Favourite .45 Colt bullet.

[John Van Gelder]

I started loading for the .45Colt back in 1975 when I lived in Alaska, I had a Lee mold for the .45-70 that produced a 340 gr. bullet, I sized those down to .452, and loaded them over a generous charge of H110. Those were my bear loads. I was given a Lee 255 gr. RNFP that I loaded over 9 gr. of Uique, that was pretty close to the old standard .45Colt loading. I read an article about the RCBS 270 SAA bullet and had to try that out. My load with that bullet, in my alloy they are 289gr, over 9.5 gr. of Unique, those are very effective on deer.

As I have gotten older, I find that I enjoy shooting lighter bullets in the .45 Colt and my current favourite is the Lee 200gr. RNFP, I use those in my Redhawk and they work well with speed loaders.

[bedbugbilly]

I bought a box of 200 grain RNFP - 500 in the box - just because it was cheap and the guy no longer shot 45 colt. I find them to work well out of my Uberti 7 1/2" SAA Cattleman. I suppose when I get done shooting up the box I'll give a look at the Lee 200 gr. mold.

I still much prefer the Ideal/Lyman 454-190 as that one REALLY shoots well out of my revolver. I don't push them hard - usually use Red Dot although I've used Green Dot and Unique . . . for some reason, the RD seems more accurate in my revolver. I live where about the most dangerous thing we have to worry about is a angry woodchuck so no need to load heavy!

I'm "older" as well and since I mainly "plink" - I find the 200 grain adequate and when I finally get through the box I bought, will add a 200 grain mold just so I can get more shots to the pound.

The 45 Colt is a favorite of mine - so easy to load and let's face it - ANY boolit out of a 45 Colt is fun!

Enjoy!

[John Van Gelder]

The .45 Colt is a very useful round, it is large enough that you can get enough 71/2 shot in it to do some close range upland bird shooting.

My Uberti .45 seems to like the heavier bullets.

For just shooting pine cones off the trail a round ball and 6 gr. of BE, makes a fun load. I originally bought a 200 Lee RNFP for my .44 spl. it worked so well in the .44 I had to have the same bullet in .45. That bullet is very accurate and functions well in my .45ACP auto loaders.

[DougGuy]

I don't think you can hogtie the Grande Dame of metallic cartridges to one favorite boolit. So many different boolits work in different guns, you might find a favorite for THAT gun, which may or most likely will not be a favorite in a different gun.

As long as the cylinder throats are sized correctly, I think you could rely on a favorite in one Ruger to do well in another Ruger, throats being correct and no thread choke, simply because the rifling and twist rate will be the same for the most part, given tolerances in manufacturing. The same boolit may not perform as well in a Cimarron or S&W as it does in the Ruger.

I have the Uberti in my avatar with .4565" throats and a .451" barrel, it works VERY well with the 454190 cast 50/50+2% with SPG lube, sized .456" also very accurate, enough so that I think looking for a better load might be more of a waste of time, it just loves this boolit, sized .456" with soft alloy and soft lube.

I did make a custom expander plug specifically for this boolit, a few thousandths larger than the stock Lee expander, and roughly .080" longer, I basically custom fit the case to this 454190 boolit via means of the expander I made.

[lotech]

For about forty years, I used the Lyman #454424 in a variety of .45 Colt revolvers as well as a carbine and a couple of rifles. For some reason, I never tried the #454190, but I'll bet it's a good one, maybe the best.

During the last few years I've come to prefer the .44 Special over the .45 Colt. Not sure why since they're about the same.

[Mitch]

I agree with Douguy many choices for the 45 colt.may favorinte is 265gr WFN sized to .456 from an LBT mold over 7.5 gr of 231 in a colt anaconda

[country gent]

I use a couple bullets in 45 colt. A 250 grn round nose for tradition. A 200 grn semi wadcutter when I want clean holes in paper and the 355 lee round nose flat point for heavy work.
The 250 grn gets use plinking and light hunting loaded to around 700-750 fps was a good performer. The 200 grn semi wadcutter was a light target load for informal or local maches very accurate loaded to around 650-700 fps. The 255 Lee round nose flat point was loaded to 850-900 fps and was a great stopper on game. I have also played with some 225 grn full wadcutters a friend casts and sells.

[Harter66]

My first a 452-255 RNFP Lee . It was great as an all around bullet and it shoots well across the board I ran it from 8.5 Unique up to 17.5 H110 with good results in a 92' and RBH . The original 2C cast 454-265 , it's 6C replacement ran 4536-8@ 264 .

I wanted more impact whack for deer and hogs ....
452-252 SWC this was good in the BH but not at all good in the 92' .
Then I got a 454424 with a round groove . It cast 454-255 and was happy with a Ruger snort of Unique in both guns but the single C was just to slow in production so I replaced it with an NOE version at 454-250 in a 5C . Both were good with light into Ruger territory , again the 92' reared it's ugly head and groups went crazy past 75 yd .

I was gifted a 430421 that had been opened to .448 that happened to be perfect to paper patch at 257 gr it shot very well in the 92' out to about 90 yd even with the exotic loads and rifle powders . Seating length and not trashing the patch was a pain but when it came together it was gold .

45-200 RCBS . I had to be careful with these as they would strip the lands if they launched too fast and over all they were just ho hum groups .

452-200 looks good but like the 45-200 it's too easy to over drive .

453-350 RNFP Mountain Molds . It works with H322 and 4198 but becomes a super mag quickly start loads were at 1240 fps in the 92" but groups were erratic .

[David2011]

Most of my .45 Colt rounds have been loaded with the 225 grain Lyman #452374 which is the .45 ACP profile. I don't have a lever action rifle in .45 Colt so no need for a RNFP although I do like the RNFP profile. The 452374 had a nice traditional appearance in cartridge loops and shoots well in my Blackhawk. It has proven quite capable of dispatching wounded feral hogs- 'cause it leaves the same big hole as any .45 boolit. My alloy is 20 pounds of COWW + 1/2 lb Monotype and I load to near .44 Mag power levels within the guidelines of the Lyman Ruger and Contender Only loads. The bullets hold up well at that power level.

[lightman]

I've cast and shot a few of the different Keith Type SWC's weighing in the 250 grain range. RCBS, Lyman and my latest, an H&G.

[CastingFool]

I like the Lee 452-200 rnfp, too. Use them in my 45 colts and 45 acp. Would like to try the 300 gr version in my Henry rifle but haven't gotten around to casting any yet.

[Walter Laich]

I've got the Lee 200 gr RNFP for my Ruger wheel guns and because my Marlin has an overgenerous chamber I need the Lee 255 gr RNFP.

the fact that Lee is a 6-gang mold is a bit factor in going through all that is needed to make the Lee molds operational (some assembly required)

[winelover]

I cast and load only two different bullets for my BH. The RCBS 250 SWC PB or MP's clone, with HP options, of the 270 SAA.

Mostly, only shoot/hunt Ruger Only Loads with 2400 powder. Load Unique for mid range loads.

Winelover

[cwlongshot]

This is mine.



Its a 310g LBT designed boolet. (10MM is a 200g WFN)


CW

[Wally]

Have tried the Lee 200 RF, 252 SWC, 255 RF, RCBS 225 Cav/250 FN/255 Keith, & Lyman 454190/452424. For some strange reason none of the RCBS shot all that well in my Ruger BHK as they all cast undersized. All the rest shot accurately; I keep going back to the 452424. I also have a Lee 235 WC DC that is also very accurate; I am so glad that I bought it years ago when they still stocked them.

[John Van Gelder]

I have a couple Hensely and Gibbs molds one is the #68 200 gr. SWC and the other is a 4 Cavity 240 gr. SWC, the H&G version of the Keith .45Auto Rim bullet. The 240 is very accurate in my Redhawk, in the 850-900 fps range. I have not tried pushing that one any faster. I Favour the RNFP bullets since they work well with speed loaders and feed a little easier in SA guns than SWCs .

I push the Lee 250 gr. RNFP at just over 1000 fps in my Redhawk. I had a problem bear that insisted in hanging around in my horse pasture, I caught him out in the open one morning, and dropped him with that load at 80 of my paces, I could see no reason for improvement on the results.

[Outpost75]

If your revolver has a cylinder length sufficient to handle an overall cartridge length of 1.68", Accurate 45-264D works well. It was designed for the Colt New Service in .455 Eley, but I also use it in the .45 Auto Rim and it fits in my Colt New Service .45 Colt if cases are trimmed uniformly to 1.275"

Attachment 238609Attachment 238610

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I had a single cavity Lyman 454424 that threw .457 bullets with the lead I had. This was 1968 to 1971, I sized to .454 for a Hawes Montana Marshall. With 20 grs IMR 4227 I could hold a 3" group at 50 yards sitting with my back against a tree. I do miss that revolver.

[Wheelgun]

The ones I use the most are the Lee 452-200RF, NOE 453423, and the Saeco #453 WC. With the majority being with the NOE 453423. It shoots best in my Vaquero, Redhawk and Cimarron 1873 Win clone.

[Wally]

Has anyone else found that the 452424 is more accurate than other .45 caliber cast bullets?