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Okay, it's time to add another member to the family. So I am looking at the big boys now.

Looking at the 500, 460 and 454 Casul.

Before I spend the extra money on ammo and rentals, thought I would check in here first to see if anyone has experience with any and thoughts abouteach.

Not for everyday carry, except I do have occassion to hunt in bear country. I have read the articals in most of the magizines but would like first hand advice.

I can't confirm it, but I was told by a fellow that just bought one, that you can shoot 45 Long Colt in the 454 Casul.

If so, I would lean toward it for the option to shoot what I would guess to be cheaper and should be "calmer" shooting.

DiverDn wrote:I can't confirm it, but I was told by a fellow that just bought one, that you can shoot 45 Long Colt in the 454 Casul.

If so, I would lean toward it for the option to shoot what I would guess to be cheaper and should be "calmer" shooting.

I believe that is true, I read that somewhere. It would definately be a benefit being able to shoot 45lc for practice.

For big-bore sixguns, please see what they have to say in http://forums.sixgunner.com/.

- Jim

DiverDn wrote:I can't confirm it, but I was told by a fellow that just bought one, that you can shoot 45 Long Colt in the 454 Casul.

And with the .460 (well, at least with S&W's .460), you can shoot the .460 S&W Magnum, .454 Casull or .45 Colt for an ever broader range of choices.

I do not own one but I have fired the 454, 475 and the 500 a few times. They are no doubt the "big boys" of handguns. Here is a little data to help show how big these boys are:
I reload my 44mag on the "warm" side and my 300 gr bullets chrono around 1325 fps. The same bullet in a 454 casull can be loaded to 1700 fps and in the 460 around 2000 fps, which is 51% faster than my hot 44 mag loads.
Even an old man like myself can handle the recoil but I have been shooting 44mag for many years so I am use to recoil. If anyone that has only fired a 9mm or smaller trys one they could be in for quite a shock.
If I was selecting one for "bear country backup" I would probably go with the S&W 500, simply because I believe in the "bigger is better" method.

Quote: " do have occassion to hunt in bear country "

Depends somewhat upon which "bear country" and type/size of bears.

Last fall, looking for a friend's lost knife on a Colorado mountainside, I backtracked all the way to gut pile of a cow elk shot the day before, somewhat expecting to encounter at least one black bear. Thankfully, the bears had not found it yet. (And I did not find the knife.) During the multi-hour trek, even at the gut pile, I did not feel "undergunned" with 7 1/2" SRH in .454.

But in Griz country, I doubt the "confidence" would be there ... Maybe not even with the .50 either! ' Guess ya have probably seen Ruger's "Alaskan" version(s) - which would be a little lighter than mine - which gets to feeling like an anchor sometimes by the end of the day. And those S&W .460 and .500 frames are significantly heavier ...

Some quite interesting "penetration" results here. Like the old .45 Colt and .44 Mags ripping the lips off 30.06 Core Lokt - and hanging tough with the 338s ...

http://www.handloads.com/misc/linebaugh ... .tests.asp

And if ya get one of 'em less than the 500, these "sissy" +P loads available from Double Tap. What I'm actually contemplating for cow elk this year instead of full house .454s ...

http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalo ... a2dda1982e