COLT SAA .45 Colt--Best Boolit/Powder Combo

[birch]

I have a Late 3rd Gen. single action army. I would love some advise from those of you who not only have a Colt 45 Single Action, but also cast, lube and size their own boolits.

The most accurate load I have made so far is a Lee 230gr. .452 RN over 5 grains of bullseye. I have only used Lee Alox on these boolits. However, I recently came across a Star lube sizer at a gun show and need some expert advise on the best resizer die to purchase for my Star and the best powder combo for a Lyman 250 grain LRN .452 bullet mold. Any help is appreciated.

By the way, I am very new to the Star, and have not even put one boolit through the ol' girl yet (Came with a .355 sizer).

[Dan Cash]

I feed my US Fire Arms clone of the SAA a 250 gr Lyman round nose flat point that drops right at .454 with 20:1 alloy. I pan lube with my own lube made from bee's wax, canola and neatsfoot oils. The bullet is loaded as cast over 7.8 to 8 grains of Unique. Its accuracy is quite acceptable in my revolver and a friend's Vaquero and leading is non existant in either gun. It does ok in my Smith 25 too. Some guys use H110 for this cartridge but I have no experience with that powder and probably won't as the Unique works.

[DanWalker]

I shoot 6.5 grains of Red dot under either a 250 grain or 320 grain boolit in my 45's. I sold my RCBS Lubrisizer after learning how to tumble lube with JPW/LLA

[Wolfer]

In my new Vaq with 255 gr boolits @ 950/1000 fps unique has been a top performer. For lighter/ slower loads I prefer clays or tightgroup

If your boolit fits almost anything slower than 2400 will work pretty good in a 45 colt

[Grapeshot]

I own Several .45 Colt SAA's from Uberti, Jaeger and Pietta. I found the most accurate load for me was a weighed 40 grains of Goex 2Fg under a Lyman 250 grain RNFP and lubed with either STP or Lyman's Black Gold and touched off with a CCI Large Magnum Pistol Primer.

For a lighter load, I use Schofield cases with a 28 grain weighed charge of Goex 2Fg and the same boolits.

These loads are very accurate and the Scofield loads are mild enough for a day long CAS Match with undue fatigue from firing the .45 Colt loads with that 40 grain cgarge.

[Firebricker]

I mainly use unique under Lyman 454190 but will eventually try some reddot lots of members here get very good results with it. FB

[BCRider]

....Some guys use H110 for this cartridge but I have no experience with that powder and probably won't as the Unique works.

With H110 this would be the overly strong "Ruger, Thompson Center and Freedom Only" load. The Hodgdon loading data website shows the pressure for the minimum H110 load as 27,000 CUP. That is not the sort of thing you want to stick into a Colt or any other SA revolver other than those rated for such Magnum like pressures. And it's not like they can fill a little less with H110. It's one of those powders which has to more or less fill the case. Trying to use less powder than the rated minimum can cause overpressure spikes.

[rexherring]

Most of the Colt Cowboy shooters here use Trail Boss or light loads of Unique with a cast boolit fairly soft 20 to1 at .454. due to the Colt having rather large Throats / forcing cones.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I’ve been shooting and loading Colt SAA’s for 30 years. I’ve got books of loads and targets. In the .44 Special I shoot 429667 cast from wheelweight alloy sized .431” lubed with Alox over 5.2 gr of Bullseye. Starline cases and CCI 300 primers. In the .45 Colt’s I have a 4 cavity mold 454190 sized .454” lubed with Alox and use it exclusively over 8.7 gr of Unique. For hot field loads I use RCBS 44-250-K in the .44 Special over 12 gr of Blue Dot. The alloy is 4 parts Linotype and 6 parts wheelweights.

[Bullshop]

The boolit you decide on may depend on what diameter your cylinder throats are. Some, many of the old Colt revolvers in 45 Colt will have cylinder throats as large as .457" diameter.
If yours is that large I would suggest either and older mold like an Ideal 250gn Keith type. I think the number would be 454244 or a custom that will be large enough in diameter.
I have the Ideal mold and mine will drop at .457" diameter. Newer molds with the same number will not be as large in diameter as at some point in the history of the design they reduced the diameter.
For my customers with the older Colt guns having fairly large cylinder throat diameters I always suggest this boolit and it always seems to do well.
I didnt see where you mentioned the cylinder throat dimentions of your Colt. Maybe that would be the place to start.

[scattershot]

I like a 255 lead boolit with 6.5 Red Dot. I recently tried dropping back to 6.0 grains, because Mike Venturino recommended that load, but I haven't noticed much difference.

If you have overly large cylinder throats, I'd recommend trying the Hornady 255 grain .455 swaged boolit. they are soft, and I get good results with my S&W M25-5, which has .456 throats.

[pmer]

I don't have a star sizer but White Label lubes like the 50/50 Bees Wax and Carnuba red are good lubes. And you can go here to Vendor / sponsor area for lubes too.

I recently picked up a Uberti 45 Colt SAA and have been shooting Lyman 452424s with 7.7 to 8.0 grains of Unique. But I just shot a few loads of Blackhorn 209 black powder substitute and wow does the Uberti like that stuff! 22 grains of Blackhorn has easily out shot any of the Unique loads that I tried. Their thing is that you don't have to clean the firearm right away and using oil based cleaners for cleaning. They have plenty of metalic load data on their site too.

For sizing you could clean the SAA and simply see if a jacketed bullet will finger push through the chamber throats. If it goes through snug with your finger consider your self lucky and size to the diameter of the j bullet. Otherwise slug it with soft lead and report what you find. Good luck. :-)

[bigboredad]

I would be surprised to hear that you have tight throats Colt has some a odd way of thinking on that subject. If it was my gun the load I would use is 6-6.5gr of red dot. I just started using this load last year and in all my guns it has proven to be extremely accurate and economical. For bullets I would look for a hollowbase design cast soft and I then I would expect some decent accuracy. How ever I have never owned a colt partly cause of the cost and partly due to the over sized throats. There are thousands fo shooters that have figured a way around the huge throat problem and I'm confident you to will find a good combo

[Larry Gibson]

In the .45 Colt’s I have a 4 cavity mold 454190 sized .454” lubed with Alox and use it exclusively over 8.7 gr of Unique.

+1 on Silver Jack's suggestion above.

Larry Gibson

[waco]

I like the RCBS 270 SAA over 8 grains of universal.

[prs]

Larry Gibson's load just above is very close to my "smokes less" loads, but I favor that same boolit over 2.2cc Swiss ffg and WW lp primer in modern Starline brass. Emmert's lube or SPG. For longer shooting sessions were pin point accuracy is not needed, ie cow boy shoot'n, I use the PRS 454-250-RF from Big Lube Bullets moulds and 2cc Swiss ffg. With Emmert's or similar lube you can shoot indefinitely without over fouling the barrel or action.

prs

[littlejack]

I drop 9 grains of Herco under 250 to 260 grain boolits. Hits like a freight train, and is all the recoil I want in a light SAA revolver.
Herco meters better than Unique, takes up a good amount of case capacity, and burns very clean.
Jack

[bigboredad]

I tried some pyrodex not too long ago and the smell about may me puke. I know it's not the same as holy black and so I will always want to do it it again until I try the real stuff. I also got paranoid about getting my gun clean enough next time I think I'll try it in my stainless .45

[44MAG#1]

Many of you guys recommend the lighter loads such as 6-6.5 Red dot or 8 gr Unique and similar.
How is the accuracy at 50 and 100 yards?
Although I use 6.0 gr Bullseye for 25 yards and closer I have had better accuracy with the heavier loads with the Keith style bullets at 50 yards to 100.

[bigboredad]

I have shot sub 2 inch groups with a 300gr bullet and 6gr of red dot. How ever at the time My right hand was recovering from a minor surgery that takes about 4 months to heal properly. So it was probably not the best group One could expect. Oh and the gun was a 5.5 in Ruger .45 colt and if I recall correctly the load chrono'd at at somewhere around 850+. I am not the best shooter so I am sure some one like you who can shoot good and shoots a lot could do better.

[smokeywolf]

Lyman/Ideal 454190 COWW with sometimes a little softer stuff mixed in to keep them at 12 BHN or slightly below at time of firing; over 8.2 grains of Unique. Artillery model Colt SAA.

[44MAG#1]

What was the distance? I was really talking about 250 Lymans to the RCBS 270 SAA bullet.
I will generally shoot an 8 shot group and somtimes I will retest the same load on a different day too.
The heavier bullets will shoot well but in a Colt SAA the gun would shoot extremey high wouldn't you think?
I have a New Vaquero and have not shot heavy bullets in but it shoots the Mihec 270 SAA bullet (280-285 gr actual) high but not to the extent it is unusable. I have a drift adjustable sight on the front.
19.0 gr 2400 shoots well at 50 yards with the Mihec 270 SAA bullet in my Blackhawk but higher than I like in the New Vaquero.

[bigboredad]

What was the distance? I was really talking about 250 Lymans to the RCBS 270 SAA bullet.
I will generally shoot an 8 shot group and somtimes I will retest the same load on a different day too.
The heavier bullets will shoot well but in a Colt SAA the gun would shoot extremey high wouldn't you think?
I have a New Vaquero and have not shot heavy bullets in but it shoots the Mihec 270 SAA bullet (280-285 gr actual) high but not to the extent it is unusable. I have a drift adjustable sight on the front.
19.0 gr 2400 shoots well at 50 yards with the Mihec 270 SAA bullet in my Blackhawk but higher than I like in the New Vaquero.

Soory my brain goes faster than my fingers and that's scary considering ow slow my brain is. Anyway it was 50 yards I like to shoot at 50 as often as I can but unfortunatley it doesn't happen near as much as I like. I have shot that load a few times at 50 but never when my hands were both in god shape and it has been a solid performer. I do believe it would shot too high in a colt SAA and it's clones including the new vaqero. I have pretty much quit playing with 250-270/280gr bullets mainly cause I seem to get better groups with them. I also only shoot blackhawks anymore so that gives me a little room to work and they also have a tall front sight.

The 270 saa bullet drove me to drink man I could not get that bullet to fly to save my butt. I remember someone saying 12-12.5gr of hs-6 was giving them right at 1000fps with the 270/280saa bullet and shot close enough to poa for them. I have played around with the 300gr bullets and following the loads listed in the new 4th edition Lyman cast book they keep the pressure to colt saa pressure. I was able to get satisfactory results but I never really got serious with those loads

[birch]

Holly Hannah! That is some good stuff. I slugged my barrel and found that my cylinder slugs at
.4565-.457. My bore groove diameter is .452-.4525. My friend suggested that I order a sizing die that best fits my gun, so I ordered a .452 sizing die. After reading you posts, it seems that maybe I should have ordered a .454 sizing die no matter what powder combo I use.
Also, it seems to me that 8.3 grains of unique under a 250 grain lrn is a pretty hefty load! Do I have to worry about blowing the ol' girl up?
I am very interested in using Blackhorn 209 black powder substitute. How does it clean up? Is it corrosive?

[9.3X62AL]

Birch--

I've run 9.0 grains of Unique under both Lymans #454190 and #454424 in a Uberti Cattleman x 4-3/4" with zero problems. Open the cartridge gate, line up the charge holes, and the brass fell free with little or no prompting by the ejector rod. It's a healthy load, but not excessive in my experience. A look at the SAAMI charts for 45 Colt show the cartridge case to be cylindrical in form, but the chambers to be just slightly tapered (widening slightly toward the rim).

I've gotten away from using the RCBS tungsten-carbide sizer die for my 45 Colt case processing. It gave undersized brass (.469") that had a "Coke-bottle" aspect once the neck/mouth was expanded to hold a boolit. The steel sizer (RCBS) gives a sized diameter of .475"-.476", depending on case make. Less working of brass is a good thing, in my view.

[littlejack]

9.3:
I use the Lee carbide sizer, but I just size the case to the depth that the boolit will seat. Cases do not get overworked, the cases
fit the chambers better, and the boolit fits nice and snug in the case.

[9.3X62AL]

LJ--

That works too, but after 3-5 loadings the unsized portion starts becoming a very tight fit--more so if loads get into "Ruger Only" levels. The steel sizer is a less complicated answer, though perhaps not a perfect one.

[pmer]

http://www.blackhorn209.com/specs/advantages/

load data:
http://www.blackhorn209.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/b209blackpowdercartridgedata.pdf

It does leave some soot in the barrel but it cleaned nicely with solvent. I'm not sure just how non corrosive it is, I've read both yes and no. I think i'd clean it just to be safe.

Is it true the older 45 Colt chambered Colts had better chambers and thoats? I had a third gen. 357 for a while and it's throats were closer to .359.

[birch]

My main worry is overcharging my revolver. I would like to pass my colt down to my son or daughter someday, so I am very weary of unnecesary wear. I would love to try some of the hotter loads in my SAA, but am very reluctant. Are there any Colt SAA shooters who dont like to push the envelope? Some of the loads above seem to be geared towards the rugers.
I had a vaquero that I pushed very hard, but could not get accuracy. I am looking for a load that an old timer has used since dirt was new.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

birch; I am very much a don't push the envelope Colt SAA shooter and have been shooting Colt SAA's a lot for 30 years. 8.7 gr. of Unique is a very middle of the road load for the Colt with a 250 gr boolit. I've shot the Colt .44 Special for decades with 5.2 gr of Bullseye and a 240 gr lead boolits thinking these guns can be handed down to my kids with no wear. I've shot the SAA .44 Special at 12 gr of Blue Dot with a 240 gr boolit a limited amount with no problems.

The gun steels of today are strong, plus the .45 Colt functions at very low pressure. It's performance is transfered by the weight of the boolit. There is no need to load it up hot. On the other hand, don't under load it neather. I've read a lot about and seen one single action blow up. All these guns that blow up were loaded with a scant dusting of fast burning powder and itty bitty boolits and had after market springs. A double charge of the powder the shooter said he was using wouldn't blow the gun, so we think -did they double load a boolit in the case? Did the action unlock and the boolit couldn't exit down the barrel? Did the powder detonate instead of ignite? The jury is still out, but the detonate vs. ignite theory has not been supported by the ballisticians in the lab.

I like a high loft powder, a lot of guys use Trail Boss and that's fine, but if you double charge Trail Boss you can still seat a boolit to crimp and it won't feel any different. Just visually inspect your charge when you place the boolit on the bell for seating.

If you shoot your Colt SAA with loads listed in the modern loading manuals your Colt will take all you feed and be ready for more when your at post ammo let down.

I've got over a dozen Colt SAA's and another one on order. For a light load use a .38 Special and for a heavy load get a .44 Mag. I've got those too.

[44MAG#1]

birch:
A call to john Linebaugh will give you good information and a couple good loads. These are loads he uses in his 1903 made Colt SAA too.
He is considered my many as the Guru of the 45 Colt.

[bigboredad]

I like 6 gr.of red dot and 255 gr. bullet but this to can be easily double charged

[Silver Jack Hammer]

bigboredad, what do you mean by the word "bullet?"

[birch]

If you have a way to reach Mr. Linebough, I would be happier than a three peckered billygoat.

[44MAG#1]

Linebaugh has a website and a phone number on it.
Was an easy search:
http://www.customsixguns.com

You may be surprized at his recommendations. It may be more difficult to reach him as it is close to Christmas.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

John Linebaugh's work applies the .45 Colt to the Ruger and his loads reflect high end pressures not recommended in the Colt. Mr. Linebaugh's website specifically states his loads take the 45 Colt cartridge into the Ruger only arena. Birch’s op requests load info on a Colt.

From Mr. Linebaugh’s website: “This material is not about Colt SAA, Dakotas, or any other import. These are fine guns in their own realm, but require safe, carefully assembled handloads of much LESS PRESSURE than we are talking about in the Ruger Revolvers.”

[zxcvbob]

My favorite load in a Ruger is a 230 grain Lee truncated-cone boolit with 7.5 grains of Red Dot. I also load much hotter loads using 255's and slower powders, but the Red Dot load (actually, i use Promo. Same thing) is the one I keep coming back to. 7.5 would be a little too stout for a SAA, but somewhere between 5.5 and 6.5 should be good. I might even go to 7.0 grains in a post-war SAA.

Have you tried any black powder yet? :D

[44MAG#1]

Silver jack hammer.
You are misunderstanding. If one will just call Mr. Linebaugh he will flatly state to you the load he uses in his own PERSONAL 45 COLT SAA .
I would not have recommended birch call him if I had not talked to Mr Linebaugh myself.
Sure he talks about the Ruger loads on his website.
There is more to him and his knowlege than Ruger only loads.
We all know that "Ruger only loads" are much higher than loads for the 45 Colts SAA and others of the same type.
If you will read my post #31 I recommended CALL Mr. Linebaugh. Not read his site.
If birch wanted "Ruger Only Loads" I would have recommended "reading" his site not calling him.

[geargnasher]

30 grains of Goex 2f and a firm wool wad to take up the space, Emmert's in the grooves of a 454190.

Gear

[44MAG#1]

Silver jack hammer:
Before you go ape I didn't mean anything in a mean way. Evidentally you did not read the post #31 in an understanding way as i said "his 1903 made Colt SAA too."
I sometimes do the same thing skim read and then start typing thinking i have a complete grasp on what the poster said when i didn't.

[tejano]

Remington's 250 gr. LRN with 6.5 gr. of Bullseye is a good load for me.

[jmort]

255 grain SWC with 9.5 grains of Unique. Unique works bets at top end of manufacturer's recommendation. Will do anything a hand gun can do within reason. Shoot through most any creature on a broadside.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

44MAG#1; birch was asking for directions and my only intention was to steer him down the right trail, not to get proddy with you. birch mentioned he hadn’t even put one boolit down the ol gal yet. My only concern was that a look at Mr. Linebaugh’s work might give birch the wrong impression. I cast for the Colt SAA a lot in the .45 and .44 Special, have for years.

[44MAG#1]

PRODDY: a Protestant, especially in Ireland
From Cambridge dictionary online.
Okay.
"My only concern was that a look at Mr. Linebaugh’s work might give birch the wrong impression."
That was my intention too. to "talk" with someonethat has experimented with various loads and also has pressure barrels of his own that know a thing or tow about loads and their pressures and what is actually safe in the guns of various manufactures.
I assumed that birch could read so he could at least deduce that Ruger Only Loads were not for his Colt SAA.
That is the reason i said call.
But you are correct that the word assume rears it ugly head as we should not ASSUME anything as we do not know what kind of person is actually asking for help.
Sorry for assuming anything.

[birch]

Unfortunatly, alot is lost by not seeing facial expressions and body language. I really appreciate everyones opinions on my colt load. I had not even entertained the idea that a guy like Linebough would actually talk to a guy on the phone. I have always thought of him as somewhat of a legend. As for the ruger only loads, I once had a vaquero that I pushed to its limit, or nearly, and loaded to normal pressure. I could not get that darned gun to group no matter what I tried. I even did the unthinkable and bought jacketed bullets instead of boolits. Still nothing. I think that Colt and USFA really make a quality gun that closely resembles a "real" colt. It groups nice with the powderpuff loads I have tried, but have though about deer hunting with it and wanted a nice stout load to do so. I will take opinions as advise and look in my reloading manuals to make sure they correlate with documented SAAMI specs. I was mainly looking for a pioneers approach to loading this thing up. As of now, I am going to experiment with some heavier boolits. It sounds like 250-55 grain boolits are the ticket. I recently had a friend (historic firearms is his handle) give me an RCBS 452250 dual cavity mold that I will try with some medium hard lead. I think I am going to try tejhano's load of 6.5 gr. bullseye under a 250 lrn tomorrow afternoon. I will then try some others on the site. Thanks to all who have replied and all advise is appreciated. I think there are more type 1 personalities as boolit artisans than most other arts combined!

[fouronesix]

birch,
I know a lot of folks like to push the 45 LC to higher limits for hunting and the like- I'm not one of those so no big boomer loads in my log- I'll let others recommend those. If I want to kill a deer I'll grab a 50-54 cal muzzleloader or a 30-30 or 270 or something like that. Be that as it may, the only way I load my 45 Colt SAA is with fairly light loads. Even then it has plenty of Boom. You mentioned "pioneers approach". Well that would be a case full of BP under a fairly soft bullet. My 45 Colt is a 1st Gen smokeless model so I don't push it very hard and because of the pain of cleaning BP fouling out of the action I don't shoot BP. The load I have settled on is a 200 gr RNFP plain base bullet cast with fairly soft 20:1 alloy sized to .454 over 4.5 gr Trailboss. Trailboss is nice because it meters very consistently and because it is hard to double charge and an overcharge is easily visible. Another reason I load my 45 LC to roughly BP pressures and ballisitics is the fact that I shoot with folks who have 1st Gen Colts that are black powder models. One shot, one mistake in loading a hot smokeless round that they might grab or use even at a later date will very likely damage or ruin a BP Colt. I think if I wanted a hot 45 LC, I'd just get a FA 454 and call it good. Here's my 1st Gen Colt that I want to maintain is as good a condition as I found it.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Birch, fouronesix is right on. I sold my Lyman 454424 and 452460 molds years ago. Maybe I shouldn’t have but I did. The load in your op of 230 cast over 5.0 grains of Bullseye is light. I’ve chronographed 5.5 Bullseye under a 240 gr lead boolit at 743 fps out of a Colt SAA. 6.3 gr of Bullseye with a 250 gr boolit clocked at 784. 6.5 gr of Bullseye with a 240 gr boolit measured 850 fps and 7.2 gr of Bullseye pushed the same 240 gr boolit through the chronograph at 905 fps. I’ve chronographed loads of Green Dot, IMR7625, Red Dot, American Select, H4227, 2400, Herco, 296, 231 and Blue Dot. I’ve abandoned hot loads in the 45 Colt and cast wheelweights with 250 gr 454190 over 8.7 gr Unique for 860 fps out of a 4 ¾” Colt, and 922 fps out of a 7 ½” tube. It’s a stout load, low pressure and does all I need a Colt 45 to do.

The 45 Colt cartridge can be broken down by pressure ratings for various guns. Brian Pearce of Handloader magazine lists the Colt SAA at 16,000 psi, Smith N frames at 23,000 psi, Ruger Blackhawk at 32,000 CUP and the Ruger Redhawk at 50,000 psi. Brian Pierce delineates a difference between pre-war and post war SAA’s and then he places the US Firearms .45 in a different category. The US Firearms cylinder is beefier and therefore stronger. Brian Pierce’s loads for the post war Colt’s is 6.0 gr of Red Dot for factory duplication and 9.0 gr of Hodgdon Universal Clays for 950 fps. I’ve used the 6.0 gr of Red Dot but have abandoned it due to it’s such a scant dusting of powder in the large case, I prefer a higher loft. For the US Firearms Brian Pearce lists 10.5 gr of Universal Clays and 11.0 gr of Vihtavuori 3N37 for nearly 1,000 fps. Then Brian Pierce had a US Firearms .44 Special cylinder bored out to .44 Magnum which he claims he has been shooting for years with no ill effect and will publish the data later. I have no need for a .44 Magnum on a SAA frame. When I want a hot Colt I use the .44 Special with 12 gr of Blue Dot and a 245 gr boolits at 1,131 fps. I brought a US Firearms home, new in box .45 Colt 4 ¾” barrel blued, but sent it back, it just didn’t feel right in my hand after shooting Colts for so many years.

The editor of Handloader magazine is Dave Skovill who authored the excellent book “Loading the Peacemaker, Colt’s Model P.” He always responds with letters back, to the letters I have written to him about cast boolits in single action revolvers.

HP White Laboratory destroyed many revolvers including a Ruger SBH and a Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt years ago to determine their specific strengths. They found SAMMI has set a near 100 percent margin of safety in the Ruger .44 Mag and .45 Colt.

I intentionally blew up an Italian single action .45 by trying various double loads. The revolver held together when I thought it would come apart with double charges of powder, then blew when I filled a case with 2400 that was less than a double charge. Not a scientific study but I believed that the double charges caused metal fatigue which caused the cylinder to burst with the less than double charge of 2400. This is a good reason to always buy new guns, and replace the cylinder after a double charge –if there is anything left of the gun. Knock on wood I’ve yet to accidently double charge a cartridge.

A buddy of mine was shooting with me, he had a Colt on one hip and an Uberti on the other. He blew half the cylinder and the topstrap skyward, no one was hurt. Fortunately it was his Uberti.

I’ve abandoned all this high pressure loading in the .45 Colt and don’t even make Ruger only safe loads anymore. I’m confident that 8.7 gr of Unique with a 250 gr boolit will pass through a deer and deeply imbed itself in the dirt behind the deer although I’ve never shot a deer with a pistol. My deer hunting is out on the open plains and the shots are long for my .270. Trail Boss is now probably the first choice in the .45 Colt, I’ve used it and it works very well. Mike Ventrino blew a Colt and now uses Trail Boss exclusively. I have double charged a load of Trail Boss in a .45 Colt case and found that I could pull the loading handle down and seat the boolit without any perceptible different in the way it felt. So common sense must still be applied when loading with Trail Boss.

I’ve shot boolits in water penetration tests; the .45 ACP Federal HST +P penetrated 22” of water, Federal Tactical .223 55 gr Hi-Shok sp penetrated 29”, Winchester Silver-Tip .38 Sp +P at 12”, .270 130 gr Remington Core-LOKT 3068 fps at 15”. The Colt .45 454190 wheelweight sized 454” lubed Alox with 6.8 gr of Bullseye at 870 fps penetrated 68 “ of water.

I’ve got over a half dozen Colt SAA’s all calibrated to something that begins with a 4 and have been shooting them for 30 years. Casting and shooting the Colt SAA and talking about casting and shooting Colt SAAs is a favorite past time of mine.

[birch]

I have to say that casting, sizing, and figuring out powder/boolit combos for my colt has become a borderline obsession. I am surprised at how much something as simple as a different crimp will effect bullet accuracy in my Colt. It is a tempermental little round. I imagine each round has it's own quirks, but since I have started casting my own boolits, the perfect .45 load has been a fun endeavor. Another thing i have found interesting is the difference between my Colt and my 1892 winchester in the same caliber. They are two completely different beasts. I am going to try the Vihtavuori 3N37 for my lever gun as soon as I get to the gun shop. I am having a hard time finding good load data for that powder in reloading manuals. I am hoping my father in law might get me a new one for christmas. Thank goodness for the internet in the mean time.
I have noticed that 99% of you size your SAA boolits at 454. I slugged my barrel and found that .452 is about perfect for my gun. Do you think I should start casting and sizing .454?

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Nowadays they say to size to as close to the cylinder throat diameter at possible, not to the bore diameter. Colt's cylinder throats run large, say around .456" or so is common. I shoot soft lead and size large, 454". A hollow base boolit would be nice but slow to cast and I tend to cast in quantity so I don't cast hollow base.

The 454190 should not be used in the 1892 tubular magazine 'cause there is a supposedly a slight chance of detonating a primer in the magazine under recoil. Most of the other mold's have flat meplats to avoid this problem.

Another thing about the Colt's is that there is a slight draft angle of the chamber walls, so Colt's tend to split brass, I neck re-size which solves this problem but my loaded- for-Colt's rounds don't chamber in the Ruger Blackhawk .45.

If crimp is an issue I'd imagine then that the crimp would be a different issue with different boolits. Old dies had oversized expander plugs which created a lack of tension when seating the boolit, but manufactures solved that problem. Dave Skovill lists sizes recommended for the expander plug, I could look it up for you if you have old dies.