TAURUS RAGING BULL .454 CASULL

[Graybeard]

This one is a really old review I first posted back in 2001. I am copying it here on the Taurus Forum also.

A First Impression


I had cast up some bullets from Lyman 452651 mould. They are supposed to
weight 325 grains with Lyman #2 alloy but with my linotype they go about
308 grains from the mould and 317 grains complete with gas check and
lube. I lubed, sized and gas checked them and divided them into three
groups. Group 1 was the primo stuff that all weighted within plus or
minus one grain of the nominal 308 grains. Group 2 was those within plus
or minus one percent or 3 grains. Group 3 was the visual rejects and
those weighting more than 3 grains off the standard. I used these for
barrel fouling and at 25 yards as past experiments have shown they do
find at that distance.

After bringing the Bull home I took it out of the box and un-wrapped it
for the first time. I cleaned all the factory preservatives from it. I
used acetone to clean out the inside of the chambers of the cylinder and
also cleaned the barrel.

Dry firing a couple of times I was impressed by the light and clean
breaking trigger. It would do an S&W proud. It is a big gun mine is the
8-3/8" barrel model with satin stainless finish. It feels good in the
hand and balances to suit me. I like long barrel guns. A long sight
radius makes for smaller groups for tired old eyes.

I bought a box of 500 Starline cases for it. Following the instructions
from Starline I sized 20 cases, belled the mouths and loaded them up. I
had some Valiant 250 grain RNFP bullets left over from my .45 Colt
testing so I loaded up 5 rounds of them using 28.0 grains of W296 and 5
rounds with 30.0 grains of W296. I then loaded 10 rounds using 28.0
grains of W296 and the Lyman 452651 bullets from Group 2 above. Primers
for all were CCI-BR4 small rifle benchrest primers. According to the
Hornady Manual I expected the velocities to run around 1500 for the 250s
and about 1350 for the 317s, that's a guess as I just didn't have time
to get out the chrono and set it up that afternoon. Light was fading
fast on me and I wanted to get the first session in and get the gun
roughly sighted in. Later testing over the chronograph showed the Lyman
452651 bullets over 28.0 grains of W296 to be delivering 1468 fps 10'
from the muzzle.

The first five bullets out of the barrel were Winchester Factory loads
(250 grain JHP- the midrange load at 1393 fps as later tested). Five
shots went into 2.6" but three of the five were in a group measuring
only 1". Not a bad start I figure. They were low and left so I made a
sight adjustment and prepared to shoot again.

I next moved on to the Valiant 250 RNFP cast bullets over 28.0 grains of
W296. Not so good! Five shots spanned 4.2" but again I had a better
group within the group. Four of the five measured only 2.0". Since 2"
groups with iron sights is about all my tired old eyes are good for
nowadays I didn't feel too bad, after all I am pushing those plain base
bullets almost twice as fast as they were intended to go.

Next up was the same Valiant 250 grain RNFP over 30.0 grains of W296.
This time the group opened to 4.3" and there was no group within the
group. All spread was horizontal which I'm pretty sure means I just
wasn't doing my job. The vertical spread was only 1.5". So OK, I was
glad I only loaded 10 of these 250s as the Bull doesn't seem to like
them very well.

Next up is the one I was sure was going to make me proud. I like the
Lyman 452651 bullet. It has always proven itself accurate for me in the
past and this time was no exception. These were from Group 2 meaning
they all weighted within plus/minus 3 grains of the nominal 308 grains
as cast or 317 grains sized/lubed/gas checked. Group one at 25 yards
measured an even 2.0" with four of the five in 1.5". Now this is getting
interesting. Next group up was same load and same range. I really
concentrated hard on this one and feel it is my personal best effort.
The first three bullets were in a beautiful cloverleaf measuring only
0.7" c-t-c and the last two opened it up to 1.3" c-t-c. Now folks this
old gray bearded fat boy don't often shoot that well with iron sights
nowadays. To say I was pleased would be an understatement.

I pronounce my personal "Bull" to be accurate. Sure there will be lots
more testing with other bullets and powders and at longer distances. It
may get a scope for some load development work at a later date but the
plans are to use it with iron sights for hunting so it may not get a
scope even for load development. I would sorta like to know what "it"
not me could do with its best load at 100 yards and maybe someday we'll
find out.

So what was the recoil like? NOT BAD! NOT BAD AT ALL! Rather mild
actually I thought but then nothing I shot that day would be considered
particularly hot as .454 Casull loads go. Obviously the last loads
pushing the 317s at 1468 fps or so were the ones that gave the most
shove but they were no worse than my S&W 629 DX with hot loads. The
porting really kept the muzzle down. Noise? Well I didn't shoot it
without hearing protection but it didn't seem all that much louder than
the .44 magnums, louder yes, but not all that much more so. Ms.
Graybeard pronounced it loud and said it sounded like a cannon but then
she says that every time I shoot no matter what I shoot. I didn't wear
any shooting gloves at all but rather shot it bare hand to see what the
recoil was going to be like. In a word I declare the recoil at the level
I shot today to be quite mild. Muzzle rise was at most 3" I'd guess with
the Lyman 452651.

My first impression is that I'm very pleased and happy to have bought
the Bull. It is a solid piece of workmanship and tight as any I've
owned. The double lock takes a bit of getting used to but isn't bad
after you get used to it. I found it best to first push off the front
(Dan Wesson type) lock and then the rear (S&W type) lock and push the
cylinder out. The sights are excellent. They adjusted easily and are
really easy to see. The front is a patridge type blade and the rear a
square notch. No silly red ramps or white outlines just down to earth
business type sights.

Folks I like it. GB
 
 
 
Model 454 -     Raging Bull
       Caliber         454 Casull
       Action          Double
       Capacity        5
       Barrel Length   6.5 and 8.375 inches
       Barrel Type     Extra Heavy, Vented Rib
       Weight          53 oz. (6.5 inch)
       Sights          Patridge Type Front, Micrometer Click Adjustable
Rear
       Firing Pin      Floating
       Safety          Transfer Bar
       Finish          Blued, Stainless or Case Hardened
       Stocks          Santoprene
       Features        Ported Barrel, Dual Latch Cylinder Lock Up
System, Optional Scope
                           Mount.




Further Test Results


Next up I loaded up the Lyman 452651 bullets over 28/29/30 grains of
W296 in the Starline cases with CCI BR4 primers. I also loaded up some
RCBS 45-300-FN bullets intended for the .45-70 that I sized down to
.452" which proved to be a waste of time. I don't recommend anyone else
try this bullet in this application. It works great at .458" in the
.45-70 but doesn't take kindly to the further reduction in diameter.
Other loads were Sierra 300 JSPs with 29.30/31 grains of W296 and
Hornady 250 JHPs (pre XTP) over 33.0 grains of W296.

On the range using the factory iron sights only I got the following
results with these loads:

Lyman 452651 with 28.0 grains of W296 gave me 1468 fps and 25 yard
groups of 2.2" and 2.7" with 4 of 5 in 1.4" and a group of 3.6" at 50
yards.

Lyman 452651 with 29.0 grains of W296 gave me 1544 fps and groups of
1.3" and 3.1" with 3 of 5 in only 0.55" at 25 yards. At 50 yards the
group was 3.9" with 4 of 5 in 2.3".

Lyman 452651 with 30.0 grains of W296 gave me 1579 fps and 25 yard
groups of 2.0" with 4 of 5 in 1.2" and 3.5" with 4 of 5 in 2.2". I
didn't test this one at 50 yards yet.

Sierra 300 JSP with 29.0 grains of W296 gave 1429 fps and shot into 3.1"
at 50 yards with 3 of 5 in a tiny 1.25".

Sierra 300 JSP with 30.0 grains of W296 gave 1512 fps and shot groups of
3.2" and 2.8" with 4 of 5 in 1.4" at 25 yards.

Sierra 300 JSP with 31.0 grains of W296 gave me groups of 2.1" with 4 of
5 in 1.7" and another of only 0.95" for all five. My chrono wasn't
working on this load so I didn't get a velocity check but would estimate
around 1600 fps.

Hornady 250 JHP with 33.0 grains of W296 gave 1494 fps and at 50 yards
shot a group of 3.5" with 4 of 5 in 2.8".

A lot more bullets went down range and groups above are indicative of
the performance I continue to get with these loads. I believe the
limiting factor here is my tired old eyes not seeing the sights any
better. I'm sure that scoped I could cut these groups in half at least.
I settled on two loads for use during the 1999-2000 hunting season.
These are the Lyman 452651 bullet cast from linotype over 29.0 grains of
W296 and the Sierra 300 JSP over 31.0 grains of W296.

I took the Raging Bull with me in November when I went to Georgia to
hunt with Rick Brown and Bill Donahue at Rick's lease on the Great
Georgia Gun Hunt made famous on my Forums as the GGGH. The three
versions of this story are in the Campfire Tales Section of my website
for all to read and enjoy. Wild stuff folks. We had hopes the wild hogs
Rick had been seeing would show for a proper test but they didn't due to
the dry weather.

While there I had an opportunity to use the RB to take a small buck at
about 30 yards. One shot from the Sierra 300 JSP to the lungs on a
broadside shot did the job. After a short run he ended up about 35 yards
behind my stand. The heavily constructed Sierra found little resistance
in the small buck's chest and didn't open up much. Damage was extensive
nonetheless and quickly fatal. I think this bullet would be a good one
for use on bear, elk or moose from the .454 Casull.

More testing will follow to include scoped tests at ranges out to and
maybe beyond 100 yards. Also I'll get around to testing it on wild hogs
when I can to better test the bullets I've selected so far. I hope to
get a wider range of bullets and maybe even some factory ammo for
testing also. But for now the Taurus Raging Bull gets the Graybeard seal
of Approval.

[454-hunter]

Grey beard,  I found that my gun likes 300 graincast I have not melted my own lead but have been buying them from cast performance bullets in wy. They actually weight on my scale at 295.5 grains I found that when i USED 30 GRAINS OF H110 OR W296 that bit opened up at 50 yrds. to about 4 to 5 inches then I went to H110 using 31.5 grains and man what a difference now it made it a little harder for me to shoot more than 10 rounds straight but accuracy was about 2 inches. I then went to 32 grains of H110 using the same 295.5(300) grain bullet and got the same accuracy but a stouter report to my hand so I figured that 31.5 was ample for deer and was plenty accurate at 50 using opensights. I aint old but have worn glasses since the 4th grade and find it difficult to shoot real accurate beyond 50 without a scope. I have my scope mount and rings but dont have the scope yet . I was thinking of going with a Burris 1.5-4 posi-lock I hear they are good if to the contrary tell me. I had some problems in the beginning with the brass not slamming out on to the chambers fast enough giving me blow-by but when I stepped up the powder charges of that slow burning powder it did great with minimal amounts slipping by and increased accuracy . My Rb in 454 is also 8.375  well actually it is 7.375 since the last inch has no bore to it it is just a gas expansion chamber.My Rb likes them medium hot to hot but if I can get the same accuracy with just slightly less powder i always bring it down. Glad that you had such a good time with yours too and glad you feel it is a good gun I enjoy mine too but cant wait to kill something.

                      Stan

[Graybeard]

I have my scope mount and rings but dont have the scope yet . I was thinking of going with a Burris 1.5-4 posi-lock I hear they are good if to the contrary tell me.

Forget the Posi-lock feature. DUMB idea. It is an answer to a question that shouldn't exist. Either the scope is tough enough or it isn't. If it isn't that dumb feature ain't gonna fix it. Gives most folks more trouble than a standard scope. I'll never own one.

As to Burris scopes in general they have the widest line of handgun scopes out there and thus get used a lot. I have several and like them fine. I really think a 2X fixed is plenty for any revolver and seldom ever have I mounted more on one for hunting use. The Leupold 2X is sorta the gold standard of such and the Bushnell 2X adds a 28mm objective and has better low light resolution as a result.

GB

[Catfish]

I`ve owned 2 Burrius scopes. A 1 x 4X and a 3 x 9X, both handgung scopes. I got the 3 x 9 in a trade, but like GB, I think that 2X is the best for 98% of the handgung shooting. I put the 3x9 on an Encore chambered in .357 max. 15 in. barrel from Bullberry. At 85 yrds. the best group I could shoot from a rest with the scope on 9X was about 3 in. I was not very happy, but with deer season opening the next day I figured that would have to do. I set the scope on 3X, as that would be where it would be carried in the field. Good news, the group dropped to just under 2 in. Bad news, it was better than 6 in. from where the other group had been. I sold that scope to a guy that was going to send it to Burrius and have it fixed. I`ve still got the 1 x 4X, but have never mounted it on a gun, and probibly won`t. I`ve got about 20 Leupold scopes and have never had a problem with any of them, so that`s what I`ve got on everything now. I have heard alot of good about Burrius and very little bad, but my first one was bad and I`m done with them. It`s Leupold for me, at least till I start haveing problems with them.

[corbanzo]

I ended up taking the scope off my RB, I guess because of the nature of handguns.... if I need an optic, I should be using a rifle.  I still have it hanging out if I should ever get the hankering to scope another handgun....


Now the reason I am posting this is to report a problem that I had, had posted about, but I believe that it belongs in a sticky because in my searches on the internet, it had proved to be a problem for other RB owners, as well as super redhawk owners in .454 casull.  The problem stemmed from using CCI450 small rifle magnum primers, and the firing pin not being able to reliably ignite their hard primer cups.


The easy solution came from a GB member here trotterlg (larry) who mentioned that rifles usually had smaller firing pin heads than revolvers, because rifle primers are in fact harder and meant to deal with higher pressures.  I ended up chucking the firing pin in a drill and slimming down the end (not to a point, just lowering the width), and that worked to stop all misfires and return 100% reliability.


Now after this had already taken place, I was cleaning out the hammer pocket on the frame, and noticed an indent in the pocket where the hammer had been hitting hard enough to actually make a dent in the frame on the right side.  I also noticed that the firing pin had quite a bit more projection when pushing on the transfer bar than when the hammer was down, meaning the hammer was keeping itself from longer contact with the transfer bar and less energy put into the firing pin.  I shaved down the foot on the hammer just a slight bit as to make it so there was better contact with the transfer bar, but kept it to a minimum so the transfer bar safety system still worked correctly. 


Haven't had one misfire since.  As I promised on the gunsmithing forum I still have yet to test replacing the firing pin with a factory one to see if just the hammer being modified alone with a factory firing pin can be a solution to the problem.