How fast is fast enough?

[Good Cheer]

Wait a minute...
Some people would shoot a person with a .45 Colt but not a deer?

[Good Cheer]

But I shoot a single shot so there's more flexibility in powder charges and bullet weights.

[Static line]

through the years ive noticed quite a few hunters use 50/50 wheel weight/pure lead and a bit of tin. pistol hunters report great success with 240-270 gr at 1200fps.
and 30-30 shooters have taken an untold number of deer through the ages with 173 grain bullet at 1800-2000 fps.

Is that air cooled or quenched ? There is a difference in BHN. Reason I ask is not to pull your chain but I was thinking of going the 50/50 route myself for deer hunting with my 45 Colt Marlin 1894 but never could find the answer to which is better for that purpose with 50/50,air cooled or quenched. I have plenty of pure on hand that hardly gets used because I am just always going to my COWW's and air cooled. I gave up on quenching as I see no need for it in my 44 mag or 45 Colt.

[farmbif]

I'm no ace hunter but gotta assume air cooled is the way to go to get slug softer than just straight wheel weights so you get some expansion

[Static line]

I'm no ace hunter but gotta assume air cooled is the way to go to get slug softer than just straight wheel weights so you get some expansion

I've only ever quenched 50/50 and yes it came out around the same BHN as air cooled WW's. Next time I cast,I may just air cool the 50/50 and see what I get.

[smkummer]

Finally got out to chrono those accuracy loads. Unique, 998 FPS with a SD of 4! 4227 1012 FPS, SD of 8. 2400 1058 FPS with a SD of 12. All three loads group under 1.25 inches at 50 yards using peep sights off a sand bag. Those are 5 shot groups. Discounting the single outlier in each group, the average group size was under .70 inches for 4 shots. None of these loads are anywhere near max. I figured best accuracy would be around the 75%-80% loadings. Now my question is, which would you guys use?

Yep, I agree with others. You can increase that load for flatter shooting performance and still be with SAMMI specs. which is fairly low pressure. I am shooting my repro Colt/burgess with Lyman 454190 and 9 grains unique as it’s a tac driver at 100 yard ( or accurate enough for rapid fire on a 12” plate). According to Lyman, I should be getting 1150 FPS. I also shoot a 24” plate at 200 yards but I have to lift the ladder sight for that. Again if it were myself I would sight in at 100 and see where it hits at 50, 75 and 125. After that, your simply good to go.

[Static line]

Yep, I agree with others. You can increase that load for flatter shooting performance and still be with SAMMI specs. which is fairly low pressure. I am shooting my repro Colt/burgess with Lyman 454190 and 9 grains unique as it’s a tac driver at 100 yard ( or accurate enough for rapid fire on a 12” plate). According to Lyman, I should be getting 1150 FPS. I also shoot a 24” plate at 200 yards but I have to lift the ladder sight for that. Again if it were myself I would sight in at 100 and see where it hits at 50, 75 and 125. After that, your simply good to go.

With my 255 gr . WFN cast bullet that actually weighs in at 260 grains and 9 grains of Unique out of my Marlin 1894 ,45 Colt, I am averaging 1149 fps.

[Groo]

Groo here
You are getting 900fps from a 1873 rifle????????????????????????????????
The factory 45 colt is about 800 to 850 from a 4in REVOLVEER..........................
Original BP loads from a 7 1/2 colt ran 950 to 990......
If that is your "rifle " load -- it is a "Bunny Fart" one.
The BP load was known to go through a horse and hit the rider on the other side --- from a revolver.....
Any load that can hit 1000fps will be fine for 100yds or less.....

[jonp]

With the distance figure at 900-1000 fps with that boolit on the target and make a good shot

[jonp]

Wait a minute...
Some people would shoot a person with a .45 Colt but not a deer?

Ha! I'd take a run at most anything with my Blackhawk and a 260-300gr

[jimb16]

I'm going to go with the 2400 load. 1150 fps and .64 inch 50 yard groups. With decent bullet placement and that velocity it should flatten even the biggest white tail...

[W.R.Buchanan]

A .44 cal SWC will go clean thru and Elk in any direction at 900 fps. (.44 special.) Your .45 LC at 1200 fps is just fine.

The original power requirement for the .45 LC (1873)was to be able to knock down a horse which it did easily. I think it will still knock down a "todays" horse, as horses haven't gotten any tougher and the cartridge hasn't gotten any weaker.

Deer shouldn't really stand a chance and something that should be considered is,"exactly how many Deer have been shot with Win 92's in .44-40?" With 128 years behind that gun and 147 years behind both cartridges, it is hard to argue a intelligent point such as,

"it is inadequate for the purpose of shooting deer today?" Really?

I guess history classes in grade schools aren't really covering shooting and hunting from a Century and a half ago. But there is damn sure enough magazines and books on the subject, to be able to form an opinion.

I have stated here many times that there are very few cartridges that have been invented after 1963 that have made any significant impact on the shooting world. I could easily go back to 1900 without too many additions.

Thinking a 250 gr slug at any velocity beyond 1000 fps is going to bounce off your target is very short sighted.

There's a saying,,, "Any gun will do, if you will do." So don't blame the cartridge if you can't shoot !

My .02

Randy

[Harter66]

Twist ........ I have a 1-32 pending an upgrade to a 1-16" .
I had a great load for a 7.5 BlackHawk at a consistent 1025-1050.
In the M92' 18" carbine it gained nearly 200 fps to 1230-1245 fps .
I used an original round groove 454424 , NOE version @ .454-250 over 9.5 gr of Unique .
On a 165# boar hog at 17 yd a high hit behind the shoulder and the hog in a full greyhound run the bullet exited behind the off elbow , leg forward. 28" through , broke 2 ribs and about 1-1/4" of that grissely shields . It ran , already juiced up and running , about 200 yd before drowning in its own blood .

145# hog through the vitals quartering away in behind , out in front of the shoulders 20" or so at 47 yd , one full step , and collapse .

135# hog powder burn range , 10' maybe , in at the shoulder cut 2 ribs and clipped a 3rd exiting through the off ham , 38" of pig , drop in place .
Hoof weights .

Now those were great performances and very impressive . The rifle was good with the load out to 75 yd would drill softball sized targets all day long , I shot golfballs with witnesses from this forum out to 75 yd . Unfortunately that is also where it dropped through transonic and the upset caused a 30° by 10:00 line of flight departure between 78-82 yd .
Bullets were cast of WW/1-20 50/50 and water dropped , the shields suggested some expansion . The faster twist with much hotter Ruger producing 1200 fps did not display the upset well past any reasonable hand gun ranges .
The solution is to not go supersonic .

[cwlongshot]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...olt-black-bear

Apparently 1100 fps is fast enough for this Bear...

CW

[GooseGestapo]

I don’t have much to add, but here it is....
I’ve used(and a best friend) the Lee 255gr RFN over 8.2gr of Universal for about 1,175fps from a 24” rifle barrel. I’ve shot several deer and buddy shot one. Have not lost a deer yet. Neither have we recovered a bullet either.”
Buddies deer was shot in front of chest, bullet exited ham. Complete lengthwise penetration. Ranges have been 20-70yds. I previously used somewhat heavier loads but quit after seeing the performance of these mild loads. Someone will chime in that the 8.2gr load is a little over max for the Colt SAS. However, I’ve found that it’s the minimum load that gives case obturation such that you don’t get soot blowing back through the action.

My current favorite load is a similar load using Hodgdons LongShot. It gets 980fps from my S&W M25MG,and 1,200from the Winchester M94 w/24”bbl.

[Static line]

I don’t have much to add, but here it is....
I’ve used(and a best friend) the Lee 255gr RFN over 8.2gr of Universal for about 1,175fps from a 24” rifle barrel. I’ve shot several deer and buddy shot one. Have not lost a deer yet. Neither have we recovered a bullet either.”
Buddies deer was shot in front of chest, bullet exited ham. Complete lengthwise penetration. Ranges have been 20-70yds. I previously used somewhat heavier loads but quit after seeing the performance of these mild loads. Someone will chime in that the 8.2gr load is a little over max for the Colt SAS. However, I’ve found that it’s the minimum load that gives case obturation such that you don’t get soot blowing back through the action.

My current favorite load is a similar load using Hodgdons LongShot. It gets 980fps from my S&W M25MG,and 1,200from the Winchester M94 w/24”bbl.

Being a relatively new 45 colt Marlin owner, this is the kind of hunting report that I like to read. I already have my 255 gr. WFN bullet from Accurate Molds loaded up with 9.0 grains of Unique for deer season.That yields an average of 1150 fps. out of my 1894 Marlin.