Just bought a raging bull 454 with 8 inch barrell. I wass told that I could shoot 45 Long Colts ammo in this gun. Does any one know if this is true? Go Vols!

Shouldn't be a problem. External case dimensions are pretty much identical, with the exception of length. I shoot 45 Colt all the time in my Ruger .454 Super Redhawk, including a couple hundred rounds today at a pistol match. The Ruger SRH states specifically that it is for .45 Colt as well as .454, but as a general rule .45 Colt interchanges with .454 Casull in a .454 Casull handgun, much as .38 Special/.357 Magnum and .44 Special/.44 mag.

I've used .45 Colt's in my .454 Raging Bull. They make for a nice really light load - kinda like really light .38 Spc loads in a .357. If you shoot very many of them, however, you might want to give the cylinder chambers a good brushing/cleaning before going back to .454 because of powder/crud build-up.

Only in the Freedom Arms revolver is not recommended. In the Taurus and Super Redhawk it is fine. However, after shooting .45 Colt in your .454, before shooting .454 rounds again, make sure you clean the chambers very well and remove any buildup that might be present in front of the .45 Colt case mouth. If there is build up there, when you shoot the longer .454 in it, if the build up is bad enough there may not be enough room to release the bullet without spiking pressures. Since Ruger and Taurus cut larger chambers than does FA, they give you some wiggle room if you don't get out every last trace of fouling. In the FA, their chambers are cut so tightly that any build up left behind can be very dangerous. That is why FA does not recommend shooting .45 Colt in the .454.

I'll add to the chamber leading issue mentioned. The .45 Colts shoot fine out of my Ruger Super Redhawk, but they definitely leave behind a fair bit of leading. I was cleaning my gun today after using it in the match Saturday, and found when I got done cleaning that my factory .454's were sticking in the chamber - there was still quite a bit of lead left in the throat of the chambers. With quite a bit of effort expended I was able to get most of the leading out of the chambers so the .454's once again drop in and fall out, but I think I need to figure a way to cut the leading down if I continue to shoot .45's in it. Maybe I should fire a few jacketed rounds after every so many lead rounds!

I give my SRH 454 a very thorough cleaning paying extra special attention to the cylinders. I am getting away from the 45lc loads and using reloads in 454 cases loaded to 45lc specs.

[I have a Freedom Arms 454 casull and made the mistake of firing 45 colt ammo through it. I fired 50 "cowboy" loads and loved it, no recoil and very accurate. But when I tried to chamber 454 casull later that day, They would not fit. I had to wire brush the chambers quite abit to get all the lead out. For 280 bucks Freedom arms will sell you a 45 colt cylinder. I was to blame here because when I bought my casull it told me right in owners manual DO NOT USE 45 COLT CARTRIDGES IT WILL VOID WARRANTY. That is one of the finest made revolvers I have ver owned. I also have a BFR which is close, But clearances are not quite as tight.