GasGuzzler Gets a 454

The Rossi Model R92, a lightweight carbine for Cowboy Action, hunting, or plinking! Includes Rossi manufactured Interarms, Navy Arms, and Puma trade names.
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Re: GasGuzzler Gets a 454

Post by Archer »

Reese-Mo wrote:No slight on you, Gas! I can't speak for the others but I was just pointing out the folly of thinking of 454 might be the cure-all. In FL here, we been known to take hogs with three dogs, and a knife. Or maybe a 22 pistol. Wr got big ones, but they are feral domestic has beens.
When somebody decides they want to buy the gun you are selling, because they want more power and it is in fact more power, it is poor form to tell them that maybe it isn't what they really want.
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Re: GasGuzzler Gets a 454

Post by Archer »

jstanfield103 wrote:Glad I read this post, I was interested in getting a 454 but really after all the comments. I think I will stick with my 44 Mags. I have two Marlins and a flat top Ruger revolver in that caliber. SO I guess I really don't need another caliber to load for anyway.
.454 is a capable round. I don't have rifle data on it but it lists ~.44 Magnum rifle velocities with the same weight projectiles out of a 7.5" barrel. So fired out of a rifle length barrel I would expect a gain of several hundred feet per second putting it into striking distance of .444 Marlin or .45-70 power levels but operating at a higher pressure.

I don't care for it mostly because it has been somewhat hard to find and expensive. In NORMAL times I have generally found .45-70 and .444 Marlin to be easier to find and cheaper. In droughts you often can't find .444 Marlin and the price is jacked up because none of the manufacturers run oddball calibers when they are selling all the 9mm and 5.56 they can manufacturer. That leaves guys who use the .444 as a hunting gun paying stupid prices to get their deer ammo.

I also freely admit that I expect it to be more handgun than I want or need. While I expect it to be ok out of a rifle, I know the rifles that have been made for it tend to be rather expensive and small production runs so support and spare parts are limited at best. The only advantage I see for it is a higher capacity out of a lighter (easier to carry but harder kicking) gun than I get from my .45-70s or .444.
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Re: GasGuzzler Gets a 454

Post by GSB4243 »

I have had my 454 for about 8 years now. Outside of a single incident of case separation (a brass, not a rifle problem), I have not had one issue with mine. I tend to use the Hornady ammunition, which, since I do not reload, does make it a little expensive to shoot, but not anymore expensive than other big bores. On average, 454 rounds are a hair over $2.00 a round. That's about a buck a round less expensive than .444 or .45-70 commercial rounds. I hunt deer in northeastern Ohio and have taken one at about 150 yds. Granted deer are not hogs, but I tend to agree that placement is more important. At 150 yds, there is about a 5-7 inch drop with the 240 gr ammo, but inside of 100 yds, it is flat enough, and frankly, on my land, there are not many opportunities for shots in excess of 75 yds. in the woods... For your reference purposes, the 240 gr Hornandy has a muzzle velocity of 2200-2300 fps by chronometer from a 20" barrel.

It definitely goes bang and kicks. It also makes big holes. It is also the match to my Raging Judge Magnum, which was my original deer pistol before Ohio made straight walled cartridge rifles legal. .44 magnum ammo is a little less expensive, but I don't find it any easier to find. I have never hunted with a .44 magnum, but we have shot it against the .454 in the ever accurate water heater at 50 yds test. The .44 goes bang, but the .454 goes BANG. Entrance holes were about the same, but exit wounds on the water heater show a lot more energy with the .454. For what it is worth, the .450 Bushmaster makes the same size holes, in and out, as the .454.

Is it a perfect rifle, I doubt it. However, that said, I wouldn't get rid of mine.
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Re: GasGuzzler Gets a 454

Post by Reese-Mo »

The perfect rifle is the one that you have loaded n handy when you need it!
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Re: GasGuzzler Gets a 454

Post by Archer »

The current price of .444 is double what I've paid for it when I got the gun. That was about 5 years ago and because the ammo had been scarce during the Obama drought and had just come back in stock I bought around 300 rounds and another 300 bullets specifically to reload for that caliber. Before the pandemic the price had increased a little but not much as I was still finding it for $36/20. Likewise .45-70 is right now double the before pandemic price of about $30/20 I was seeing at Walmart or three times the rate it was when I bought my first one about 20 years ago. I don't know for sure how much .454 has jumped after the Chinese bio attack and subsequent Biden election. $2/round seems like what I've seen at the gunshows over the past 3-7 years when I've seen it but I have no idea if it was specialty or run of the mill stuff (as much as any .454 is run of the mill).
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Re: GasGuzzler Gets a 454

Post by Archer »

Reese-Mo wrote:The perfect rifle is the one that you have loaded n handy when you need it!
Yep! That used to be a M1 Garand, usually unloaded, but with a ammo belt full of loaded enbloc clips. Still is from time to time.
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