45 Colt Contender

[HEAD0001]

I am thinking about shooting BP cartrdige only in my Contender 10" in 45 Colt. Looking for any suggestions or helpful hints. Probably will cast a 255 Keith for the bullet. Load suggestions?? Tricks to make shooting easier, or cleaner in a Contender handgun?? Thanks, Tom.

[NickSS]

First you will need black powder lube as smokeless lube does not work with black powder. Second the case must be full of powder somewhere between 32 and 35 gr for most bullets and the bullet should compress the powder to some degree. Then just blaze away. If your first try does not shoot well try more or less powder (comprfession) until you find the sweet spot. To minimize fouling make a blow tube from a cartridge case by drilling out the primer pocket and sticking a piece of plastic tube into the hole. Between shots blow a couple of breaths down the barrel before the next shot. With this technique you can shoot all day long without cleaning the bore.

[HEAD0001]

What I was mainly concerned about was "blowback" into the receiver. Should I worry about that?? Is there anything I can do to prevent the "blowback"??

What particular powder would you suggest I start with?? Any special primer considerations?? Thanks, Tom.

[stubshaft]

I would use 3F and make sure that your boolit has a LARGE grease groove to help keep the fouling soft and use BP loob!

[Nobade]

Anneal your cartridge cases. I fought blowback for a long time, once I started annealing the cases it all stopped and the guns stay clean. Now I do that for light smokeless loads too, and it works better with those as well.