My .457? Texan barrel seems to be a slight bit undersized. .457 slugs are tight when inserted in the bore to load and do not shoot as accurately as .454s which go into the barrel easier and seem to be stopping at the rifling. Has anyone else experienced this?
.454 slugs in .457 Texan
- Thread starter jland48
- Start date
weird, I was just wondering the same thing. .457 seem too tight, and I’m worried I’m losing velocity/accuracy. Have you put a chrono to it yet?
Upvote 0
Well if your Texan can shoot the .452 you will be in luck,...great selection out there and with some great prices.
check this site out, I've used him for over a decade and his product is good and great prices.
check this site out, I've used him for over a decade and his product is good and great prices.
45 Handgun : Matts Bullets
Matts Bullets : 45 Handgun - 9mm/380 Hollowpoint 44 Caliber 45 Handgun Misc. Rifle 32 Caliber 41 Caliber 45 Rifle 38 Cal. (38 S&W) 38 Cal.(38Spl,357) 500 S&W Cowboy Action Wadcutters 40 Cal/10 mm 475 Caliber 512 Caliber cast bullets, casting, cowboy action shooting, 500 S&W, mold, mould...
www.mattsbullets.com
Upvote 0
I started shooting 452 in my Texan last year and they chamber easier and are just as accurate as the 457 I dropped down from a 281gr NSA 457 to the 197gr NSA 452 and I'm now getting 980 fps where before I was getting around 910fps.
Upvote 0
That is great news for anyone owning a Texan .45,......452 has better selection for Airguns.
Upvote 0
It has worked well in mine for sure a friend of mine Rodney Hew who lives in Hawaii also shot the 452 in his Texan an told me to try them a year or so ago and I finally did an was amazed, not saying it will work for everyone but it has for us.
Upvote 0
I tried the Hatsan 167gr 454s and they shoot in the high 900s to low 1000s. I had these on hand because I have a Bully in .45 and it loves the round balls.Go figure.
Upvote 0
When I got my Texan .457 early last year the only thing I could find was .452 sized pistol bullets. It shoots those just fine out to 147 yards which is the furthest target on my range behind the house. I have since scrounged up the components to cast and size my own .457 slugs. The .457 are more accurate but enough so to make the investment in casting worth it, don't know yet. I still need to chronograph these and see which one is getting me the best fpe for hunting later this year.
Upvote 0
I am hand casting for my Texan SS and I size to .4575 and depending on the slug (I have 9 hand casts) I am hole in hole at 50 yard, even with my heavies..
Upvote 0
This has me wondering about size consistence in the Airforce barrels. Do those of you getting good results with.457s have trouble getting them seated in the bore? NSA 265s in .457 barely go into the bore while NSA 197 .454s slip right in to the rifling.
Upvote 0
You can order samples of the following in .454:
www.badmanbullets.com
www.badmanbullets.com
www.badmanbullets.com
www.badmanbullets.com
www.badmanbullets.com
You have to specify .454 in the ordering notes. I'm trying them out now.
45 Caliber 160 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 160 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
www.badmanbullets.com 45 Caliber 180 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 180 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
www.badmanbullets.com 45 Caliber 200 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 200 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
www.badmanbullets.com 45 Caliber 250 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 250 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
www.badmanbullets.com 45 Caliber 255 Grain SWC Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 255 Grain SWC Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
www.badmanbullets.com You have to specify .454 in the ordering notes. I'm trying them out now.
Upvote 0
You can order samples of the following in .454:
45 Caliber 160 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 160 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
45 Caliber 180 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 180 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
45 Caliber 200 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 200 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
45 Caliber 250 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 250 Grain RNFP Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
45 Caliber 255 Grain SWC Polymer Coated Bullets Samples
Discover the benefits of using these 45 Caliber 255 Grain SWC Polymer Coated Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading Samples
You have to specify .454 in the ordering notes. I'm trying them out now.
I think 45-70 bullets might work well for airguns as well. They usually come in .459 probably wouldn't be hard to find a few guys that can size to .458 or .457
Upvote 0
That's what I've been casting. An RCBS round nose flat point mould that drops 325gr bullets at .459 then size to .457 using a syncolon silicone lube. I then give them another coat of that stuff after sizing. No issues with leading and no issues seating them when loading as others have mentioned.
Upvote 0
There was a thread either here on AGN or GTA where a fellow rented a chamber reamer to lengthen the chamber on his Texan and that helped with him being able to seat his bullets deeper and he said that helped with accuracy if I remember right.
Upvote 0
That sounds like something I might be interested in. I remember the first long day at the range with my Texan, I left with a bloodblister on my thumb trying to seat full wadcutters in the chamber. That might fix my Micheal Jackson range issue, having to wear a glove on my loading hand.
Upvote 0
I have a 357 that was a hot mess when air force sent it to me replacing the one I initially bought that didn't work at all straight out of the box. One of it's issues was nothing from .356 size and up would go more than a tiny bit into the barrel. The lands in mine were a sharp 90 degree cliff just inside the start of the barrel. Besides that the bore on the rest of the barrel was the roughest piece of junk I ever saw in decades. I fire lapped the barrel until it was smooth and polished. This pushed back the lands at the start and made them a nice smooth transition. Loading is now easy. I have to size whatever I shoot if I want velocity and accuracy. I use a lee sizer that was supposed to be .357 but actually sized down to .3565 and started testing with a batch of hard cast 158gr wadcutters that were sized to .358 using that as a baseline. I got it up to .3572 before velocity started coming up to the baseline and stopped at .3575 when the velocity was actually 20 fps faster than the .358 baseline. I have an accurate barrel now and know exactly what size I need for best performance. It surprised me that only 2 ten thousandths changes in size as I worked up made a difference every time. I use a labradar chronograph.
Upvote 0
As i understand it Airforce barrels are supplied by Lothar Walther in Germany and they are one of the best and most consitent button rifled barrels supplied for mass production. AI uses them as only option! https://accuracyinternational.com/index.html
If a slug is undersized then it cant self-center in the barrel and spread is inherent.
As i usually say to magnum hunters: How hard do you have to miss to kill anything?
If a little slower hits every time then it's way better than a hard hitting vound.
Many kinds of vounded but only one kind of dead.
Upvote 0
I have used a few of those thru my Texan. Hand cast 220 gr 45-70 from my buddy and they worked ok. Not necessarily anything to write home about tho. Grouping about 1.5" at 50 yrds
Upvote 0
So glad someone else spoke up on this. I have a brand new (never fired) Texan .45 and ordered several dozen 457 cal slugs last year. I also felt they seemed too large and wondered if it would be safe to fire them??
Upvote 0
AF specifies in their manual that the projectile is supposed to be seated firmly against the rifling not into it or seated all the way in the bore. The bore specs on these is .457 and that is exactly what mine slugs at. You'll be fine with what you have. It is worthy to note that as I and others have stated these rifles appear to shoot smaller diameters okay so we're not locked into having to find 457 with the way the supply chain is these days.
Upvote 0