Problem with SRH 454

[cchesser1990]

Hey guys, I just recently purchased a used SRH 454 from a nearby dealer. Ive always wanted a hawk, and to top it all off this one is looking good in the target grey finish Shot it for the first time today, ran various 45 colt ammo no hiccups and accurate, but when I tried to put a 454 in, none of the chambers will fully take the cartridge. What I mean by that is that I cant get the rim on the round to sit flush against the cylinder. Because of this I cant close the cylinder with 454s loaded. I cleaned it thinking maybe it had a build up of powder, but that didnt work. Any ideas what this could be? Could it possibly just be the ammo? Ammo was 240 hornady xtp.

[old bear]

I assume that the .454 round is longer than the .45 Colt round? If so you may have a carbon build up in the charging holes. A really good scrubbing with a NEW brass brush may resolve your problem.

[geetarman]

Sounds like some buildup from shooting .45s. I have had that happen trying to load .357s in a gun that had been shooting .38s. Try scrubbing one chamber really good with some Hoppes and try to load one.

Let us know how it works out.

[cchesser1990]

yes a 454 is longer than a 45 colt. the brush i used was fairly new and I gave it a pretty good scrub, but I guess I can try again. By charging holes are you referring to the slight lip in the far end of the cylinder?

[cchesser1990]

thanks geetarman, good to hear someone thats had the same issue. Tomorrow im going to take it to that thing, fingers crossed

[B. Lahey]

240gr XTPs loaded by who?

If they are made by Hornady, it's probably fouling from the shorter rounds. If they are gunshow reloads bought from a one-eyed, one-armed man, you should be thankful that the rounds are out of spec in a non-explodey way.

Or your SRH may have tight chambers, mine would never seat or extract CorBon ammo without a significant amount of pressure, even when very clean.

[cchesser1990]

hornady factory loads.

maybe tight chambers wouldnt be such a bad thing? I had a raging judge 454 previously and the rounds would drop right in, but then again it had a 3 in cylinder for the .410s

[robhof]

Get a 45 bronze brush and chuck it in a drill and run it in each cylinder for 30 seconds or so. I have a 357 max and 357 mags cause the same problem and simple scrubbing doesn't work. The carbon forms at the area where the bullet separates and it's fire hardened in place. Oven cleaner will also work but can be corrosive. The bronze brush works well for me.

[GP100man]

Take an empty 454 round & flare the mouth to where it`ll just chamber & use it as a scraper to break the crude ring out.