WB
Had to know for myself, not refuting anyone’s comments
Wednesday, January 01, 2025, 15:24

I agree with the comments. But there is something at play here. FA stuff is very uncompromising as to detail and quality, at a premium price. Then unleashed upon the masses and relayed from discriminating purchasers to second, third, and so on levels of second hand buyers. I’m sure liability is an ever present concern at a manufacturer.

But to shed light…. It seems that FA .454 chambers are indeed “square cut” at the cartridge to throat interface. I’ve not noted that ever before. Most chambers seem to be more beveled. I’m not sure of the reason. I do have experience with cast bullets from rifles where a bullet can be bumped up to diameter of the confining chamber then a “doughnut” of lead cut as it transitions into the actual throat of the chamber. It caused me some chambering issues and I found it quickly. But I could see where sharply transitioning interfaces could cause issues. So way back in the 1990’s a gunwriter made a flippant remark and no doubt “got corrected”, making an effort to right the remark.

So now I know the reasoning. Proper jacketed bullets would certainly lessen issues as well.

FA also sport very minimal “forcing cone” influence at the beginning of the bore. I had a M97 in .224-32FA that it looked nonexistent! Yet it out-shot many of my bolt action rifles.