454 Super Redhawk

[rickt300]

Thinking about picking one up tomorrow for $600. Huge pistol with power to spare I think. Anyone with experience with this combo.

[SHOOTALL]

I have/had one ( son loves it) . Very nice gun . A bit heavy for shooting 45 Colt . Great with 454's .

[Blackhawker]

Mine has a 7.5 barrel.  It's a lot of fun and pretty accurate as well!  Ironically, however, the front sight is not as tall as on my Blackhawk 45 Colt.  Consequently, I cannot shoot the 454 SRH as far as my 45 Colt Blackhawk.  I know this sounds crazy and maybe you'll never do any long distance shooting with yours but over longer distances like around 300 yards or more, the Blackhawk can still shoot longer distances with remaining front sight to be used. 

I hope that made some kind of sense.    YES, the 454 has more velocity and a flatter trajectory, but having a shorter front sight on the SRH, you don't have as much sight to use when compensating bullet drop over long distances.  I was a little disappointed by this when I took it on my annual trip to the open Wyoming desert country this summer.  My Blackhawk still remains "king" for long distance plinking.  Other than that, however, the SRH is a great revolver for both 454 and 45 Colt loads.  With either caliber, you can probably kill just about anything on the continent with it, should large game hunting be your concern.

[Blackhawker]

I forgot to mention:
Loading the 454 can get very pricey.  I have had many thoughts on selling my SRH because of this.  You'll probably find yourself shooting hot 45 Colts through it and then begin to wonder, "Why didn't I just buy a 45 Colt Blackhawk or BFR" ?

For example:  240 grain XTP Mag bullets are about $28 to $30 per 100.  By comparison, I can buy about 300 or more plain based cast 255 grain semi-wadcutters for my 45 Colt and use about 40% less powder to boot.  I still ponder upon selling my SRH because of this.

[rickt300]

I did much long range plinking in Wyoming south of Green river along the Blacks Fork river. I am primarily going to end up with this pistol because a friend needs money and is selling the pistol. It has never had a Casull round fired in it but many standard to warm 45 LC reloads. It does shoot very well though.

[SHOOTALL]

If you shoot 454 you might want to clean both bbl and chambers well before doing so.

[Blackhawker]

I did much long range plinking in Wyoming south of Green river along the Blacks Fork river. I am primarily going to end up with this pistol because a friend needs money and is selling the pistol. It has never had a Casull round fired in it but many standard to warm 45 LC reloads. It does shoot very well though.

That's not far from the area in which I go to shoot, plink, prairie dog hunt, hike, 4-wheel around, wander and just get away from the world.  It's a great area to practice extreme long distance shooting with a handgun or any other platform.

My "warm" 45 colt loads shoot very well in my 454 SRH and I hope you find the same with yours.  As Shootall suggested, however, should you decide to shoot 454's out of your SRH, be sure to clean and remove any residues of the 45 Colt from your cylinder.  The 454 is a fairly high pressure load that requires tight tolerances in chambers etc.  Any dirt or residues from the 45 Colt "blast area" around the mouth of the cartridge can lead to higher head space pressures in the 454 when fired in it.  It's probably a very good practice to keep this gun's cylinder extra clean being a 454.  Enjoy!

[greenrivers]

I have had one for several years and mounted a Burris locking rectical 2X scope on it. The revolver will and does shoot better than I can, and so far I have not found a "bad" load for it. Though the heavies do best. It is very versatile and as mentiioned you will find yourself using the Colt loads the most. But when you want or need the power of a Casull, it's nice to have it. The price you mentioned would make it hard to pass up.

[tacklebury]

I've shot my buddy's.  It's too large a revolver for my liking, but his is very accurate.  Shot my .45Colt Reloads very well.  At that price, it's a win-win and you can always resell it if you don't decide you love it. 

[rickt300]

Doubtfull I will ever get any 454 ammo but a 260 gr. WFN pushed to 1200 fps may get some action this year on a deer or two. I really don't need any more power than this, even on feral hogs. Picking the gun up friday. May trade my 45 LC Vaquerro off, just not into it's polished stainless look and a lot of people like it just the way it is.

[Blackhawker]

Doubtfull I will ever get any 454 ammo....
Try to remember that you said that!  If you reload, you'll eventually try it I'm sure and once you do, you'll surely become an addict to the power.   
 
 

Doubtfull I will ever get any 454 ammo but a 260 gr. WFN pushed to 1200 fps may get some action this year on a deer or two. I really don't need any more power than this, even on feral hogs. Picking the gun up friday. May trade my 45 LC Vaquerro off, just not into it's polished stainless look and a lot of people like it just the way it is.

[flmason]

Is it realistic to replace, say, one's 30-30 to 30-06 with the .454?

Purchased a Super Black Hawk last week, really fell in love with the Super Red Hawk .44, but it was out of budget. Thinking on the .454 for "someday".

I've read the stretched version, the .460 encroaches on 30-30 power levels. But Ruger doesn't make anything in that yet.

Wouldn't really expect it to keep up with .30 caliber rifles after say 200 yards, for obvious ballistic reasons, but can't recall ever hunting where I could actually see 200 yards out anyway.

In any event, the .454 SRH really has me interested. First time I've thought something might replace the SBH as my all time favorite.

[Ak.Hiker]

I have one and use it for protection when hiking. I had the barrel cut down to 5.5 inches to make it easier to pack as well as faster out of the holster and still long enough to get full power out of the loads. As far as loads go I like to split the difference between a hot 300 grain 45 Colt load and a full power Casull load. A 300 grain Sierra at 1450 is my favorite load in the Casull case. Plenty of power and penetration. With a thick belt it carries quite well.   

[rickt300]

I got it today and shot the only 12 loaded rounds I had in 45 Colt. Shoots very nicely and both the single and double action trigger function is excellent. It is a slate grey heavy handgun. I will soon work up some 1100 fps loads with a 260 gr, flat nosed cast bullet. Probably just load some to that level and start shooting stuff with it.

[Blackhawker]

Sounds great rickt300!  Mine is Target Grey (as Ruger calls it) too.....big and ugly looking, but really cool at the same time.   
As much as this revolver is overkill and redundant for me, I still have a lot of fun shooting mine.
Have fun with it!

I got it today and shot the only 12 loaded rounds I had in 45 Colt. Shoots very nicely and both the single and double action trigger function is excellent. It is a slate grey heavy handgun. I will soon work up some 1100 fps loads with a 260 gr, flat nosed cast bullet. Probably just load some to that level and start shooting stuff with it.

[brutus]

I picked up a SRH454 w/ red dot scope about a month ago. My plan was to shoot .45 Colts from it. I could not believe how tight a group this gun shoots. From a rest at 50ft I could cover 8 of the 10 shots w a quarter. These were my reloads and the recoil is so mild my wife has shot it and liked it. This gun has been more fun than it thought it would be.