Hey guys I am in a perdicument yet again. Well as of now I have shot 260 grain Speer HPs, 240 grain XTP MAG, and 300 grain XTP MAG out of my freedom arms. I have been looking more and more into hard cast bullets.
I like the higher weights that can be achieved while used them. I just cant decide what to do though. I have only used the 454 for deer hunting and can see that a 340 grain WFN is probably overkill for a deer but I just don't have enough hunting experiance to know. I haven't yet been able to get a deer with a handgun. my main concern is bore leading. I really dont want any of that. I have been looking at beartooth bullets with gas checks.
I just can't decide whether to stick with the jacketed bullets or try the heavyweight cast bullets. Thanks for any suggestions, SS

I personally never cared for anything over 300 grains in the 454. There are some that like them but I don't. The cast ones I use the most are in the 310 range after lube and check. I have had EXCELLENT luck with the XTP mag in the Casull. Just pick one of the ones that you are using currently and get good with it. don't run it as hard as it can because its unneeded and beats on you and the gun more for no reason to me.

I use mainly a 260 and a 300 for deer and everything else in the Casull. You don't need those big heavy slugs buddy

If you decide you want bullets that heavy, buy a 475 Linebaugh

Cast Performance hard cast bullets are great,
but for most critters including deer and bear I personally like a premium jacketed hollow point like the Swift A Frame or Nosler Partition. XPB would be excellent too but haven't played with them yet myself.

I like the partitioned or solid copper styled bullets because there is no guessing game as to whether or not they will give expansion AND penetration while holding together. They work every time

Whatever you use, put it in the pump station and you should be skinning

My personal favorite in the Casull is the 240 gr XTP. Smooth and drops a deer quickly.

Glenn has given some sound advice. There's no whitetail that can handle the strain of a 260 grainer from a 454. My personal favorite is the 260 Nosler partition; if you can find them. As far as cast bullets, or (boolits) as they're sometimes called, I have found any that shoot well in my shock FA's. The jacketed bullets are just too accurate to justify the headache of finding a cast that will shoot; but I no cast expert. Just my 2 cents.

I've taken a lot of deer with the .454. Best performing bullets have neen 260 gr. Speer Mag. HP and 265 gr. Swift HP. Both open up some , do 2- 2 1/2" of internal damage and take deer easily from any angle. Most 300+ gr. bullets expand little and cause less damage than the 260s.

for deer I'd go with the 250gr XTP if you are looking at bear or elk the 240gr or 300gr XTP mag. If you can get any of the Nosler partions or the swift A frames they are both great bullets but expensive. Penetration is not an issue with the 454 and modern jacketed bullets. If you look at my pics and Gregg Richters you'll see Gregg has two bull elk and two mulie bucks as well as his sons buck taken with the 475 I built him and XTPs and to the best of my knowledge he's only recovered one bullet. If you look at my pics there is a bison taken by Ed Folmar with another 475 I built and the same bullet and load. If you just personally like cast better that's one thing but with modern jacketed bullets they will work just fine. I've used the partitions and XTP's on deer and with the exception of a mulie killed with a 357 and winchester partition gold ammo I've never recovered a bullet. The load I'm using in my own 454 I built and the FA I just aquired is the 240gr XTP Mag for everything up to elk and if I ever get a chance to go after moose or grizz I'll just go up to the 300gr XTP Mag if I'm using my 454's. I think Gary has gone to the Speer Deep Curls and has good luck with those.

The main problem with the 250 xtp is it wasn't designed for the pressures that the Casull generates at top end. If you know that and load it accordingly, the 250 is great. But, in the event that you want to really run it, I think te soft enough to lead to a cracked forcing cone down the road. Move to the mag version of the xtp of the FA slug that I prefer or the partition/ AFrame style slugs and you get great performance that can handle the high pressures. If you like the FA slugs, buy wal hat you can now. They aren't making them anymore.

I've wanted to try the partitions for awhile but never got around to it. Now that I've seen James luck with the AFrame, I want to try that one also. Bullet performance appeared to be excellent as we have seen with the partitions over time.

I like to run 250 lead WFN bullets at 1100-1200fps for target shooting and don't see much leading (I cast these from wheel weights and heat treat). For hunting the past two years I've downed deer with the 300gr Speer Gold Dot Deep Curl. Next season I plan to drop down to the 250 XTP. As for its ability to withstand the pressures generated by the Casull, Hornady rates the bullet from 800-1600fps, I'll load it for around 1400fps and call it good.

Well I'm definitely gonna stick with jacketed bullets from your guys recommendations. My next question is how do the 300 grain deep curls perform? I love the 250 grain ones in 45 LC but wondered how the 300 grain stood up to the casulls power?

They worked great. The first deer I downed with the 300GD-DC I had the bullet underloaded and did not get full expansion, that being said at 50 yards it punched clean through at a quartering away shot with quarter size holes including two ribs and buried itself into the ground(he's pictured in the gallery). The second deer was at 20 feet with a hotter charge (~1400fps), it punched through with a golf ball size entry hole (including the shoulder blade), blew the heart in half and again buried itself in the ground. I don't know what powder you use but if you go for the 300GD-DC min speed is 1320 and max is 1630 according to Speer.

i've yet to find a bullet that drops deer quicker than a 240gr xtp mag at 2000fps out of my 10" fa. just shot a 150lb hog with it and the results were beyond impressive. that said, ya can run any of the above recommendations and get great results with them. i'd second the use of a barnes xbp. i just the other day shot a 343 lb hog with it. it's hide was over an inch thick. went thru both shoulder bones, the exit wound on the far shoulder after going through the bone was over an inch in diameter, exit wound in the chest cavity was almost the size of my fist. complete pass through. hog was dead in 3 seconds. traveled 10 feet. i've never had a deer travel 5 yards after being hit by that bullet and i've always only run the federal xbp loads which are the best imho. theyre expensive but they work, penetrate much much better than the gr weight would imply. i've killed buffalo with them.

that said, i use beartooth hardcasts exclusively. ya can go waaaay over 300 grains and be just fine. i use the 340's but don't forget the 280 gr bullet they have. awesome results with that as well. i've had by far more failure with hardcasts than jacketed but i only really use premium expandables and tailor my bullet to the game i'm hunting. if deer, the 240 xtp is fine. large deer/elk, speer deepcurl, a frame, or barnes, and i've never ever had a failure.

that said, i've never had a failure with beartooth bullets. they're awesome.

True, and I might add that my .475 load is a 400 grain XTP at moderate velocity; not max. Even on my big mature bull this year where I intentionally put the XTP through both shoulder blades, it exited.

Now, that said, I have also killed two mature bull elk with my six inch FA .454 using the FA 260 grain factory bullet. Also worked fine; but in my experience with these four revolver kills on big bulls, I definitely prefer the .475 for big elk.

'Nuff said...as I know others will probably want to argue.

For elk, and this isnt arguing, the only sub 300 gr expandable id use is the barnes otherwise its gonna be a deep curl. A 300 gr xtp will work well to and best of all a 300 or 325 gr aframe.

Thanks for your feedback, tradmark. It sounds like you have quite a bit of experience on elk with these bullets.

How many elk have you "nailed" with the revolvers? (or a single shot in that caliber) Just really curious; I really like exchanging personal experiences with those also similarly or more experienced. I certainly realize my limited experiences.

try a 300 grain sierra in your .454. I have used them on many moose, bears and hogs, and they were always the most accurate bullet. they have all exited, so the only recovered bellet I have is one that went thru a very large hog, and my son dug it out of 8" of hard gravel in the trail. it still retained 272 grains of weight, and I could reload it and shoot it again. it just smeared the tip off and made the bullet look like a full wad cutter. (26.0 gns of 2400 with a 300 sierra) [img]http://[/img]

one spike and one small 4x5 and then about 7 cows. used my 475 on one and a 500L on one cow about 8 years ago. used a 420 gr hardcast and a 435 gr hardcast out of the 500.

Nice, tradmark; good going. So, which jacketed bullet would be your "go to" for elk in the .454? And do you have a preferred jaketed bullet for the .475 L?

Can I ask what state you hunt elk in? Your profile has no info.

this is all very interesting to me, keep it coming! you guys have a lot of experience and it is cool to read about your findings

I see where Rod recommends the 250gr XTP in the 454. I took alot of flak on this site for using that bullet at 1700fps on game. You have to remember this was BEFORE the introduction of the XTP Mag bullets. The reload info came from Hornadys 4th Ed. manual and lists 33.4grs of H-110 for 1750fps from a 7 1/2" FA`s 454. The 250gr XTP ,at that velocity, gave excellent results on Mouflon and similar size game and I did not shoot enough of them to cause any damage. Like I said, these where the only bullets available at the time..I still have 25 of them that were loaded on 3/22/2006..This picture is from Hornadys 2006 catalog with a Corsican I shot with a 250gr XTP at 1700+FPS. Thats me and my ram.....

I believe that all .454 owners went through same dilemma – jacketed or hardcast bullets.
My personal belief is that, unlike some “weaker” calibers, .454 has enough potential to carry soft point bullets (African game excluded).
I wanted to use “one size fits all” ammo which means that I need cartridge which will work great on heavy animals (in my case this means up to 600 lbs red deer or heavy weight boars). Medicine which can bring down large deer will definitively stop lighter game, too therefore I choose 300grs only.
Before hunt, I conducted some water test in order to select soft point bullet with (for me) optimum penetration vs. expansion ratio. Medium were 6L plastic bottles (6”x6” base) filled with water.
Sierra Sport Master was extremely though, penetrating 6 bottles with almost zero deformation (mass retention – 100%). I caught bullet at far end of 6th bottle so I would say that total penetration was 35-36” – supreme bullet for following shot, I would say
On the other hand, Speer Gold Dot violently expanded to 0.83” keeping also 100% of it’s weight. Of course, price was penetration cut to half – 3 bottles
Hornady XTP – MAG turned to be good compromise btwn penetration and expansion; this bullet stopped in far end of 5th bottle (29”-30” penetration) while expanding to 0.63” and keeping 92% of initial weight (276grs).
Consequently, I chose XTP MAG as ultimate choice for 1st shot no matter what game I am after for. For the rest of 4 chambers in cylinder I use Sport Master assuming that in case of need for following shot(s) I have to shot at animal which is running away from me so deep penetration is becoming my request number one

Igor, Interesting test. Thanks for your information....

greg, i think the barnes and the swift are the best, the a frame 300 or 325, though i have no probs using xtps or a deep curl. same with the 475 but i'd add the deep curl 475, the cow i shot with the 475 was a hardcast load from a manufacturer and not a reload it broke up on the shoulder and i was lucky to recover the animal. 500l punched a hole, ran a hundred or so. good performance but i'd prefer jacketed till i'm up over 1500lbs or so.

i only use 240-260's for deer and hogs.

btw i hunted the san juans this year, i primarily hunt elk in nm or colorado but i really have shot at ranches in texas for my meat hunts. its year round here, in fact nilgai,eland, elk and buff are on the menu with black bear this year, prolly hit an oryx or two as well. looking forward to my son getting the 500 jrh on game as well.

btw i hunted the san juans this year, i primarily hunt elk in nm or colorado but i really have shot at ranches in texas for my meat hunts. its year round here, in fact nilgai,eland, elk and buff are on the menu with black bear this year, prolly hit an oryx or two as well. looking forward to my son getting the 500 jrh on game as well.

greg, perhaps we can share experiences at SCI this year if you're there, saw ya last year at the FA booth, i was buying a beartracker case then too.

I don't think I will make it this year; getting ready and saving up my pennies for January knee replacement surgery where I will be down/not working for about 3 months.

Being self-employed, I don't get sick leave/pay.

Would definitely like to catch up with you some time, though.

After my last Africa trip I am sold on the Nosler 300gr.Partitions in the my FA 454 10".The good thing is Wildener's still has them in stock.No hoarding please

Bisley

great info

What is going to be the affordable option to the partitions now that they are gone?

A frames are their equal but also equal in price and same with the Barnes stuff. I'd just shoot the XTP's, just with the guys on here they've taken everything up to Asian water buff.