Update on the FTF in a SRH 454
I ordered a new transfer bar and hammer spring and installed them along with two 0.005" shim washers on either side of the hammer in attempts to center it in the frame to reduce sidewall drag (pain to install, but it eventually worked).
I was at the range last night and got it to fire the previous FTF hand loads. I then tried the Hornady factory loads and it fired 2 out of 6. I then ran 40 454 loads with either Remington or federal primers (20 each) and they all went bang on the first shot. I ran a bunch of 45 colt through it and they all went bang to. I did start paying attention to making sure that the cartridges were all seated as deep as possible. There was a tendency for them to hang up a little even though I had cleaned the cylinder (very different experience from my GP100). It's working a lot better then before, but I don't want a gun that won't shoot factory loads. I'll collect some more factory loads and give them a try before messing around more.