For every one using the 454 casull I have a loading question.

When going for whitetail would it be better to use a lighter bullet say 225grn at 1,700-1,900fps. Or a 300grn bullet at 1,200-1,500fps. I have both bullet weights (Hornady FTX)and wanted some opinions before rolling my own.

Thanks

For whitetail it really won't matter, but I prefer heavier boolits myself in general. I like to get one load that works and stick to it, 300 XTP in 45 cal. The lighter boolit will shoot flatter further but I limit my shots with the wheelgun to 100 yards or so anyway so that doesn't factor in. Load some of both and see which shoots better.

there's not reason not to use the heavier bullets if you're not shooting over 75 yards, but if you're gonna put the work in to be good over 75 yards then there's really no reason not to use the lighter flatter shooting bullets. either double tap 250 grain barnes loads or hornady 240 grain xtps. you'll gain nothing from a 454 on deer using a heavier bullet but those two loads are about as flat a shooting round as one could shoot from a revolver.

if you have an instance, which i have had several times, where a deer steps out on the other side of a draw and you have only a few seconds to shoot it can be hard to tell if it's 100, 90, or 125 yards away, with the lighter loads listed it doesn't matter with the heavier bullets, they can drop outside the vitals in that distance.

Ive been trying to work up a load in my 454 as well and have not had much luck with the 300 gr xtp using h110,Itried some 240s and got 1 inch groups at 25 yds,called Hornady and was surprised when He said the bullet would work well for elk my head thinks not but that was from the horses mouth.I think my 300 gr loads are shifting in the crimp,got a Lee crimp die and got it tight enough it cames over.

I have had the best luck in my f/a with 300 gr xtp over a healthy dose of 110. going to tenn with this setup next month.

I would use the Hornady 240 gr. bullets for whitetail. They shoot flat and have great accuracy out to 100 yds. with my BFR.

I've been using the Hornady 250gr. X.T.P. but in a revolver their made for .45 Colt speeds and will start to erode the forcing cone if pushed past 1600 f.p.s.-per Hornady techs. so I would go with the Hornady 240 X.T.P. mag bullets ,they have a stronger jacket for real Casull speeds but the 250 will work real nice at below 1600,my S.R.H. shoots these at 1520 f.p.s. and they really hammer through whitetails!

That's what I was going to say. Just like shooting archery, know your limitations and git-er-done! LOL

i shot a cow elk 12 years ago with a taurus raging bull at 40 yards on the run away from me with the hornady 240 grain xtp, hit just in front of the hip bone in the right rear hip and ended up in the hide on the left side of the elk's chest just past the midline. elk basically faceplanted forward and kicked a couple times, kicked one more time and expired as i approached. worked well, that was a hornady factory load when they loaded them to 2000fps. had a nice lil mushroom and was intact. i would use it on elk, though i know there's better choices imho, but on deer, nothing else is required and they are an accurate bullet.

if your just after deer or similiar sized animals the lighter XTP bullets are fine but if your going to do alot of hunting larger animals such as bear and elk I'd go to the 300gr XTP Mag. I normally end up with max loads of H110 in all my big magnum calibers. It's always worked for me in performance and accuracy and it works best at max levels so I normally don't have alot of wasted time with load development.

Just a update for those who contributed to this post.

The 300grn FTX are too long to be seated properly in the 454, at least for my SBH (they were meant for a sabot muzzle loader and that's where their going).

And the 225grn FTX at 454 velocities is about the most inaccurate load I have ever encountered, at 25 feet it produced about a 6-8" spread. Reduced down with 9grn of Trail Boss they run about 1,100fps and will maintain their accuracy but did not want to expand when shot into water+newspaper.

Thanks for all the info, and good luck this season.

My previous discussions with Hornady regarding the 225gr. FTX resulted in them telling me that this bullet isn't a good choice for the 454 Casull. I tend to agree. The 240 grain Hornady XTP/HP MAG. tip would be a good selection for your application. I could also recommend the 265 grain Swift A-Frame JHP or the 260 grain Hawk JHP. I personally like the heavier bullets, but for distance - well.... I've also had very good feedback from the 250 grain Barnes XPB/HP loads that we have sold for that application.

I have a load worked up using the Hornady 250 gr. XTP and it shoots about 1 in. at 50 yds. Haven't shot it at 100 yds. yet to see how much it drops. My 240 gr. XTP mag. load for deer shoots the same point of impact at 50 and 100 yds. It's a little hot but still under the max. and very accurate. To make a long story short go with the lighter bullets, speed kills.