Cast for .454 Casull in Rossi M92

[Thatguy]

Hi All

Brand new here, posting from New Zealand.
Wonder if anyone could offer advise on casting for .454 Casull in my Rossi m92.
It has been shortened to about 14” and suppressor added.
Now looking to develop some Subsonic, loads to use for deer hunting.

I thought, ideally something heavier (300gr plus) and HP for maximum effectiveness.

Would love advise on what bullet moulds to look at, inc weight and type.

Also would appreciate advise on load data, like what powder and grains. We mainly have the Hodgedon range here.

Thanks in advance

[seetrout]

Hi All

Brand new here, posting from New Zealand.
Wonder if anyone could offer advise on casting for .454 Casull in my Rossi m92.
It has been shortened to about 14” and suppressor added.
Now looking to develop some Subsonic, loads to use for deer hunting.

I thought, ideally something heavier (300gr plus) and HP for maximum effectiveness.

Would love advise on what bullet moulds to look at, inc weight and type.

Also would appreciate advise on load data, like what powder and grains. We mainly have the Hodgedon range here.

Thanks in advance

For subsonic .454C in a carbine? You are probably on your own for load developement, but I would start with a heavy slug like MP 45-340 or the NOE 454-350 RF. I believe both can be ordered HP'd.
I really hate to advise on load data. As for powder I have always liked universal. There is no load data for universal in 454 with heavies though. It is all slow powder at supersonic velocity except for trail boss, which is really slow velocity wise, although it could turn out to be perfect in a longer barrel.

[strebort]

Load any 45 Colt load. Should be subsonic even in your rifle. The slow twist in the Rossi may not stabilize a 300+ grain boolit at subsonic velocity. My son's 454 Rossi will chamber and fire 45 Colt loads yours may not. But, you can download the 454 cases.

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[454PB]

I have a Puma .454, it feeds the Lee 300 Gr. GC boolit well when it is seated to crimp in the front crimp groove. Seated to crimp in the rear groove it is "iffy". I suggest you use Bluedot for loads reduced to that velocity. As already stated, you could use .45 Colt brass and not have to worry about O.L. I don't do that because of the carbon/lube build up at the front of the chamber.

[Thatguy]

@seetrout, You don’t think it might have difficulty stabilising that weight projectile?

[Thatguy]

Load any 45 Colt load. Should be subsonic even in your rifle. The slow twist in the Rossi may not stabilize a 300+ grain boolit at subsonic velocity. My son's 454 Rossi will chamber and fire 45 Colt loads yours may not. But, you can download the 454 cases.

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Thanks for the advise @strebort, I will consider 45LC brass if I can’t manage with my 454 brass as I bought quite a bit

[Thatguy]

@454PB, do you use lee Alox lube with it?Are your loads sub also?
Would you happen to know an alternative powder, we pretty much only have the Hodgedon range her?

[seetrout]

I Was not aware the Rossi had a "slow" twist. I found it listed as 1 in30". I measured a 300 gr XTP since I couldn't find one of my Lee 300's, It is a tiny bit longer, but that actually counts against it. Berger's "twist rate stability calculator" says anything 1.5 and greater should be stable. https://bergerbullets.com/twist-rate-calculator/ I used 1050 for the velocity since you want to keep it subsonic and by multiplying out the weight and length came up with a max of 370gr and still meet or exceed 1.5 stability. Berger also has a note that they use the miller formula which is more accurate for boat tail bullets and tends to underestimate stability for flat base bullets. All of that to say all you can do is try it and see what happens.

*Disclaimer.....You do what you do at your own risk* Since you are pumping for load info. IF...I were doing this experiment, I would use my .454 brass and bullit of choice and start with the max load of H Universal listed for .45 Colt and work up over the Chrony until I hit my target velocity. I will get flamed for admitting this, but I have run 250gr XTP's out of my 8" Taurus Raging Bull @ 1250fps with this formula. I have no idea what the pressure might be, but in my Taurus anything over min loads of H110 and I have to beat the brass out of the chamber. I initally did this with .45 Colt cases and had no extraction problems and then moved it into the Casull cases.

Good luck.

[454PB]

No, I haven't used Lee alox with .454 loads, although I have used it for other calibers. I own four .454's and two .45 Colts, so any lower velocity loads are loaded in the .45 Colts. My purpose in replying to your question was to address the possible difficulties in getting heavy cast boolits to feed in the model 92. I don't think I've fired any loads below about 1200 fps. in my Puma model 92, so I can't address stability problems at sub sonic velocity.

I have used HS6 (hodgdon powder) in my .454's, but again, not at low velocities.

[robinsroost]

I do not have a .454 but I do have a model 94 Winchester .45 Colt, AE, lever action. My favorite load for it is a 255 grain Lee RNFP over Clays or Trail Boss. It is accurate to 100 yards in my Winchester or my 5 1/2" Ruger SBH.

[rbuck351]

I have a 454 puma and I'm shooting the Lee 300gr cast but with a case full of Lilgun for about 2000fps. It shoots good but I don't know if it will stabilize at subsonic speeds. Lyman shows a 325gr with a starting load of 11.3 grs of Unique in a 6" barrel. If limited to Hodgedon powder I would probably use Universal clays at about 10grs to start. It performs about like Unique and has a wide range of useability. It should be able to push the 300gr up to about supersonic without issues. If the 300gr won't stabilize I would use a boolit of around 250/270 gr and load up to 1150 which should take deer out nicely.