[WYpatch]

I hears you can blow out a forcing cone useing softer jacketed bullets in a 454. I happend to find a box of 250xtp`s at wally mart and tried`em out today w/ 15grs of longshot and a cci450. They shot real good but after looking at the frozen dirt mound all I could find were flat pieces of lead and bits of jacket. The book say`s a 250 nos. part. is movin @1550 and I used that data for the xtp. Are the xtp`s too soft to use in the 454? I realy liked this load, it was very clean burning and it had a good punch w/ my alaskan. Think its good to keep use`in it. It would make a good bunny load

 

[Tom W.]

Be very careful believing what you hear. I suppose a forcing cone could crack, but then again there are those that will tell you that cast bullets are harmful to your barrel, too.

 

[WYpatch]

I dont remember where it was I read it but there was some big write-ups about how useing lighter acp bullets could deform at the base and cause erosion in the forcing cone at 454 presure. It sounded pretty real to me so I thought I`de ask about it. I`ve shoot the 40cal 180xtp`s @1200+ and they didnt do what they did w/ my 454 @about 1400. Nobodies ever heard of this forcing cone phenomenon here? I know the 250xtp`s not a acp bullet but it does seem softer than the other 250gr pills. I`ve never found load data for `em, I used the nos. data. I dont mean to sound stupid but this 454 is new to me. Please advise!

 

[WYpatch]

I guess I was a bit paraniod about these bullets, just found some info on the net about them... Thats good, I like `em. I`ll just stay away from them acp bullets.

 

[Tom W.]

Wouldn't a cast bullet be softer than any jacketed bullet? People fire them by the tons from .454 revolvers and pistols.

Your bullet has to go through the cylinder throats before it gets to the forcing cone, which in turn will compress the bullet even farther...
Try this. Take a bullet and see if it will go through a cylinder throat with little or no pressure. Then take the same bullet and see if you can push it through the forcing cone with just thumb pressure. Chances are you won't be able to do it.

 

[243dave]

If your wanting exit wounds on deer I doubt those xtp's will exit on anything but a broadsided behind the shoulder shot. I have a 45colt rifle that I load to about the same velocities as your 454 pistol and if a shoulder is encountered or a quartering shot is taken you won't get exits. But if you change to the xtp mag bullets instead of the regular xtps its a different story. They are extremely tough bullets that I've put length-wise thru deer(this was the 300gr xtp mag driven right at 1600fps). Its been my experience the regular .452 xtps driven at velocities more than 1500fps will expand too much limiting penetration. If you like exit wounds try the xtp mags. Dave

 

[unclenick]

I've read reports, by the late Skeeter Skelton, among others, IIRC, of lead bullet loads producing higher pressures in revolvers than same-weight same-charge jacketed bullet loads as the charge approaches upper limits. The theory was that the bullet base gets upset enough by pressure to fill laterally into the forcing cone, making it tougher to force into the bore. I don't know if that has been validated or not?

Certainly, if you drive them too hard you get a lot of lead spray onto the underside of the top strap of the revolver frame from gas cutting. Accuracy isn't so great if they are pushed too hard. Elmer Keith developed the .44 Mag using cast bullets, so that much pressure isn't too much. I'm not sure where, exactly, you cross the line?

I've also not heard of that phenomenon mentioned for jacketed bullets before? Even if possible, common sense suggests a bullet designed to expand at .45 ACP velocities will be going too fast to hold together well on impact out of a .454, so then the question becomes, what's the point of trying? The 250 grain XTP is not one of those .45 ACP bullets, however. It is used in the Savage 10ML with sabots, among other things, from which they leave the muzzle at nearly 2200 fps and are still sturdy enough for hunting deer.

 

[WYpatch]

Thanks for clearing that up with me. The main reason I got an Alaskan 454 was to carry while out in the woods for whatever reason. There`s grizzlies 30 miles down my road...But that dont mean I wont shoot it much. I love this thing! Look`in at what the expansion was like w/250exp`s I`ll take her varmint shoot`in too. Just wanted to be sure I didnt wear it out too soon.