For You .454 Shooters

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whichwatch

Blackhawk
Joined
Dec 18, 2012
Messages
678
Response from Ruger yesterday regarding the .454 Casull, thought some of you may find this interesting, and/or helpful.


Thank you for using the Ruger On-Line Customer Support Request Form.

This e-mail is in response to your question or comment of 08/10/2015
Request No: 302252

Comment / question:

I recently purchased a new Super Redhawk Toklat .454 Casull. Like everyone else, I did some research on the internet regarding loads for this revolver. I read a lot of info saying this gun performs best when used with 325 gr. and under bullet weights. Can you share any information with me regarding this? I know all guns are different, but can you recommend any preferred loads?

Response:
We use 300 grain ammo at the factory.
All of our Firearms are designed to handle all US Industry Standard Ammunition made to SAAMI Spec including +P. We cannot recommend using the 45 Colt +P in our guns as it is not a SAAMI cartridge.
If you have specific questions as to whether a type of ammunition meets SAAMI specs. We recommend you contact an ammo manufacturer such as Federal at 800-322-2342.
We do not recommend using +P+ it is not to saami specs. Stick with US made, brass cased, Boxer primed ammunition. Thank you for your email
 

jbntx

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
199
Location
Texas
Ruger's advice is correct. There's no way any firearm's manufacturer is going to recommend non-SAAMI spec'd ammo be fired in their guns. It's a legal liability thing.

Same thing for reloads. Factory ammo is manufactured to SAAMI standards, reloads are anybody's guess.

But it doesn't mean 45 Colt + P isn't safe. It just means that Ruger doesn't recommend it for legal reasons.

Gun makers have to be very careful about recommending ammo for their guns. That's why they just play it safe and stick with factory ammo loaded to SAAMI specs. And that's why they all discourage the use of reloads. It doesn't mean the ammo is unsafe, it just means they don't want to assume responsibility for ammo use in their guns.
 

MaxP

Buckeye
Joined
Mar 8, 2012
Messages
1,012
Location
Virginia
Considering that typical .45 Colt + P ammo runs right around 30,000 PSI, that is less than half the SAAMI max for the .454 Casull (65,000 PSI), I think it is a non-issue.
 

CraigC

Hawkeye
Joined
May 27, 2002
Messages
5,197
Location
West Tennessee
Typical CYA response due to potential liability. Ruger is never going to condone handloads or factory loads NOT loaded to SAAMI pressure standards. For us, it means very little. Especially if we're handloading anyway.
 

Jimbo357mag

Hawkeye
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
10,350
Location
So. Florida
I thought you were asking about bullet weight. There are many factory rounds over 325gr so I would bet it is a recoil and bullet jump thing that Ruger is worried about, even though they didn't say that. :D
 
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Messages
10,106
Location
Alaska, Idaho USA
I agree with Max, there is certainly nothing wrong with 45 Colt +P from Standard Manufacturers and up to date reloading manuals. Frankly 44 mag is the upper limit for a large percentage of shooters. 454, is more than a lot of people would consider FUN and they won't enjoy shooting 50 rounds just due to lack of experience. And is actually probably more than all but a very few will ever realistically need. Personally I use Buffalo Bore 325 grain Hard Cast 45 Colts in my 454's. I have confidence that it will handle anything I'm liable to run into, and Max took a good size bore recently, not to mention the Buffalo he got recently shooting 45 Colts +P.
 

MaxP

Buckeye
Joined
Mar 8, 2012
Messages
1,012
Location
Virginia
Bear Paw Jack said:
not to mention the Buffalo he got recently shooting 45 Colts +P.

The water buffalo was dispatched with a .480 Ruger SRH -- just to set the record straight!
 
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
11,654
Location
Kentucky
I'd still be somewhat leery of anything arbitrarily marked .45 Colt +P . . . since you're really not 100% certain of the pressure involved. There may be "gentlemens' agreements" on this matter, but still . . .

That said, as mentioned here the full-sized Blackhawks are darn stout revolvers. Any loads listed in the manuals as "Ruger only" should be OK. Your gun, your decision.

Also, note that while the new .454 and .480 guns are "full-sized Blackhawks", they also have super-strong cylinders to handle these rounds. The .454 should handle almost any so-called .45 +P OK.

JMHO

:)
 
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