455 or 414 Super Mag

[cowboybart]

I found a used Dan Wesson 445 Super mag nearby and am toying with the idea of picking it up to modify. I already have a DW 445 S Mag with 10" and 6" barrels. The one that I am looking at has an 8" barrel.
I was thinking 414 at first. But with the cost of a new cylinder ... I started thinking about a 455. To my knowledge these were never built, only put on paper by Elgin Gates. A 455 would save me from buying a new cyl - ream the existing one, and brass can be formed from shortening up 460 S&W brass.
Whether it goes to 414 or 455 I will be shooting heavy cast bullets in it (260-275 in the 414, 350-385 in the 455). I would like this as a packing gun so 6" is as long as I want to go on the barrel. 5" would be ideal, but I don't know if DW will make a 5" shroud for me.
Other than the destroying collector value of the Dan Wesson - what are your thoughts?
What is the performance difference between the 454 Casull and 455 Super Mag??
I have a 12" Contender barrel in 414 SM, but have yet to wring it out performance wise. Seems the last 2 scopes I put on it didn't last. I may abort the heavy cast bullet plan and go with lighter J-word bullets, in order to keep a scope on it.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
First you do not need to "destroy" the collector value.
What I would do is get the 414 SM cylinder from DW Parts. You can either fit it to the new gun if you buy it or fit it to any other DW SM frame you have. I built my 414 on my 375 SM frame and can swap calibers in about 30 minutes. If I was to get another crane it would take 15 minutes. Basicly I went with caliber .414 SM beause I was already involved in Caliber .41 .

If you have a DW 445 SM you already have a revolver that can out perform the 414 SM. You have a larger selection of molds available (unless you already shoot heavy caliber .410 boolits) and the 414 SM will not give you any extra. Getting an extra 445 DW cylinder you can rechamber that to 455 SM, fit it to your frame and get a custom caliber .452 barrel of about 16 twist. Then you still have an all origonal "collector" but a swap caliber to boot.

Going to the 455 diameter you need to be aware of how much cylinder will remain to hold pressures. A caliber .455 SM could easily generate pressure getting to .454 Casull pressures. There is a reason BFR went with a 5 shot cylinder. DW cylinders are very stout but they do have a limit to what they can take.

I will write for me the caliber 414 SM in a DW has a nitch at about 260 - 290 grains of lead. 1300 fps is easily attained and faster no problem. 1680 is a good powder to look at. A 16 twist barrel is friendly to heavy cast. I have shot heavier but see little reason to do so. 300 grainers and heavier is where I get out the .454 .
Mike in Peru

[reed1911]

It was more than a paper design, they made two test models and it was the .460SM I have a box of 200 of the brass he had made.

I agree that moving to a 414 is not really a needed thing to do, however I understand the want. With the price of a .445 and the cost of the parts, you are still money ahead by about 1000-1500 simply due to the high cost of the .414. I enjoy it, I'm a .41 mag fan too, and a 41GNR and a 410GNR. Needless to say I'm a 41 addict. The 290g WFN-GC does great things in the 414, pushed to 1200 or so it drops everything I can hit with it.

[runfiverun]

I have shot home made jaxketed bullets up to 350 grs in my 445, I really like sticking to the 300 and 315's though.
the 414 would be more tempting to myself if I really wanted something else to play with.
I have the 375 and the 445 so I don't see a need for anything in between the two.
having shot the 454,the 450 express and others, if I really wanted a jump in performance in a hand gun then I'd just go straight to the BFR in 45-70.
but [and there is in my head anyway] if there is something out there that needs more than a heavy jacketed 315 gr bullet at 1500 fps with excellent penetration characteristics to get it's attention.
I [shrug] ain't gonna out run it, and 3-4 more shots that might not even hit it probably ain't gonna stop it either.