.453-255 Contender

[HEAD0001]

I cast some 255 grain RCBS Keith Style bullets for my 10" 45 Colt Contender. I am working up a "Gallery Load" for some porch shooting. So I loaded 3.5 grains of Red Dot with a Winchester WLP primer. This load is very quiet in my 45-70 rifles with a 405 grain bullet. So I was hoping it would be a good place to start for an ultra quiet load for my Contender.

Couldn't have been more wrong. The 3.5 grain load was extremely load. And even had a slight amount of recoil. Probably a few inches in muzzle jump. That really suprised me. It actually was very loud. And that is not what I am after.

I thought I had some Trail Boss on the shelf. But I could not find it this afternon.

Anyone have a load that they think might work for a good silent Gallery Load?? I hate to go below 3.0 grains of Red Dot?? But I might try 2.5 grains of Red Dot.

I also found about 1/2# of Unique and a few pounds of Blue Dot. Along with several others. Tom.

[bearcove]

That short of a barrel will be tough. I use bullseye cause its the fastest I have.

[subsonic]

If you can minimize case capacity, you can reduce powder charge and resulting blast. Think wadcutter. Seat the boolits backwards, even with the mouth of the case, and try backing down on the charge - keep a mallet and dowel handy. Also try a little slower powder like Unique/Universal, and since it's a single shot, don't bother to crimp.