Looking for a 45 Colt load with 340gr Hammer

[HammerMTB]

I have a new mold- thanks, White Eagle! for my .45 RH. It's 340 grain. Can't seem to find any data for it. The RH twist is 1/16, so I think it will stabilize, hopefully down to 1000FPS or so, so it don't beat my hand too bad.
Anybody load for something like this?

[tek4260]

I'm gonna go ahead and put my flame suit on......

If your RH is the 4" model, you will have to stand on it to get 1K. If it were mine, I'd load to the base of the seated boolit with H110 and not look back. That is a heavy long cylinder with offset bolt notches and will stand a good bit more than a Blackhawk.

Take a 3/8 wooden dowel and mark it even with the crimp groove with both the boolit and rod standing on the bench. Take your Lee dipper and add H110 in the case until the mark on the rod is even with the case mouth and the charge is sitting level in the case. Weigh the charge in the case and this should be your max load. Don't back down from that more than 10%.

Loading books are pretty much useless with custom cast boolits anyway. I have a 300gr 44 mold that takes up less space in the case than a 240gr conventional SWC. You end up having to run it about 5 gr over book max for a 300gr to get it to really shine.

[saz]

I have not used it in the 45 colt, only the 454 casull in a levergun. And in that application my best results were with AA#9 and Lil Gun. I suggest you contact Dan Walker- I know he has worked with it in the Colt case- after all, it was his idea for the original group buy.

[bigboredad]

I believe white eagle like h110 and 21. A load that will get you used to the 340 is 9-10gr of unique or universal. I also like 16.5gr of 2400 and also 165.5gr of Ramshots enforcer. I had to email Ramshot to get any info on enforcer with Ramshot and that said 15.6-18.5gr I've used 15.5 to 17.00 with 2400 and for the run away freight train load for me is 21.5 with h110 with 21 the group was huge with another .5 gr. when I do my part the groups can cone down to almost a inch at 25yds. the 340 is a very accurate bullet out of the colts and you can go down 800fps and still get decent groups. If you are looking for a max load follow Teks advice he knows what he is doing and isn't just guessing

[GARCIA]

Here is a neat place to visit:

http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/de...Powder&Source=

Just might find what you need.

Tom

[44MAG#1]

Eureka as we type Hodgdons has data on the web for 335 gr and 360 gr bullets Ruger only loads that are safe in a Blackhawk so on and so forth

[subsonic]

I'd go for 21-23gr H110 or 296, but as at my own risk of course.

[tek4260]

Here is the example of why the book is useless in this case. The 300 doesn't seat as deep as the 240. Therefore I can run 25gr instead of say 19gr.

Of course the joker who see this and crams his 300gr jacketed over that 25gr load might be in trouble.

[white eagle]

I used 21.5 gr H110 out of my Bisley
very accurate.... lets you know your livin'
but as always take these loads with a grain.....
work out one for your gun, partner

[HammerMTB]

Well, I got around to trying the technique below today. Wanted to start by seeing how much we were talking about.
Turns out it was 28.9 grains of WW296- same as H110 in a WW case.
That's a good deal more than I am willing to start at....
Thinking about it some more, I may drop 10% or so from my 44 Mag loads with 300 grain and 296. Should be OK there to start....

tek, my RH is the 4" model.
My SRH in 44Mag is a 9.5" bbl, but it'll get 1350 from 300 grain boolits. I think 1000FPS is not "unattainable" in the 4" gun. Don't think I'll start at the top and work down, tho

I'm gonna go ahead and put my flame suit on......

If your RH is the 4" model, you will have to stand on it to get 1K. If it were mine, I'd load to the base of the seated boolit with H110 and not look back. That is a heavy long cylinder with offset bolt notches and will stand a good bit more than a Blackhawk.

Take a 3/8 wooden dowel and mark it even with the crimp groove with both the boolit and rod standing on the bench. Take your Lee dipper and add H110 in the case until the mark on the rod is even with the case mouth and the charge is sitting level in the case. Weigh the charge in the case and this should be your max load. Don't back down from that more than 10%.

Loading books are pretty much useless with custom cast boolits anyway. I have a 300gr 44 mold that takes up less space in the case than a 240gr conventional SWC. You end up having to run it about 5 gr over book max for a 300gr to get it to really shine.

[tek4260]

I just measured out that load of 28.9 in my WW 45 Colt case and came up with about 5/16" from the case mouth. So that boolit only seats 5/16" in the case when crimped in the crimp groove?

[Lefty SRH]

I loaded some 330gr WFN (1.610" OAL) Bear Tooth Bullets with 22.0gr H110 and a mag primer in my Ruger .45 colt SBH Hunter Bisley and WOW were they accurate. They averaged 1200fps form my gun.
For what its worth Linebaugh considers a max charge of 21.0gr H110 with a 350gr cast slug.

[HammerMTB]

I just measured out that load of 28.9 in my WW 45 Colt case and came up with about 5/16" from the case mouth. So that boolit only seats 5/16" in the case when crimped in the crimp groove?

I set my caliper to 5/16" and got what you see. To the crimp it's more like .380, but the .40S&W case in the pic was marked to the crimp with case and boolit sitting on the bench, then used as the gauge. I was conservative on the amount. I could easily have gotten another .5-1 grain in there, maybe more.
I've got a starting point now.

[Lefty SRH]

So whats your starting point?

[subsonic]

I wouldn't start with more than 23 gr. Look at .454 data...And stay well under it.

[tek4260]

Wow that thing seats shallow. Much shallower than I thought it would being a 340. I figured you would end up with a 24-25gr load as max. The pucker factor would be too high at 29gr Sorry I gave bad advice based on my experiences with more traditional boolits.

Food for thought

Per Hodgdon, with H-110 and 300gr bullets, the 44 goes 19 max and the 45 gets 22 max. Or 3gr more for the 45. My shallow seating 44 pictured above got 26gr in the Redhawk, add 3 gr and you have your measured 45 capacity.

Still 26 is not as scary as 29gr

[HammerMTB]

So whats your starting point?

I usually always use a measure to do this, so my load is slightly dictated by the volume of the measure.
That said, it will be in the 21-22 grain area. I think you hit it close enough for me. That's low enough to be safe, and high enough to have a good probability of enough velocity to get stability. If it works, I may not even try to push it more.
Thanks to all for the input. Getting others' tested loads and some feedback makes it much more comfortable to find a starting point.

[44man]

Nothing was said about the barrel length being used so it is hard to answer.
I use a 7-1/2" Vaquero, old model. I have the Lyman mold 452651 that is supposed to be 325 gr. Mine comes out 347 gr. I use 21.5 gr of 296 and a Fed 150 primer for 1160 fps. It is deadly accurate.
Don't push much more because groups will open. Find where it is accurate only because a few more fps means nothing at all.
The 335 gr LBT and this Lyman have both shot under 1" at 75 yards for me. Yeah, with the stupid Vaquero sights.

[HammerMTB]

Nothing was said about the barrel length being used so it is hard to answer.

tek, my RH is the 4" model.

The barrel length was listed, you just missed it.
Thanks for the confirmation, I have a starting point now.

[Snyd]

I have a 355gr WFN that takes up less case capacity than a Cast Performace 360gr. I'm at 21.5gr H110 which is .5 over max load for the cast performance, Hodgdon Ruger Only 45 Colt load data. The load is scary accurate and is 1200fps in my 7 1/2 inch SBH Hunter and 1150 in my 4" Redhawk. The 4" Redhawk will have no prob stabalizing that boolit. Reaming throats to .4525 if you haven't already makes a HUGE difference, Also cutting forcing to to 11degress. Have fun!

Mine on left, CP on right