45 Colt in a 24" Barrel

[iplaywithnoshoes]

I bought a 45LC Encore Barrel from a fellow and am planning on plinking using jacketed and my own cast. Due to barrel length however, I am concerned with having enough lube before leading occurs in the 24" barrel given the shorter bullet and shallower grooves in lots of molds. Does anyone have experience with this barrel length and can anyone make a recommendation molds they have used successfully? I will be loading anything from mild subsonic to wild at over 1400ft/s.

Thank you

shoe

[ericandelaine1975]

I've got a marlin cowboy with a 24" barrel. So far i haven't had any leading trouble. Any of my hotter hunting loads are gas checked with lube from the manufacturer. My plinking loads are a really soft lead with alox on them and no problem there either. They're 250gr with 9.5gr of W231. My hunting load is a 325gr with (if I remember correctly) 22.1gr h110

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[Larry Gibson]

I use BAC lube on my handgun bullets. Out of a 24" Rossi M92 in 45 Colt I ran PB'd cast to 1250 fps w/o any leading problems.

[fredj338]

I used to shoot a lot of CAS with lubed lead running in a 24" 1873, no issues but only going about 900fps. With BAC or sim lube, I doubt you have issue with leading to 1500fps with proper fit & alloy.

[wulfman92]

I have a Marlin Cowboy Limited with a 24” barrel. Using a 200 grain flat point out of a Lee six banger that is powder coated, with Trail Boss. No leading at all

[mdi]

Just make sure the bullets fit your gun's barrel and use a decent lube. If your lube isn't working, you will see leading at the muzzle end, last few inches of the barrel...

[Cherokee]

The bullet I use in 45 Colt 24" rifles is RCBS 230 CM sized .452"; its a flat nose with rounded edges at the meplat. Big lube groove and accurate in rifles and revolvers, and 45 ACP as well.
Oh, leading, none in 10+ years of shooting it. I clean the actions, no need to clean the barrels.

[plainsman456]

Brother in law has had no problems shooting them in 3 of his lever rifles.

I use 2500+ because i got tired of changing lube out for pistol.

I have had no problem with my 41 mag or the 45-70 Marlins.

[Mk42gunner]

My Marlin Cowboy 24" had no problems using ACWW Lyman 452424 with FWFL in front of a fairly stiff charge of 2400. Of course it had no problems with commercial hardcast 255RF with Crayon lube at Cowboy load levels either, so maybe I got lucky in the smooth barrel sweepstakes.

Robert

[wendyj]

I was using the Henry golden boy in 45 and used 13.5 grains of HS6 using the NOE 454-255 mold. Lubed with Carnuba blue and it done great. Wanted the 45 Blackhawk and traded it off and regret it now.

[Outpost75]

My Go-To bullet in .45 Colt is Accurate 45-259EB which has ample lube capacity for either black powder in rifle length barrels or for heavy smokeless loads. I cast them 1:30 tin-lead and mostly load 7.2 grains of Bullseye, but this bullet works in rifle with a compressed charge of 2Fg black or IMR4198 using 50-50 Goya Manteca and beeswax, aka "Confederate Army Lube."

Another favorite bullet for smokeless loads, to fit the longer Ruger cylinder or for rifle use is 45-262H, which with Lee Liquid Alox also works in longer barrels to 1300 fps.

Larry Gibson's pressure test attached.

230790230791230792

[iplaywithnoshoes]

How do these bullets hold up in longer range (up to 400 yards?)

[Outpost75]

How do these bullets hold up in longer range (up to 400 yards?)

I haven't shot them past 200 yards, but out that far at least their dispersion is linear with the range.

[lar45]

I was at a linebaugh big bore shoot in Cody a few years ago and shot some LFN style bullets out to 1000 yds from a 454. The bullets were from Mountain Molds molds and ran from 320-350 gn all shot at around 1350fps. I had some with a 70, 80, and 90% meplats. The 70s shot straight out to 1000 yds, the 80s shot well to around 800yds ish, and the 90s shot straight to 900 yds ish.
They were all plain based and had .4" nose lengths.
I have a Puma in 45 colt with 24" barrel, but it's slow twist won't stabilize the heavies. I have shot bullets up to 275 gns out of it at 300yd silhouettes with out any problems. 2500+ and Carnauba Blue have never given me any problems in a 45 Colt.

[osteodoc08]

Marlin CB here as well. A 45-270-SAA with a “level 2” dose of HS-6 works well. Unsure of the velocity. These are PB and there is no evidence of leading.

[iplaywithnoshoes]

Also, another question: do you get a lot of blow-by through the chamber with these kinds of loads.

[Cherokee]

Various loads mentioned above range from ~700 to 1400+ fps. I don't get any observable blow-by from my lower vel loads so I would not expect any from the high stuff. Naturally, this depends upon proper bullet fit.

[GMT210]

I really like the MP 45-270 SAA in my Bisley Blackhawk, I also use it with a sabot in my muzzleloaer with Blackhorn. I'd really like to find a 45-270SAA with a gas check, because I was thinking of getting a true 45 Colt barrel for my Encore as well.