New FA 454 Casull First Deer

[klong]

I was able to take a doe deer today with my new, to me (I bought it used)  FA 454Casull. The deer was ranged at 62 yards. Shot where I was aiming which was the heart. It was about 15 minutes until sunset and I did not want to track her in the dark. I thought about the neck but even the mature doe in my part of Texas have skinny necks. I was a little lower than necessary , but hit the bottom of the heart. This was a handload of 29 gr H110 CCI 450 with 300 gr Hornady bullet, a little overkill. Bullet passed through, deer ran about 15 yards and dropped. This is a 7 1/2" field grade with a Burris 2X7 scope. This gun and load will  shoot one expanding hole at 50 yards. I am impressed with this handgun.

[Redhawk1]

Congrats Klong..

[palgeno]

Doesn't sound like overkill to me! The animal died on the spot (no wounding and suffering)  and no tracking (and possibly losing) the animal in the dark. I use the 240gr xtp for deer in my 44's, but I sure like that 300gr xtp mag bullet in the .454--although I load 'em with 30 gr of H110 instead of 29 gr. Yeah, they are a little hard for deer, but they work and will do the job on much tougher animals should you encounter one. Can't hurt your confidence to see your handload work so well!!!  Good job! :grin: pg

[klong]

Thanks! I plan to do more hunting with this handgun. I believe 100 yard shot will be possible if i have a reasonable rest. I used the deer stand window to rest the sling stud on. The window was not tall so I did not want much outside the window and take a chance of hitting the top upon recoil. Anyway it worked. As time permits I will test this to see if point of impact is affected by this resting.

[palgeno]

POI will be affected by grip and rest technique. Try resting your forearm and wrists on that window sill or even on a bag and let the gun recoil the same every time. Touching the gun itself to anything, whether that be the barrel or butt of the grip, will change POI.   :shock: pg

[TScottO]

Congrats.

Take care,
Scott