Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 250gr Barnes XPB – Elite Lead Free Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 250gr Barnes XPB is the hunting load in the family. A 250 grain solid copper hollow point at 1750 fps carries about 1700 ft-lbs, the highest energy figure in Buffalo Bore’s 454 catalogue, and unlike the heavy hard cast loads it is built to open. Buffalo Bore lists it for deer and black bear.

• Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 250gr Barnes XPB Overview
• Lead Free 454 Casull Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 250 Grain Solid Copper XPB Bullet Holds Together
• Specifications
• Revolvers That Take This Deer And Black Bear Handgun Load

Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 250gr Barnes XPB Overview

Buffalo Bore item 7D is part of their Buffalo-Barnes lead free line. The 250 grain Barnes XPB runs 1750 fps for roughly 1700 ft-lbs. Twenty rounds per box.

The 454 Casull operates at around 65,000 psi, close to double a 44 Magnum. It is a lengthened 45 Colt case, so a 454 revolver will fire 45 Colt without difficulty while a 45 Colt revolver must never be fed a 454 round.

This is the lightest and fastest of the three 454 loads Buffalo Bore builds, and the only one that expands. That is not a lesser position in the catalogue; it is a different job.

Dick Casull spent the 1950s loading 45 Colt cases far beyond their design limits until he had a cartridge and a revolver strong enough to hold what he wanted. Freedom Arms brought it to market in 1983 and SAAMI standardised it in 1998, and the round has been the benchmark for serious revolver power ever since.

Lead Free 454 Casull Ammo Ballistics

At 1750 fps a 250 grain bullet produces about 1700 ft-lbs, from grains times velocity squared divided by 450437. That edges out both the 325 grain at 1678 and the 360 grain at 1623, so the lightest bullet in the family carries the most energy.

Momentum runs the other way, at 437,500 grain-feet per second against 513,000 for the 360 grain. For a bullet that expands, that is the correct trade: energy spent opening a wide channel is energy doing work rather than exiting the far side.

Recoil is lighter than the heavy cast loads but nobody would call it mild. A 454 Casull is a 454 Casull, and lead free 454 Casull ammo at 1750 fps still demands a firm grip and a heavy revolver.

Trajectory is the flattest in the family. At 1750 fps a 250 grain solid copper XPB bullet shoots usefully past a hundred yards, which extends what a handgun hunter can honestly attempt.

Why The 250 Grain Solid Copper XPB Bullet Holds Together

The Barnes XPB is turned from solid copper bar stock. There is no lead core and no jacket, which means no interface that can come apart under the stress of a 65,000 psi cartridge arriving at 1750 fps. The hollow nose peels back into four petals that stay attached to the shank.

Weight retention typically runs ninety five percent or better. A conventional cup and core bullet at this velocity can lose a third of its mass to fragmentation, and those fragments do not help the bullet reach anything.

Copper is less dense than lead, so a 250 grain XPB is physically longer than a 250 grain lead bullet. Barnes machines relief grooves into the shank to manage that extra bearing surface, which keeps pressure sensible and bore fouling low.

The result is the combination most bullet designs cannot deliver at once: wide reliable expansion and penetration that rivals a non-expanding bullet of similar weight. For deer and black bear that is very close to ideal.

Accuracy is generally excellent. Machined bullets vary far less in weight and concentricity than cast or swaged ones, and this is often the most accurate load in a given 454 revolver.

It all returns to construction. A 250 grain solid copper XPB bullet has nothing inside it that can separate, and that one fact is what makes everything else about the load work.

Specifications

Revolvers That Take This Deer And Black Bear Handgun 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 similar heavy frame guns, plus single shot pistols and rifles in the chambering.

It is the obvious pick if you hunt where lead ammunition is restricted. California has required non lead ammunition for hunting statewide since 2019, and other jurisdictions restrict it in specific areas, but you are not giving up performance to comply.

A 454 revolver also fires 45 Colt, which makes practice far cheaper and much easier on the hands. Shoot 45 Colt at the range and carry fast expanding big bore revolver ammunition when it matters.

Sight regulation deserves a check. A deer and black bear handgun load at 250 grains prints considerably lower than the 360 grain hard cast at the same distance, so zero with what you plan to hunt with.

Fast Expanding Big Bore Revolver Ammunition Availability

This Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 250gr Barnes XPB is in stock and ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop. MAG5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer, and orders of this fast expanding big bore revolver ammunition normally leave within one business day.

For non-expanding penetration instead, see the Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 325gr Hard Cast or the heavier Buffalo Bore 454 Casull 360gr Hard Cast. The same Barnes bullet in a milder chambering is the Buffalo Bore 44 Mag 200gr Barnes XPB. Tested velocities are published by Buffalo Bore Ammunition.