"Go to" .45 Colt load

[No Plea]

3 Rugers in .45 Colt -- two large frame Bisley Vaqueros and one Blackhawk. One of the Vaqueros was well smithed by Bowen and made even prettier by Mssrs. Fishpaw and Turnbull. The other has had a decent action/trigger job and the cylinder chambers uniformed by Cylindersmith. The Blackhawk is stock and unfired. Have been shooting various factory loads in the Vaqueros with acceptable if not excellent results on paper. No game taken, yet. I want to find suitable hunting loads for whitetails at bowhunting ranges (my own self-imposed limitation). While I understand that each gun is a law unto itself, I'd like to find one load that works in all three. I have to start somewhere, so please tell me where y'all would start. Don't worry - I'll double check all recommendations against manuals. Thanks.

[felix]

Select a velocity just under the speed of sound would be sufficient for a 250-265 grain boolit in the Keith style, or, for easier loading, a WFN RN style. ... felix

[Potsy]

I'd take a hard look at MiHec's 270-SAA mold that's been running in the group buys. I'm liking mine so far.
Hottest I've run was 25grn. 296 for 1350fps. Probably a little more than needed but accurate.
I'm liking 20 grn 2400 for right around 1200fps so far.
If all the above kick too hard, try 9grn H-Universal (or Unique) for 1000fps. I honestly don't know why that wouldn't kill a deer.
All have been accurate enough for me in my Bisley.
Sadly, I've been unable to kill a deer with this combo. So I can't report on terminal performance. Others who have, however, may chime in.

[GARCIA]

+1 on what Potsy stated.

Using the same boolit but with 13gr of HS6 and a CCI LPP. Run these threw both my Redhawk and Blackhawk.

Tom

[KYCaster]

Your biggest problem will be finding a boolit style/diameter that all the guns like. It would help if all had the same cylinder throat dimensions.

Potsy's 9 gr Unique load is about the limit I can take for extended range sessions with single actions. 9 or 10 gr Unique will certainly do the job on deer at ~40 yds. Anything with more recoil than that requires LOTS of concentration to get a decent 6 round group. Of course YMMV, maybe you have more recoil tolerance than I do.

Good luck
Jerry

[Tom W.]

10 grains of Herco and an RCBS 270 SAA shoots well in mine.. Just a stock convertable BH.

[btroj]

I use a 280 gr or so bullet from a group buy a few years back. Cayoot was the honcho I think. I use it with 10.5 gr of surplus #105 powder. Goes 900 fps in my BH and about 1250 in my Marlin 1894cb. It just works.

[No Plea]

Thanks for your help.
Boolits in the 265 gr to 300 gr at +- 1000 fps is generally where I want to be. Both the Vaqueros require .452 boolits. I haven't measured the BH, yet.
Have you noticed any pros or cons from Keith style vs LBT (Veral Smith) style?

[No Plea]

Thanks for your help.
Boolits in the 265 gr to 300 gr at +- 1000 fps is generally where I want to be. Both the Vaqueros require .452 boolits. I haven't measured the BH, yet.
Have you noticed any pros or cons from Keith style vs LBT (Veral Smith) style?

[Hardcast416taylor]

If it ain`t broke - don`t fix it! I use the time tested load of 6 gr. Red Dot and the RCBS 265 gr. swc sparked with a Rem. std large pistol primer. Bullet alloy is 50/50 for general use and straight wheel weight for more serious conversations. I have used and trusted this load for many years.

[Rocky Raab]

I have two "never fail" 45 Colt loads. Both use 255 or so cast bullets.

The first uses standard primers and 7.1 W231 for 850 or so fps from my 4 5/8" barrel NM Blackhawk. It duplicates the original BP ballistics, the magnum of its day for about 75 years.

The second is known as the "Hank Williams Jr" load because he uses it exclusively. It's a magnum primer, 20.0 IMR4227 and a firm crimp. That one gives me almost exactly 1000 fps. It's a "Ruger only" load at 23Kpsi or so.

Either one will shoot through a deer from almost any angle.

[WARD O]

I second on GARCIA's load - 13 grains of HS-6 with a nice SWC around 270 grains is reasonably pleasant to shoot and has plenty of power for deer sized game. It's no slouch but does not have the nasty blast and jump of a full load of 296/H110. Give it a try.

Wardo

[9.3X62AL]

8.5 grains to 10.0 grains of Unique works very well in my BisHawk x 7.5" using either Lyman #454190 or #454424, giving 825-975 FPS and stellar accuracy. All-day recoil levels, too. #454490 (Thompson-like SWC/GC) flies well too with these loads, but the GC is superfluous at these pressures.

That "Hank Williams Jr." load listed by Rocky is intriguing.

[Rocky Raab]

Hank's load is fabulous. That's actually the START load in several manuals, going up to 23 grains at max. I've never felt the need to go above 20 to 21 because it is spookily accurate at that level. It fills the case almost to the base of a 255-gr bullet, and the 23-gr level is lightly compressed.

IMR describes 4227 as "THE magnum handgun powder" but most of us consider it a rifle powder. Doing so overlooks a highly appropriate use.

There are more powerful loads for the 45 Colt, but just because it's possible to do something doesn't always mean it is necessary or desirable to do it. A fat heavy bullet at 1000 fps does everything a handgun ought to do without massive blast and recoil.

[outdoorfan]

I shoot the RCBS 270-SAA in my 4 5/8 BH. 50/50 ww/soft at 8.5-9 bhn in front of 8.5 grains of Unique being sparked by a Fed 150 primer yields 900 or so fps (dependent on temperature) and decent accuracy out to 100 yards (the furthest I've shot it). 6.5 grains Red Dot yields 825 fps and is stable to 100 yards with good accuracy. I even dropped down to 5.2 grains of RD and got 3 inch groups at 50 yards at 650 fps. I like the 8.5 grains Unique load 'cause it still hits plenty hard and is easy on the ears. It penetrated 8-9 1-gallon water jugs.

[Catshooter]

Rocky,

Interesting load. What does it do from a rifle?


Cat

[Rocky Raab]

Cat, I have fired that load through a borrowed lever gun, but didn't chrono it. It is noticeably more powerful.

[FrankG]

Both my Uberti's like 5.5grs Titegroup and 255gr. from Lee mould.

[littlejack]

I'm stickin to the 9.0 grains of Herco with any of the 250-255 grain boolits. My Uberti like the
load, and it packs a good punch. Velocity runs just at 900 fps chrony'd.
The Herco powder burns cleaner than the Unique I tried, and it meters better than the
Unique in my Little Dandy powder measure. I also like the volume it takes up in the big
45 Colt case.
Jack

[RayinNH]

No plea, we need pictures of the Bowen gun. I'm surprised this thread has gotten this far without that request. We like to salivate over nice guns [smilie=l:...Ray

[Grapeshot]

My favorite .45 Colt Loads for plinking or SD in the Woods is either the Lyman 452664, 250 grain RNFP or Lee's .45-250-RNFP on top of 9.0 grains of Alliant's Unique. These shoot with deadly accuracy out of my Anaconda.

With my SAA's using Black Powder in the .45 Colt Case, it's 40 grains Goex 2Fg Compressed to seat the 250 grain PRS Big Lube Boolit touched off with a magnum Large Pistol primer. If using the Schofield case, it's 30 grains of compressed Goex 2Fg and the same PRS big Lube boolit or the Lyman 454190.

For real serious work it's 17.5 grains of 2400 and the Lyman 454424 Kieth style SWC or Lyman's 452490 gas checked SWC. Both are hard hitting and very accurate.

[oksmle]

Rocky .... That load in my lever action rifle with a 24" barrel chronographs right at 1375 fps. I use Rem. LP primers & cases & Emert's lube.

[9.3X62AL]

There is a lot of love out there for the 45 Colt and the Winchester hyphenated WCF calibers. Every time a thread starts with an info request or an announcement of GREAT work downrange, we all chime in fondly with our own comments about these classics.

The 45 Colt is one of two centerfire handgun calibers I will NEVER be without. I cannot recall a time since the early 1980s when at least one 45 Colt revolver was not in my gun safe. The caliber is just too darn useful and too darn user-friendly not to have on board.

[Rocky Raab]

Thanks, oksmle. That sounds about right. A slammer, ain't it?

[oksmle]

"A slammer, ain't it? "

Yep.... On both ends!

[mattbowen]

oksmle;

Howdy, I use 17grns in my Rossi 92 and love it, do you shoot that same load in any handguns?

[oksmle]

"do you shoot that same load in any handguns? "

Yep... SAA with 7 1/2" barrel. And after one cylinder full I'm ready to put it down. But it is the load I carry in both my revolver & rifle while in my truck.

[No Plea]

Thanks, again, Gentlemen.
Ray, I'll see what I can do to post a photo, but I don't know how and have no photos "in stock". Hell, the only camera i own is in my iphone. Please bear with me while I figger out the process.

[Rocky Raab]

Since this forum is so hung up on telling cast from jacketed, shouldn't those be peechers?

(Feeling a bit ornery with today's chill factor, I guess.)

[Thumbcocker]

There is a lot of love out there for the 45 Colt and the Winchester hyphenated WCF calibers. Every time a thread starts with an info request or an announcement of GREAT work downrange, we all chime in fondly with our own comments about these classics.

The 45 Colt is one of two centerfire handgun calibers I will NEVER be without. I cannot recall a time since the early 1980s when at least one 45 Colt revolver was not in my gun safe. The caliber is just too darn useful and too darn user-friendly not to have on board.

I am trying very hard to love it but it does not always reciprocate. I have two Ruger convertibles that have been cylindersmithed and I have tried a bunch of different loads in. So far the acp cylinders way out shoot the colt cylinders. I love the idea of a big flat faced boolit lopeing along at 850-950 taking care of business but the accuracy is eluding me. .44 special is positivly friendly in comparison. I am not done working yet but it does get discouraging at times.

[ChuckS1]

The Ruger issues are why I have a USFA revolver...

[bigboredad]

Ruger issues?

My Ruger issues are mine love heavy bullets a 340 gr bullet on top of 9-10 grains is scary accurate and I can shoot them all day. At the end of the all I have left is a bright shiny barrel.20 .5 of 296 has some recoil but not out of control and it definately hits hard. It's pretty hard to find a load that does not shoot good with that boolit

[bigboredad]

Rocky should be much happier today it almost made it to 30 nice T shirt weather[smilie=s:

[Catshooter]

Since this forum is so hung up on telling cast from jacketed, shouldn't those be peechers?

(Feeling a bit ornery with today's chill factor, I guess.)

I guess so.

I've noticed several individuals who have complained about the spelling of bullets. At least you did your's here.

What some fail to understand is there is a very good reason that humans name things. Without an individual name for each item we must deal with in life, things get very confusing very quickly.

This site is all about casting, and the term 'bullet' is not specific enough to seperate jacketed from cast. Certainly we can say 'cast bullet', but boolit is shorter. It's also very creative.

You'd think a writer would know all this, but apparently not as the only two people I've seen complain are you and Fryxell.

Since you didn't include any smileys with your post one must take your post at face value. Or maybe you don't like them either. Who can tell?


Cat

[Rocky Raab]

Perhaps we writers tend to be more punctilious in our language use. I merely note that the forum has no such affectations regarding black and smokeless powders, or between pistols and revolvers - or between film and digital photos.

Any votes for pouder, or peestils or peechers? No? But how will we know what we're talking about? Shouldn't we then have a name for cast roundballs? BoOolits, perhaps? So we can tell them from elongated ones, you know?

As you can tell, I still think the use of "boolits" is little more than childish. "Wee-wee" is a clever made-up word, too. But not for adults.

I don't imagine the board will change on my account or any other. But I reserve the right to snicker up my sleeve. I also reserve the right to write ... right.

[white eagle]

my go to Colt load is
26.0 gr h110 under a 275 gr Accurate Molds gas checked Boolit
brought to life by a win or cci cap

[NHlever]

perhaps we writers tend to be more punctilious in our language use. I merely note that the forum has no such affectations regarding black and smokeless powders, or between pistols and revolvers - or between film and digital photos.

Any votes for pouder, or peestils or peechers? No? But how will we know what we're talking about? Shouldn't we then have a name for cast roundballs? Booolits, perhaps? So we can tell them from elongated ones, you know?

As you can tell, i still think the use of "boolits" is little more than childish. "wee-wee" is a clever made-up word, too. But not for adults.

I don't imagine the board will change on my account or any other. But i reserve the right to snicker up my sleeve. I also reserve the right to write ... Right.


That's funny Rocky. I don't let it ruin my day, but I've been writing "bullets" for a long time too.

[Wireman134]

14gr. Blue Dot under Lee 452-252-SWC 97/1.5/1.5 Bhn15 for around 1100 fps. is my new accuracy load.

[bigted]

another neeeeet-o thread about to go to heck.

jees man the 45 canon is just the shis-nits. my first was a hundred years ago...give er take and it were a colt model p. then came the first to me ruger in around '72' i think. then a chrome looooong barrel that i cant seem to remember the brand. then another ruger that i snipped the barel on then salvaged the sight and had a smith friend re-silver solder it on. then went to several 357 guns and a few 45 autos. then more then a few 44mag's one of witch was a 5 screw hand built smith that i used foolishly for a down payment on a couple acres. then back i came to the old colt round...so as you can see ive had a few and the best by far load ive used is 8 to 8.5gr of unique with either a 250 or a 255gr boolits/bullets. the best revolver i ever had was the ruger i hacked the barrel off at the end of the ejector housing and havin the sight re-installed. i used to set a beverage can up on the hill behind the house and from around 40 or 50 feet id shoot the thing so it would roll down the hill and hit it 3 -4 times before it got to the bottom of the hill.

very fun cartridge and its my hope that the posts stay civil here and that more info then sarcasm comes hensforth. and yes my spelling could be better but last i checked we are just some coots chatting about guns and swapping lies about our self-important positions in life....by tha by you can call me MR. PRESIDENT if you will...oops getting into another hot spot i spose.

[pls1911]

Any of the bullets mentioned with 9 to 10 grains unique. Love the round, love the load.
I've found that unless you find a finicky piece, about any .45 bullet from 200 through 270 grains is a pleasure to load and shoot.
I've had very satisfactory results with semi wadcutters and RNs and TC from my ACP stck when I was out of normal 250 grain Cold slugs.
The 250 grain SWC bullets from my new Mihec 4 cavity brass mold should do as well.
Plan to go pig chasing next weekendwith this bullet pushed with 10grains unique.

[ktw]

I am trying very hard to love it but it does not always reciprocate. I have two Ruger convertibles that have been cylindersmithed and I have tried a bunch of different loads in. So far the acp cylinders way out shoot the colt cylinders. I love the idea of a big flat faced boolit lopeing along at 850-950 taking care of business but the accuracy is eluding me. .44 special is positivly friendly in comparison. I am not done working yet but it does get discouraging at times.

I've never had much luck with the Keiths in 45 Colt in the sub 1000 fps range, either. My experience has been that you may find a moderate velocity Keith load that shoots reasonably well at 25 yards, but none of them have remained stable for me out past 100 yards. For those sub 1,000 fps loads I have had much better luck with RF designs, like Lyman 454190. Shoots well close and remains stable at longer distances.

My Keith experience was with 240 gr (452423), 255 gr (454424, Catshooter group buy), a 270 gr NEI design and a 325 gr design from Dry Creek. I have never tried any of the RCBS offerings.

I suspect the trick to the Keiths is to push them much harder from the start (1200+ fps) and/or don't expect much from them at longer ranges. I would be interested in hearing others experience with this (45 Colt Keiths at modest velocity).

-ktw

[Land Owner]

Aaah. My one handgun kill, a 132 pound sow, through both shoulders, DRT, 21 yards, off-hand, open sights, stalking, 45 Colt, 255 gr. cast SWC, 10.5 grains Unique, Ruger Super BlackHawk Convertible, 7.5" bbl. I am still grinning about it. Guess I need to do that again some time.

Great thread btw...still alive since 01-2011 for us Johnny-come-Lately's [smilie=f:

[white eagle]

Perhaps we writers tend to be more punctilious in our language use. I merely note that the forum has no such affectations regarding black and smokeless powders, or between pistols and revolvers - or between film and digital photos.

Any votes for pouder, or peestils or peechers? No? But how will we know what we're talking about? Shouldn't we then have a name for cast roundballs? BoOolits, perhaps? So we can tell them from elongated ones, you know?

As you can tell, I still think the use of "boolits" is little more than childish. "Wee-wee" is a clever made-up word, too. But not for adults.

I don't imagine the board will change on my account or any other. But I reserve the right to snicker up my sleeve. I also reserve the right to write ... right.

Its all about fun meester per fuss or
[smilie=w:

[zxcvbob]

My best .45 Colt load is a Lee TL452-230-TC bullet with 7.5 grains of Promo powder (just like Red Dot but cheaper.) It's a comfortable load for a large-frame Ruger, but probably a little too strong for a pre-war Colt or a cheaply made clone. I'd shoot it in a New Vaquero, but I'd have to ease up to it to make sure the gun liked it.

16.5 grains of Blue Dot with a 255 is a good "hot load." It's the only good use I've found for BD powder, but it's real good.

[pls1911]

I'm late to this string but for my 2 cents, the Mihec 270SAA and the RCBS RNFP 255 are sweet pushed by 9-10 grains of Unique. Want all your Rugers to love 'em both?
It's easy.
Ream all the cylinder throats to the same .4525 size.
It's easy and with the reamer and various bushings priced at $140 from Brownells, and it's free to me when the tool cost is spread across six guns of friends.

[.45colt]

18.5gr of 2400 under the Lyman/Keith bullet. My Favorite.

[Tracy]

For about 20 years now, my go-to .45 Colt load for 255ish boolits in full-size Rugers has been 9.0 Red Dot for ~1000-1050 fps, IIRC. My guns, etc. etc.

[zxcvbob]

For about 20 years now, my go-to .45 Colt load for 255ish boolits in full-size Rugers has been 9.0 Red Dot for ~1000-1050 fps, IIRC. My guns, etc. etc.

That's a *lot* of Red Dot. Pressure will be just over 30000 psi, even though the fps doesn't look like it.

[BossHoss]

6.0gns Red Dot 250gn RNFP ..

classic load, coyotes, porcupines, whitetail ,.....plink,kill,bullseye...........

[USSR]

My deer load for my S&W 25-5 is MiHec's 270-SAA HP cast from 25-1 alloy, and loaded in front of 18gr of 2400.

Don

[dougader]

I like Rocky's 231 load. With a 255 grain SWC and 7.0 grains 231 I got 832 fps from my 3.75" Ruger Montado. A bit over 14k psi book data with a 250 grain RNFP and 7.8 grains 231 gave 886 fps from the same gun.

Moving a bit up with Blue Dot and using Bear Tooth Bullets I got the following:

255 grain RNFP (quite a large meplat on this BT Bullet) and 13 grains Blue Dot = 1035 fps in the Montado.

With the 265 grain WFNGC bullet at 13 grains Blue Dot I got 1045 fps in the Montado and 950 fps in a S&W 625-6 Mt Gun. Don't know why exactly, but this particular Mt Gun always clocks slower velocity than other 45 Colts I have. But its so dang accurate I would never part with it.

[maglvr]

I have 3 N-frames, a Blackhawk 7.5" a SAA clone 4.5" and a Rossi 16" trapper.
To keep it simple I decided on 1 load to be used in all, and could not be happier with the results!
The bullet is either a .452 255gr,RF or the 45-270(280+gr)-SAA
The charge is 9gr. of unique.
I have yet to see an animal(no matter how large) that could stand up to that thumping ;)

[superior]

I received a 7.5" Blackhawk for my birthday this year. The first 2 loads I tried gave uncanny accuracy, so I will not change them.
Lee 452-255-rf over 14 gr. Hs-6 (unsized)
Lee 452-300- f gaschecked and push-through sized to 454 over 12.5gr Hs-6
Magtech brass
cci large pistol primers
lube : 16oz. petroleum jelly, 16oz. paraffin, 2 tbsp. STP oil treatment, 2 crayons
Both loads shoot one ragged hole at 25 yards, with a rest, and sometimes offhand when I'm lucky.

[dougader]

16.5 grains of Blue Dot with a 255 is a good "hot load." It's the only good use I've found for BD powder, but it's real good.

That is close to what I use in Ruger Blackhawk strength guns. I get about 1300 fps with that load, and it is very accurate.

One thing I would say about Blue Dot, though, is don't work up your loads with one primer and then substitute another. Starting with standard primers is my rule with Blue Dot.... inadvertantly switching in magnum primers will get you into trouble if you're already close to max. But BD does burn very clean in higher pressure loads.

[greywuuf]

I have an " Econo" load that I use and it works ok for plinking (and probably for killin more stuff than i would imagine, just never tried it ) but I use 7 grains of unique behind bullets dropped from a Veral Smith 300 WFN ( Sized check and lubed they come out about 287 with WW) 7 grains is comfy and gets me 1000 rounds a pound of powder. it seems to work fine in the 6 1/2" ruger Vaq/BH hybrid I have. I have some hotter 4227 and 2400 loads that i carry in the woods and i am still mulling over a throat ream for my '94 "trails end" ( small lever 20") with the ugly cross block safety, because it is just to tight getting the wide nose in there.

I am at work So i dont have my chrono notes or group figures with me but I will see what I can dig up

[bowhunter]

i am late i know but. the load hank jr. shoots is mine two. but it is not a ruger only load. i have shot thousands of rounds of it in S&W model 25-5s i also use it in a uberti SA i do drop it to 19 gr. although 20 is fine. i think elmer kieth used it long before me or hank came along. it is a great load!

[frnkeore]

My most accurate load in my 625-5 is 8.5 gr Unique with my H&G 22 mold (454190 type).

Frank

[45lcrevolver]

So what load would you recommend in a 300 grain rfn coming out of an uberti sa that is safe and good enough to hunt deer up to 50 yards?

[ocelott]

Personally I'd stick to around 12.5gr 2400 - it should get you up to about 1000-1100 fps from a LA, and about 800fps from a SA pistol, and will should be a safe load

[Texasflyboy]

Lyman 452424 Hollow Point (by Erik Ohlen) Plain base, with Wc 820 loads.

Link to Post here @ Cast Boolits (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=102225&highlight=Colt)

http://hgmould.gunloads.com/a/45COLT.jpg

[Ziptar]

I've been enjoying the heck out of anything from 8-10 grains Unique and Lee 452-255-RF boolits out of a micro-grooved Marlin 1894. Seems like 9 grains is about perfect.

I've tried some Universal but, I don't see any reason to stray from those Unique loads.

There's a Mihec SAA-270 on its way to me, can't wait to get it.

Now that I've finally got all my casting and reloading stuff purchases out of the way I can finally start putting all my "allowance" towards getting that S&W 25-9. :)

[Char-Gar]

8.5 Unique/454424..not new, modern or original, but it works for me.

[45lcrevolver]

Well I'm going to try two new loads to me. 300 grain rnf with a charge of 12.5 2400 and 12.8 2400. We will see how it goes. I hope my uberti cattleman can handle it lol.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Settled on 8.7 gr Unique and Lyman's 454190 lubed with Alox and sized to .454". 2400, Bullseye, Red Dot are good powders but my .45's in Colt's seem to favor Unique. I'm with the guys who haven't found the Keith bullet a great performer at velocities obtained in Colt's revolvers. The Keith bullet really performs in the .44 Special, but not the .45. 452460 is very accurate but it just doesn't seem right to top a cavernous .45 case with a tiny 200 gr SWC. Might take up 452460 in some Schofield brass I got from Starline someday, naw I don't think I will after all.

[45lcrevolver]

Well, 12.5 grains of 2400 is the honey spot behind a 300grain rnfp. It produced a nice group. Also it got me my first kill of the year, squirrel.

[No_1]

8.5 Unique lit by Rem large pistol primer pushing a magma 45-250 RNFP (BAC lubed), starline cases. Fun times to be had always.

[Rusty W]

Had to try the Red Dot load.

[odis]

All I shoot in my old new model black hawk is 6 grs red dot with a 270 gr SWC. Since I got my 5 shot 45 I reserve the really heavy stuff for hunting in that gun. I never have less than 500 or 600 of the red dot loads for the black hawk in case I need to go to the pit and relax.

[ocelott]

Well, 12.5 grains of 2400 is the honey spot behind a 300grain rnfp. It produced a nice group. Also it got me my first kill of the year, squirrel.

How was there even enough left of it to identify?

But I gotta say, nice shootin' there Tex.

[Catshooter]

I've shot small game with a 45, both Colt and ACP using Keiths. They poke a .45 caliber hole right through. No fuss, no muss.


Cat

[johniv]

8.5 gr of unique for a light load and 18.5 gr of 2400 for a heavy. The last gives 1060 fps out of my 4 5/8" bh , with the RCBS saa 270 boolit and I dont notice a lack of accuracy at the light end . Both loads shoot fine for me at 25 to 50 yds, about all I can ask as I dont give a rats butt how they shoot at extreme long range.
John

[Clinebo]

I have a 7 1/2 inch Vaquero that likes the 9 grs of Unique. My Model '92 levergun seems to prefer the heavier 2400 load. I'm using a 255 RNFP boolit, Starline brass,and CCI primers.

[MtGun44]

8.0 W231 under 285 Keith (group buy) works well, and with 23 gr of H110 it is a real
thumper. Both mostly used in Ruger BH. Lean towards the light load mostly in the USFA,
would not use the 'maggie' load in a SAA or clone.

Bill

[G. Blessing]

Well, 12.5 grains of 2400 is the honey spot behind a 300grain rnfp. It produced a nice group. Also it got me my first kill of the year, squirrel.

:smile: thanks for that!

I'll have to try that as soon as my new boolits get here.

G.

[Whiterabbit]

3 Rugers in .45 Colt -- two large frame Bisley Vaqueros and one Blackhawk. One of the Vaqueros was well smithed by Bowen and made even prettier by Mssrs. Fishpaw and Turnbull. The other has had a decent action/trigger job and the cylinder chambers uniformed by Cylindersmith. The Blackhawk is stock and unfired. Have been shooting various factory loads in the Vaqueros with acceptable if not excellent results on paper. No game taken, yet. I want to find suitable hunting loads for whitetails at bowhunting ranges (my own self-imposed limitation). While I understand that each gun is a law unto itself, I'd like to find one load that works in all three. I have to start somewhere, so please tell me where y'all would start. Don't worry - I'll double check all recommendations against manuals. Thanks.

My pet starting point will work for any projectile you want to use, any gun. My pet starting load is a full case of trailboss, with the powder stopping just under the bottom of the projectile.

For pistol this load has not let me down yet.

[TXGunNut]

7.5 Universal under a 255 Keith (Lyman) boolit. Plenty accurate and potent for po'd boars. Nice enough for plinking as well.