Colt .45 black powder load

[Skinny 1950]

Just got a 1873 SAA .45 Colt and can't afford to shoot it..I need to reload. I am thinking that a good load for target shooting would be 30 grains of Goex FFFG with a 200 grn. boolit with a few wads.
Am I wrong??

[RMulhern]

35-38 grs. of FFF will work well with a 250 gr. SKWC!! I use an OPW in my loaded cartridges.

[Dan Cash]

If your cylinder is made with the proper gas ring on the base pin bushing, Ray's load will prove very powerful and accurate. If the base pin bushing is not correct, the load is still potent and accurate but you will only fire a cylinderfull before the gun fouls out. Lube your bullets with a good SPG type lube.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Slug the bore. You can shoot anything from RB to 250 grain or so bullets with even cheap chinese BP. Rb would be cheapest, especially if you know someone using a large enough diameter who could cast or help you cast.

BvT

[KCSO]

28 grains of FFg and a felt wad under a 230 grain rnfp makes a sweet shootng mild recoil load that duplicated the military load quite nicely. This clocks 700 fps from my short barreled SAA and will run a little over 750 from a 7 1/2. I punch my felt wads fro old hats from the thrift shop.

[bigted]

yep...38 grains of 2f goex or cartridge powder...large pistol prime....030 to .060 over powder wad...250 to 255 grain round nose flat point boolit ,,a Keith style semi-wad cutter is good as well,,lubed with a good bp lube... hang onto yer six-shooter as this will open yer eye to mid range power in a six-gun.

wasn't till the .357 mag came along that it got beat power wise. when you feel you want a bit more....40 grains cartridge with the same components.

oh and a wise man pointed me in this direction......grease your cylinder pin with mobil-1 synthetic grease and check yer cylinder gap for the magical .007 clearance between it and the forcing cone.

have a ball and report back with your results.

clean-up is a snap also...dis-assemble and spray down everything with a bolastol/water mix and let set for 1/2 hour...then plunge everything into a warm soapy water bath for the scrubbing...follow this with as many clear warm water baths till all soap is gone...dry with a hair dryer and oil it up and allow to cool down for 1/2 hour...wipe excess oil off and spray the innerd of her with oil excessively to ensure all water is displaced with oil...stow away and check in a few days to be sure that everything is good to go.

my Remington c&b revolver has been setting for 6 months in such condition and as luck would have it i dug it out yesterday as im going to go thrust myself into the new snow today and shoot it and upon checking it has the oily smell and clean as a spanking baby...have fun with bp in a revolver...it is very addictive.

[SharpsShooter]

35gr of your favorite flavor BP and a 250-60 Boolit of the proper diameter will do just fine. I use Swiss 1.5f or Goex Cartridge and no wad. Remember the case must have NO AIRSPACE. 100% load density is a must. Proper lube is important as well.

SS

[Cannoneer]

Just got a 1873 SAA .45 Colt and can't afford to shoot it..I need to reload. I am thinking that a good load for target shooting would be 30 grains of Goex FFFG with a 200 grn. boolit with a few wads.
Am I wrong??

OK, if you haven't bought the brass yet, get the Schofield Brass and 28 - 30 grains of either ffg or fffg and a 230 grain lead boolit lubed with a BP compatable lube and you will get yourself a mild and accurate load.

I have been using that load for SASS Matches for years.

[41wyom]

Am extremely new to this. I have some Swiss 2ff and a Ruger Vaquero chambered in 45 Colt.

Does this combination have potential to use BP?

[SharpsShooter]

Am extremely new to this. I have some Swiss 2ff and a Ruger Vaquero chambered in 45 Colt.

Does this combination have potential to use BP?

Absolutely! I shoot BP in my old model Blackhawk regularly. If I do my part it will put 5 shots into 6" gong at 100 meters with authority

SS

[David2011]

A few years ago I got the itch to shoot BP in my Ruger .45 Colt so a little research was in order. The consensus was that the early loads were 30 grains of BP with the 250 grain boolit; later upped to 40 grains. That is a substantial load. You're good anywhere in that range. Just don't us 4F. It goes too fast and will make big pressure. Enjoy the smoke and sulfur!

David

[TXGunNut]

Oops. Another BP CB project for my list. Just so happens I have SPG lubed Kieth 452424 SWC's, OP wads, an old RBH and some Swiss FFg lying around here somewhere. Will make a great backup when I carry it with my Sharps on a hunting trip. Most trips I drop in loads with Universal Clays, now that just doesn't seem right.
Thanks, guys!

[cajun shooter]

Slug your bore and check all cylinder diameters and throats. Try to use a 20-1 alloy as it will deliver the best performance. The best thing to do if you can is find a mentor that will give you valuable information into all the correct moves. I have found that 2F gives the best overall accuraccy but try different brands.
Read the 5th edition of The Complete Black Powder Handbook by Sam Fadala. It has plenty of usable things to know. Buy some Ballistol and a good spray bottle. Put in 14 oz of water and 2 oz of Ballistol. This makes what is known as Moose Milk and is all you need for cleaning. Spray the gun down well and use the moose milk on patches. After a good cleaning use Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease on the base pin and cylinder bushing. You need to put your cases into a bucket of water with Dawn/Oxy, Lemon Juice and Pine -Sol /lemon. Use about 2 oz of each with a bucket and 1 gallon of water. Your brass will need cleaning with ceramic or stainless media and a rotary type tumbler.

[Skinny 1950]

Just got my Lee mold in the mail...many of you have suggested a 250 grain boolit but I want to load for .45ACP later on and got a mold that is supposed to be good for .45ACP and .45Colt. I am still waiting for a primer feeder for a Lee 4 hole turret press so can't reload yet.
I bought 60 rounds of Hornady cowboy action loads (smokeless 255 gr.) to try out the gun and get some cases and then I found 300 cases at a scrap yard for $6.00.
In this picture the Hornady case is on the left and the M-M .45 Colt case from the scrap yard is on the right. Notice that the Hornady case is .053 inches shorter...is this going to be a problem???

[rbertalotto]

Those two different length cases will be a real problem if you use a roll crimp (and you should) and try to load them all at once as mixed cases. I'd trim them all back to be uniform and then load.

[tacklebury]

Hornady's are almost always a length issue. The same is true of the .45-70 Leverevolution ammo. Those cases are shorter. I keep a few on hand for long/bullets with low grease grooves. Have used them 2 x and they don't work with crimp dies. 8(

[bigted]

fun fact...

my ruger vaquero slugged out to .452 inch instead of the .454 inch of the Italian m-73 i have. this with the barrel and all cylender mouth as well.

make sure to slug yer barrel n cylender mouth's to know what diameter of boolit to use...this is going to go a long way in the leading dept....er lack of it. have a blast....ha....with yer new toy n enjoy the smoke n sparks.......go shoot it in the dark sometime....very cool!!!

[Dale53]

I shot BPCR Silhouette for 15 years (until vision problems put me out of the game with ALL rifles). There were many matches that had side matches for black powder revolvers. I started with a Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt. It was a good one but I decided I wanted a bit longer barrel and a Bisley grip.

I swapped it out for a new Ruger Bisley Vaquero. I loaded a case full of black (tried all available brands and stuck with Swiss 2F) +1/16" (compressed by the bullet 1/16"). I used the Lyman Cowboy Bullet 452664 at 20/1 lead/tin and Federal LP primers. My revolver would regularly shoot into 2" or so at 25 yards. Make no mistake, this is a powerful load. Further, it will shoot 70-75 shots before the cylinder starts to bind up and needs cleaning.

I use "Friendship Speed Juice" for cleaning then follow up with Ed's Red for protection. Takes just five minutes or so. I have not found the need to "dunk my cartridge revolvers in soap and water) like you have to do Cap & Ball revolvers. My Bisley is clean as a whistle:



For a smokeless practice load, I used 8.0 grs of Unique. Both loads shot to the same point of impact (dead on at 25 yards). I won a number of matches with this Bisley including several score matches.

Mike Venturino's book, "Shooting Colt Single Actions" has excellent instructions on loading, caring for, and shooting both black powder and smokeless applicable to all single action revolvers.
I followed his "recipes" and started shooting well immediately with little or no problems. It is now out of print but Mike states on his web site that he is working on a 2nd Edition. He is still showing some in stock on his web site:

http://www.mlventerprises.com/Coltbook.htm

FWIW
Dale53

[Skinny 1950]

Thanks for the replies on this...just set up the press and the powder measure only dispenses a max. of 23 grains so I loaded up 40 rounds with 23 grains and 2 1/2...1/8 inch wads to fill the case.
I have a kit coming to increase the amount of powder to 36 grains which is a full case so no wads needed.
Can't wait to go to the range and try it out..should be a blast.

[Onty]

I loaded a case full of black (tried all available brands and stuck with Swiss 2F) +1/16" (compressed by the bullet 1/16"). I used the Lyman Cowboy Bullet 452664 at 20/1 lead/tin and Federal LP primers.

Dale, I am assuming "loaded a case full of black" is powder level that will make bullet sitting on top of it and protruding 1/16" longer out before being pushed in the case for crimping. Also, how much powder (in grains) is that load? Did you check muzzle velocity?

As for Lyman Cowboy Bullet 452664, which one you have, new design (left) or old design (right):



Seems to me that, because of larger lube groove, old design is better suited for black powder.

Thanks