.454 Casull

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.454 Casull

A .454 Casull full metal jacket round.
Type Handgun
Place of origin United States
Production history
Designer Dick Casull, Jack Fullmer
Designed 1958
Specifications
Parent case .45 Colt
Case type Rimmed straight
Bullet diameter .452 in (11.5 mm)
Neck diameter .480 in (12.2 mm)
Base diameter .480 in (12.2 mm)
Rim diameter .512 in (13.0 mm)
Rim thickness .057 in (1.4 mm)
Case length 1.383 in (35.1 mm)
Overall length 1.77 in (45 mm)
Primer type Boxer Small rifle
Ballistic performance
Bullet weight/type Velocity Energy
240 gr (16 g) XTP JHP 1,900 ft/s (580 m/s) 1,923 ft·lbf (2,607 J)
300 gr (19 g) XTP JHP 1,650 ft/s (500 m/s) 1,814 ft·lbf (2,459 J)
335 gr (22 g) WFNGC HC 1,600 ft/s (490 m/s) 1,904 ft·lbf (2,581 J)
360 gr (23 g) WFNGC HC 1,500 ft/s (460 m/s) 1,800 ft·lbf (2,400 J)
400 gr (26 g) WFNGC HC 1,400 ft/s (430 m/s) 1,741 ft·lbf (2,360 J)
Test barrel length: 7.5 in
Source(s): Hornady [1] DoubleTap[2]

The .454 Casull (/kə'sul/) is a firearm cartridge, developed in 1957 by Dick Casull and Jack Fullmer.[3]

Ruger began chambering its Super Redhawk in this caliber in 1997 and Taurus followed with the Raging Bull model in 1998 and the Taurus Raging Judge Magnum in 2010.

History

It was first announced in November 1959 by Guns & Ammo magazine. The basic design was a lengthened and structurally improved .45 Colt case. .45 Schofield and .45 Colt cartridges can fit into the .454's chambers, but not the other way around because of the lengthened case (very similar to the way .38 Special cartridges can fit into the longer chambers of a .357 Magnum and .44 Special cartridges can fit into the longer chambers of a .44 Magnum).[3]

Note: the .454 Casull cartridge was first offered in the near-custom Freedom Arms revolver, and is still available in that gun. Later , Ruger and Taurus began to produce revolvers in the .454 Casull cartridge.

Specifications

The new Casull round uses a small rifle primer rather than a pistol primer, because it develops extremely high chamber pressures of over 60,000 CUP (copper units of pressure) (410 MPa), and has a significantly stronger cup than a pistol primer. The .454 Casull is one of the most powerful handgun cartridges in production.[3] It can deliver a 250 grain (16 g) bullet with a muzzle velocity of over 1,900 feet per second (580 m/s), developing more than 2,000 ft-lb (2.7 kJ) of energy. The round is primarily intended for hunting medium-large game, metallic silhouette shooting, and bear protection.

The cartridges were originally loaded with a triplex load of propellants, which gave progressive burning, aided by the rifle primer ignition, resulting in a progressive acceleration of the bullet as it passed up the barrel.[3] The first commercially available revolver chambered in .454 Casull was made by Freedom Arms in 1983 as a five-shot revolver.[3]

Similar Cartridges

The recently introduced .460 Smith and Wesson Magnum cartridge has the same diameter as a .45 Colt or .454 Casull, and therefore revolvers chambered for it will also chamber the .454 Casull, .45 Colt, and .45 Schofield.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Hornady". Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-07-29. 
  2. ↑ "DoubleTap Ammo". Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-07-29. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Barnes, Frank C.; Skinner, Stan (October 20, 2009). Cartridges of the World 12th Edition: A Complete and Illustrated Reference for Over 1500 Cartridges. Krause Publications. p. 568. ISBN 978-0-89689-936-0. 
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