What kind of accuracy do our 454 hunters get with their revolver? I have a BFR revolver and the average group I get is about 2 1/2 at 50 yds. off the bench. I tried 2 different powders and 5 different bullets. I tried 3 different kind of primers and even bought new scope rings( 3 ring set ) The only thing I haven't tried yet is a different scope. I have another scope to try for it. I'm stumped.

Have you slugged the barrel and measured the cylinder throats?

+ 1 -- you really should slug it.

I have to agree with checking the throats. on the best of days my f/a will shoot 2"-3" at 100 with a 2x7 burris. however i only use the scope for load development. 300xtp mag over 30gr h110 with cci sr mag primers

My FA, if I do my part, will shoot one ragged hole at 50 yards. It'll do it with factory pills or hand rolled.

No I have not checked the cylinder throats or slugged the bl. How do you slug the bl. and what is the purpose of it? What is the purpose of checking the throats?

In my Ruger 45 Colts the bore diameter is .451. The cast boolit needs to be .001 larger for best accuracy, so, .452. Which means the cylinder throats should be .4525 so the boolit is guided nicely into the forcing cone and not sized down by to tight of a throat. Ruger 45 throats can be all over the place depending on how old the gun is. I'm not sure about the BFR'S. Anyway, my RH throats were about .4515 and the SBH were .451 with one being about .450 if I remember right. This means the .452 boolit was getting sized down before entering the barrel and then the shaved of lead gets blasted down the barrel. This results in poorer accuracy and leading, which of course is not desirable either.

I had one guns throats reamed to .4525 and did the other one myself. Here are before and after pics of the groups with the same load.

Before


After


And with the 4 inch Redhawk, same load

Before:


After:

To slug the bore you simply run a patch of oil down it and then tap a soft lead ball or egg sinker down the bore and measure it. Pull the cylinder out first obviously. I found these egg sinkers that are perfect for a 45. Set it on the barrel, start tapping it with a hammer until it gets mostly in the barrel, then I used a shotgun cleaning rod to tap it through the rest of the way. I wrapped some tape around the rod in a few spots to keep it from touching the rifling. I've done my rugers and my 454 levergun this way.

Sinker before and after the slugging

Snyd......very nice illustration! Thanks.

snyd, i realy realy want one of those 45lc bisley blackhawk hunters. i have a one with the std grip frame but not a bisly. i thought about swapping the grip frame from my bisly convertable but decided against it.

have you found the newer rugers to have tight throats. with a pin gage mine are about .0005 to .0001 tight. they seem to shoot well enough but i may buy a reamer and do them.

I don't have a pin gauge, but as near as I could tell the Redhawk was .4515 in all 6. Either way, I could not push a .452 boolit through the cylinder. They were all consistent though. It is a 2009 gun. I have also read that with the newer (I don't know how new) Redhawks and maybe all Rugers, that they changed the way they drill the cylinders so they all get the same size hole. I reamed the throats in the SBH myself and I had to used the .451 collet on the reamer in all but one throat which I had to use .450. It's a 2005 gun.

If you want to ream them for cheap get in on the reamer that is going around over at rugerforum.com in the classified forum. You buy it, use it and then sell it to the next guy in line for the same price. Same thing is going on with a forcing cone reamer.

I just happened to fall into a deal on the Bisley 45Colt Hunter locally here in Alaska. I couldn't believe there was one in the state, let alone in my own town! I was actually looking for an Accusport Bisley but couldn't pass this one up. They only made 279 of them and I think just over 600 of yours. I would'nt mess with it if I were you. Sometimes you see the bisleys on gunbroker for about $800.

OK, newbie question.

I know what you are saying works, because you guys have actually proven it in practice (measuring/slugging/reaming, etc.).

Why then does Ruger continue to make undersized throats vs. the barrel they fit on the gun? Is this an economics thing? Does it only apply to shooting cast bullets? Do the same conditions/solutions apply for jacketed bullets?

I have shot 2 1/2 groups at 110 yards from my SRH with a 4 x scope when I first got it.ONly took two months to destroy that scope so now she wears an Ultradot and with that setup she will shoot 3-4 inch groups at 150 yards.

All but custom guns are a compromise. And, yes, this typically applies to cast boolits.

Can't argue with that, John! That's good shooting!

snyd, is this what u were looking for?

Yup. Still on my list. It would be a nice "tweener". It'd fall tween the 4" RH and 7.5 SBH. Or, a guy here in town had/has a stainless vaquero bisley. One of the first ones so it can handle the Ruger only loads. 4 5/8 barrel. But, I'm not in a position to buy yet.

Back to the original post.

What are you using for primers and powder? Are you trimming to same length, good neck tension and good tight consistent crimp?

I shoot the Hornady 240 xtp mags. out of my 454. The bullet dia. is 452 and the cylinder throats are .455 to .456. So now what?

what did you mesure the throats with?

dial calipers

Whitworth,I took the 110yard target into the gun shop that my buddy runs and gave him the target because we had some fella's that swore Rugers aren't as accurate as Smiths.Most of us know that often times its the shooter not the gun and thats not saying anything prideful of myself because I have days I can't hit the broadside of a barn but anyway my SRH is plenty accurate for deer as long as I do my part.

I'd shoot heavier bullets. 300-395gr. The nice thing about the 454 is case capacity allowing you to shoot heavier bullets and still have room for more efficient powder burn. Try some H110 or N110 over magnum primers with a good tight crimp. Load em to about 1300-1400 fps.

The one I built for myself on a Blackhawk frame will shoot one hole 5 shot groups at 25yds with the discontinued Winchester 300gr sp ammo but I'm still looking for a handload it likes.

Not good. I have never seen a BFR out of specs.
Hand loading the .454 is the problem. It is the primer. Cut down some .460 brass and use the Fed 155 primer so you can work loads and the gun will really shoot. The stinking SR primer is a P.O.C!