.45 colt and .454 casull powders

[hunter12]

I am new to reloading the .45 colt and .45 casull. Near as I can tell, the colt is to the casull like the .38 is to a .357, correct?

Anyway, I can find plenty of lead boolits in .45cal but I am having a hard time finding powders that will work. I found powders with recipes for .45colt but no recipes for the .454. Can I safely load a .454 case with .45 colt powder recipe?

A better question may be where can I find lead loading info for both?

[Ohio Rusty]

I refer to my Lyman cast boolit handbook almost daily. I would defintely get one as both of those calibers are listed in there with different weights of boolits and a wide selection of powders for both.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[lar45]

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp
Here is load data for both.
You didn't mention which gun you are loading the 45 Colt for, there is an option for regular pressure loads and then the Ruger level higher pressure loads for the 45 Colt.

[littlejack]

Hunter:
Welcome to the CastBoolits.
Please get yourself some up to date reloading books. I am assuming, that you do not have any (up to date), as you do not have any reloading data to reference to.
Do not use loads suggested by other folks, until you have checked the loads out from a reliable manual or on an online manufacturers site.
Reguards
Jack

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i do not load for the 45 colt but my 454 Encore likes 27.5gr H110
under a 300gr cast boolit

[j_dude77]

H110 seems to be the bee's knees for the 454 Casull. If you are loading standard pressure 45 Colt, Unique is hard to beat.

[hunter12]

opps, the .454 is Ruger Super Red Hawk 7 1/2" barrel in stainless and I plan on shooting .45LC loads or light .454, just because they are easier on my arms

My reloading books are over 10 years old and come from Speer and Nolser, I am looking into newer ones

[j_dude77]

You can get on most manufacturers sites, and get current data.

[farmallcrew]

I use Unique 7.5gr-9gr in my 45lc. I like 8.5gr because it a happy medium, and every now and then it puts on a nice fire shot. 9gr is really snappy and has plenty of fire. But I don't run hot loads because I want to keep my brass around for a while. My load is pushing a 250gr RN boolit.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

book!

[hunter12]

after more reading I have another question, are 200 and 230gr lead bullets too light in the .454 case? Will the case have enough powder or will I need a filler or is it too risky?

[MT Chambers]

I found some excellent loads on the Freedom Arms website, for the .454 Casull, for cast bullets up to 395grains. I like 4227 in my '83.

[hunter12]

I found some excellent loads on the Freedom Arms website, for the .454 Casull, for cast bullets up to 395grains. I like 4227 in my '83.

I didn't see anything on their site for cast, only jacketed, what did you click on?

[justing]

for my 45colt i use 231 or unique

[bobthenailer]

Ive had excellent results with Tightgroup powder with cast bullets in the 260,275,300gr range loaded in 454 casull brass @ 980 to 1,200 fps range. from several 454 casulls , with a starting charge of 8.0gr of TG powder and carefully working up.
I have tried the 240 gr FA bullet as well as the hornday 240gr mag xtp and the 260 gr and up bullets were more accurate past at 50 yards & beyound .

[hunter12]

which cast bullet weights work best (most accurate) in the 7 1/2" .454 casull SRH?

Once I get that info I can focus on powders

Thanks for all the help

[kenyerian]

http://www.customsixguns.com/writings/dissolving_the_myth.htm Here is a link to Linebaugh's reccomendations on the 45 colt. This a very good read.

[kenyerian]

http://www.sixguns.com/range/Fattpp.htm Here is some info from JOHN TAFFIN

[dmize]

My SRH shoots 270 SAA VERY good with 9 grains of Power Pistol,recoil is non existant.
As a side note if you shoot a bunch of 45 Colts in it,be sure to clean the chambers good before shooting 454's
AND,DO NOT try to light load a 454 loading with H110 or 296.

[dudits]

for .45colt i like trailboss. gives me nice powder levels in the cases.
unique is my second go to for it.

[dmize]

From my own experience I would say a 255-270 range bullet will work the best.

[Whiterabbit]

after more reading I have another question, are 200 and 230gr lead bullets too light in the .454 case? Will the case have enough powder or will I need a filler or is it too risky?

Not too light at all. But you'll need to shoot reduced loads or gas checked bullets (hard to find). I tried PB gs checks on those, but did not have very good luck. I think they still need to be reduced (I can shoot them at warp ridiculous though).

I do not recommend H110 loads for those weight bullets unless they have a gas check. But for trailboss loads, I don't think you can go wrong, even if they are soft cast plain base. For anything in between, I don't know. I only shoot that weight bullet very very fast (tough bullet only) or with trailboss. (45 acp bullet)

[Whiterabbit]

BTW, if you ignore OAL for a minute and pay attention to where the base of the boolit is, you can load a 454 colt load in a 454 casull case. You'll seat .1 inches lower, and you have what is for all intents and purposes a 45 colt load.

For all intents and purposes when comparing 454 to 45 colt, if case capacity = the same, bullet weight = the same, powder charge = the same, its a 45 colt load. Or a 454 load in a 45 colt case.

[Ziptar]

I use Unique 7.5gr-9gr in my 45lc.

+1 on Unique for .45 Colt it is all you need.

[ultramag]

after more reading I have another question, are 200 and 230gr lead bullets too light in the .454 case? Will the case have enough powder or will I need a filler or is it too risky?

They should be fine. I've not gone all the way down to a 200 gr. bullet, but have put a lot of 230 gr. Lee TL TC's down range with my SRH. These actually drop 240 gr. with my current alloy. I've also loaded quite a few 255 gr. Keith style bullets. Have had good luck with Clays, TiteGroup, and Trail Boss with the bullets mentioned.

[Whiterabbit]

forgot to mention. There are bullets specifically made for 454 cassul or 460 S&W. Jacketed or copper solids all. any XTP mag, Hornady 200 grain FTX, 250 grain FTX (made for 450 bushmaster), and ALL barnes variants .451" diameter. All.

All of these bullets are 200-250 (one 275, one 300 grain) grains and you can shoot them as fast as you want without fear of "bullet blowup". (ie max loads of H110 are A-OK)

Some you wont be able to shoot fast enough (barnes 200 grain XPB) to expand unless you are point blank. But a 45 cal hole is a 45 cal hole...

[milltownhunter]

heavy 45 colt bluedot or hs7 250gr 280gr lighter loads reddot235gr wc 454 w296 300 gr and 325gr work well on heavy loads

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive loaded about every powder thats out there in 454s. If your shooting it like it was intended to be shot. That is full power or near full power with 300+ grain bullets 110 is far and way the best powder and what ive found is it hardly is worth the bother to even fool with the others. Only one thats came close for me is wc297. If your downloading it i dont have enough experience to give you a good answer.

[dougader]

I like W296/H110 for full power 45 Colt and 454 loads, usually with 335 WLNGC bullets. I run 22 grains in the 45 Colt loads and 28 grains in 454.

For 45 Colt 14k - 23k psi loads I just use W231.

For medium heavy loads I have Blue Dot, and a new keg of AA#9.

[hunter12]

I plan on keeping the loads on the medium side of heavy for plinking. Finding powder is really tough right now, I am basically keeping track of the ones you guys mention and from some reloading manuals so when I find some powder in stock I can jump on it. Anyone willing to PM me a good source for powder??

I like what the one guy said about reducing my OAL to match .45LC and use those recipes, at least until I find some heavier boolits.

[dougader]

It's really too bad we can't ship powder the same way we ship ammo: just slap a sticker on the side and send it by UPS. I bet people would be willing to send a pound here or there to help a guy out...

[hunter12]

I'm in south jersey and willing to drive ;-)

[dougader]

3,000 miles for a pound of H110? LOL, it's like that old Tarreton cigarette commercial: "I'd rather fight than switch," or "What would you do for Klondike bar?"

[257X50]

231 for light loads. And kinda smells like 22rf.lol

110/296 for heavy loads.

[Lloyd Smale]

how about id walk a mile for a camel!
3,000 miles for a pound of H110? LOL, it's like that old Tarreton cigarette commercial: "I'd rather fight than switch," or "What would you do for Klondike bar?"

[257X50]

how about id walk a mile for a camel!

Don't know about a Camel Lloyd.....

But I'd walk a mile for good fried bread dough.

[Lloyd Smale]

i guess you have to be at least in your later 50s to remember the old camel cigerette comercial.
Don't know about a Camel Lloyd.....

But I'd walk a mile for good fried bread dough.

[doghawg]

If I was limited to one powder for both .45 Colt and .454 it would be 2400.

[DougGuy]

If I was limited to only one powder for 45 Colt, it would be H110. Although the truth is finally known, WW296 and H110 are (according to reputable sources) the same exact powder, made by the same exact mfgr and sold to Hodgon and Winchester in different containers.

I have really consistent luck with both using 300gr to 340gr boolits, pretty close to the max load for each shoots well for me.