I'm thinking about selling my 45-70 Contender in favor or an Encore in 454 Casull. My question is, am I going to be gaining anything by doing this.
Is there any real world difference between a 454 and a handloaded 45-70?

Stop and think. If you are going to an Encore why not go to the 45/70 in it?

It will beat the 454 overall.

quote:

Is there any real world difference between a 454 and a handloaded 45-70?

I've spent a little time with a 10 inch 454 Encore and have spent much of my summer working up a variety of light to medium loads for my 45/70 Guide Gun. Seems to me 300 grain factory loads are about equal. If you ever want to make lower velocity lighter bullet loads I'd go with the 454. If you want to run bullets 350 grains and heavier then the 45/70 seems the best choice. If you are looking for maximum power I second Me_Plat's suggestion; a 45/70 Encore can be a much bigger hammer than either the 454 or the 45/70 Contender (though I am not sure where a fella needs a hammer that big this side of Jurassic Park). You might also appreciate the extra safety margin and greater comfort afforded by the stronger heavier action. But keep your Contender no matter which Encore you choose. Good hunting!

You can match or exceed the .454 with the 45-70 with a lot less chamber pressure, using the same weight boolits. However, the 45-70 really comes ahead with heavier boolits. The only problem you will have is to match the powder to the boolit in the shorter barrels. Too slow a powder will not burn with lighter boolits. 3031 will leave the barrel full of unburned powder, 4198 is better but tricky. It takes some experimenting.

You already have a Contender, Check out the 445 Super mag.

I just got a 15"460 S&W barrel for my Encore from Foxridge, can shoot 454 Casull and 45 Colt rounds too. Wating on scope and ammo to try it!

Thanks for the repies. I thought that switching to a .454 would be more of a latteral step than a step up, and it sounds like thats the popular opinion.
The added strength of the Encore did sound good though. I am beginning to think that maybe my favorite load of 41gr Re7 and a Cast Performance 405 WFNGC is taking it's toll on my Contender. Groups have started to open up with no apparent explanation. That's what made me think about upgrading to the stronger Encore.
Maybe I should just follow larry59's example and get an Encore in 460 S&W.

I used my 45-70 for years on my Contender, using my 14" 357 Max on it this year to back up the 460S&W Encore. Got some 45 Colt rounds today while waiting on my 460 loads. Will try it out if I can drag myself away from football today

I have a 45-70 Guide Gun and a 454 Pistol.The Bfr 45-70 packs more wallop than the 454.The BFR in 450 Marlin(The 45-70 can be loaded to the same pressure)shoots a factory 350 Hornady Flat Point at 1814 fps and none of the 300 grain 454 loads aproach that.The BFR can easily shoot 300 grain bullets over 2,000 fps.

I still want to get a BFR in 45-70.

Jayco