so true on all accounts, oldred. these olde tyme .45 cartridges just work best slow 'n' heavy. attempting to go much past 1400fps or so defeats their inherent accuracy and can provide unnecessary recoil (that will affect consistency). they really do work best (consistent accuracy and reasonable recoil) with high lead/low tin alloy heavy boolits and either black powder or with specific smokeless powders (aa5744, sr4759) that recreate (to a good degree) black powder results with those 400 to 550 grain boolits. in the last few years, and aside from my flintlock rifles, i've sold off all my cartridge rifles in favor of rolling block and sharps style actioned single shots in, of course, the .45-70 cartridge. life's still good.