How to set up 45 colt dies to load the 454 casull??

[Fordnutter]

Hi Guys,
I have a Rossi 454 lever action rifle that I'm itching to get shooting. The rifle came with a set of lee carbide 45 colt dies and were told they will load the 454 casull just fine. How do I set up the 45 colt dies to load the longer casull case? A bit of Internet research says to get dedicated 454 die set but it may be a little while before I can afford to purchase a set.

 

[Joe O]

have loaded thousands of 45Colt ammo,but not 454 Casull.If thoes lee dies will load the 454,which is longer than the colt,the box and instructions should be marked accordingly.You won't have a problem with the expander or seating die,but the sizing die may be short.Should still work.Go on the Lee site to see if they show different stock numbers between Colt and 454.

 

[DCRYDER]

I used to reload 454 Casull for my old Super Redhawk. I used Redding dies. The Lees i used to use were for the Colts. I used them at first for the 454 but they over-resized the brass. I'm guessing its because the 454 brass is so much thicker. Its been a while so i'll have to dig them back out and see what the Reddings are. I do know that I used LIL GUN powder and 300gr XTPs. Gun is long gone.

 

[KevinThomas]

The dimensions between the 45 Long Colt and the 454 Casull are within .002"-.003" all the way around, except (naturally) for the length. Standard 45 Long Colt dies should be perfectly usable to reload the Casull, simply by adjusting them upwards approximately .1" above the shellholder, in precisely the same way in which 44 Special dies can be used to load 44 Magnums, and 38 Special dies can be used for loading 357 Magnums. The one caveat that I'd add here is to use a separate crimp die for the Casull. Specifically, the Lee Factory Crimp die. That was literally the only die I ever tried with the Casull that would prevent the bullets from pulling under recoil. May not be as much a problem in a rifle as it was in a revolver, but yeah, it's quite a handful. I've had Win M94s in both 45 Colt and 44 Magnums, and both could be unpleasant little animals when they were loaded to the hilt. Can't imagine the Rossi being any different with heavy Casull loads. Ouch!

Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA

 

[bozo699]

I have a model 92 rossi in 454 casull and it isn't bad @ all and I hate!!!! recoil.
To bad they quit making them (454s)I as well would think you could load with 45 lc dies with a little adjusting but I don't know for sure as I have never done it.
Wayne.