[Rmouleart]

I have tried most of the factory loads, the hornady 300 gr XTP's are the hottest, I can attest to this but for deer hunting the 250 gr Partiongold Winchesters where great shooters and still are a lot hotter than any 45 LC, I have also reloaded the 454 Casull and noticed the WW296/H110 seemed to be the best powders for this beast I own the Rossi Puma 454 and my friend shoots the 454 Casull SuperRedHawk as well. This is a great deer cartridge, plenty of knockdown power, and even though it carries a big bullet for the most part still can carry a good distance with good accuracy. Compared to the 44 mag it chews it up and spits it out for over all power if you can belive it, if reloading, moderate loads are plenty good with better accuracy than the hotloads, 29gr of ww296 worked well using the RugerRedHawk 454 and the same with H110, max is 31.4 using WW296 1920fps out of my Puma Shot great, smoking. this round is a sleeper The Puma kicks like a 300 SWM. I really like this cartridge for Deer/blackBear/Pig. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

 

[labgrade]

Anything from a .357 heavy-weight hard-cast bullet on up will do deer-sized game to no end.

All you have to do is place the bullet where it's supposed to go.

.44/.45 cal? Sheesh.

Hollow-point? Expanding?

Doesn't matter.

Anything in the right spot = table fare.

A .45 caliber bullet that doesn't expand is equal to a .357 that expands only 1-1/4 more.

Experience with cast bullets of .30 caliber that don't expand at all .... ? Put the bullet where it's supposed to go & everything dies.

Doesn't matter one bit what type bullet you use - expanding or not - especially with large-calibers such as .44/.45

Anything you use in a .454 put in the right spot will kill most anything in the USA you shoot.

I wouldn't worry about bullet choice, I'd worry more about accuracy of placement.

 

[Rmouleart]

If this was a perfect world and everybody hit mark everytime then we would not need to worry about bullet types selections but its not a perfect world and sometime a misplaced shot with the wrong bullet type can have you tracking for a long time and of course sometime never finding your animal. A good example was the 44 mag's in the early days, the jacketed bullets sold even 12 years ago were not as good as what we have today, jackets use to peel off at impact when hitting a bone and the lead spattered without good penetration, People were stateing the 44 mag just did not have enough poop for large animals like bears etc..., but that was fause it was bad bullet selections for the most part, todays jacketed bulls like the Hornady's XTP/Interlock & Speer's Gold dot/ Seirra's Partitions etc... are bonded to the lead to keep the jacket from separation or a solid backing in the construction bullet type to cause great driving power, My thoughts are bullet types(selections) do matter on what type of animal your hunting even when it comes to deer like animals or any type large or small, No#1 is shot placement, but when that don't happen a good design bullet may help a bad shot in making a good bleedout hole, this only happens when good penetration and expansion happens, in tern the animal bleeds out quicker and dies faster, So in other words if bullet expansion is not important why don't we all use full metal jackets because the bullet would just punch a small hole with no expandtion, Meplat dia expantion is important especially with large animals that can take a good shot from a high powered rifle, Like a bull moose that weights 700 pds, yes you can hit a vital area but without good expansion and deep enough penatration to reach the vitals the animal will still run 200-400 yards before dieing due to its low blood pressures and will to live, so in tern you need to no#1 hit a vital and drop him where he stands and this is where bullet selection is important, I have taken many big game animals in the 30 years of hunting life, No#1 shot placement no one can dispute this but next in line is bullet selection and of course type caliber for the size animal your hunting and type environment your hunting. Good components are not cheap but in the long run they will win you over in evidence how good they work...Never underestimate the animal your hunting use the right bullet for your game and you will wound less animals and be more successful in downing your game. just my thoughts. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.