OutdoorMD wrote:HPS tried to do a search on here for "454" and for some reason my search comes up with zero results. None of the posts on the 454 in the first 20 pages (and there were only a few) discussed this so thought I would post.
I just figured out there is actually a tool I can use to add a "Admin/Moderator" message so here it is.
[mod="Ranch Dog"]There is a bit of logic to a search engine. 454 is probably too common a word to return a result just like "the" or any other short word. I tried "454 Casull, " and the search engine returned 1,241 posts with the two words.[/mod]
Now to rifle business. I cast a bullet of my design for my 454, a 330-grain round, flat nose, and the only thing there was a problem with was cartridge feed. Whoever put this rifle together did an awful job. At my expense, I was able to purchase new cartridge guides (both left & right) and dressed the fit myself. The assembler had taken to much metal off of them and had made that cut too far forward. A rookie mistake.
This past year, I was prepping my rifle for a plains mule deer hunt and had a case separation that caused me to switch the rifle out with my Rossi Rio Grande chambered in 45-70 Govt. I was short on time and didn't want another failure in the field. This was with one-time reload on Starline brass. I'm pitching that bullet out of the barrel at 58K to 60K with Lil'Gun, a powder not known for its manners, and think it might have been a failure related to pressure. One-tenth of a grain can make a huge difference with this powder at these pressures, but the velocity is worth pushing as I had to plan on a 200-yard shot.
I had shot about 15 cartridges that morning before the separation, and when I went back and looked at the spent brass, I found another that should have done the same, so the incidence given the number was too high to take the rifle on the extended hunt.
The rifle is tight, and the spent brass looks good, so it is a bit of a puzzle. I do have pressure trace equipment, so once the ranch chores are past spring, I will do the load work with a strain gauge on the barrel so I can see what is going on.
I do wish that Rossi had used the SAAMI spec 1:24 twist rather than the 1:30 across all the models of 92; 357 Mag through 480 Ruger. Heck, as a hunter chunking heavy cast bullets, I would have been plum happy with a 1:20 for all the barrels. Having that the Rio Grande, the difference I see between the two cartridges is accuracy. The 45-70 Govt's 1:20 is better at spitting bullets downrange than the 92. In that, the rifles weigh the same; I honestly have never been able to make a case for the 454 over the 45-70.
My rifle is configured as a "scout".
