Questions about 300 grain boolits in .45 Colt

[Kermit2]

I have one of the Lipsey's Ruger .45 flat tops. Can I safely shoot 300 grain boolits cast from a RCBS 45-300-SWC mould? I don't want to pound the gun to pieces. I normally use a 250 grain cast RFN boolit, but wanted a heavier boolit for encounters with feral hogs, and possibly a chance encounter with a black bear. My normal load is a 250 grain cast RFN boolit by GLC Bullets over 9.0 grains of Unique. My chrono says it's running 999 fps.

Is the 300 grain boolit usable in this revolver without harming the gun? Any suggested loads for the 300 grain boolit using Unique? Thanks for all information!

[runfiverun]

i'd recommend a new set of grips..
i dunno what it is about the 45 the medallion tears my thumb up.
my 41,and 44's don't do it [with equal loads] but the 45 does for some reason.
but it will handle the 300 gr boolits no problem.

[fcvan]

+1 on what R5R said. I don't have the factory grips on my Vaquero as the original owner replaced them with deeply checkered grips. With standard 45 Colt loads it is okay. With 300 grain +P loads it tears the hide off my hands. The first time I shot the heavy loads I had to wear a shooting glove to stop the abuse and keep the blood off my gun!

[RobS]

Careful........there are two different Ruger 45 Colts out there. One is the large frame Blackhawks and then the smaller frame Blackhawks which include the New Vaquero's and then the Flat Tops such as your Lipsey edition. The smaller frame Rugers are not capable of Ruger Only loads in the upper 20K to 30K area. The small frames are pretty much limited to the 20K and under area.

Regards to 300 grainers you will be better served in keeping pressures down with the heavier slug when using a slower powder that ignites well with lower pressures. One good powder for this would be 2400. If your intent is to work over a wild hog or black bear you'll want a bit of velocity and Unique power is a bit to quick to safely do it.

I would use this data and being on the conservative side with the 14,000 PSI loads since you are using a bit heavier of a bullet.

http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/PDF/HL%20246partial.pdf

If you would happen to have a chronograph I would look toward 1000 fps with 2400 powder.

As a comparison to your 250 grain boolit and Unique powder load, I would go as far to say that you are in 17K-18K area for pressure with that boolit/powder combo.

[Lefty SRH]

RobS said it well. But Honestly your current load with your 250grRFN at 1,000fps will do just fine on hogs. May want to consider changing the boolit design. Soemthing more like the RCBS 270gr SAA, another SWC .45 caliber Keith design, or a WFN design.

[Kermit2]

Based upon the responses I may pass on the 300 grain boolits, and instead try either the RCBS 45-270-SAA or maybe the Lyman 452424 SWC. Any thoughts as to how much difference in point of impact for the 270 grain boolits as my revolver was sighted with the 250 grain RFN? Thoughts as to which mould would best serve my purposes stated above? Thanks for your input!

[Gohon]

8.5 grains of Unique behind a 45-270-SSA clocks 936 fps from my New Vaquero. I've put a couple cylinders of Hornady 300 grain XTP's and 292 grain casts through the gun with the same charge and they shot well with no visible signs of high pressure and to almost the same POI as the 270 grain.

[RobS]

The 45-270-SAA design is a good one that shoots well. Cast out of wheel weight alloy or similar it comes in at around 280 grains typically which could result in the boolit hitting a few inches high vs your 250 RFN depending on the powder you use. IMO the Lyman 452424 isn't going to give you much more than what you have right now with 250 grain RFN. Accuracy can be pretty good with many designs and I have sent many, many Keith SWC designs though the air with good results however now I prefer and design LFN style molds as I find I have more powder/boolit combos that yield accurate shooting; it's just easier to shoot them accurately.

[runfiverun]

i use the same loads with the 454424 as i do with the 452664.
the impact difference is negligable.

[fredj338]

Nothing on this continent is stopping a cast 250grLFP @ 1000fps. Keep the 300gr donw to 1000fps & they should run fine in your Ruger 45colt. I have the Lee 300gr but prefer the RCBS 270SAA which actualy comes out closer to 280gr cast from range scrap. At 1000fps, that bullet penetrates as deep as my 400gr softs in the 404jeffery @ 2200fps.

[Kermit2]

Thanks for all the replies. After reviewing them and upon further consideration I'm leaning toward the RCBS 45-270-SAA. Many folks, Brian Pearce included, seem to think highly of that boolit.

[Lefty SRH]

Thanks for all the replies. After reviewing them and upon further consideration I'm leaning toward the RCBS 45-270-SAA. Many folks, Brian Pearce included, seem to think highly of that boolit.

That RCBS 270gr SAA is a really good boolit. Be prepared for them to actually be heavier, more like 280gr-285gr.

Love the avatar by the way.....

[Gohon]

In my Lee 20 pound pot I brought the level up to about a inch from the top using straight wheel weights and threw in a 1/4 pound of 95/5 tin solder. Didn't need the tin but just wanted to see what would happen. My casts dropped at exactly 270 grains and .456 size. Don't know if it was due to that much tin or not but they were spot on for weight.