Dick Casull

His goal was to achieve a muzzle velocity of 2,000 feet per second with Colt .45 rounds fired from a single-action Army-style revolver with a 7+1⁄2-inch barrel.

This proved impossible due to the tensile strength of the Colt .45 cylinder, so he set out to develop his own casing and bullet.

Casull began his career as a wildcat cartridge developer after having contact with Elmer Keith in the 1940s, an Idaho rancher, firearms enthusiast, and author.

Ackley, who developed a family of improved wildcat cartridges by rechambering extant firearms and fireforming[clarification needed] the ammunition to decrease body taper and increase shoulder angle, resulting in a higher case capacity.

[2] The wildcat cartridge finally went mainstream in 1997, when Ruger began chambering its Super Redhawk in this caliber.

Taurus also made a now-discontinued Rossi-branded R92 lever action carbine clone of the Winchester 1892 chambered for the .454 Casull.

[3][4] For brush hunting and wilderness packing, the Rossi R92 carbine .454 Casull offered optional magazine-tube loading and a recoil absorbing butt pad.

[5][6] Casull began developing a mini-revolver design, which was licensed by the short-lived Rocky Mountain Arms Corp. (RMAC) of Salt Lake City, Utah.

He later redesigned his mini-revolver to place the locking mechanism on the bottom of the frame, eliminating the lever attached to the hammer.