Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 325gr Hard Cast – Relentless Woods Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 325gr Hard Cast is what the cartridge was invented for. Dick Casull set out to build a revolver round that would take any animal in North America, and a 325 grain LBT flat nose at 1525 fps carrying about 1678 ft-lbs is the modern expression of that idea. It does not expand. It simply keeps going.

• Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 325gr Hard Cast Overview
• 454 Casull Hard Cast Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 325 Grain LBT Lead Flat Nose Bullet Drives So Deep
• Specifications
• Revolvers That Take This Bear Defense Revolver Load

Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 325gr Hard Cast Overview

Buffalo Bore item 7A loads a 325 grain L.B.T. style hard cast lead flat nose to 1525 fps, producing roughly 1678 ft-lbs. Twenty rounds per box.

The 454 Casull runs at around 65,000 psi, roughly double the working pressure of a 44 Magnum and comparable to a modern rifle cartridge. The case is a lengthened 45 Colt, which means a 454 revolver will also chamber and fire 45 Colt, but never the reverse.

As with everything Buffalo Bore publishes, the velocity comes from test firing in over the counter revolvers rather than from a laboratory pressure barrel.

Dick Casull began experimenting in the 1950s by loading 45 Colt cases far beyond their design limits, and eventually built a cartridge and a revolver strong enough to contain what he wanted. Freedom Arms brought it to market in 1983 and SAAMI standardised it in 1998. Every 454 load since has been a variation on his original intent.

454 Casull Hard Cast Ammo Ballistics

At 1525 fps a 325 grain bullet produces about 1678 ft-lbs, from grains times velocity squared divided by 450437. A heavy 44 Magnum load at 1350 fps with a 240 grain bullet makes roughly 971 ft-lbs, so this delivers more than seventy percent more energy.

Momentum matters more for a bullet that does not expand, and here it is 495,625 grain-feet per second. That is the figure that predicts how far this bullet travels through muscle and bone, and it is the reason people carry a 454 in bear country.

Recoil is severe and there is no honest way around that. A 454 Casull hard cast ammo load in a Ruger Super Redhawk or a Freedom Arms Model 83 is manageable with practice; in a lighter gun it is a genuine handful and most shooters are honest about how many rounds they will fire in a session.

Trajectory is flat for a heavy revolver bullet. At 1525 fps the 325 grain LBT lead flat nose bullet shoots usefully out to a hundred yards and beyond, which matters for hunting even if the defensive use case is measured in feet.

Why The 325 Grain LBT Lead Flat Nose Bullet Drives So Deep

The L.B.T. profile was developed by Veral Smith to put the widest practical flat nose on a bullet while keeping enough bearing surface for accuracy. That wide meplat cuts a full diameter hole through whatever it meets rather than parting tissue and letting it close behind.

Cast hard from a lead, tin and antimony alloy, the bullet does not mushroom and does not deform meaningfully against bone. What enters is what exits, and at 325 grains there is a great deal of mass behind that flat face.

This is the entire argument for hard cast over hollow point in bear country. A hollow point that opens to three quarters of an inch may stop in the shoulder muscle of a large animal. A bear defense revolver load has to reach the spine or the vitals from whatever angle the animal presents, and only a non-expanding bullet does that reliably.

What you give up is a wound channel wider than 0.452 inches. Against deer or hogs a good expanding bullet does more visible damage, and Buffalo Bore builds those too. Against anything that can hurt you back, the trade goes the other way.

Buffalo Bore sizes and lubricates these bullets carefully, which keeps leading down even at this velocity. Done properly, 454 Casull hard cast ammo fouls a bore no worse than jacketed ammunition does.

Everything traces back to the projectile. A 325 grain LBT lead flat nose bullet, cast hard and driven fast, is simple, predictable and very difficult to improve on.

Specifications

Revolvers That Take This Bear Defense Revolver Load

This load belongs in a revolver chambered for 454 Casull: the Ruger Super Redhawk and Alaskan, the Freedom Arms Model 83, the Taurus Raging Bull, the Magnum Research BFR and comparable heavy frame guns, along with single shot pistols and rifles in the chambering.

Never attempt to fire 454 Casull ammunition in a 45 Colt revolver. The 454 case is longer and will not chamber in most 45 Colt cylinders, but the pressures involved are so far beyond what a 45 Colt is built for that the point is worth stating plainly.

A 454 Casull revolver will fire 45 Colt happily, which makes practice much cheaper and much kinder on the hands. Many owners shoot 45 Colt at the range and carry maximum penetration handgun ammunition in the woods.

Sight regulation deserves attention. A 325 grain bullet prints well above a lighter load at any given distance, so confirm where this one lands before you rely on it in the field.

Maximum Penetration Handgun Ammunition Availability

This Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 325gr Hard Cast is in stock and ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop. MAG5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer, and orders of this maximum penetration handgun ammunition normally leave within one business day.

For a heavier hard cast bullet see the Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 360gr Hard Cast. For a lead free expanding option try the Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 250gr Barnes XPB, and for the same idea in a milder chambering the Buffalo Bore 44 Mag +P+ 340gr Hard Cast. Tested velocities are published by Buffalo Bore Ammunition.