45 Long Colt Winchester 94 for deer hunting?

[webradbury]

I'm on the fence with this one. I'm getting back into deer hunting this year after about a 20 year hiatus. So do any of you hunt with a 45 Long Colt rifle? Deer? I wouldn't try too make any shots over 50 yards. Any load recommendations? Thanks, Will

[Mustangpalmer1911]

I have a Rossi in 45lc it is a deer slaying machine. 100 yards no problem. Right shot ect I would do 150.

[osteodoc08]

No problem at up to 100 yards for me out of my Marlins with or without scope. Load up some and practice practice practice.

[webradbury]

Excellent! Load recommendations? Its a sweet shooting little rifle that would work well in a tree stand ( an unfortunate almost requirement here in eastern NC). I have this little "hole" field set off the road that is completely surrounded by woods except for the one tractor path in and out. Field is maybe 100-125 yds long and 100 yard wide. Sound perfect for this rifle!

[DougGuy]

What boolit what load? .45 Colt is my favorite caliber to reload for, and I hunt with it as well.

My "buckbusters" are 50/50+2% alloy cast from the Lee C452-300-RF mold over 17.0gr Hercules 2400 or 20.5gr LilGun, WLP primers, modified Lee collet style crimp.

[webradbury]

50/50 +2% alloy? I'm not very knowledgeable with the cast mixtures alloy shorthand, sorry.

[DougGuy]

50% clip on wheel weight, 50% pure lead, and 2% tin. It makes a great alloy, a little on the soft side about bhn12 or so, but a great hunting boolit.

[webradbury]

Great! Much abliged!

[GoodOlBoy]

If you are not up to casting your own yet look at the Laser Cast 250gr RNFP lead. They can be pushed pretty fast, and are very accurate in everything I have tried. They will drop a deer like nobodies business at 100+ yards and beyond in the right load.

GoodOlBoy

[Huntsman]

What boolit what load? .45 Colt is my favorite caliber to reload for, and I hunt with it as well.

My "buckbusters" are 50/50+2% alloy cast from the Lee C452-300-RF mold over 17.0gr Hercules 2400 or 20.5gr LilGun, WLP primers, modified Lee collet style crimp.

I'm casting the same mould for my '94 Legacy. They smack the paper with authority!! Would punch right thru a deer I'm sure.

[jonp]

50% clip on wheel weight, 50% pure lead, and 2% tin. It makes a great alloy, a little on the soft side about bhn12 or so, but a great hunting boolit.

I was going to suggest 17-18gr with that boolit and alloy but you beat me to it although considering the size of whitetail here in nc a 454190 would do the job nicely

[webradbury]

Is it a good idea to use a gas check boolit with the micro groove barrel? I've been shooting with plain base boolits but lower power loads. And a smaller boolit. Could I pump up a 255 plain base load?

[pietro]

Is it a good idea to use a gas check boolit with the micro groove barrel ?

It won't make any difference to you, especially since only Marlins have MicroGroove bbls, and you stated you have a Winchester 94.



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[dagger dog]

Not to step on toes but the 454190 is a not a good choice in a tube magazine, meplat is way to small just about the size of the LPP and could cause some probs.

I traded for a couple hundred just for my Rossi '92 but when I got my hands on them I chose to go to the Lyman 452664 which is a newer CAS design especially for lever guns. The RCBS 45-255 SWC is another good flat point for lever guns but you have to watch the trim on your brass as they can get to long to feed in a lever gun.

[webradbury]

It won't make any difference to you, especially since only Marlins have MicroGroove bbls, and you stated you have a Winchester 94.



.

You are right! I'm an idiot! I've been loading for my brothers Marlin 45-70 and had micro groove on my mind.

[jonp]

Not to step on toes but the 454190 is a not a good choice in a tube magazine, meplat is way to small just about the size of the LPP and could cause some probs.

I traded for a couple hundred just for my Rossi '92 but when I got my hands on them I chose to go to the Lyman 452664 which is a newer CAS design especially for lever guns. The RCBS 45-255 SWC is another good flat point for lever guns but you have to watch the trim on your brass as they can get to long to feed in a lever gun.

I have not had a problem in my Rossi with that boolit. My broader point was that a 300gr was not necessary down here and a 255gr would do the trick.

[TXGunNut]

Considering millions of buffalo were killed with only a little more muzzle energy I'd say you were on pretty solid footing using the 45 (not "Long") Colt on deer. Awesome cartridge; packs a whallop, punches big holes to let air in and blood out.

[bigted]

i would need to dig thru my notes that are still buried from moving but from memory i load the 45 colt as such.

first i measured the mouth of the fired case to determine the diameter my throat would need ... my Miroku/Winchester model 92 takes a .457 inch boolit in the fired case so i tried some of my accurate molds boolits of a bit more weight and they sure do carry the power in the lower 45-70 area. no reason why this round would not dispatch any deer shot with it at the appropriate yardage.

i also use the 2400 powder as well as IMR's 4227. won't guess at the grainage but one 340 grain boolit flew at 1600 FPS out of my 24 inch round barrel. these really are a fairly nice shooting round in my Winchester '92' but can't say in a '94'.

first get to know what diameter your rifle desires and feed it what it says it likes as a diet and like stated above ... shoot shoot shoot to get familiar with its intricacies. these newer rifles are the shis nits and i really do enjoy mine.

[webradbury]

Thanks, fellas. Good information here!

[snaketail]

The .45 Colt is a nice choice for deer and/or hogs.

Can I suggest a scope - either a scout scope or traditional. I have a Marbles Tang (peep) sight on my .45 and while it works quiet well target shooting it would not be my choice for hunting. My Rossi is a .454 Casull model and has scope mount holes under the buckhorn sights - I can easily mount a scout scope here. Most Marlins come with scope mounts, but many rifles will require you to drill and tap them for the mounting screws.

Keep this in mind while searching for a rifle - a scope extends you abilities. While you may not "need" a scope at 100 yards it would certainly help with shot placement.

M