Rossi 45 Colt or .454 Casull

[huntersdog]

Which would you pick and why? The Rossi 45 Colt or .454 Casull? They both, seem like great carbines. The .454, gives you the option of the extra horsepower, when needed.

[countryroads]

I have two Rossi 92s in 45 Colt. I have the Octagonal case hardened and the round barreled blued. You can load the 45 colt from low recoil plinkers up to something that will hurt your shoulder. 45 Colt is more than adequate for deer, and probably for something bigger, although there is nothing bigger here in WV.

[ddixie884]

Will the .454 take a longer max OAL than the colt? Just wonderin..........

[happie2shoot]

I have a 16'' and a 20'' SS in 454 and 4 revolvers to go
with them, the ones in 454 are tougher , I would not buy
one in 45 colt.

[rondog]

I wouldn't buy one in .454 Casull, or a revolver either. Punishing recoil ain't my thing, and I don't hunt bears.

[happie2shoot]

The one in 454 will shoot 45 colt.

[happie2shoot]

One of my best loads in the 454 is 8gr bullseye with a 250 rnfp,
goes 1025 in a 7.5'' revolver and 1250fps in the 20''.

[RobS]

I have both and of the two the 454 chamber is much closer to spec where as the 45 Colt is rather large and really works brass hard due to the larger chamber. The 45 Colt Rossi is my wife's lever so it doesn't see much more than mouse fart loads so with cut down 454 Casull brass they don't fill the chamber as much when fired however there is more gas blow by etc. I don't know how the current production Rossi's are as it's been quite some time since I purchased mine but the 454 Casull just had tighter specs probably due to the higher pressure associated with the cartridge.

I hardly ever load 454 Casull Max levels but I do often times shoot loads that are in the 40-45K area and then can also load down to the mouse fart loads. I think if I were to do it all over I would go with another 454 lever over the 45 Colt.

[w5pv]

I would go with 454 as you can shoot either in it with good results.

[runfiverun]

I thought I wanted a 454 casull but ended up with 3 in 45 colt.
I figured if I really needed more than the 45 colt I needed a bunch more and just bought a 45/70,


I can't hit a deer with 100% reliability past 150yds or so with open sights anyway, but that extra energy is great if you need to really plow a boolit into the dirt.

[hornady308]

I have the 24" in 45 Colt. The chamber is so large that I can easily seat a round with a .457 bullet, yet I get .4515 when slugging the barrel. I've yet to find a truly accurate load using cast bullets. If I had it to do over again, I'd get the 454 and just use 45 Colt brass (although I HATE the looks of the recoil pad on the 454 model).

[Desertbuck]

The 45 colt is a much more versatile cartridge in my opinion. I never have but I do know with a 92 Rossi you can load them pretty stout, but you can also load them way down.
The fact that the cartridge itself can handle black power or smokeless powder and with little effort you can find a winner load combination is the major selling point for me. And being able to say to your buddies its a 45 colt! Opposed to its a 454 Casull just sounds better.

[robertbank]

Man a 454 would be down right hurtful. I have a 44Mag Rossi and had the curved butt plated removed and a decent recoil pad installed. I cannot imagine how hurtful a 454 would be in the light 92 carbine.

Take Care

Bob

[Lonegun1894]

I had the same option and went with the .45 Colt--twice. When you consider what the .45 Colt can do in a strong action (such as the '92), why would you choose to deal with the extra long chamber and bullet jump, and the less common brass that you're stuck with when using the .454? Besides, all the .454 really is I just a toy for those guys who claim that it is "almost a .45-70". Well, for that type, I have a .45-70 that I can load light when I want to step down to .454 Cassull performance, or I can use the .45 Colt for when I don't need that kind of power.

[tradbear55]

The one in 454 will shoot 45 colt.

Exactly why I would buy the 454 casull.

[Virginia John]

countryroads, I don't know where in WV you live or hunt but believe me there are things to hunt in WV larger than deer. They are big black and furry and a 454 casull or .45LC are nice to have on those occasions. My personal preference is the .45LC. I like to have both the pistol and revolver in the same caliber and the casull is just too big for me.

[snaketail]

Get the .454. Use 45 Colt for most things and .454s for things that need more thump. I sold mine and wish I hadn't. BTW - Rossis are .454 bore - if you load .452 boolits you'll get leading and poor accuracy. Go with .454 boolits. I won a big match in Texas with 255gr boolits over 20gr of 4227.

Makes a great hog gun too.

[northmn]

I have a 357 Rossi which has nothing to do with this discussion except that I also hand load and prefer the 357 cases even with lighter small game loads. While I tend to lean towards most arguments that if you want 45-70 performance get a 45-70 I also do not like seeing the 45 Colt loaded as hot as some load it as those cartridges could find their way into use by a pistol like a peacemaker that is not intended for that use and would probably shake my smaller framed Ruger loose. For general use not associated with SAA matches etc the 454 would make sense as a good choice if one hand loads. Just use 454 brass and load it like you want it. Factory loads might hurt.

DP

[osteodoc08]

454 Casull. You can always use 45 colt loads or even throttle back the 454 loads if needed. You can't throttle up the 45 colt loads to 454 Casull max levels and be safe.

Its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

[Speedo66]

There seems to be quite a price differential on several sales sites between the .454 and the .45 Rossi's. Same for the ammo. If I had no use for a .454, I wouldn't spend the extra money for something I didn't need. Put the additional cash into something you can actually use, like more .45 ammo.