What is different when transitioning to cast (and with a revolver)?

[sharps4590]

You don't need 1500 fps. You don't need 18 BHN. You don't need 320 grs. There isn't a deer living that can't be killed with 250-260 gr., KTSWC or any other good, WFN bullet at 1000-1100 fps. Bullet fit to cylinder mouths AND identical cylinder mouths is a lot more important than BHN.

[Thumbcocker]

Keep us posted on your progress. That gun ought to be a shooter.

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[MostlyLeverGuns]

A 250 grain SWC bullet at 1000 fps works fine out of a 45 Colt or 44 Special or Magnum. Bullet hardness isn't particularly critical either. Heart/Lung shots work well, a deer moves its head and neck A LOT.
You can shoot out an eye, break a jaw or punch a hole through the neck without killing the animal, not something I care to do. The 250 SWC at 1000 fps will get the heart/lungs from about any angle, though I would not take a Texas heart shot. More velocity will flatten trajectory and increase recoil and muzzle blast. More bullet weight simply increases recoil. Muzzle blast is something folks don't mention, but it does affect your shooting. The 45 Colt has been around a very long time because it works very well without much hot-rodding.

[truckjohn]

A few mechanical things gun wise... Make sure the bullets fit the gun, and that you can load said bullets to fit in the chambers properly. I've run into more than one nasty leaded up mess because the chambers wouldn't take bullets large enough for the barrel. Same for your reloading dies. Make sure they will take the diameter bullet without mushing it down 0.005" undersize.

[selmerfan]

There really isn't much practical differenc between your .45 Colt and your .270 Winchester when it comes to killing deer. Max range is max range - if you can hit a volleyball at that range you're in the money, whether that's 50 yards with the revolver or 500 yards with the .270. Put the bullet in the same place. The main terminal performance difference is that the .45 Colt with your proposed bullet and loads will penetrate any deer walking from stem to stern. I've killed lots of deer with a .454 Casull and .357 Maximum with cast boolits. I have yet to "catch" one in a deer, even at 200 yards (I use a scoped single shot TC Encore and a rest). Put a bullet through the lungs/heart and it's going to die. And you'll have a LOT less meat damage. I grew up in South Dakota killing deer with .30-06, .308 Win, .243 Win., .260 Rem, etc. I love hunting deer with rifles. Then I moved to Iowa and refused to shoot deer with a shotgun slug, so I started in with the handgun right away. You can't quite eat right up to the hole, but it's awfully close. The only difference I've noticed with blood trailing is that the impact hole will sometimes plug up with hair from the WFN. But the exit wound makes blood trailing feel like you've opened up a garden hose. I've only had one exception to that and that was a 7x5 Iowa whitetail that I shot directly facing me. Entrance hole plugged and the bullet exited a hindquarter. Zero blood trail. He went about 50 yards and piled up. Most have dropped either in their tracks or taken a few steps and crashed. There is no replacement for bullet placement.