454 Redhawk

[Snyd]

I posted this on another forum but figured I'd put it here as well for fun. Plus, I'd like to hear from anyone who has sized .457 400 gr boolits down to .452 for use in a 454. I'm thinking 400gr at 1000-1100 would make a good "up close and way too personal" bear protection load.

I've been looking for a SRH 454 cylinder for about a year. I screwed up a bid on gunbroker last spring and missed one and haven't come across another one since.

Well, thanks to a guy on another forum I now have a 454 Cylinder for my Redhawk conversion, oh, it came in this like new SRH



I've been researching this for quite some time and wanted do the swap out myself and not have to have a smith do anything. The neutered SRH will find a home with someone wanting to do a 475 or 500 bigbore project. I'll probably keep the 45 Colt cylinder at least for a while until I'm satisfied.

Preliminary quick measurements showed headspace within .001 on the two guns. Cylinders are the same length and distance from frame to barrel is the same as well. After talking to guys who have done this conversion, timing is right on as is bore alignment. Evidently Ruger uses the same specs for bolt notches, timing, etc. on the cylinders.

A .452 boolit pushes through the 454 cylinder so it's good to go. I wonder if this is because it's a newer Ruger or if it's because it's a 454. I had to ream the throats on the 45 Colt to .4525. They were at about .4515, the Redhawk is a couple years old.

Cylinder/star extractor assemblies will come off the cranes, 454 Cylinder goes back on the Redhawk. Cranes will stay with the proper frames. The Redhawk has .003 cylinder gap, .005 endshake and that after it going back to Ruger last winter. The 454 was the same. Little less endshake.

This was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It was nothing more than a cylinder swap and all critical measurements are within spec. Wow... The 454 Redhawk lives!!

Step 1. Pull cylinder/crane from Redhawk and pull cylinder/extractor off of crane.



Step 2. Do the same to the SRH.



Step 3. Parts are ready for reassembly.



Step 4. 454 Cylinder is on the Redhawks Crane.



Step 5. Install the crane with the new cylinder and check cylinder gap, endshake, headspace, timing, cylinder/bore alignment. Everything is right on. B/C is .003, endshake is .005 and headspace is within spec which it should be since headspace is set by Ruger on the cylinder. It's the same as the 45 Colt cylinder. Maybe .001 tighter.



The chambers on the 454 Cylinder are tighter than the 45 Colt. I don't have a set of pin gauges but here is a pic with some non-resized brass from rounds fired in the Redhawk. This is all the farther the 45 Colt brass would go in the 454 Cylinder. It slips right in the 45 Colt cylinder as you can see. Neither of these two pieces of brass would go in the 454 cyl any farther. They are a pretty snug fit as is.



Timing. Here is a pic of the gun that shows timing. The cylinder/bolt is in full lockup in this pic. Just a little more pressure and the hammer falls. It's the same on all cylinders. I looked down the bore and went through all cylinders and the chambers line up with the bore no prob. I don't have any rods to measure this but it looks good and others have done this swap before me.

[Snyd]

Now... where are those 400gr boolits!!

[Whitworth]

Wow, that looks oddly familiar to me, Snyd! LOL! Nice job!

[Snyd]

I've got some of those pachmayrs as well. I like the way the Nill Griffes fit my hand but maybe the pachmayrs with a little more padding will be in order. We'll see. I haven't shot it yet and this weekend it's supposed to drop down to 25 below.

[Whitworth]

Snyd, the Pachmayrs are pretty painful with full-tilt loads (particularly the 400 grainers). I am still seraching for a grip solution. Really wish Hogue would make a Tamer-type grip for it. Otherwise, the gun handles really well and is fairly compact.

[Snyd]

With my 45 Colt 355gr @1150fps I think I like the Nill Griffes better. I attribute that to fitting my hand. I'm leaning toward magnaporting my 454 Redhawk. Mainly to tame the muzzle flip. I think that's what the main issue is. The gun really wants to flip in the hand. I will say these Nills helped control it some. I got em off ebay for half of retail. 65 bucks shipped if I remember right and they sure fit nice.

[Whitworth]

That's the problem with the Pachmayrs -- they don't fill my hand. Those grips you have look nice! Too bad Hogue hasn't stepped up....... The muzzle flip isn't so bad for me, but my 400 grain loads just beat your hand up mercilessly!

[jwp475]

The Redhawk cylinder can be re-chambered to 454, I have had it done to a couple of Redhawks. Angy Cannon was the first to do so that I knew of.

Ross Seyfried tried the 400 grain bullets a few years ago and found that the penetration on game was not as good as expected and he reasoned that the twist rate was to slow to properly stabilize the bullet

The 360 WLFN is a superb penetrator in the 454

[Snyd]

Interesting. I asked Bowen about re-chambering my 45 Colt cylinder and he would not do it.

The 4" Redhawk barrel is 1/16 twist like the 454 BFR's, which I understand are scary accurate. The 454 SRH is 1/24.

Whitworth. What does your 400gr load chrony at and what boolit/load are you using? How does it group at say 25yds.

[jwp475]

Here is my last one it is a switch caliber from 44 mag to 454

[Whitworth]

Interesting. I asked Bowen about re-chambering my 45 Colt cylinder and he would not do it.

The 4" Redhawk barrel is 1/16 twist like the 454 BFR's, which I understand are scary accurate. The 454 SRH is 1/24.

Whitworth. What does your 400gr load chrony at and what boolit/load are you using? How does it group at say 25yds.

Rechambering stock Redhawk cylinders used to be a common practice.

That particular load is a factory offering from Double Tap. It's a 400 grain WFN that went 1,250 out of my Redhawk. I think they went 1,400 out of a 7.5-inch FA 83. I shot a 200-lb hog with that load a number of years ago and it was impressive. Accuracy was good out of my 7.5-inch SRH. I haven't started load development for the Redhawk yet, but I don't think I'll be using a bullet over 360 grains.

[Snyd]

Thanks for the 411. I've just gotta try a 400 grainer at 1000 or so so I know.

[Whitworth]

Snyd, I think Mike over at Double Tap sells that 400 grain bullet -- I know he produces them in-house. I'll inquire......

[NHlever]

For those of you considering rechambering Redhawk cylinders, you should be very much aware that they do not use the same kind of stainless steel, or heat treat in them that they do in the Super Redhawk .454 cylinders. Please be safe, and stick with heavier 45 Colt loads in Redhawk cylinders. There is a good reason why GOOD gunsmiths like Hamilton Bowen will not do this conversion.

[dk17hmr]

The heaviest I have shot out of my 454 is a 370gr SWC, but I do have some 410gr 454 diameter I am going to load up just to see what happens. What powder are you guys running for the heavies?

[Whitworth]

There is a good reason why GOOD gunsmiths like Hamilton Bowen will not do this conversion.

I don't think it is a safety consideration as much as factory .45 Colt Redhawks have notoriously sloppy and inconsistent chambers -- something you can't fix by turning it into a .454. When there were no factory options available, the common practice was converting Redhawks -- inclding .44 mag Redhawks. I never heard any tales of failure.

[44man]

Interesting. I asked Bowen about re-chambering my 45 Colt cylinder and he would not do it.

The 4" Redhawk barrel is 1/16 twist like the 454 BFR's, which I understand are scary accurate. The 454 SRH is 1/24.

Whitworth. What does your 400gr load chrony at and what boolit/load are you using? How does it group at say 25yds.

True, you have a better twist rate. The BFR .454 is also 1 in 16". This will allow you to find accuracy without over loading and increasing pressure. You should be fine with a heavy boolit because you don't have to load real hot. Remember that boolit weight alone does not mean more pressure unless you need to drive it for a slow twist.
If you use 2400 powder you can do a lot but if you go to H110 or 296, DO NOT DOWNLOAD AT ALL because of the SR primer. I cut the primer pocket for a LP mag primer or use cut down .460 brass to eliminate primer problems.
Some will not agree but by going to a LP mag primer we have been able to work loads with 296 for extreme accuracy with reduced pressure.
Believe it or not, even a standard LP primer will ignite a starting load of 296 but it is not as accurate as the mag primer.
I have taken the LP mag primer (Fed 155) to 55,000 psi in the ,454 without a flat primer so don't let anyone tell you that you need a SR primer.
A SR mag primer can fail to ignite a starting load of 296 and leave the boolit stuck in the barrel while primer pressure will push the boolit and powder from the brass into the bore.

[targetshootr]

Small rifle primers and nasty recoil made me sell all my 454 stuff. After 45 colt, I'm going to 475.

[Whitworth]

Small rifle primers and nasty recoil made me sell all my 454 stuff. After 45 colt, I'm going to 475.

Yeah, you might as well get bigger holes for your recoil!

[NHlever]

I don't think it is a safety consideration as much as factory .45 Colt Redhawks have notoriously sloppy and inconsistent chambers -- something you can't fix by turning it into a .454. When there were no factory options available, the common practice was converting Redhawks -- inclding .44 mag Redhawks. I never heard any tales of failure.

Kind of makes you wonder why the factory would buy much more expensive cylinder blanks, and spend more money processing them when they have a stack of Redhawk cylinder blanks lying around doesn't it? I'm not doubting your experience, or making fun at all, but I do have very strong, and conclusive evidence that the margin of safety we look for just isn't there in that combination.