Anyone got a choice in load for deer for the 454 Casull ?

I think you got them covered not matter what you use.

I use 34.5 gr. of WW 296 with a 260 gr. Nosler Partition HG and a remington small rifle primer.

That's about right!

I wouldn't use a "solid" - aka- full metal jacket... LOL

31 gr. of H110, 260 gr. Nosler Partition and a CCI small rifle primer.

Why???

In the book, “The Ultimate Guide to Handgun Hunting,” the author goes into quite some detail about Lynn Thompson’s Big Five/Dangerous Seven collection. Page 175 goes into some detail about the leopard Mr. Thompson was hunting.

“Standing over the bait, he (the leopard,) gave me a broadside shot. I distinctly remember aiming just behind his shoulder, and having a rock-solid sight picture as I touched off the three-pound trigger. At the shot, the cat leapt from the tree without making a sound. He gave no visible sign of being hit... A careful search didn’t turn up a single drop of blood... After a still wider search of a half an hour, P.H.’s were both convinced I’d had missed... We decided to make one last try, and an even wider loop... ‘Blood!’ All at once, our hearts began to thunder. ‘Great,’ I thought, ‘a wounded leopard to fallow with no idea where or how badly he was hit.”

“...My first and only shot had taken him through the lungs, the 300-grain JSP punching through both sides of the animal. In retrospect, I wished I ‘d used a 260-grain JHP. However, at the time I didn’t want to have to change my sight setting to accommodate the lighter load.”

His 300-grain JSP bullets were his 2nd and 3rd follow up loads for his elephant. And intended for large game. They just punched a hole straight threw the leopard... I think a hard cast would have done a LOT better than the JSP’s he was using, but that is JMHO...

With all that being said, both Mr. Thompson went into great detail to document every load he used on all his game. He was very meticulous about it...

This isn’t “Gospel...” This is just how I feel about it so take it for what is worth... .02... LOL

A wide flat point is indeed terminal and does a lot of damage IME. The Belt Mountain Punch bullet is a case in point of a FMJ bullet that is very good.

The old FA 300 gr JSP acted like a solid. Others (like XTP) do not.

My FAs like the 300 gr bullets. I use XTPs or Gold Dots on smaller animals.

Here is a Gold Dot Speer factory 158 grain that did not expand. The bullet penetrated all 12" of wet pack and 2" into the ground. The only way to tell that it has been fired is by the rifling marks





A few of the other recovered bullets from the test. The following bullets were all fired from a 45 ACP. Notice that the 45 ACP Gold Dot expand beautifully

460,

For whitetails, like Gary and Mike, I shoot 260 grain Nosler Partitions out of one of my Casull's, and 260 gr Federal Fusions out of another. Both are nice medicine for whitetail-sized game. The latter is a relatively light recoiling factory load that should serve you well on PA whitetails.

SCHunter,

Whats your powder choice with the 260 grain Federal Fusions ?

460,

The Fusion is a fairly inexpensive factory load that I had purchased when I first picked up that gun...shot so well I have continued to shoot it in that Casull (10" FA). I still have some left, so I'll shoot 'em until I run out...and maybe longer.

SC,

I got a contact at Federal working on the reloading data for me. I thought I would ask though.

I think that Nosler 260 grain is discontinued.

460

It's tough to beat the WW Partition Gold factory loads. Especially in the Casull. In a rare moment of farsighted vision, I bought a case each of 454 Casull, 357 Mag, and 44 Mag Partition Gold ammo. This was long before the recent rape and pillage of shooters' wallets. The case price at that time was about equal to the current price of three boxes of ammo.

I finally got the recipes for the Fusion 260 bullets for the 454 Casull. Anyone know where I can get some Fusion 260 grain bullets ?

I really like the 280 grn Beartooth WFN for deer size game. With the .370 meplat you get alot of killing power and it penetrates quite well. I load Win 296. You won't find much data on the 280 grn but you can safely look at max loads for 300 grn and tweak it from there. Remember with 296, you pretty much load at or near maximum. I think what is recommended is no less than 5% under max. So a 300 grn max load should be a decent starting load with the 280. Every gun is different but, using Starline brass, I've experienced no pressure issues.

You have to hunt with hardcast lead with wide flat noses to really appreciate the consistency in killing power. If you have an angling shot you'll get the penetration and they seem to penetrate in a straight line.

This works good for blowing up pumpkins also!

Very well said!

The Nosler Partition is my absolute favorite for Whitetails. My load is 32.0 H110. Accuracy is tops, and the performance is amazing.

And Yes, unfortunately the bullet is discontinued. Not sure why that is. I still see the factory load with this bullet on Winchester's web site.

Buy some .45 colt ammo off the shelf, find the most accurate, and you will be fine.