.45 Colt and Unique?

[Gundogblue]

Hi all,
I have a Heritage Big Bore .45 Colt revolver, and am shooting Lyman 454190 (250 grn) boolit, I usually use Trail Boss powder but ran out, I do have quite a bit of Unique, so I rolled 100 rnds using 8 grns of Unique. My Lyman Cast Boolit Handbook gives a starting load of 6 grns of Unique at 595 fps, and a Max load of 9 grns of Unique at 875 fps. But in my Hornady manual it says 7 grns of Unique behind their 255 grn lead boolit at 850 fps is the Max load. So I guess. my question is, is 8 grns of Unique behind a 250 grn cast lead boolit safe for the Colt clones? Also my lead is the #2 alloy, and my boolits are sized to .453.
Thanks Much,
Paul

[ryanmattes]

The Lyman book says 9gr is the max behind the 454190, and 8.2gr behind the 452664, both 250gr slugs. I load the 454424 up to 7.5gr without it even being really snappy in my vaquero.

I'd say you're probably safe to shoot them, but you should really load a ladder to see where your particular revolver likes it. Just because you can shoot it safely doesn't mean you'll get the best performance with that load.


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[Harter66]

I shoot mine in a Ruger and my original notes said 6.5-8.5 for SAA 255 gr . My old lot of Unique gave me 850 fps out of the 7.5" barrel at 8.5 with a 454424 , 452-252 @262 gr and 825 with the 452-255 @265 gr . Some books give 9.5 as a max load with more recent powder but that's pretty warm running a 454424 NOE version @250 gr something around 1080 and the 265 gr 452-255 1050 .

My unqualified opinion is that under 8.5 in any vintage of Unique with a bullet of 255 gr or less seated out to 1.6+ you're good to go .

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I've pretty much settled on 8.0 gr. of Unique with a 250 or 255 gr. cast lead bullet as my standard load for my Uberti 1873 clones.
DG

[bimus]

These loads are what I have made for two Beretta 45 colts both made by Uberti
7 1/2 barrel
7.3 grains Unique 250 grain bullet 734 FPS
7.5 grains Unique 250 grain bullet 828 FPS

4 3/4 barrel
7.3 grains Unique 250 grain bullet 639 FPS

[LenH]

Not sure which old Lyman reloading book I have but I bought it back in early 1970's. The starting load in that book was 8.0 gr of unique. This was for 250 & 255 gr bullets.
The newer manuals have considerably reduced loads. I have settled with 7.2 gr of unique. When older age and arthritis in my wrist showed up I opted for a lighter load.

[PositiveCaster]

My 1990 Hercules Reloader’s Guide lists a maximum load under a 250-grain lead bullet as 8.0 grains of Unique. This produced 850 fps at 11,800 psi and should be safe in almost any .45 LC revolver.



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[M-Tecs]

The 8.0 gr. of Unique with a 255 gr. cast lead bullet from the Lyman #45 was our standard load for Uberti 1873 clones for a re-enactment group I loaded for as a kid. They fired well over 50,000 with issues.

[Castaway]

8 grains of Unique and a 250/255 grain cast bullet is a marriage made in heaven. It would be a strange pistol that doesn’t like it.

[gitzitfish]

8 grains with that weight bullet should be just about perfect! I’m in the same boat of almost out of Trailboss

[Mk42gunner]

Another reason for the lighter load from Hornady is that their bullets are swaged, not cast, and thus softer. You'll find the .38 Special WC recommended loads are similarly light compared to Lyman's for cast.

Robert

[fatelk]

I've tried a lot of loads too, in my Italian clone revolvers, and 8.0gr of Unique behind the 454190 bullet is right where I landed as well. It seems like the perfect load for the gun, if you want a full power load.

[Gundogblue]

Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it. Who knows maybe I’ll like this load as much as the Trailboss load
Paul