Where's all the .454 Casull ammo gone to???

Kizmo

Kizmo

New member
I've hit all the stores within an hour's radius of here as well as a pretty good sized gun show this weekend. .454 is as rare as hen's teeth at the moment, ESPECIALLY Hornady 240 and 300 grain XTP, which, of course, is what I shoot most. One website even lists the 300 gr XTP as "Temporarily Unavailable from the Manufacturer." What gives? I can find all the .460 or .500 S&W I want. [beeep], I even found at least two dozen boxes of .480 Ruger, and it's a dying caliber. The shortage seems to be .454 specific.

Anybody have a clue?
 
You shot it all
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I have some I will sell I will get them out and see what I have for sure.i think its two or three boxes of hornandy and a box or two of other stuff.
 
I'll check the shops up here for you. We might be able to get it to you "Brady Express". Or come help you get rid of some pigs.
 
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We had 3 or 4 different loads (there were at least 3) at Gander Mountain in Wichita tonight. 8 boxes of .480 Ruger too, which amazed me (don't recall what brand off the top though).
 
Thanks fellas. I found a place online with 9 boxes of Hornady 240 grain and bought them all. I wonder what's going on at Hornady. I had been debating whether to take up reloading and had decided not to, though I've been saving my brass anyway. This has changed my mind.

Now I've got to figure which reloader to get. Any suggestions?
 
If you're itchy about biting the bullet to reload yourself, then I might make the recommendation to find a local that could reload rounds for you. They can't profit from providing the service without being a federally licensed ammo manufacturer, but you can provide components if they're willing to put them together.

If you do decide to get into it for yourself, then...

For efficiency and simplicity, I'd recommend either a bushing single stage press, or a turret press. I reload for several different cartridges, really makes it easy to switch back and forth among different cartridges or different steps of the process without losing time resetting depths. I basically use my turret press as a single stage: I run ALL of my batch through each step before moving to the next. Might just be my method, but I take the brass out of the press between every step, so I don't want a progressive anymore. I decap clean, resize, trim, prime, charge, seat, then crimp (if I'm crimping) all of the brass one step at a time. I have had a progressive in the past, which was great for high volume reloading when I was practicing a lot for 3G and Cowboy Action shooting, but at my volume these days, the slow and steady pace keeps me well fed, and money in my wallet. I use a Lee Anniversary single stage as a universal decapper (my first press ~15yrs ago), and a Lee Classic Turret press for all other steps.
 
I had a RCBS Rock Chucker as a teen. I only reloaded .30-'06 for accuracy, not anything high volume. Gave all my stuff away when I cleaned out my mother's house after she died, so I'll have to start over. This was over 20 years ago, so I would consider myself a neophyte. I was actually thinking about a progressive, because I will shoot as much ammo as I have. I will shoot exactly as much ammo at the range as I will spend money at a strip club = all I have on me at the time.
 
Investment into the progressives is a bear, and I just can't get myself comfortable with leaving the brass in the press for so many actions in a row. If I step up to a progressive, then I need an auto primer (I hand prime now), and a auto-powder measure (Hornady auto dispenser now), and a bullet feeder. Ideally I'd have a case feeder too. I've debated and budgeted out what it'd take me to streamline, but I just can't get myself to that point. I'd probably still decap and size separately - I decap, clean, lube, resize (or neck size), then trim, so only at that point would I be ready to drop them into an auto press.

And then I get back to the point of: I load for accuracy these days, not volume, so I don't really need the speed. Not sure many guys that are serious about loading precision rounds work on progressives. Not sure they don't either, but haven't ever heard they are favored for it.

If you used a Rockchucker as a bushing press, it'd be about as fast as how I run my turret press now. Mostly I just hate resetting dies.
 
I have about 26 rounds and about 70+ brass that I have if you are interested? Just looking to get rid of them instead of throwing them in the trash. Let me know
 
Originally Posted By: DXT_ShooterI have about 26 rounds and about 70+ brass that I have if you are interested? Just looking to get rid of them instead of throwing them in the trash. Let me know

Don't toss it in the trash! I'm down to 40 rounds myself.. Send me a PM if you want to get rid of the rest of yours.
 
Thanks everybody. ShawneeB, you talked me into a Dillon. Going to order one this week. Just gotta figure out which one.
I think I'll be OK. With the brass I have saved up, combined with the rounds I have left and the 9 boxes I have coming in, I should be pushing 1000 brass. If I can find some to order, I'll double that if I can. My gunsmith says he will teach me all I need to know. It'll give me something to do in the evenings besides drink scotch, I guess.
 
Looks like the XL 650 with all the options. At the rate I shoot .454's, .44's and 10mm's, it'll pay for itself in less than a year.
 
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