Craig Boddington was the senior contributing editor of our modern gun and ammunition caliber dictionary. Craig was involved in the development and testing of many of these and writes from first hand experience. This dictionary was written exclusively for Wholesale Hunter with unique information found nowhere else.
GUN CALIBER DICTIONARY
Handgun
454 Casull
The 454 Casull was developed by Dick Casull and Jack Fulmer in 1957. The original intent was a revolver cartridge more powerful than the 44 Magnum and thus more reliable for metallic silhouette, but it has evolved into a popular choice for serious handgun hunters. The 454 Casull uses a .452-inch bullet with a rimmed case of 1.3976 inches, longer than the 45 Colt case so that it cannot be used in 45 Colt revolvers...but 45 Colt ammunition can be safely fired in a Casull chamber for low-recoil practice. Although now surpassed by the 460 and 500 S&W cartridges, the 454 Casull is a very powerful cartridge. It has become popular enough that most major sources load for it with choices of loads up to a 300-grain bullet at 1650 feet per second, developing over 1800 foot-pounds of energy. The 454 Casull is powerful enough--and proven--on the largest North American game, and with proper bullets has taken the largest African game as well. — Craig Boddington