Hunting boolit for 45 colt

[244H&H]

I am going to load a deer load in 45 colt, I have the lee 255 swc and the lee 300 rfn. What would be your choice? Thanks Kurt

[9.3X62AL]

I favor the 250 grain-class boolits in 45 Colt, mostly because they hit closer to where OEM sighting gear on most revolvers are looking. Dunno if that is a factor for you, but it is here.

[runfiverun]

in a revolver or a rifle?
I tend to favor the 250's myself in either one, deer just don't take that much to poke holes through at the distances either gun would be used at.
I have taken to using the lyman 452664 for all my 45 colt hunting because it works well on game and feeds in the lever guns I have perfectly.

[fredj338]

Obviously either will kill deer. I would go w/ the most accurate. My 45colt hunting bullet is the RCBS 270 SWC that has been cup pointed by Erik. Depending on alloy, it can go deer to moose.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/fredj338/452-268-1K.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/fredj338/media/452-268-1K.jpg.html)

[244H&H]

It will be used in a rossi rifle.

[gwpercle]

Go with the most accurate, out of a rifle either will have plenty of velocity, so now the question is which one groups best...
Good Luck...Gary

[9.3X62AL]

A round flatnose will often feed better in a levergun than will a SWC, but most of the Lee SWCs use a relatively short nose length--so it may not matter. Feed reliability followed by accuracy are my levergun priorities......I wasn't thinking "levergun" during my first response, sorry about that.

[cbrick]

I wasn't thinking "levergun" during my first response, sorry about that.

Me either, I have a Marlin in 45 Colt but when I get out this year it will be with the 7 1/2 inch 45 Colt
Blackhawk/Bisley conversion, MP clone of the RCBS 45 270 SSA @ 281 gr. w/air cooled WW is the boolit of choice. Never even thought about using the Marlin this year for some reason, guess I'm just a revolver guy at heart.

Rick

[jonp]

255swc over 20gr 2400
I shot some of these out of my rossi on vacation. You might not like the recoil I would suggest starting around 16gr or so and going up.
2400 or 296/110 works well for this

[9.3X62AL]

255swc over 20gr 2400
I shot some of these out of my rossi on vacation. You might not like the recoil I would suggest starting around 16gr or so and going up.
2400 or 296/110 works well for this

Again, no rifle time with such loads--but I've run Lyman #454490 with 20.0 grains of 2400 in my BisHawk, and it lets you know that the primers functioned. if you line the critters up proper-like, I suspect you could fill 3 tags with one round fired--recover the boolit--and melt it for next season.

[jonp]

Again, no rifle time with such loads--but I've run Lyman #454490 with 20.0 grains of 2400 in my BisHawk, and it lets you know that the primers functioned. if you line the critters up proper-like, I suspect you could fill 3 tags with one round fired--recover the boolit--and melt it for next season.
Its not the hottest load I shoot from a blackhawk but it will get your attention.
For whitetail 17 - 17.5gr is probably enough

[runfiverun]

18 grs is about right, I have been using 19 just cause that's where my Dillon powder measure was set when I took it off the 44 die head.
my 44 shoots that same charge under the 429667 just fine too so I stick with it.
I wouldn't hesitate to use my 9.3 grs of unique load either, which is my everyday bulk do-all 44/45 load.

[btroj]

http://i1348.photobucket.com/albums/p733/Btroj/image_zps797170cd.jpg (http://s1348.photobucket.com/user/Btroj/media/image_zps797170cd.jpg.html)

Cayoots kinda heavy flat nose is my go to 45 Colt bullet. Goes around 295 gr from my mould.

I generally use 10 gr of surplus 105 in my BH and my Marlin 1894. Not a speedy load but it shoots very well and hits hard.

I almost never shoot any other bullet in a 45 Colt these days.

[9.3X62AL]

Yessir, R5R--none of your mentioned loads will bounce back from the target paper and a cardboard backer. (Gratefully-stolen remark from Buckshot)

Even an unexpanded 45 caliber bullet lets in a whole lot of air when it hits something having pulse & respiration.

[jonp]

18 grs is about right, I have been using 19 just cause that's where my Dillon powder measure was set when I took it off the 44 die head.
my 44 shoots that same charge under the 429667 just fine too so I stick with it.
I wouldn't hesitate to use my 9.3 grs of unique load either, which is my everyday bulk do-all 44/45 load.

I find 9gr of Unique works well so we are not far apart on that. I think that if you can get somewhere between 17gr and 20gr to be accurate with 2400 you should be ok for whitetail. Anyone disagree with this?

BTW: when i was looking for loads for the 255gr boolit I read that 20.5gr 2400 and 25gr of h110/296 will give nearly identical fps but the h110/296 will do so with 8k less pressure. Both still under 30k so no problem with modern guns but interesting I thought. I never tested them side by side but I always found h110/296 to be less snappy do to the lower pressurei guess. Might be something to keep in mind

[felix]

Agree with the 2400 loads shown, so much so I loaded up a fast lot of WC820 equally by weight of 18 grains. Instead, I used the "BD" designed boolit, a 240 grain (actual) full width meplat designed for the ACP in the 94. Compared to the Marlin version, the Winchester bolt is longer giving a better feeding chance for such a wide nosed boolit. The kids are going to give this gun and load a try at Whitetails this fall/winter. I will report back when they actually hit one. Their reported range (in advance) would be within 80 yards of their camp site. I asked them to hit the front shoulder so the boolit can be recovered (hopefully). Smart? I don't know because I am not a hunter, but chasing any kind of wounded game is no sport to me. ... felix

[9.3X62AL]

Jon P--

Your "9.0 grains of Unique" load in 45 Colt is my most-fired fuel type & weight in this caliber. With either Lyman #454190 or #454424 it is a close duplicator of 1873 blackpowder ballistics, and is an "all day" load for sure--whether in a Colt/clone or a Ruger. It gives about 875-900 FPS from my 7.5" BisHawk. Very pleasant and tractable. I'll disclose my biases here......I am no longer fond of getting belted hard by revolver recoil, so this Unique recipe is near and dear to my heart. There is a time & place for loads of that sort, but not often and NOT repeatedly.

[geargnasher]

Alloy, alloy, alloy. Just barely tough enough to withstand being shot, tough enough to go through some light bones intact, but soft enough to make big holes on both sides. Weight and nose shape is pretty much irrelevant from a soft-alloy standpoint, so go with lots of bearing surface and "ideal for caliber" weight, I'd say 240-270 grains and a nose that will feed in your rifle. Nothing seems to kill as well or quickly with well-placed "boiler room" shots as a soft, slow, lead slug. I've killed a few with various revolvers and soft slugs moving 800-900 fps, even one with a cap-n-ball .45.

Gear

[Rooster59]

I'm using the Lee 452-300 GC sized at .452, LLA, and a higher end load of Lil Gun per Hodgdon online load data. Checked and lubed it weighs 309. Accurate and goes a chrono'd 1470fps from my Rossi trapper barrel.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Have two Rossi's in caliber 45 Colt. Both like the Lee 265 RFN cast of 50-50 with 18 grains of 2400. For plinking I use straight WW.
Both cycle the loaded round without any fuss. One is an old Interarms and the other about 10 years old now. I await the day ILLinois decides hunters can be trusted to harvest corn crunchers with a pistol caliber cartridge fed long gun. I have no dought this boolit will do the job.
Mike in Peru

[244H&H]

Thanks for the info. Kurt