# SRH 44magnum or 454cas for hunting???



## bloodhound689

Looking for opinions between these two guns for hunting deer and possibly elk. I wont be shooting anything over 100 yards. For handgun I would like to keep it under 75 yards. A couple questions I have are.....

-Is the recoil managable in the 454? I do reload so I can reduce if I need to. 
I am new to the big bore handgun. I shoot heavy 357 and 45acp loads 
regularly.

- Is one more accurate then the other in the super redhawk?

- Who is happy, Who is not with their super redhawks and why?

I am going to get one, Just don't know which one??

Thanks for your opinions
Tom


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## Charlie

I've never shot a 454 so I can't comment. But I love my .45 Colt (I also like my .44 mag) 'cause with a big ole' Ruger, you can load the .45 Colt up just like a stout .44 mag. So the Redhawk would give you the best of both.....45 Colt and 454. IMHO:smt033


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## Baldy

Around here Deer and hogs. It don't take a big banger to kill either one of them. I got a .44 S&W I am going to use for that. Now I would say you might want something with a little more kick on an Elk but I don't know for sure. I think the Ruger Redhawk is a great choice for a gun. Good hunting.


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## Blkhawk73

The .44 will do the job so the .454 will just beat you up more during practice. I prefer not to get beat up shooting. 
Only thing I'd definately chnageis the platform. Most shots would be SA anyways. Have the Blackhawks/SBH's been considered?


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## bloodhound689

Thanks for your opinions guys.. I havent really thought about the blackhawk... What would be considered a good effective range for the 44 mag?


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## Baldy

I perfer to stay with in 50yds to 75yds. I like to stay under 100yds with a rifle. Good luck.


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## bloodhound689

I've only gotten 3 deer in my life and I don't think any of them was furthar then 50 or 60.. Its been a long time since I have been hunting. Was planning a trip this Oct... It will have to wait until next Oct. Due to my daughter being born..... any other reason and I would probably be upset....


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## MichaelT.

Have you considered the .480 Ruger in a SRH. I own one. Recoil is between the .454 C and the .44 Mag. Holds 875 ft/lbs @ 100 yds. SOmething to think about...


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## big dutchman

my dad hunts both deer and elk with his 454 SRH. i have put alot of rounds through it over the last few years too. the 454 does have a bite to it, but that is both in recoil and in down range power. he practices alot with the 45 long colt rounds during the off season, and then steps it up to the full power 454 as it gets closer to hunting season. i have taken deer with my s&w 44mag, but don't know how it would work on elk. i say try out the 454 at a range and see how it feels for you. like you said, you can always tame down the loads by reloading your own


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## Beginner's Luck

I will add one more caliber to the mix. You might consider the 460 S&W. It will shoot the big 460 when you need it (elk), and will shoot the 454 (deer and hogs), as well as the 45 Long Colt. Cowboy loads in 45LC are fantastic fun in a big revolver. The size of the gun does is probably the most limiting factor. That S&W is one big, heavy monster. The S&W 460 does not have as much recoil as most people think, but it is still a massive explosion. To me, the porting on the S&W 460 made the recoil fell less than the unported Ruger 454 SRH.


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## bloodhound689

I didnt know 460 was interchangable with those other calibers.... Well, I really did value all of your opinions but I ended up getting a GP100 and a 22 conversion kit for my Kimber. I decided that I need some more practice before I go deer hunting with a handgun...... Ill tell you what though... the balistics on them 460s are no joke.....


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## Blkhawk73

I'm thinking you made the right choice. :smt023 Too many jump the gun (pun intended) and go big too quickly. get the fundementals down securely with the .22 and .38's and .357's and then progress to the larger stuff. Not a bad thing at all to hold off.


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## neophyte

*.44*

bloodhound69: Sir; my vote will be 
Super Redhawk .44 blackhawk .44 and virtually any other .44 handgun.
Two [2] reasons. 
1. worst case situation [forgot the bullets, ran out of bullets]:smt083
2. I like the .44 and what I can accomplish with it.
3. with a moniker like bloodhound69: sir the .44 will fit:smt023

About any country store will carry the .44 ; any of the bigger loads [around here] will only be found in a larger city.

Hope this doesn't add to the confusion.:mrgreen:


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## DJ Niner

Another (similar) thread with some choices and reasoning here:
http://www.handgunforum.net/showthread.php?t=9610


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## Guest

Previously mentioned 480 Ruger here is a test from Jeff Quinn:

http://www.gunblast.com/480_Ruger.htm

Enjoy the GP. I own one and it is a shooter and will handle at or near max loads all day. If you get to the point where you are comfortable with your accuracy to 50 yards with the GP then you could go after Whitetail with that. I would use 180 grain loads for deer.


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## billt

I couldn't make up my mind, so I bought both. Bill T.


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## mikeg

You can shoot 45 Colt in the 454. I drive 300 grainers out of my 4 inch 45 Colt Redhawk @ 1279 fps. This load is much hotter than anything I shoot out of my S&W 629 44 mag, and the 44 mag beats me up much more than the 45 Colt. The 44 mag has a sharp nasty recoil, not so the 45 Colt.

So my vote is the 454.

Mike G.


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## Taurus_9mm

Between the two, my preference would be for the .44 Magnum; it has enough 'oomph' to get the job done. :smt1099


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## 454PB

If you were hunting deer or other animals under about 400 pounds, I'd agree that the .44 will knock the snot out of them. Elk are extremely tough animals, and can weigh 800 pounds. 

For the handloader, the .454 Casull can be loaded down to equal hot .44 specials if you so desire. It takes a lot of shooting practice to master the recoil of full tilt .454 loads, so the down loading should be used for practice and use on lighter game. The .44 magnum can not be loaded to equal the .454 Casull. 

I voted .454 Casull, even though I also own 5 .44 magnums.


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## TOF

I have taken a number of Elk with Rifle and with a Recurve Bow with 2 blade Broadhead. All I shot at or released an arrow at went down and have been eaten by my family and I. Using Bow hunting tactics I would not hesitate to take an Elk with a hot .357 load or greater if legal in your state. Many of you may disagree but that is my opinion.

The hunt is much more invigorating if you go with the intent of getting within spitting distance of your target. After standing 3 feet from a live fully grown Bull Elk I don't want to hunt them with a rifle anymore.

As usual if you hit the correct spot desired results will occur.

Enjoy your hunt.

:smt1099


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## batmann

IMHO most, if not all shooters will find the .44Mag about as much handgun as they want to shoot. I have talked to many .454 owners and most of them wish they had bought a .44M.
When I bought my .44M Alaskan, they had 2 used .454 Alaskan's. If you are serious about a .454, try to shoot one first.


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## DevilsJohnson

I just got the 44. I thought about the 454 but remembered the recoil...lol
Here's mine


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## denner

DJ Niner said:


> Another (similar) thread with some choices and reasoning here:
> Large Caliber Revolver?


I agree with DJ Niner 110%. I would venture to say you could hunt anything in North America and most African game except perhaps the big 5, of course using the right loading for the job. Very versatile round. I promise you with the right loading it will take elk up to 50 yards. "When loaded to its maximum and with heavy, deeply penetrating bullets, the .44 Magnum cartridge is suitable for short-range hunting of all North American game-though at the cost of much recoil and muzzle flash, when fired in handguns. In carbines and rifles, these are non-factor.[6] Quote from Wikipediia.


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## Capt Rick Hiott

Get the 454,,,,You will be glad you did!


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## bowfishn

I had a 454 in a Ruger SRH with a 9.5" barrel a few years back. It was scoped and shot real well with 32.5 grains of h110 behind a Mountain molds 310gr lead gas checked bullet with a wide flat nose.(over 1700 fps) My youngest Daughter who was 18 at the time wanted to shoot it and didn't think it was that bad to shoot, of coarse she had nothing to compare it to because it was her first handgun she ever shot.
I sold it and all the loading and casting equipment a year after that to put money to put into a business I had started. Last year I bought another 9.5" SRH this time in the 44 mag the caliber that I used to hunt with in the late 70's thru the 90's. I did not see the need in the 454 and components were cheaper for the 44 mag. I shoot a 295 gr. HP I cast from a MP Mould, it will kick this bullet out at a little over 1500 fps and that is more than what I need for any game where I live and I can smash clay pigeons at 200 yards with it the same as the 454 did.


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## Reddog1

Don't know if you bought a big gun or not yet but I have a couple .44 Mags, both S&W 629's, and can say for sure that if you can't kill it with one of these then the .454 isn't going to do you any more good. Learn to shoot accurately with small calibers working your way up to the big bores. I have had many Rugers over the years from Super Blackhawks to Redhawks and have never liked the way they feel in my hands. They are great guns but I like the way my S&W's feel when firing them. The Rugers seem to punish you more in the heavy calibers. Maybe look at a Smith 629 with a scope next time you go shopping. I like the long barrels but that is just a balance thing with me. In any regard, get close and place your shot .......... there should be no doubt where the round is going to hit. Have fun.


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## rgrundy

I love to play with sharp things too and found this on the Cold Steel website. It's a waterbuffalo hunt gone wrong and the Ruger Super Redhawk in action. More controllable than I had thought but I bet Lynn was peeing his pants!

Lynn Thompson Blog : Cold Steel Knives


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## Izzoquazzo

Big fan of the .44 Mag. It will take any North American game animal. I prefer it in the Super Blackhawk. Not a fan of double action .44 magnums. I can get a second shot off just as fast with single action because of the recoil.


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## Gunners_Mate

Friend of mine just purchased the Taurus Raging Bull, and was affraid to fire the .454 cas through it, he picked up some .45 LC and wanted to call that good. I said screw that and bought a box of Hornady 360 grain rounds (the biggest available at the range) and put him in the firing range. Still wouldn't shoot it. It's an intimidating gun and cartridge so I don't blame him. He said I could "deflower" his brand new revolver. I've never fired a revolver before. The grips feel a bit strange to me. I put a round in the drum, clicked it in, rolled it around to where when I cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger it would fire the round. 

Took afew breaths. adjusted my grip on the gun. adjusted again. Took a breath, came up on target, sighted in, bit shakey so I came down, took a couple more breaths, came up and squeezed for dear life. 

Really wasn't too bad. The revolver isn't ported, which would probably help, but I feel like the recoil was very manageable, probably due to the heft of that gun more than anything. Could I shoot it all day? Hell no, but you don't sit around with a 12 gauge shooting 3" slugs all day neither. I could have put 20 rounds through and not be too mad at myself for doing it. 

Don't have anything to say about the 44 mag, still haven't fired one. Just putting in my experience with the casull, it's too be respected and approached properly, but it's really not so bad, personally.


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## BearTaylor

I've owned a Super RedHawk .44 mag since 1991 and it's going to outlast me by a long shot. I do like the fact that you can find ammo to feed it almost anywhere. A deer or a hog won't notice the difference between the .44 mag and a .454 but a big bear might.:mrgreen:


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## Capt Rick Hiott

I have shot and killed with my Taurus Raging Bull 454 many times. The gun is impressive and has a smooth recoil with the ported barrel.
I can even shoot it with one hand.

I dont even know why people compare the two (.44Mag VS the 454 Casull). There not even close. The 454 has twice as much power.
The .44 Mag 240Gr bullet has 971 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle, and only 685 ft/lbs at 100 yards.
The 454 Casull 240Gr bullet has 1923 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle, and 1163 ft/lbs at 100 yards.
Thats a big difference when your hunting!

Here is my T.R.B with 260Gr Magtech @ 1800fps.


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## denner

Buffalo Bore Heavy .44 Magnum +P+ Ammo - 340 gr. L.F.N. - G.C. (1,478 fps/M.E. 1,649 ft. lbs.) Well, I guess it's how you load em? I don't know what your hunting, but if that load can't do it for you within 50 yards, you better work on shot placement.


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## bowfishn

Denner, Buffalo Bore opened my eyes to what the under rated 44 mag was capable of. They also don't load the 454 to it's max preasures because of problems with bullets jumping their crimp and causing cylinder lock up. It is better to have a realiable round than a big banger that might not perform when you need it the most, 
My 454 loads delivered 1976 Ft Lbs at the muzzle and 1363 at 100 yards, my 44 mag loads deliver 1513 FT Lbs at the muzzle and 1053 at 100 yards. Although the 454 has impressive energy it is a far cry from twice what the 44 mag is capable of producing. Both handguns by the way would break clay pigeons at 200 yards with ease.


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## Capt Rick Hiott

Bowfishin,,,,,you said, "Although the 454 has impressive energy it is a far cry from twice what the 44 mag is capable of producing."

Please explain that statement.

The .454 has very little recoil if you ask me....I can shoot my Taurus Raging Bull with one had and not worry about recoil.


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## Montogo

I use a S&W 629, in 44mag for deer hunting. one shot a 45 yards and one shot at around 60 to 70 yards.
Open sites and a 6" barrel love this gun.


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## denner

Capt Rick Hiott said:


> Bowfishin,,,,,you said, "Although the 454 has impressive energy it is a far cry from twice what the 44 mag is capable of producing."
> 
> Please explain that statement.


Rick; I guess what he was trying to say is that unless you can get a .454 Casull up to 3298 Ft lbs at the muzzle, you can't get twice the energy that a .44 magnum +p+ is capable of producing.


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## Montogo

I shoot S&W 629 44 mag, two deer at 45yards and 80 yards,one shot only with open sites, rifle shot at 400 yards for Red Stag, a good hand gun or rifle and practice, Last deer was at 55 yards with a 40 s&w one shot.


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## 1911crazy

Watch hickok45 on you tube shoot the 454 cas then watch the 44 mag video you decide.

If I was younger I'd be all over the Ruger 480.


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## Blackhawkman

I have a Ruger Super Redhawk in 44 mag, 7 1/2 inch barrel, Burris red dot scope. I have a 300 gr Stinger (like an XTP) that has less recoil than my 240 gr LSWC's. I have shot deer & hogs and a black bear. It does the job. There are so many loads for the 44 mag you'll find 1 or 2 that'll kill deer and hogs. JMO but, the 454 will beat you up. you will be 70 years old one day& you wanna take a beatin? Nope, me neither.


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