Was shooting my SRH 454 with some friends the other day using Hornady 300gr xtp factory stuff. I fired 5 rounds and unloaded the gun and noticed on the last round that the bullet was pulled out from the case far enough to see the entire crimping groove. Makes me not want to shoot that stuff no more.

Johnny,


I have a Ruger Redhawk in 45 Colt and a Super Redhawk in 454 Casull.

I also shot the same ammo, 454 Casull with 300 grain XTP, in the last week. I had no problem them jumping crimp. I actually am using the empty brass to do test loads now. I crushed two of the cases on a mockup shell before achieving adequate crimping.

Although I have not had my bullets jumping crimp, its always a possiblity, and its tough to get enough crimp with the seating die without crushing the case wall. I purchased a Lee Crimping Die to avoid the bullets from jumping crimp.

If you shooting factory loads, I definitely would contact Hornady about the problem.

The 454 is loaded to such high velocities that the powder is very compressed and that is the problem with the crimp jumps.

Slowing them down a tad and alleviating the heavy compression will go a long way to eliminating crimp jump

Yup, this is precisely why Buffalo Bore doesn't load their 360 grain load that hot. There is way too much emphasis on velocity with most commercial Casull ammo.

Agreed!

To be a bit more accurate this is from the Buffalo Bore site:

"The .454 Casull is one cartridge that Buffalo Bore Ammunition does not load to it's full pressure limit. When loaded to it's full pressure potential the .454 Casull can become unreliable and unpleasant to shoot. At upper pressure levels, heavy bullets tend to jump crimp - tying up the cylinder. (wouldn't this be great in an emergency) Also, fired brass can stick in the chambers.

Buffalo Bore Ammunition feels that a 360 gr. bullet (or 325 gr. bullet at 1525 fps) at 1425 fps is still very powerful, comfortable to shoot, and TOTALLY RELIABLE. At these levels, these bullets give up nothing in killing performance. "

And Tim Sundles is spot on in my opinion.

Also forgot to mention that one of the cases had a double strike on the primer, dont know how that happened.

I have shot the 454 for about 10 years now and I've never had a slug jump crimp. It could happen tomorrow but I doubt it. What I found worked best for me was seating and crimping in two steps with RCBS dies. You can achieve the same style crimp that FA had on the ammo when they sold it in my opinion. I seat all of them and then come back and work the die down, obviously move the seating stem up before doing this, and keep easing in on the crimp until you get exactly what you want. No crushed cases and no crimps getting jumped. My 260 grain load runs out at over 1900 at the muzzle and the 300s are about 1625 so my loads are not weak by any means but I've never had an issue with crimp jumps. just my .02 GS

That's not uncommon with hard kicking double actions. It's called double tap.

Here is good article on this subject: http://www.scopedin.com/articles/equipment-tests/454-casull-cartridge-crimp-creep/

Interesting test -- thanks for posting the link.

Two revolvers we have found that have the worst bullet pull are the .454 and .50 Alaskan. Brass holding limits are exceeded from recoil. Heavier guns will help.
Strange as it seems, bullets have a lot of inertia and kind of want to stay in place as the gun recoils too fiercely, brass can only hold so tight so don't think super crimps help much.
Reduce recoil with lighter loads or a heavier gun and it will help.

.45 Colt anyone?

So aside from locking up your gun if the bullet comes out to far, i'm sure this efects accuracy and whatnot. I can always shoot it single shot...lol.

I find that the size die and expander are a factor too--I find that the lee dies I have have better bullet tension than the RCBS group. The RCBS die do not move the brass as much but they do not seem to hold the bullets as tight--
Just another note I have always used the roll crimp and not the heavy crimp die the only load I ever had an issue with was a very hot 300XTP in the 454

My 45 colts and 44's have never been an issue

I have RCBS dies and just got the Lee Crimping die for my 454 today. Its nice to know you have a good crimp without worrying about crushing the shell wall.