45 Colt Black Powder Loads

[Good Cheer]

Wanted to see how much black I could get in the Colt cartridge and see how it would work.
Trying out the RCBS .445 280 grain hollow base sized to .443, the base filled with lanolin-olive oil-beeswax lube. Filling the case up with Jacks Battle until the rear band on the minie (about a 1/16") will just fit into the case mouth. Using a thin cotton cloth patch to compress to hold the minie in the case mouth. The bullet extends up the barrel.
Just shot it off hand to check for blown skirts, fouling softness, yawing. Looks good.

May try increasing the diameter of the rear band rather than using the cloth patch. Maybe could use a punched out piece of grocery bag to keep the lube out of the powder. That might help the lube get boiled around better too.

[Good Cheer]

This is in the handi carbine.

[DeanWinchester]

Ahh you got a classic carbine too?
I reamed mine to a Casull.
The thought has crossed my mind several times to see how a 454 Casull would do with a case full of Swiss. I just don't know anything about loading black. Ignorance ain't stopped me from doing easy thing else though.

[Don McDowell]

Why not just simply use a properly sized bullet intended to be used in the 45 colt, lubed with a decent blackpowder lube?

[Russ M]

Why not just simply use a properly sized bullet intended to be used in the 45 colt, lubed with a decent blackpowder lube?

Umm, yeah, what Don said. Realize you're using a Handi but my Blackhawk does real well with a Lee 252gr SWC, about 37gr fffg, and Emmerts lube. Blackpowder loads in .45 Colt aren't exactly new.

DW-I'll bet with a little playing around that would be fun.

[jonp]

I think "wanted to see" was the tip off. A properly sized boolit/ball would have cut down on the amount of powder. A little experiment just for the heck of it is sometimes a good thing

[CastingFool]

I use the Lee 252 gr SWC, with Emmert's, too, 'cept I use Bullseye, or Unique.

[Good Cheer]

It's a single shot black powder cartridge rifle so I'm loading it like one. If I had a heavier mold that would work in the diameter with paper patches I'd be patching it. But, this one appears to be expanding to the bore ok with the available charge (46 grains).
There's good and bad points to loading with a hollow base but in this instance it is advantageous. With this mold the hollow base could be used to run the charge on up to fifty grains but having the loaded cartridge internally lubed (instead of external) and the boolit containing it's own lube cookie without sacrificing powder space is lagniappe.
And, by the way, LOOB (lanolin-olive oil-beeswax) is a very good bp lube for this application. Beeswax from a local keeper, lanolin from the bucket and olive oil from the kitchen counter.
Which is where I'm headed for another cup of coffee.

[Good Cheer]

This shows the length to rifling and the cartridge length being used with the RCBS .445-280 grain.
http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/11111_zps3c173945.jpg (http://s791.photobucket.com/user/SNARGLEFLERK/media/11111_zps3c173945.jpg.html)

[Good Cheer]

Some day I'm gonna make up some paper cartridges for this thing like a 1859 Sharps using reprimed cases for the cap. But what I'll need is about 80 grains of powder and a 350-400 grain boolit that fits the bore after patching.

[Outpost75]

I load Accurate 45-259EB with black in my H&R Classic Carbine, casting bullets 1:40 tin lead and lubing with Confederate Army Lube aka 50-50 by melted volume of Goya Manteca and beeswax. 36 grains of 2Fg Goex compressed 1/8". Very accurate to 200 yards. Have not chronographed, don't care, I hit the 12" steel gong consistently with iron sights. Good enough. No wiping, no blow tubing.

181803

[bigted]

That's pretty good there outpost. BP and the old Colt round must have been meant for each other.

I have and will again loaded 40 grains KIK 2Fg to super results. It's a handful in the Ruger or Colt army ... Also flattens the primers ... But very fun (if a bit hard on the hand) ... These work very well in the Winchester Miroku 92. They are very accurate in the rifle

Don't think I mentioned the bullet ... Lee 255 grain flatpoint. Great boolit and really easy on the pocket book for the mold. I just ordered the 6 hole mold I like it so much.

Oh and I lube it with some SPG I have left. I have also lubed them with a 50/50 mix of bee wax and good old vasoline. Either works like a charm.

[bigted]

Hey ... What is the twist rate on her rifle GoodCheer? Am contemplating a barrel for my Encore in the 45 Colt. Have plans for building a soup can style boolit in 300 + grains ... Maybe hollow based as well for it.

I have a 45 cal minni that may just work ... It measures pretty close to .454.

[Outpost75]

In a .45 Colt rifle you want 1:20", same as .45-70!

[pietro]

.

FWIW, I make .45 Colt BP gallery loads using a .454" RB (like for C&B revolvers) over 5gr-15gr Goex FFFg, with the RB seated down on the powder & overlaid with a dollop of lube.

For warm weather shooting, I further seat a cardboard or felt wad over the RB/lube to seal the load.

The loads work very well for potting small game spotted while deer hunting.

.

[Randy Bohannon]

Bigted,what size boolit are you running in your 92 Win/Miroku I have .454 230 gr RCBS and a .456 GC 300 gr. Accurate mould. You think 20:1 alloy for the .454 would bump up enough with B/P ?

[bigted]

Yes I think it would bump just fine. I use .454 boolit in my 92 but cast of pure lead. Seems the chamber is big ... So I only size the cases about 2 turns into the press which just sizes the mouth of the case enough to seat the .454 with just enough friction without sizing the soft boolit with the case.

[GoodOlBoy]

doesn't matter what was being attempted... loading a .44x in a 45 long colt ain't gonna get you squat for accuracy. Loading a .452-.455 will do the trick depending on the gun. For black powder in a standard modern case you are looking at 34-38 grains depending on grain weight of the bullet and the volume of the case. Hornady cases are short so you get less powder even with a drop tube, etc etc. Original balloon head brass will get you 40 grains of black if you are using a bullet that will allow it. Usually a 250-255 grain rn or rnfp. Forget the bevel base stuff. Stick with plain base. If you use the old lyman 45468 you should be throwing around a 175 grain hollow base. You can fill the base with wax, and/or use a card wad under it to make sure you get good compression on the black powder.

Follow safe loading procedures for black powder.

Edited to add: I know it's been mentioned in the past but Balloon head brass and "folded" head brass are NOT the same thing. Folded head brass with I've almost always seen with a redish/copper tint to it should never ever be reloaded. Balloon head brass if carefully inspected, triple checked, annealed, and only used with true black powder of the correct granulation is usually safe, but that's no guarantee. You are assuming all the risk when using "old" brass of any type.

God Bless, and One Love.

Richard