.454 Casull

The .454 Casull (/kə'sul/) is a firearm cartridge, developed in 1957 by Dick Casull and Jack Fullmer.

Ruger began chambering its Super Redhawk in this caliber in 1997 and Taurus followed with the Raging Bull model in 1998 and the Taurus Raging Judge Magnum in 2010.

History
It was first announced in November 1959 by Guns & Ammo magazine. The basic design was a lengthened and structurally improved .45 Colt case. .45 Schofield and .45 Colt cartridges can fit into the .454's chambers, but not the other way around because of the lengthened case (very similar to the way .38 Special cartridges can fit into the longer chambers of a .357 Magnum and .44 Special cartridges can fit into the longer chambers of a .44 Magnum).

Note: the .454 Casull cartridge was first offered in the near-custom Freedom Arms revolver, and is still available in that gun. Later, Ruger and Taurus began to produce revolvers in the .454 Casull artridge.

Specifications
The new Casull round uses a small rifle primer rather than a pistol primer, because it develops extremely high chamber pressures of over 60,000 CUP (copper units of pressure) (410 MPa), and has a significantly stronger cup than a pistol primer. The .454 Casull is one of the most powerful handgun cartridges in production. It can deliver a 250 grain (16 g) bullet with a muzzle velocity of over 1,900 feet per second (580 m/s), developing more than 2,000 ft-lb (2.7 kJ) of energy, although energy levels from common .454 revolvers with 7–8 inch barrels are typically somewhat lower (1,600–1,700 ft·lbf). The round is primarily intended for hunting medium game, metallic silhouette shooting and predator defense.

The cartridges were originally loaded with a triplex load of propellants, which gave progressive burning, aided by the rifle primer ignition, resulting in a progressive acceleration of the bullet as it passed up the barrel. The first commercially available revolver chambered in .454 Casull was made by Freedom Arms in 1983 as a five-shot revolver.

Similar Cartridges
The recently introduced .460 Smith and Wesson Magnum cartridge has the same diameter as a .45 Colt or .454 Casull, and therefore revolvers chambered for it will also chamber the .454 Casull, .45 Colt, and .45 Schofield.