I ran across these this morning ...

[JimT]

From 1986 ... DIck Casull was demonstrating what the 454 Casull would do. Using his personal 454 and pushing a 260 gr. cast bullet, he said this was THE MOST you could get out of the gun and cartridge. He punched holes in a piece of 3/8" steel. The pressures he had these loaded to were so high that he had to lightly oil the cartridge or it would "weld" to the chamber. He said the handgun still had a 40% margin of safety at those pressures! (Nope. I never tried 'em that hot.)

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[AmBraCol]

Were those the same loads you had me try in your pistola?

[JimT]

No sir. I never went to that extreme.

[Rockrat]

Probably nearing 80K psi.!!!

[JimT]

Probably nearing 80K psi.!!!

If I remember correctly it was closer to 90,000 psi.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Wow Jim. I wonder what lubricating the cases does to back pressure on the case head?

[Grizz]

that's amazing. do you have the velocity and alloy hardness info?

[JimT]

that's amazing. do you have the velocity and alloy hardness info?

It's been too many years. I remember he did not use any special alloy or hardening. Velocity had to be around 2000 fps but I cannot remember exactly what.

[JimT]

Wow Jim. I wonder what lubricating the cases does to back pressure on the case head?

It has to increase back-thrust.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

No shortage of barrel on that gun.

[Sixgun]

That’s called “breaking the barriers”., A true experimenter and innovator he was. 1200 fps has always been my personal limit as to enjoyment.

[JimT]

That’s called “breaking the barriers”., A true experimenter and innovator he was. 1200 fps has always been my personal limit as to enjoyment.

These days I mostly don't go that high.

[Walt]

If I remember correctly, the early advertised maximum velocities for a 7 1/2" model 83 in .454 were 1700 fps with a 300 gr cast bullet and 2000 fps with the 270. I suspect the velocity in that penetration test especially with that long barrel was closer to 2400 fps.

When I bought my .454 in the early 90s I ordered Lyman 452628 and 452629 molds from Freedom Arms but ended up shooting the 300 gr bullets almost exclusively. When I did shoot the 270 gr bullet it never exceeded about 1750 fps and the 300 gr never over about 1500 fps.

[AmBraCol]

No sir. I never went to that extreme.

I know. But those 360gr loads were "entertaining" enough!

[JimT]

Those things were horrible! I had a prototype 454 sent to me by a smaller company that was considering building them. They wanted me to test it. I ran some standard FA loads through it and then those heavy Cor-Bon ones. The 3rd shot unscrewed the barrel so violently it sheared the ejector rod housing screw!

I sent it back with my evaluation and never heard from them again.

And never saw another 454 by them ....

[Scott Tschirhart]

That’s called “breaking the barriers”., A true experimenter and innovator he was. 1200 fps has always been my personal limit as to enjoyment.

These days I mostly don't go that high.

950 fps with a 250-270 grain bullet seems to be the sweet spot for me.

[Sixgun]

These days I mostly don't go that high.

I hear ya guys………1200 is my limit……I actually prefer a 32-20 115 cast Lyman @ 800…….and that’s out of a rifle!

[KWK]

If I remember correctly it was closer to 90,000 psi.

Ouch!!

[Walt]

Supposedly they tried blowing them up using a caseful of Bullseye but the guns didn't cooperate. Many a good Ruger .44 mag has been lost due to powder confusion.

[LeverGunner]

That's wild, thanks for sharing. Very interesting discussion.