454 Question

[erickrschaefer]

Before I shot my first buck with a pistol the other day I watched a much bigger buck at around 150yds. I had a decent rest and watched him through the scope with my 44 but didn't shoot as I felt it was beyond the effective range of my shooting as well as that of the gun. I would like to know what you guys think of that assumption for a 44 and would a 454 really make a better gun at ranges out to 100 and a little beyond.

I need a good argument to give the wife.



Thanks,
Erick

[KYODE]

if i was gettin that chance very often :shock: ......in the off season, i'd put in the practice to see if i could learn to hit at 150 yards. maybe i could, maybe i couldn't :? ....but i'd sure burn ammo trying. :lol:
imo, either caliber would work.....as long as you did.

[Varmint Hunter]

Assuming that you could reliably make hits @ 150 yards with either cartridge, I'd go with the 454. The 454 will shoot much heavier bullets at the same velocity as the 44 will fire lighter bullets. This would result in a substantial increase in terminal energy.

Normally, I'd suggest sticking with the 44mag for shooting whitetals but both of these cartridges loose a lot of there initial velocity & energy when you get out to 150yds or so. The 454 would also provide a flatter trajectory which would also be helpful.

All in all, I'm not too big on using revolver cartridges for that distance. IMO this is where the Encores and bolt pistols really shine with bottle necked cartridges and good optics.

Good shooting - VH

[Lone Star]

What matters with a revolver at 150 yards is accuracy, not power.  I shot IHMSA for many years out to 220 yards with revolvers, and my best performance came with a Dan Wesson .45LC shooting 300-grain bullets at 1100 fps.  Very accurate and plenty of power for the rams - never lost one.  This was a moderately-recoiling load, and I usually shot better scores than the .44 Mag guys because they got tired of the recoil after 30 shots.

Here is the ballistic performance using Hornady data* at 150 yards for both cartridges in 7.5" barrels:

.454 - 300@1600 fps - 1226 fps/1002 fpe -6.4"
.44M - 300@1200 fps - 1014 fps/685 fpe - 10.7"

In reality the difference in killing power is slight at 150 yards - any experienced hunter is well aware that a 300-grain bullet at over 1000 fps kills very well.  The difference in drop of 4.5" may be of more importance, but any revolver shooter trying for shots at that distance and beyond should have a laser to verify the range.  The much lower recoil of the .44 will allow most hunters to practice more and shoot better.  True, some of us can manage the extra recoil, but be realistic, we'd rather fire 50 rounds of .44 than of .454 in an afternoon.

Bottom line, a .454 offers marginal performance improvements over the .44, but for 150+ yards a revolver is not the weapon of choice for 95% of hunters, IMO at least.

* Yes, some will say that  they can load the .44 hotter, but the same can be said for the .454.  The relative differences are about the same.

[KYODE]

well.....let me say, a revolver is not my choice for 150 yard shooting either. my TC's take care of those ranges very good.
but.....if a revolver is all i had.....and i wanted to do 150 yard shots.......i'd find the load, and put in the practice to acomplish it.

a revolver is not all i have.....so for now, i ain't. :wink:

[Catfish]

I`ve killed several deer with the .44 mag. The longest kill was at 135 yrds. quarting away from me. It was also the only .44 mag. bullet I ever recovered from a deer. I hit the deer in the left hind quater and recovered the bullet just under the skin of the right frount shoulder. That deer was taken back when I was fireing 400 to 500 rounds a week through the gun year round. Now I probibly wouldn`t try it. BUT, I have know doubt that a .44 mag. with a good 240 grn. bullet would kill a deer at 300 yrds with a good hit, I just doubt that there are many pepole that could put a good hit on a deer in the field at that range.

[OrangeWing]

Two words come to mind TC or Savage Striker.  Now either of these in the right cal. you got your self a good 200 yard hand gun.  Or how about the new S/W500 ?

[crawfish]

Lone Star nailed it dead on. Rams are tough at 220. It takes a lot of down range umph to topple them. A heavy loaded .41 will, the same is true for .44, and .45. I consider handgun hunting an up close thing and I don’t usually agree with shooting game at ranges of much more than 100 yards not because the guns won’t kill out there but mostly because not many shooters can call their hits out there. So yes your .44 will kill them dead out there if you can hit them.