Most powerful revolver cartridge.

[eveled]

I'm curious about people's opinions on what is the most powerful revolver cartridge, and why?

I was under the impression that the .454 Casull had been outclassed by more recent offerings, but if you look at the pressures, you get a different view.

.454 Casull is a close second to the .460. They are both tied pressure wise at 65,000 psi but the .460 is faster.

.50 S&W is 50 - 60,000 psi making it 3rd.
.475 Limbaugh 50,000 psi
.480 Ruger 48,000 psi
30/30 46,000 psi
.500 Limbaugh 35,000 psi
.45/70 32,000 psi


Given that these other offerings are in absurdly large framed guns it makes an even stronger case for the .454 as the most powerful normal sized revolver.

Am I missing something?

 

[eveled]

I guess I found the answer. Power = bullet weight times velocity. Nothing to do with pressure

This puts the .454 in I think 4th place, but still most powerful in a normal sized revolver.

 

[arfmel]

The most powerful one I have owned/fired is the .500 S&W. It was pretty unpleasant IMO.

A "Ruger Only" 45 Colt or .44 Magnum load will do anything I need to do. I don't have anything more potent in a handgun.

 

[Springer2]

We have a 460 S&W. It will also shoot 45 Colt and 454. What I like about it is the accuracy. It is more pleasant to shoot than a 4" model 29 w/wood grip.

 

[Tenbore]

You have to figure bullet energy, not chamber pressure.

 

[jack black]

Shot placement is far more important if hunting.

 

[thinckley]

Shot placement is far more important if hunting.

True, but OP didn't mention hunting in any way, shape or form.

 

[JBP]

I have a 454 SRH. Have shot the 475 Limbaugh. For many years I had T/C barrels in 30/30, 35 Remington and 375 Winchester. None of them were what I would call fun to shoot.

 

[el caminero]

Roundabout 40 years ago i read about a fellow carved out his own oversized blackhawk, on shortened 460 weatherby brass; ".460 Woods Whitehorse Magnum".
Nobody i ever mentioned it to, had ever heard about it.

 

[jack black]

True, but OP didn't mention hunting in any way, shape or form.

No, I did

 

[thinckley]

No, I did

Why? It has nothing to do with the conversation.

 

[el caminero]

Why? It has nothing to do with the conversation.

Well. Then, we can include that one fellow with his 600 nitro revolver, and the one that shoots 12 gage slugs, among others.
Adit, the one isnt 12 gage, apparently; the oversized 1858 remington seems to be 28mm bore.
And the davis/phelps/et.al. century in 45-70, and 50-70 (and allegedly 50-110) are crazy, too.

 

[peachhead]

Way back when the 454 first came out, I put a red dot on a Taurus for someone. Had a good time shooting it but after the first 20 rounds or so the red dot quit working. Lol

 

[el caminero]

Cool; a red dot in 1958. Far out, man.
Thassa joke, son, ah say a joke; y'all can laugh at it.

 

[peachhead]

Cool; a red dot in 1958. Far out, man.
Thassa joke, son, ah say a joke; y'all can laugh at it.

Ok I ain't quite that old Should have said when the first Taurus 454 came out, the raging bull. This was back in 98 or 99.

 

[el caminero]

Ok I ain't quite that old Should have said when the first Taurus 454 came out, the raging bull. This was back in 98 or 99.

Yep, even to me that was obvious. But still funny

 

[vlavalle]

I'm curious about people's opinions on what is the most powerful revolver cartridge, and why?

I was under the impression that the .454 Casull had been outclassed by more recent offerings, but if you look at the pressures, you get a different view.

.454 Casull is a close second to the .460. They are both tied pressure wise at 65,000 psi but the .460 is faster.

.50 S&W is 50 - 60,000 psi making it 3rd.
.475 Limbaugh 50,000 psi
.480 Ruger 48,000 psi
30/30 46,000 psi
.500 Limbaugh 35,000 psi
.45/70 32,000 psi


Given that these other offerings are in absurdly large framed guns it makes an even stronger case for the .454 as the most powerful normal sized revolver.

Am I missing something?

Just PSI does not make the caliber 'most powerful' The most powerful cartridge is the one with the most ft. lbs., the only way power (force) is measured for projectiles. So, the list you give here is way off. Keep in mind that each caliber offers a range of power, so in my list I am denoting only the MAX power available:
#1 The Bushwacker - 5,027 ft, lbs. (equal to many high powered rifles)
#2 The .50 S&W - 3,040 ft, lbs. (Buffalo Bore)
#3 The S&W 460 - 2,885 ft. lbs. (Buffalo Bore)
#4 The 454 Casual - 2,238 ft. lbs. (Percision One)
#5 The .50 AE - 1,663 ft. lbs. (Underwood)
#6 The .44 Mag - 1,533 ft. lbs. (buffalo Bore)
#7 The 45 Colt - 1,344 ft. lbs. (Buffalo Bore)

 

[el caminero]

Just PSI does not make the caliber 'most powerful' The most powerful cartridge is the one with the most ft. lbs., the only way power (force) is measured for projectiles. So, the list you give here is way off. Keep in mind that each caliber offers a range of power, so in my list I am denoting only the MAX power available:
#1 The Bushwacker - 5,027 ft, lbs. (equal to many high powered rifles)
#2 The .50 S&W - 3,040 ft, lbs. (Buffalo Bore)
#3 The S&W 460 - 2,885 ft. lbs. (Buffalo Bore)
#4 The 454 Casual - 2,238 ft. lbs. (Percision One)
#5 The .50 AE - 1,663 ft. lbs. (Underwood)
#6 The .44 Mag - 1,533 ft. lbs. (buffalo Bore)
#7 The 45 Colt - 1,344 ft. lbs. (Buffalo Bore)

Still puny compared to that polish chap's 600 nitro revolver.

 

[vlavalle]

Still puny compared to that polish chap's 600 nitro revolver.

Well, I see you did not take too kindly to real stats, and a realistic ranking. As for your super revolver, it is not Polish, but rather it is made in Austria, and may have originally been built in the UK during WW I. In addition, the caliber is a .620 (bullet diameter), which is illegal in the US. I believe that the largest legal caliber for a handgun in the US is .50 cal. There also appears to be two different versions of this caliber: the 600 nitro Express, and the 700 nitro express (see pic below). The 600 Nitro Express delivers 4,592 ft. lbs., which is less than the Bushwacker (14" revolver). These figures are out of a 13.2" barrel revolver.There are higher power ratings, like in the 8,000 ft; lbs. range, but there are out of a 28" barrel rifle. All the ballistics that I can find for the 700 Nitro Express are from rifles, which is at least with a 28' barrel.

 

[el caminero]

Well, I see you did not take too kindly to real stats, and a realistic ranking. As for your super revolver, it is not Polish, but rather it is made in Austria, and may have originally been built in the UK during WW I. In addition, the caliber is a .620 (bullet diameter), which is illegal in the US. I believe that the largest legal caliber for a handgun in the US is .50 cal. There also appears to be two different versions of this caliber: the 600 nitro Express, and the 700 nitro express (see pic below). The 600 Nitro Express delivers 4,592 ft. lbs., which is less than the Bushwacker (14" revolver). These figures are out of a 13.2" barrel revolver.There are higher power ratings, like in the 8,000 ft; lbs. range, but there are out of a 28" barrel rifle. All the ballistics that I can find for the 700 Nitro Express are from rifles, which is at least with a 28' barrel.

I seem to recall his videos stating 600 nitro, which makes it his claim, not mine. Just relaying interesting stuff, i do not recall seeing any performance claims in the too-brief videos, but a firearms blog claimed 7500 ftlbs from 900-some grains at a bit less than 2000 fps. But i backup my joke that a 458 or 500 is puny next to a .620 "600"! And, my apologies, zeliska is czech, not polish. one can still posess and fire 600 and 700 nitro express, and larger in the u.s., as well as10, 8, 4, and 2-bore rifled elephant guns. there are rules covering that, as well as the ,577 tranters, webleys, and bland-pryse revolvers. cannot recall if it was bowen, linebaugh, or seyfried who was working on a ,58 revolver, either a redhawk or blackhawk.
The giant 1858 was the polish built one, apparently a one-off, at 28mm bore and over 90 lbs, but the Pfeiffer Zelenska in 600 nitro and 458 win mag, was made in some few numbers rather more recently than ww1, and not in jolly aulde foggy.
Ya want big, there was allegedly a 5 x.58 paterson colt made, back in the day, and at least one 10-gage root revolving rifle cut down to a pistol!