Over The Counter .45 Colt Ammo for Woods (animals/people) Protection?

[Southern Shooter]

Which .45 Colt ammo, that can be commonly found in department stores (Wal-mart, Big 5, mom and pop, etc.) without having to order from bullet boutiques, would be useful for woods protection in the lower 48 states?

Thanks

[GoodOlBoy]

honestly I haven't seen over the counter 45 long colt ammo in a long time... that being said I prefer almost ANY 45 long colt cowboy load with a lead bullet over anything jacketed or hollow point.

GoodOlBoy

[DougGuy]

You MAY find standard .45 Colt loads at Cabela's, Gander Mountain, but I doubt you will see it at the big box stores.

Also, there are a lot of variations in critters in the lower 48, you may be okay with a factory load in .45 Colt with a 150lb Black Bear, or a head/neck shot on a pig but I shoot .45 Colt and would want something with a little more authority than factory lead ammo. You don't say what gun you have, but you can handload a decent 255gr boolit @ 1,000fps and still be within SAAMI specs for .45 Colt pressures. If you have a Ruger and don't want to handload for it, bite the boolit and order from Buffalo Bore.

[Southern Shooter]

It is actually a friend who has a recently purchased 5 1/2" Pietta 1873 in .45 Colt. He was asking what is available in the common stores to use in the woods of the South and in the mountains of Utah, where he vacations.

I have 4 Uberti's and a S&W 625 in .45 Colt and hand load for all of them. I am encouraging him to explore the world of hand loading ammunition, too. A pound of Unique, Bullseye, Titegroup or something along those lines with a 250 grain cast RNFP would give him something useful without damaging his revolver.

I am like others...can't find much on the shelves and what is found is terribly weak. I was just checking to see if I had been overlooking a brand or source of .45 Colt ammunition that would meet his needs. He will either have to buy through the Internet or roll his own.

[RKJ]

Our local Walmart carries Winchester PDX1, and Federal American Eagle 225 JSP (50 rounds). I picked up a box of the Federal but haven't gotten to try it yet so don't know how powerful it is (or isn't). I'm in central Missouri and that might make a (big) difference in availability. Below is the Winchester stuff they have, although this info is from Midway.


Winchester PDX1 Defender .45 Colt 225gr HP



Cartridge: 45 (Long) ColtBullet Style: Hollow Point (HP)
Bullet Weight (Grains): 225
Muzzle Velocity (feet per second): 850
Application: Target
Rounds per Box: 20, ..

Here is the Federal info:

Bullet Weight: 225 Grains
Bullet Style: Jacketed Soft Point
Case Type: Brass
Muzzle Velocity: 860 fps
Muzzle Energy: 269 ft. lbs.

[MBTcustom]

You can buy ammo from the store? Like, already reloaded?
Hmmmm.
What will they think of next. I'll bet you a dollar they loaded them with those disgusting undersized copper things too.

[selmerfan]

goodsteel, it's not reloaded, it's NEW ammunition. Did you know they make NEW ammunition? Me neither! I only knew about virgin brass and fresh cast boolits...

[runfiverun]

I would imagine that is pieta is rated for the 15-k colt limit.
this is going to somewhat limit his choices.
in his situation I would be looking for something in the 250gr area with a flat point.
no hollow-point stuff like the federal classic [it really doesn't penetrate] but I know Winchester makes or used to make a white box ammo [airc] that had a 250gr cast boolit in it.
ultra-max also makes a low pressure round for cowboy shooting
[brown box black writing] and I have had good luck with their stuff too.

[Outpost75]

If you can find any of the standard 250 or 255-grain lead Remington Express or Winchester Super-X Lubaloy bullets, NOT the mouse fart cowboy loads, he will be fine with those, which give 870 fps from a 7-1/2 inch barrel. The hard lead cowboy loads are a poor substitute. If you can handload for him a 255-grain Keith style like #454424 and 8.5 grains of Unique is a good performing, standard pressure field load which will do the work.

[bangerjim]

Last time I even LOOKED at com-load ammo, 45LC's were over a buck a round! And that was 2 years ago. If you can find it, it will be in the 200gn-ish cowboy load bare lead range. Did see FMJ but that was some time back.

JUST LOAD YOUR OWN! I load 160-300gn for 45LC. Not much more than ~6 cents/round.....save and use your brass! I never factor brass $$ into reloading costs......ever.

45LC is my favorite round! Tons of variety and loads of fun.

bangerjim

[5.7 MAN]

I tested the Remington and Winchester standard 255 lead bullets loads, the Winchester was a little faster at 855 fps in my 4 5/8 Blackhawk. If you want a real powerful load a box of buffalo bore would be a good choice, Shoot a few to get the idea of how it feels and save the rest to carry.

one of the local Walmarts had some standard factory 45 colt rounds a while back.

[Kim]

The last time I bought 45 Colt factory ammo (a VERY long time ago), Federal had a 225 gr. lead hollow point that was very impressive on water jugs and wet newsprint. Nowhere near as good as what a caster can produce but still pretty darned good.

[Tar Heel]

250gr RNFP at $40.99/box of 50. Will work fine in the Pietta 45.

Black Hills Cowboy Pistol AmmunitionItem number: IK - 213395



Attachment 138391

[runfiverun]

outpost got the name right that is definitely the direction i would follow.
both the remington [forgot about those] and the winchester are standard 45 colt loads and will duplicate the original loads making the 45 colt what is supposed to be.

[Dan Cash]

Any standard velocity .45 Colt will do the job it has been doing since 1873 if you do yours.

[w5pv]

I have read some where that the orginal blackpowder 45 Colt woud shoot through a horse side ways.If(?) this is true the 45 colt is no round for babies.

[runfiverun]

one of the original criteria was for the round to be able to penetrate a horse deeply enough to kill it.
I would imagine they even tried it out on some horses just to be sure.

[Outpost75]

Years ago, back in 1994, I chronographed Remington Express Symbol R45C 250-grain lead conical factory loads from the 4-5/8" Ruger Vaquero I owned at the time.

Velocity averaged 882 fps with a standard deviation of 11 fps, and extreme spread of 26 fps over a 12-shot string.

I also chronographed #454424 cast of wheelweights, sized .452" and loaded in Remington once-fired cases with Remington 2-1/2 large pistol primers and 9 grains of Unique, which gave an average velocity of 940 fps, 12 Sd and 32ES.

This was a then-new revolver with 0.003" cylinder gap.

[HiVelocity]

Most over the counter 45 Colt ammo is lethargic, at best. Personally, I would tend to lean toward Buffalo Bore, or something that has been proved in "life or death" circumstances. Or, I would develop my own handloads and test them personally to my satisfaction. I don't think much would get by the Lee 300 grain cast at 1,000 fps as a start. Just food for thought.

HV

In comparison; I cast a 225gr .452 hollow point bullet that I gas check and powder coat. 4.9gr of Titegroup in a 45ACP. Hits like a hammer. I am confident that this combination would drop anything 2, or 4, legged without hesitation.

[DougGuy]

I don't think much would get by the Lee 300 grain cast at 1,000 fps as a start. Just food for thought.

Food for thought, the gun in discussion here is a Pietta Colt clone, limited to the standard pressure loads. I know what it takes to fling the Lee 300gr RF downrange at 1,000fps and there is no way in hades the Pietta will survive one whole cylinder full of these without grenading.