What mold for a Bisley Vaquero in 44 long colt in +P

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

My brother is picking up a Ruger Bisley Vaquero in 45 Long Colt large frame with a 7 1/2" barrel and has asked me to cast up some boolits for him to be used for protection against bears in the north west when hunting elk.
He said he would like them in the 270-300 gr. area to be loaded in +P and looking at the old buffalo mold chart i cant decide what one would be best suited for his needs.
I will need to purchase a mold for them and i do not do GC. I prefer RCBS and NOE or such.
What would be your recomendations for this application for them and your reasons why.

After reading some of your replies i called my brother today and indeed it is for a 45 Colt/LC So I'm reasking for some input on these maters, He told me he would like something in the 270-300 gn area and also what alloy should i mix up for them.

Thanks for your help, Steve

[gandydancer]

whats a 44 long colt??

[jonp]

Must be a custom job. ;) 45lc, right?

[curator]

RCBS offers a 270 grain flat base mould in .452 diameter that has a good reputation for both accuracy and performance if cast from the right alloy. Personally, I would use ACWW on "+p" .45 Colt loads.

[rintinglen]

+1 on the RCBS 45-270 SWC. They tend to cast a bit heavier than that, 280-ish, IME. 17.0 grains of 2400 or 19.0 grains of H-110 you where you want to go. Some folks go higher, but enough is as good as a feast. At least in my neck of the woods, I have no need for anything heavier.

[fredj338]

I also assume a 44mag or 45colt. The RCBS 270SAA is a great bullet. Cast of range lead, it comes in closer to 285gr, very accurate & I doubt any animal in short of an elephant is stopping one launched @ 1100fps.

[DougGuy]

You don't mention the exact caliber of the gun, but by you saying "long colt" I am assuming it is a .45 Colt caliber. A.k.a. 45 Long Colt. Excuse me if that is not the case, if it is, here are my thoughts..

Any 300gr and under boolit can be realistically launched at 1300f/s from a 7 1/2 incher without even flattening primers.

I don't know about Northwest bear but here in North Carolina we got black bear averaging 300-350lb and occasionally 450lb and the boolit weight you mention at 1100f/s would be plenty bad medicine for one of them, but I'm thinking they may be considerably larger in Elk country. If that's the case I would want something with a flat nose, in the 325gr range, leaving the muzzle in the high 1200s.

A wide flat nose and even a Keith type LSWC that's fairly hard cast will cut like a hole punch which is what would be preferred, along with deep penetration.

What I would pick (for example) might be a 315gr Keith type LSWC, or a 325gr long flat nose, something in those designs would be quite effective.

Edit: I am sorry that I can't point you at a specific mold, but I am a hunter and not a boolit caster, and were I hunting in the country your brother hunts in, -this- is what I would carry in my sidearm.

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

After reading some of your replies i called my brother today and indeed it is for a 45 Colt/LC So I'm reasking for some input on these maters, He told me he would like something in the 270-300 gn area and also what alloy should i mix up for them.

Thank You all for the help, Steve

[fcvan]

Your brother is going to have fun with that one. I have a Vaquero in 45 Colt and have taken advantage of it's ability to run higher pressures. I've run gallery loads using round balls all the way to barn burners with a 300 grain RF boolit. Mine only has a 4 5/8" barrel but is fun to shoot with stout loads.

[Moonie]

I have a blackhawk 7 1/2" and I shoot the 300gr lee over 22gr H110/W296 around 1,200fps , it's stout.