Redhawk 454 project

I have a few Redhawks in .44mag and .45 Colt but am really interested in a .454, but I just don't care for the looks of the Super Redhawk I have had a couple and despite their being very good shooters just couldn't get to attached to them.
I've been thinking about a 454 cylinder for one of my .45 Colt Redhawks or sending a .454 Alaskan to Bowen to turn into a GP .454, I would like to here some feed back from others that have done either one.
I already have a Redhawk barrel ready to get re-bored that I could use for the GP .454 conversion but where do you get a .454 cylinder for a .454 Redhawk besides buying a donor gun, I've been checking GB and all the other sites I know of for parts with out much luck

pm me!

I have a 5.5 inch Redhawk in 454. I went with the cylinder replacement. I think I picked it up from a gunsmith parts box or maybe off a gun broker auction type site.

The swap was pretty easy. I removed the cylinder and crane from the gun, removed the cylinder from the crane, and put the 454 cylinder on the crane. Then I reassembled the gun, checked out the specs found they were fine and test fired it. It now has 1000+ rounds of 454 or Redhawk only loads. It's my favorite hunting gun. Great in the thick brush swamps.

Mine is a 4" Redhawk. I found a screamin deal on a SRH 454, swapped out the cylinder and sold the SRH plus some ammo that came with it. I ended up about 50 buck ahead on the deal. After having the 4" 454 Redhawk I've found crimp jump with heavy loads to be a real issue. Also, light primer strikes in DA. I've been down that road of firing pin protrusion, shaving the hammer face some, etc. I've settled on F 205 Primers. They always go bang shooting DA. My max load is a 355er at 1300 and can shoot 12 rounds before the bullets move in the other rounds. I have another load in trimmed 454 brass that allows the round to cycly in my levergun and it's close to 1300. I call it the 454 Snyd.

If I were starting over I'd not do it if it were going to cost anything. Ya it's cool having a 4" 454 RH but a guy can load the 45 Colt to 50,000psi in the RH if he really wants too. I think it'd be a more practical "upgrade" in the 5.5 incher. But, it does shoot good and it's always on my hip when I'm in the woods here in Alaska. It's an accurate shooter.

Here it is all purdy and new....



454 Snyd load


I have managed a couple cloverleafs with this load at 25yds



A shootin video

http://vid1079.photobucket.com/albums/w505/pbsnyd/Shooting%20Videos/454Snyd_zps70f7ec68.mp4

Thanks guys for the info and very nice guns both of you, Arisin wind is that a blue gun or cerakote and nice grips also
Snyd I like those grips also are they the same in both pics did you sand off the checkering? also like to hear more about the lever gun I'm in the market for a 454 lever action since Ohio just allowed us to use straight walled cartridge rifles for deer hunting and I'd like to have a companion rifle for the 454, what twist does Rossi use in there 454.
Again thanks for the info

Rich44, depending on your timeline, we might be able to help each other out. It's a project for next year, but I'll be building a 357 SRH by using a take-off RH cylinder. Only way to get it is to use a "donor gun" of a 357mag Redhawk. So I'll have an entire RH, sans cylinder, that I won't need.

Alternatively, you'll have an entire SRH sans cylinder that you won't need. Keep our own cylinders, trade the rest, and we both have what we want. Only complication is that you'll have to rebore the barrel to 45, and I have to install a custom 357 barrel on the SRH.

Let me know if you're interested.

rich44 said:

Thanks guys for the info and very nice guns both of you, Arisin wind is that a blue gun or cerakote and nice grips also
Snyd I like those grips also are they the same in both pics did you sand off the checkering? also like to hear more about the lever gun I'm in the market for a 454 lever action since Ohio just allowed us to use straight walled cartridge rifles for deer hunting and I'd like to have a companion rifle for the 454, what twist does Rossi use in there 454.
Again thanks for the info

Click to expand...

Ya, Nill Griffe grips. I sanded em down, rounded off the sharp edges, etc. Fit my hand better and don't stab me in the side. I carry strongside in a Simply Rugged Pancake.

Lever gun is a Rossi/Puma 454. 20 inch barrel. 1-20 twist. It shoots everything well from 200gr swc's in 45 Colt brass up to a 435gr 454 load I messed around with. Boolit drops 422-435 gr (depending on alloy) .458 from an rcbs mold. I sized it down to 454 and/or 452. Problem in RH is oal puts it right to the end of cylinder, crimp jump after 4 rounds tied up the gun. Not much crimp groove left with that boolit after sizing it down. But, it shot great and shoots great in the levergun. I call it the mini 45-70.

rich44 said:

Thanks guys for the info and very nice guns both of you, Arisin wind is that a blue gun or cerakote and nice grips

Click to expand...

Rich - The Redhawk is Cerakoted in midnight blue. Been two years coated and it holds up real well. The grips are Eagle grips. The rear sight is from Bowen.

I'm going to agree with Snyd about building a 454 Redhawk. I shoot mostly "Redhawk Only" loads. Something I could have done in an unaltered 45 Colt Redhawk. The 45 Colt Redhawk is plenty strong.

Max Prasac in his books "Big Bore Revolvers" and "Ruger Revolvers - The Definitive History" talks how gunsmiths bored out 45 Redhawk cylinders to accept 454 back when they were first introduced. They also bored out 44 Mag Redhawk cylinders and rebarrelled the 44 Mag Redhawk to 454. Of course this isn't something he nor I would condone but the converted guns apparently held up. This is a testament to the Redhawk's strength.

I think if the Redhawk did not have issues with barrel separation early on (caused by improper torquing and lubrication techniques) we'd have only one Redhawk model.

Arisin' Wind said:

rich44 said:

Thanks guys for the info and very nice guns both of you, Arisin wind is that a blue gun or cerakote and nice grips

Click to expand...

Rich - The Redhawk is Cerakoted in midnight blue. Been two years coated and it holds up real well. The grips are Eagle grips. The rear sight is from Bowen.

I'm going to agree with Snyd about building a 454 Redhawk. I shoot mostly "Redhawk Only" loads. Something I could have done in an unaltered 45 Colt Redhawk. The 45 Colt Redhawk is plenty strong.

Max Prasac in his books "Big Bore Revolvers" and "Ruger Revolvers - The Definitive History" talks how gunsmiths bored out 45 Redhawk cylinders to accept 454 back when they were first introduced. They also bored out 44 Mag Redhawk cylinders and rebarrelled the 44 Mag Redhawk to 454. Of course this isn't something he nor I would condone but the converted guns apparently held up. This is a testament to the Redhawk's strength.

I think if the Redhawk did not have issues with barrel separation early on (caused by improper torquing and lubrication techniques) we'd have only one Redhawk model.

Click to expand...

Indeed. I had the one that I featured in the Ruger book for about 6 months and it shot well after a couple of decades plus of abuse. Every .454 load I shot through it ejected effortlessly. The Redhawk is one of the strongest platforms in existence as far as I'm concerned.

Hey Snyd, good to see you around.

Well its up and running I swapped out the cylinder in one of my 45 Redhawks with a 454 cylinder that I got from a member here, took a whole 10 min or so.
it seems to work fine barrel to cyl gap is around .005 and as far as I can tell barrel and cylinder alignment looks good I'm waiting for a range rod from Brownells just to be sure.
I have some 335gr LFN's loaded up in Freedom Arms brass and some 360 &395gr LFN's also to try out as soon as I get a good day.
Thanks all for the help











7

Let's us know how it shoots.

You said it took you 10 minutes to swap the cylinders. You must not have had a small spring roll out of sight causing you to swear a gremlin took it.

Nice RHs

I've been wanting to convert my RH 45C also. Haven't found a cylinder source yet.

FWIW, I've had a few Redhawks in 45 Colt. I have a 454 Alaskan. I've considered switching cylinders so I would have what you are asking about. One of the things you might have noticed above is that everyone has had a problem of 454 bullets pulling after a very few shots. I personally know of two different people using their 454 to shoot bears attacking them. One was using a Freedom Arms the other a Ruger Alaskan. Both were 454's. Neither were able to empty the gun at a time of need because the bullets pulled from the case and tied up the guns. What is the point??? When Dick Casull originally came up with the gun and cartridge and he produced them himself, he would shoot 4 (of the 5 rounds) in his Freedom Arms. He took out the 4 pieces of brass, reloaded and shot again. If the unfired round hadn't pulled AT ALL he would consider the quality control to be satisfactory. IF NOT he pulled all the bullets and started over. No one seems to do those checks anymore. Personally I would rather be shooting Buffalo Bore 325 grain Hard Casts, or doing my own reloads at 50,000 psi rather than the 60,000 psi you get in the 454 and KNOW that the bullet is NOT going to pull and tie up the gun. I predominately use Buffalo Bore 45 Colt 325 grain hard casts in my Alaskan. That this a hell of a round. I believe it will do anything a 454 hard cast will do. First I want my gun to work. Second I want to use a heavy hard cast bullet. Snyd lives in Fairbanks. Few people in the lower 48 live around brown bears. Carry a gun you can have confidence in and use a bullet you can have confidence in. No one needs a tied up gun at the worst time which is the most common time it occurs. If you want to shoot the longer brass rebore your cylinder on your 45 Colt Redhawk and watch your pressures. I'd be surprised if Winchester or Hornaday loaded 454 to 60,000 psi anyway if you wanted to use commercial ammo. But it's worth calling them to be sure. Just my two centavos.