1858 45 colt conversion load advice

[leadloader]

im loading round balls at the moment in my howell old west drop in i used 230 gr and they shot around 3 inchs high i moved to loading the 140 gr balls and poi was poa but im haveing trouble finding load data mainly for american select this powder has a very light recoil which i thought would be a perffect cowboy load ... i have treid trail boss but it is soon gonna run out and no store around stocks it... im looking for 140 gr round ball loads and a 160 170 gr load thanks

[lathesmith]

I use a 200 grain RFP and Red Dot with good success; about any loading manual should show loads for this combo. When you get much lighter than a 200-grainer, ignition can be a problem with light loads and the 45 Colt brass (lots of airspace).

For the really light loads, I prefer using the 45 Cowboy brass, you can go down to the Lee 160-grain "pancake" bullet and still maintain decent ignition and accuracy. For these, most any data for the 45 ACP will work, you have a much wider range of acceptable combinations.

lathesmith

[leadloader]

45 lc cowboy brass hmmm that sounds like a winner where can you find this brass?

[lathesmith]

leadloader, try this site:
http://www.cowboy45special.com/cowboy45brass.html

I've got some of this, and for me it works great.

John Boy, I just used the data that Hercules listed in their on-line loading manual, and it works fine for me. A very mild, light-recoiling load, around 700 fps, you could shoot it all day long in these guns and not harm either the gun or the shooter.

lathesmith

[leadloader]

is there a specail set of dies or could one use 45 lc standard dies... also would it be possible to convert standerd 45 lc cases to these?

[docone31]

What about Schofield brass?

[1874Sharps]

I think docone31 is onto something, there. I shoot 45 Schofield BP loads in my 45 Colt for a bit lighter recoil. In fact, Schofield ammo is what the US Army used in their 45 Colt SAA revolvers back in the day. (They had S&W Schofields in the inventory, so they chose the Schofield ammo since it would shoot in both revolvers.) You may also consider using a fiber of cork wad, but personally I think I would just go with the Schofield or 45 Cowboy brass -- it's a bit easier.

[Dale53]

.45 Cowboy Specials use .45 ACP dies for loading and a shell holder or cartridge plate for the .45 Colt.

Dale53

[MikeS]

I have the same conversion (except for the Ruger Old Army), and I just loaded some 45LC with sample Big Lube 250gr &210gr boolits. I loaded them with triple 7, using Hodgdon's data, they say a load of 30gr (by BP volume) would be about right for the 250gr boolit, and 35gr for the 210gr boolit. I loaded both using the same Lee dipper with a charge of 30gr (by BP volume), and with the heavier boolit the powder was compressed (but not too much I don't think, I didn't notice any extra effort needed to seat the boolit), while the lighter boolit the powder was just about level with the bottom of the boolit. By weight the charges were right around 24gr. Reading Hodgdon's info they say not to overly compress triple 7, and I'm wondering what is 'overly'? They also say not to leave any air space in the case. Should I have put a wad under the lighter 210gr boolit? Or is the boolit just touching the powder with no compression ok? Both of these boolit loads I lubed with TC Bore Butter, then sized to .452 using a Lee push thru sizer. The bases had no lube on them, but do I have to worry about the lube getting into the powder?

After reading Hodgdon's warnings (both about not compressing triple 7 too much, and not leaving any air space) I'm kind of wondering if my loads will be safe or not, and wondering if I should pull them, and start over, or if they're both safe loads? I know most folks here use real BP, not the substitutes, but around here it's hard to find the real stuff, and triple 7 or pyrodex is much easier to find. I'm sure that somebody here uses (or used) triple 7 and can tell me if my loads are within safe pressures, etc.

On a side note, I also loaded some 452423's with 4gr of Trail Boss powder, and in the conversion they're just even with the end of the cylinder, which certainly makes it easy to see if the cylinder is loaded or not! :) In the Big Lube sample pack I also got some of his 210 boolits for the ROA, but the ones I got were cast from a fairly hard alloy, so I decided to try loading them into 45ACP cases after lubing them with NRA 50/50, and they fit perfectly, so I might have found the perfect boolit for shooting out of my Thompson 1928 semi auto carbine! (I had been concerned with other 45ACP boolit designs not having enough lube for a 16" barrel, but this one certainly does!)

Sorry for the thread hijack, and getting slightly off topic at the end. Thanks for any info/thoughts anyone might have.

[lathesmith]

Yes, like docone31 and 1874 Sharps suggests, the slightly shorter Schofield brass will also get you closer to where you want to be. It may or may not be loadable with your 45 Colt dies, but if you had a set of dies for the Schofield brass they would load 45 Colt(think of it like this: Schofield is to 45 Colt as 38 Special is to 357 mag). What you DON't want to do is try and cut down 45 Colt brass to 45 Cowboy length; the thickness at the mouth would be all wrong, and it probably wouldn't work too well. Schofield brass can be a little hard to locate at times, that's the main reason I recommended the Cowboy special stuff.

MikeS, I hesitate to make a recommendation here, but "overly compress" would require extra pressure due to the extra volume of powder that you are mashing down, over and above the normal effort of seating and crimping your bullet without any compression. Also, be sure you are using the correct grade of triple seven; one of the grades is recommended ONLY for use in non-cartridge applications.

That being said, if you don't feel comfortable with your loads, I would say pull them and start over, and load them where you do feel comfortable.

lathesmith

[MikeS]

Thanks for the info. The grade of triple seven I'm using only mentions to use their loading data for ctg loads, so I will assume that it's ok. I did follow their load info, except that the 210gr boolit is loaded over 5gr less than their recomendation. I think I'll be OK with my loads.

[leadloader]

mikeS 377 post since feb 2011 you make a habit of post robbing dont ya

[MikeS]

Post robbing? Not particularly. I just talk alot :) Why, does it bother you that I asked a question in a thread that you started? I too have a conversion, and had some questions about loading it, so I asked them, no sense in starting another thread when the questions were similar. And I also learned something, I'm going to try some Schofield brass in my conversion so I can load some longer boolits that I have.

[leadloader]

Post robbing? Not particularly. I just talk alot :) Why, does it bother you that I asked a question in a thread that you started? I too have a conversion, and had some questions about loading it, so I asked them, no sense in starting another thread when the questions were similar. And I also learned something, I'm going to try some Schofield brass in my conversion so I can load some longer boolits that I have.

no it doesnt bother me at all just pokeing fun at you.... you spammer lol....

[MikeS]

no it doesnt bother me at all just pokeing fun at you.... you spammer lol....

You really need to grow up. It obviously bothers you, otherwise you wouldn't have acted so childishly and gone to post in the thread where I'm selling lead bricks, with this silly post:


isnt talking about cutting it a related topic i mean after all i did learn something lmao

Quoting something I said on the first page of a so far 4 page topic! And I wonder, why have you been lurking around here since 2010, and only posted 37 times so far? I, like many others here like to share my knowledge with others, unlike yourself, that only posts when you have a question you want answered. In case you didn't know, this is a discussion web site, not a question & answer site. Also, learn how to spell, (or learn how to use the spelling checker in your web browser) and how to use punctuation! And for your information, having links to topics that involve you (such as my link to my lead bricks for sale, and the link to my feedback thread) is perfectly normal, several forum members do this, and it is not spamming.

[leadloader]

You really need to grow up. It obviously bothers you, otherwise you wouldn't have acted so childishly and gone to post in the thread where I'm selling lead bricks, with this silly post:



Quoting something I said on the first page of a so far 4 page topic! And I wonder, why have you been lurking around here since 2010, and only posted 37 times so far? I, like many others here like to share my knowledge with others, unlike yourself, that only posts when you have a question you want answered. In case you didn't know, this is a discussion web site, not a question & answer site. Also, learn how to spell, (or learn how to use the spelling checker in your web browser) and how to use punctuation! And for your information, having links to topics that involve you (such as my link to my lead bricks for sale, and the link to my feedback thread) is perfectly normal, several forum members do this, and it is not spamming.

dang dude look whos mad.... who cares if i dont dot my I and cross my t the point is still getting across ... as far as lukering yes i lurk to aviod people such as yourself personal attackers... i was only given you a hard time but you must have taken it all wrong .... oh well for those of you that waste your time reading yet another "forum fight " post i appologizeeeee