45 LC from Super Redhawk?

[God's Country]

Go with the 7 1/2 inch Redhawk in .454, you won't be disappointed. But my recommendation would be to load your hunting ammo in .454 Casull brass. The walls on the brass are much thicker and will stand up to repeated loadings better than .45 Colt brass. I reload some light "cowboy" loads for the .45 Colt though and they are plenty accurate out of the redhawk.

Just a warning though, I had issues with my cylinder when I first got the gun. If I was running hot .454 loads through it I could not for the life of me get them out. I would have to put the gun in the freezer for a few hours, and then beat the cases out with a hammer. Gun went back to Ruger and they replaced the cylinder and I have not had that issue since. I talked to a few guys at the LGS and they said that they have seen similar issues with Ruger revolvers in magnum calibers when using hot loads. Ruger will fix the problem, but don't be surprised if there's an issue when you pick the gun up.

Hmmm does Ruger transfer the warranty? Looking at used.

[Boondox]

Guess you didn't read the OP?

I did. But you always have "that guy".
Because I've been down sizing and just recently unloaded almost the last of my 45 colt items and you seem to be going the other direction with the 45 colt ...... I couldn't help to be that guy. It's too bad I had not known this sooner , my 45 colt items all went pretty cheap.
If by chance I stumble across anything else I will pack it to the Ridgeway show and you can have it.

[Ronin]

Hmmm does Ruger transfer the warranty? Looking at used.

Ruger does not have a written warranty. Their policy is they will fix it.

[98Redline]

I would 2nd the recommendation for loading 45LC power levels in 454 brass. That would negate any accuracy penalty from using the shorter brass. It would also prevent building up a crud ring in the chambers from shooting the shorter 45LC loads.

Ronin has it spot on. Ruger does not have a written warranty however I have never heard of any issue where they did not make it right, that includes for 2nd or even 3rd owners.

Regarding the sticky extraction issues, I had heard about some of the early SRHs in 454 and 480 Ruger having the issue, however that problem was resolved very early on and anything recent (post 2001) has been pretty problem free.

[Delkal]

I agree that bullets that have a long jump before the forcing cone or rifling are not as accurate. At least theoretically, some people can not shoot a handgun good enough to notice the difference. I have a 45LC and seat my bullets out as long as possible. Over the recommended length and just slightly shorter than the chamber.

One problem you might run into with loading 45LC equivalent loads in a 454 is the increased case volume. Many high power 45 loads use slow powders that don't burn efficiently until it gets to a certain pressure. I load H110/W296 for hot loads with a 45lc but these powders need to be loaded starting at 3% under max. I doubt they will work well in a larger case.

You will have to do some searching for the correct powder and loads. You can't just put a 45lc load in a 454 case and think it will be "equivalent".

[yeahbuck36]

I agree that bullets that have a long jump before the forcing cone or rifling are not as accurate. At least theoretically, some people can not shoot a handgun good enough to notice the difference. I have a 45LC and seat my bullets out as long as possible. Over the recommended length and just slightly shorter than the chamber.

One problem you might run into with loading 45LC equivalent loads in a 454 is the increased case volume. Many high power 45 loads use slow powders that don't burn efficiently until it gets to a certain pressure. I load H110/W296 for hot loads with a 45lc but these powders need to be loaded starting at 3% under max. I doubt they will work well in a larger case.

You will have to do some searching for the correct powder and loads. You can't just put a 45lc load in a 454 case and think it will be "equivalent".

Yeah, I probably should have been more clear about that. I'm not just directly loading my hot 45lc loads in the 454, but I'm loading the 454 to be equal to a hot 45lc load.

[yeahbuck36]

I would 2nd the recommendation for loading 45LC power levels in 454 brass. That would negate any accuracy penalty from using the shorter brass. It would also prevent building up a crud ring in the chambers from shooting the shorter 45LC loads.

Ronin has it spot on. Ruger does not have a written warranty however I have never heard of any issue where they did not make it right, that includes for 2nd or even 3rd owners.

Regarding the sticky extraction issues, I had heard about some of the early SRHs in 454 and 480 Ruger having the issue, however that problem was resolved very early on and anything recent (post 2001) has been pretty problem free.

My gun was made in 2017, maybe they just had a bud run.

[Marcus99]

I do this a fair bit in my 454. I've never really compared accuracy, because I don't really have anything to compare it to. Mine shoots good enough for hunting distances, I generally keep mine to 50 yards (open sights). I agree with others that 45LC brass is thin and doesn't last long- I use Starline. There is a lot of published data for the (ruger t/c) hot loads. I've never tried downloading a 454 case. If I had it to do over again I would probably just go with a 44 mag rather than messing around trying to get 44 mag performance out of a different round. I could probably count on both hands the number of .454 rounds that I've fired in my gun.

[coat4gun]

Just to go back to the 45LC option, could probably shoot 60 yards and is in 45LC? http://www.lipseys.com/itemdetail.aspx?itemno=RUKRH-45A

[God's Country]

I would 2nd the recommendation for loading 45LC power levels in 454 brass. That would negate any accuracy penalty from using the shorter brass. It would also prevent building up a crud ring in the chambers from shooting the shorter 45LC loads.

It's a consideration, but at the moment i'm not too interested in messing with .454.

I agree that bullets that have a long jump before the forcing cone or rifling are not as accurate. At least theoretically, some people can not shoot a handgun good enough to notice the difference. I have a 45LC and seat my bullets out as long as possible. Over the recommended length and just slightly shorter than the chamber.

One problem you might run into with loading 45LC equivalent loads in a 454 is the increased case volume. Many high power 45 loads use slow powders that don't burn efficiently until it gets to a certain pressure. I load H110/W296 for hot loads with a 45lc but these powders need to be loaded starting at 3% under max. I doubt they will work well in a larger case.

You will have to do some searching for the correct powder and loads. You can't just put a 45lc load in a 454 case and think it will be "equivalent".

I think the OAL between the two is about 3/16. I like to think that won't be significant. This will be a hunting gun. Close enough is good enough for hunting, IMO. So long as it's predictable and repeatable. If each cylinder is all over the map, then it won't work.

I'm definitely not well versed enough with any reloading to mess around with downloading .454 into something close to 45lc.

I do this a fair bit in my 454. I've never really compared accuracy, because I don't really have anything to compare it to. Mine shoots good enough for hunting distances, I generally keep mine to 50 yards (open sights). I agree with others that 45LC brass is thin and doesn't last long- I use Starline. There is a lot of published data for the (ruger t/c) hot loads. I've never tried downloading a 454 case. If I had it to do over again I would probably just go with a 44 mag rather than messing around trying to get 44 mag performance out of a different round. I could probably count on both hands the number of .454 rounds that I've fired in my gun.

I'm Ok if the 45 brass is short lived. Even new brass for every load is cheaper than buying off the shelf 45lc, and that's cheap low recoil cowboy action stuff.

Just to go back to the 45LC option, could probably shoot 60 yards and is in 45LC? http://www.lipseys.com/itemdetail.aspx?itemno=RUKRH-45A

I really want to stick with a longer barrel. No less than 6". 7 1/2 to 8 would be preferred. I want to scope it as well.