"Go to" .45 Colt load

[No Plea]

3 Rugers in .45 Colt -- two large frame Bisley Vaqueros and one Blackhawk. One of the Vaqueros was well smithed by Bowen and made even prettier by Mssrs. Fishpaw and Turnbull. The other has had a decent action/trigger job and the cylinder chambers uniformed by Cylindersmith. The Blackhawk is stock and unfired. Have been shooting various factory loads in the Vaqueros with acceptable if not excellent results on paper. No game taken, yet. I want to find suitable hunting loads for whitetails at bowhunting ranges (my own self-imposed limitation). While I understand that each gun is a law unto itself, I'd like to find one load that works in all three. I have to start somewhere, so please tell me where y'all would start. Don't worry - I'll double check all recommendations against manuals. Thanks.

[felix]

Select a velocity just under the speed of sound would be sufficient for a 250-265 grain boolit in the Keith style, or, for easier loading, a WFN RN style. ... felix

[Potsy]

I'd take a hard look at MiHec's 270-SAA mold that's been running in the group buys. I'm liking mine so far.
Hottest I've run was 25grn. 296 for 1350fps. Probably a little more than needed but accurate.
I'm liking 20 grn 2400 for right around 1200fps so far.
If all the above kick too hard, try 9grn H-Universal (or Unique) for 1000fps. I honestly don't know why that wouldn't kill a deer.
All have been accurate enough for me in my Bisley.
Sadly, I've been unable to kill a deer with this combo. So I can't report on terminal performance. Others who have, however, may chime in.

[GARCIA]

+1 on what Potsy stated.

Using the same boolit but with 13gr of HS6 and a CCI LPP. Run these threw both my Redhawk and Blackhawk.

Tom

[KYCaster]

Your biggest problem will be finding a boolit style/diameter that all the guns like. It would help if all had the same cylinder throat dimensions.

Potsy's 9 gr Unique load is about the limit I can take for extended range sessions with single actions. 9 or 10 gr Unique will certainly do the job on deer at ~40 yds. Anything with more recoil than that requires LOTS of concentration to get a decent 6 round group. Of course YMMV, maybe you have more recoil tolerance than I do.

Good luck
Jerry

[Tom W.]

10 grains of Herco and an RCBS 270 SAA shoots well in mine.. Just a stock convertable BH.

[btroj]

I use a 280 gr or so bullet from a group buy a few years back. Cayoot was the honcho I think. I use it with 10.5 gr of surplus #105 powder. Goes 900 fps in my BH and about 1250 in my Marlin 1894cb. It just works.

[No Plea]

Thanks for your help.
Boolits in the 265 gr to 300 gr at +- 1000 fps is generally where I want to be. Both the Vaqueros require .452 boolits. I haven't measured the BH, yet.
Have you noticed any pros or cons from Keith style vs LBT (Veral Smith) style?

[No Plea]

Thanks for your help.
Boolits in the 265 gr to 300 gr at +- 1000 fps is generally where I want to be. Both the Vaqueros require .452 boolits. I haven't measured the BH, yet.
Have you noticed any pros or cons from Keith style vs LBT (Veral Smith) style?

[Hardcast416taylor]

If it ain`t broke - don`t fix it! I use the time tested load of 6 gr. Red Dot and the RCBS 265 gr. swc sparked with a Rem. std large pistol primer. Bullet alloy is 50/50 for general use and straight wheel weight for more serious conversations. I have used and trusted this load for many years.

[Rocky Raab]

I have two "never fail" 45 Colt loads. Both use 255 or so cast bullets.

The first uses standard primers and 7.1 W231 for 850 or so fps from my 4 5/8" barrel NM Blackhawk. It duplicates the original BP ballistics, the magnum of its day for about 75 years.

The second is known as the "Hank Williams Jr" load because he uses it exclusively. It's a magnum primer, 20.0 IMR4227 and a firm crimp. That one gives me almost exactly 1000 fps. It's a "Ruger only" load at 23Kpsi or so.

Either one will shoot through a deer from almost any angle.

[WARD O]

I second on GARCIA's load - 13 grains of HS-6 with a nice SWC around 270 grains is reasonably pleasant to shoot and has plenty of power for deer sized game. It's no slouch but does not have the nasty blast and jump of a full load of 296/H110. Give it a try.

Wardo

[9.3X62AL]

8.5 grains to 10.0 grains of Unique works very well in my BisHawk x 7.5" using either Lyman #454190 or #454424, giving 825-975 FPS and stellar accuracy. All-day recoil levels, too. #454490 (Thompson-like SWC/GC) flies well too with these loads, but the GC is superfluous at these pressures.

That "Hank Williams Jr." load listed by Rocky is intriguing.

[Rocky Raab]

Hank's load is fabulous. That's actually the START load in several manuals, going up to 23 grains at max. I've never felt the need to go above 20 to 21 because it is spookily accurate at that level. It fills the case almost to the base of a 255-gr bullet, and the 23-gr level is lightly compressed.

IMR describes 4227 as "THE magnum handgun powder" but most of us consider it a rifle powder. Doing so overlooks a highly appropriate use.

There are more powerful loads for the 45 Colt, but just because it's possible to do something doesn't always mean it is necessary or desirable to do it. A fat heavy bullet at 1000 fps does everything a handgun ought to do without massive blast and recoil.

[outdoorfan]

I shoot the RCBS 270-SAA in my 4 5/8 BH. 50/50 ww/soft at 8.5-9 bhn in front of 8.5 grains of Unique being sparked by a Fed 150 primer yields 900 or so fps (dependent on temperature) and decent accuracy out to 100 yards (the furthest I've shot it). 6.5 grains Red Dot yields 825 fps and is stable to 100 yards with good accuracy. I even dropped down to 5.2 grains of RD and got 3 inch groups at 50 yards at 650 fps. I like the 8.5 grains Unique load 'cause it still hits plenty hard and is easy on the ears. It penetrated 8-9 1-gallon water jugs.

[Catshooter]

Rocky,

Interesting load. What does it do from a rifle?


Cat

[Rocky Raab]

Cat, I have fired that load through a borrowed lever gun, but didn't chrono it. It is noticeably more powerful.

[FrankG]

Both my Uberti's like 5.5grs Titegroup and 255gr. from Lee mould.

[littlejack]

I'm stickin to the 9.0 grains of Herco with any of the 250-255 grain boolits. My Uberti like the
load, and it packs a good punch. Velocity runs just at 900 fps chrony'd.
The Herco powder burns cleaner than the Unique I tried, and it meters better than the
Unique in my Little Dandy powder measure. I also like the volume it takes up in the big
45 Colt case.
Jack

[RayinNH]

No plea, we need pictures of the Bowen gun. I'm surprised this thread has gotten this far without that request. We like to salivate over nice guns ...Ray