Need a suggestion on powder for 45 Colt 255gr loads and .357 Mag 125gr and 158gr cast

[huntersdog]

I'm going to pick a few Lee molds for the shooting in the 45 Colt 255gr RF and the Lee .357 Mag 125gr RF and the Lee 158 RF and need some suggestions on powders. All of these rounds will be shot in Lever rifles.

Thank you for the help!

[tomme boy]

2400 or Unique

[RobS]

The above two will get you where you need to go with good range. If you really want to go light you could use a quicker powder.

[Bzcraig]

2400 or Unique

What he said.................or even Bullseye. If you don't have Lyman's 4th get it!

[NC_JEFF]

Definitely Unique, it won't make an "upper end" 357 but it will work well in both cartridges for cast

[DougGuy]

Fast burning powder will get you to the pressure ceiling QUICKLY under a 255gr boolit. You don't get a lot of velocity with fast powder before pressure tops out. Bullseye would make a target load but not a hunting load.

Are you loading the Ruger Only loads that are listed to 30,000psi? Or are you wanting to stay within the 14,000psi SAAMI pressure for the standard .45 Colt?

There is so much of a spread in the application for this cartridge that it can go from target velocities in older Colts, S&W, and the Italian clones, to full house magnum loads with H110 powder in many lever guns and most all the Ruger revolvers and other stoutly built revolvers chambered for the cartridge. Need to know what power range you would like to load it to.

[scottfire1957]

Some kind of reloading manual and some research on this site will answer your questions.

Seriously, you need reloading manuals. Plural. Everybody that really reloads has several.

[shoot-n-lead]

125gr....3.8-4.8grs of 231/HP38...very accurate load 876fps to 1071fps.

178680

[Tar Heel]

Goex FFFG. 35-40 Grains. Use a 255 grain bullet. Best stuff going. :Fire:


https://youtu.be/0Ym4ZEkh_14

[Blackwater]

For the LC, Unique just simply can't usually be beaten. I've only had one, but a buddy has had many .45 LC's, and if the bullet's a good one, and 9 gr. of Unique won't shoot very well in it, with a std. primer, the problem has never been the load but something with the gun.

For .357, Unique has worked very well for me, especially with cast, but 2400 will give additional velocity if that's what you want. These two powders tend to be very accurate with most loads and bullet wts. in most guns. In .357, you can get a bit more velocity with 296/H110, but at the cost of MUCH more muzzle flash, and I tried to stay away from that in my .357 because I carried it for self defense, and might have used it at night, where flash can blind you temporarily.

It's hard to find Unique recommended in manuals now with J-bullets, but most list it with cast. I've used a ton of it in .357 with cast, and it was my std. load for carrying and all-around use. I'd switch to 2400 if I thought I wanted a bit more oomph, but ordinarily, a warm to max. load of Unique was what I shot far more then everything else put together. Just my experience, and YMMV.

[Outpost75]

For standard pressure .45 Colt loads approximating blackpowder velocity, Bullseye is appropriate and was used in factory loads for over 100 years. Test data with current Bullseye is below. My recommended minimum starting load is 5.5 grains of Bullseye for 700-750 fps. A charge of 6.5 grains with a 255-260 grain lead conical similar to #454190, Accurate 45-259EB or Saeco #955 gives 880 fps from a 5-1/2" barrel revolver, closely approximates the original black powder velocity and has proven most accurate in cowboy revolvers and carbines. Velocity in a 20" carbine is about 1050 fps, which avoids transonic buffeting over longer rifle trajectories, and is capable of 3 minute of angle or better with iron sights.

A charge of 7.2 grains is maximum with Bullseye, and with bullets heavier than 250 grains slightly exceeds factory pressures, but is a safe, accurate and effective load in the Colt New Service, modern Colt clones and Rugers for about 950-1000 fps, depending upon cylinder gap.

Colt New Service M1909 5-1/2" .45 Colt
Cylinder Gap 0.008", Cylinder throats .456", bullets shot as-cast, unsized .455" Lee Liquid Alox

Saeco #954 230-grain FN___5x5 shot groups 25 yds.
___________________________Avg.
5.5 Bullseye_____754, 20 Sd____3.16
6.0 Bullseye_____864, 22 Sd____2.63
6.5 Bullseye_____903, 8 Sd_____2.19
7.2 Bullseye_____967, 19 Sd____2.24

Saeco #955 255-grain FN
5.5 Bullseye_____706, 23 Sd____3.11
6.0 Bullseye_____823, 33 Sd____2.2
6.5 Bullseye_____880, 18 Sd____2.08
7.2 Bullseye_____933, 15 Sd____2.6

In .45 Schofield brass 4.5 grains of Bullseye approximates the velocity of M1887 Revolver Ball cartridges, and 5 grains approximates the M1909 service round. I don't recommend more than 5 grains of Bullseye in Schofield brass if fired in the longer .45 Colt chamber, because of excessive bullet base deformation which causes chamber leading and impairs accuracy.

In .357 Magnum brass a charge of 5 grains of Bullseye with 147-160-grain bullets is a close approximation of .38 Special +P velocity, but while you can find heavier loads listed for Bullseye in the .357 Magnum, I have found them less than satisfactory. My advice is that if you require full .357 ballistics you need a different powder, and Unique doesn't perform well in that case either.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Over the years I have found Accurate #5 to work quite well in the .45 LC.Robert

[Blackwater]

Lots of good info above. Both calibers tend to be nicely accurate due to the guns they're chambered in, usually. For the LC, my buddy who's a LC devotee, once ran out of Unique and had some Red Dot. He loaded up 6.5 gr. with some 250 gr. bullets, and found they shot cloverleaf groups at 25 yds. with all bullets touching in his gun. He also found that CCI LR primers were the key. WLP's did good, but the CCI's made a difference in his gun.

Both calibers respond well to many powders, and testing is the only really definitive way to find out what any individual gun likes. And it's also fun and interesting, and another excuse to do more shooting. FWIW?

[robg]

2400 full power ,true blue for mid range stuff .cleaner and meters better than unique.

[gwpercle]

I loaded some 357's with a NOE-358-124-TC GC , over 6.1 grains of Accurate #5 , fired out of a Ruger Blackhawk at 25 yards, 12 shots stayed in a 1 1/8 inch circle , one ragged hole group, two flyers opened the grout to 1 5/8 inch. Both flyers were 1/2 inch out of the 12 shot one hole group.

That same boolit in 38 special cases with 5.5 grains Accurate #5 , gave a 10 shot group , 1 3/8 inch in diameter. 9 shots in one big ragged hole with a flyer 1/4 inch out.

This was my first time using Accurate powder....#5 looks very promising, at least in 38/357 with cast boolits. Might want to try it.
I bought it because nothing else was on the dealers shelf, he had a good supply of Accurate powders and I had seen a good bit of data with it .

Gary

[runfiverun]

for light loads in the 45 colt titegroup is hard to beat. [cowboy action, or paper, or small game]
for the medium stuff, unique 8.5 grs is pleasant 9.3 gives you some oomph without too much.
and upper end loads 2400 is my choice.

in the 357
clays is okay but has a narrow window and pressure gets up there quick.
231 will use a little more powder without the drama and makes a nice light load the kids can easily shoot and it's accurate too.
for a pop type load that's a touch quicker unique works okay.
my everyday load uses Herco and it's pretty dang good for all around 'stuff'.
and once again 2400 powder speed is used if I want to juice things up.

2400 is pretty hard to get around here so I use Accurate's 4100 instead.

[plainsman456]

I like 231 and red dot in the 45 lc but for the 357 i have used green dot as well as unique.

All have worked well.

[rondog]

I'm currently using spray powdercoated Lee 255RN over 21gr of IMR4227 in my 24" Rossi 92, and it seems to like that load quite well. Going to use it deer hunting in a couple weeks. They're thumpers though, I won't even try them in my Uberti Cattleman SAA clone. I'm afraid they're too hot for it, and that's just a fun gun for me, not a hand cannon.

[Moonie]

I like Unique for mild to medium in both of these, W296/H110 in the full power stuff.

[huntersdog]

Thank you guys for the load data and the information. I bought a new Lyman book and 2 older Lyman books.