.454 with wood grips...ouch!

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Jumbopanda

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 25, 2015
Messages
9
I got some Hogue wood grips for my .454 Alaskan because I felt that the rubber grips were a bit too sticky, and difficult to adjust in the hand if you don't get your positioning right when drawing or picking up the gun. I felt that I would be able to handle the recoil even with a non-cushioned grip...but boy was I wrong! I headed to the range with some 240gr bullet loads on top of 30gr of Alliant 2400 and some with 25gr of Blue Dot. These are max (book) loads but I can shoot them all day with the rubber grips. With the wood grips, not so much! I fired 93 rounds, and today the web of my hand, near the thumb knuckle, is quite swollen.

Does anyone here regularly shoot .454 loads with wood grips? How do you manage it?
 

Jim Puke

Hunter
Joined
Jul 9, 2013
Messages
3,088
Location
South Georgia
I have a 454...but I left the factory rubber grips on it and it is very shootable.

Wood grips are fine...just depends on the application.
 

Jimbo357mag

Hawkeye
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
10,350
Location
So. Florida
93 rounds of Max loadings in a 454. Congratulations on being a masochist.



...just kidding. I can't shoot anything more than a 44 magnum. :D
 

Mus408

Hunter
Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Messages
2,333
Location
Va.
Yes you definitely with the "Determination" Award medal for shooting almost 100 rounds of .454 Casull at one sitting!
 

Rainy Day Shooter

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 23, 2014
Messages
106
John McClane once walked barefoot over broken glass during a fight with terrorists... Him's a wimp compared to you shooting 93 rounds of .454 in a single session!

Wow!
 

Jumbopanda

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 25, 2015
Messages
9
Mus408 said:
Yes you definitely with the "Determination" Award medal for shooting almost 100 rounds of .454 Casull at one sitting!

Haha, thanks. I don't think I could do the same with full-powered 300gr+ loads though. Those are much more brutal.

The most .454 I've shot in a single range session was 130, but that was with the Hogue rubber grips. My hand was slightly sore the next day, but there was no real pain.

This is why I love reloading; you can shoot gigantic rounds like .454 for about the same price as factory 9/40/45 ammo. :D

Bear Paw Jack said:
On My 454 Alaskan I use the rubber grips. I've used wood grips on F/A 454's and was just fine. I don't believe I'd use wood grips on my Alaskan. I probably will on the 454 Bisley I've got coming.

I've actually never fired a single action revolver before, but I'm guessing that the recoil isn't as painful, even with wood grips, because the top portion is rounded and allows the gun to roll a little.

I'd rather stick with double actions though; I figure if I can make quick follow-up shots with a .454 then it should be a piece of cake with auto pistol calibers.
 

Chuck 100 yd

Hunter
Joined
Mar 20, 2010
Messages
3,251
Location
Ridgefield WA
No problem shooting 325 gr. Heavy's in my SBH Bisley .454 and no bleeding knuckle or sore hands the next day but I seldom shoot more than 25 or 30 a day. I find I shoot my best groups with the first 5-10 shots of heavy loads and they begin to open up afterwards. Why practice enough that your groups go to pot?

My other two .454's are Super RedHawks, with 5" & 7 1/2" barrels and the Hogue grips they came with. Both good shooters and not overly punishing to shoot.
 

cmonti77

Single-Sixer
Joined
Oct 31, 2015
Messages
144
Location
Michigan
I have an Alaskan in 480, and custom 6 inch SRH in 480. I don't like the hogue Tamer grips that they came with, because the Tamer is too small for my hands. Some time ago, I bought a Hogue Pau Ferro grip to try on one of my 480's, but after examining the way Hogue wood grips are constructed, I won't be mounting it on either revolver.

Although Hogue advertises their GP/SRH wood grips as 'monogrips', if you look closely at the inside of the grip, you'll see that it is actually 2 pieces of wood glued together at a seam that runs down the where the back of the grip frame is. I think these grips were originally intended for the 38/.357 recoil envelope, and based on that two-piece construction, I have my doubts about how well they will hold together, long-term, against those comparatively monstrous .480 blasts. I can only imagine the same would hold true for the .454 Casull.

In any case, I mounted a Hogue Nylon in my 6-inch 480, and couldn't be happier with it. The felt recoil is really indiscernible from that with a Hogue Tamer, and the Nylon is a true, solid one-piece grip and it feels indestructible.
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,138
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Lake Lure NC USA
Shooting any firearm that produces enough recoil to cause pain for extended shooting sessions can & will create bad shooting habits.
Folks who plan trips to Africa for the big game will shoot heavy rifles only a few rounds at a time to prevent such problems. Craig Boddington discussed this very topic not too long ago in a publication I was reading.
It can be much worse for handguns.
Flinch, trigger jerking, etc will not be noticed as much by the shooter,,, but the results on paper will tell the story.
I know many of the top world class action pistol shooters. ALL of them stress practice, practice, practice. BUT,,,,, if you talk to them or take one of their classes they will tell you practice is only good if you make your practice GOOD for you.
Just out banging away, or trying to do things when tired, hurting, are not productive in any way will actually hurt your abilities to be a good shooter.
Most of them will also tell you they do a lot of dry-fire practice almost every day, to keep in shape.

I own a FA in 454, and a SRH in 480. I'm still awaiting delivery of my .480 SBH. I have shot several much bigger handguns as well. I shot a custom .500 in Idaho in June (Thanks again Kraig,, it was a hoot!) and it was a handfull. I only shot one cylinder full, and w/o a glove etc. I was able to hit most of the rocks I was aiming at,,, but I realized that more than one cylinder at a time would not be good for me. I can handle recoil, but I MUCH prefer accuracy over any other feature. And most of my handguns seem to do quite well w/o max loads.
 

Mus408

Hunter
Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Messages
2,333
Location
Va.
I intend to shoot hotter .45 Colt loads than what could normally be used in small frame .45 revolvers with my Alaskan.....when?? it gets back to me from Ruger.
The wait is killing me.
 
Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
9,810
Location
Woodbury, Tn
I shot 20 rounds of yellow box red lettering (Winchester?). They were from the 1970's. .44 mag 180 gr. I shot them from a 7.5 inch Redhawk with wooden grips ( man did they LOOK sharp). For a month afterwards my right hand trembled. That Redhawk was sold! I shoot my SBH with wood grips- no problem. Go figure.
gramps
 

dougader

Hunter
Joined
Jun 18, 2008
Messages
3,108
Location
OryGun
The recoil is different in double action v. single action revolvers, imo. DA comes back hard into your palm, while SA rolls and flips up more, especially high pressure loads in 454, 475, etc.

I like the SRH with the Hogue Tamer grips. Don't like rubber grips on a SA gun like the SBH.
 

Jumbopanda

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 25, 2015
Messages
9
contender said:
Shooting any firearm that produces enough recoil to cause pain for extended shooting sessions can & will create bad shooting habits.
Folks who plan trips to Africa for the big game will shoot heavy rifles only a few rounds at a time to prevent such problems. Craig Boddington discussed this very topic not too long ago in a publication I was reading.
It can be much worse for handguns.
Flinch, trigger jerking, etc will not be noticed as much by the shooter,,, but the results on paper will tell the story.
I know many of the top world class action pistol shooters. ALL of them stress practice, practice, practice. BUT,,,,, if you talk to them or take one of their classes they will tell you practice is only good if you make your practice GOOD for you.
Just out banging away, or trying to do things when tired, hurting, are not productive in any way will actually hurt your abilities to be a good shooter.
Most of them will also tell you they do a lot of dry-fire practice almost every day, to keep in shape.

I own a FA in 454, and a SRH in 480. I'm still awaiting delivery of my .480 SBH. I have shot several much bigger handguns as well. I shot a custom .500 in Idaho in June (Thanks again Kraig,, it was a hoot!) and it was a handfull. I only shot one cylinder full, and w/o a glove etc. I was able to hit most of the rocks I was aiming at,,, but I realized that more than one cylinder at a time would not be good for me. I can handle recoil, but I MUCH prefer accuracy over any other feature. And most of my handguns seem to do quite well w/o max loads.

Well, pain has only been an issue so far with wood grips, that those hurt from the very first shot. With the rubber ones, I experienced no pain after 130 rounds of full powered loads.

Strangely enough, while I was shooting with the wood grips, I shot better groups towards the end. I got five rounds in a .75" group at 7 yards, which is the best I've been able to manage with this gun so far. I think I just started ignoring the pain after a while. :lol:
 

Biggfoot44

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
829
Rubber grips are more forgiving of "almost " fitting your hand. Wood grips at that recoil level must fit YOUR hand perfectly.
 

CraigC

Hawkeye
Joined
May 27, 2002
Messages
5,197
Location
West Tennessee
Do you wanna fight? Do you wanna get cussed out until I'm out of breath? Ask me to shoot 93rds out of my .480 SRH with wood Hogue grips! It ain't the material, it's the God-awful, torturous shape. They're terrible. Did I tell you I don't like them? I had a set in rosewood on mine for about a month and it gave me a flinch that I'm still fighting 1.5yrs later. They're just too thin and have that stupid ambidextrous palm swell. My thumb hurts just thinking about it.

IMG_2801b.jpg


Then I tried these I got from Ebay, that come from Thailand and they were better.

IMG_0147b.jpg


Then came the Hogue Tamer, which was a little better but in the end, I went back to the factory rubbers with the laminate inserts.

IMG_6729b.jpg
 

MaxP

Buckeye
Joined
Mar 8, 2012
Messages
1,012
Location
Virginia
I shot Craig's SRH with the wooden Hogue grips on it, and I can tell you it was way worse than shooting my old custom SRH in .475 Linebaugh loaded to spec. Awful.
 

cmonti77

Single-Sixer
Joined
Oct 31, 2015
Messages
144
Location
Michigan
MaxP said:
my old custom SRH in .475 Linebaugh loaded to spec. Awful.

Apologies to the OP for the thread highjack, but did you have a custom cylinder made for that, or ream the existing one? I've heard that the existing 480 cylinder can handle 475 Linebaugh pressures with no problem, but will factory 475 cartridges fit in a reamed cylinder with adequate room?
 

MaxP

Buckeye
Joined
Mar 8, 2012
Messages
1,012
Location
Virginia
cmonti77 said:
MaxP said:
my old custom SRH in .475 Linebaugh loaded to spec. Awful.

Apologies to the OP for the thread highjack, but did you have a custom cylinder made for that, or ream the existing one? I've heard that the existing 480 cylinder can handle 475 Linebaugh pressures with no problem, but will factory 475 cartridges fit in a reamed cylinder with adequate room?

It was a custom five-shot cylinder. Here 'tis:

DSC02935.jpg


I also apologize for the thread hijacking!
 
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