Favorite short barrel .45 Colt powder

[Markbo]

A thread on another site has got me really curious. Fellow has a 4.5" Redhawk he has been trying to duplicate old west loads in. Has great success with 7.5" Blackhawk but not the shorty. He was unhappy with Trail Boss, has tried Tin Star and finally settled on .45 Schofield length with Tin Star. I dont doubt his findings but I think there must be a better way if for no other reason he is getting sv in the 80+ range.

What are your favorite powders for short barreled 6 guns for 250-260gr soft slugs?

[RobS]

Red Dot or Promo for easy shooting 800-850 fps area.

[warboar_21]

Unique is my goto low velocity powder for 255gr bullets. I have also used and like HP38 and 231 if they can be found.

[contender1]

All good above. Plus, you may look at HS-6.

[DougGuy]

I'm going to use 8.5gr - 9.0gr Herco under 454190 boolits and see how that does.

[Outpost75]

Bullseye was used for factory loads in the .45 Colt for nearly 100 years and is still the best choice for standard velocity loads in that cartridge. 6.5 grains with a soft 255-grain bullet matches the original 880 fps factory smokeless load, you can reduce to 6 grains to approximate current loads, or use the starting load of 5.5 grains for Cowboy shooting. In Schofield brass 4.5 grains gives 730 fps and approximates service velocity.

Bullseye tolerates airspace in the case just fine as it ignites easily and gives uniform velocities. There is no better powder for machine loading in the. 45 Colt. Unique is ballistically satisfactory, but its larger particle does not meter accurately from the Dillon or Star measures.

[RobS]

I'm going to use 8.5gr - 9.0gr Herco under 454190 boolits and see how that does.

I use quite a bit of Herco too in 45 Colt loads. Typically for mid house loads running in low 20K area as that's where the powder cleans up. I've never shot that particular boolit and I usually shoot harder boolits than you but you should be around 900 fps or so. IIRC 10 grains behind a 310 grain LFN style gives around 1,000 fps from my Ruger Bisley 5.5" barrel.

[runfiverun]

clay's is another good one but has a fairly narrow window.
I found 4.8grs to work with cast boolit weights from 160 rnfp's up through the 255 rnfps in both the revolvers and lever-guns satisfactorily.
I use the 160's to head shoot grouse when deer hunting with the lever gun, the load is quiet and accurate.

[Larry Gibson]

Bullseye and VV N320 are the 2 best choices for SASS level cowboy action loads with 190 - 260 gr cast bullets in the 45 Colt.

Larry Gibson

[MtGun44]

BE or Titegroup work well, and will give less muzzle blast and flash than the
slower powders like Unique and HS6, etc. The slower powders are great
choices for the longer barrels, but as the barrels get short, the blast and
flash get less friendly. Red Dot is a good fast powder, too, but I have not
tried it in .45 Colt.

[pworley1]

I am partial to unique in short colts.

[Groo]

Groo here
Short or long , the fastest load is the fastest load.
90% of your speed is developed in the first 3in or so.
If your looking for a load, to match the original , that would be 950 to 990 fps with a 255 gr bullet from a 7 1/2 inch barrel.
As you can see the 40gr BP load was no lightweight.
The reason the smokless loads are reduced is the difference between the powders.
BP has a pressure limit in the 16000 to 18000 psi range ,it burns quickly but not too high.
Smokless goes much higher but also last longer.[ this is where you BP frame damage comes from even with a lower pressure load]
and applies the pressure longer.
I use Trailboss if I want a light load, but for full power--- UNIQUE. { Colt P-frame and similar]

[bigted]

what is it that you don't like about the "trail boss"? just curious.

[MtGun44]

VERY expensive. Cans only have half a pound or so.

[Jupiter7]

Another vote for bullseye. Lyman 454424 over 6.5grns, excellent in my 4 5/8" Blackhawk.

[Whiterabbit]

trailboss cans are about half price (or used to be) to 1lber cans. So per pound its the same price. basically. Unless things changed after sandy hook.

[Groo]

Groo here
your shots per can are about the same as you use less weight per volume.

[Whiterabbit]

yup, and if the can is a little over half price, and she shots per can are the same, then that most important figure of all, dollars per shot is also just a little over half :)

[TCLouis]

6.1 grains of Red Dot behind the Lee 255 grainer seems to work well.

780 fps in one test with 6" barrel.

[Airman Basic]

Haven't seen it mentioned, but 700x is also useful in 45 Colt, 'specially since I've got 8 pounds of it.

[doc1876]

I can't say enough about how happy I am with IMR 4227, and one day IF I find any bullseye, I am going to try it...........What is wrong with Holy Black?? 26g of fffg, and you are off.

[Whiterabbit]

when using holy black, how crazy do you have to get with the cleaning? cylinder and barrel are easy, the frame window can be wiped easy, or saturated with soapy water, hot water, then oil, but do you have to get all crazy getting the gun apart to get into every crevice?

[thegatman]

Trail boss in a Taurus snubby. Works for me.

[doc1876]

when using holy black, how crazy do you have to get with the cleaning? cylinder and barrel are easy, the frame window can be wiped easy, or saturated with soapy water, hot water, then oil, but do you have to get all crazy getting the gun apart to get into every crevice?

I usually clean smokeless this way, and if I am using black, then I REALLY clean up, I dismantle totally, and then soak all parts in hot water with dawn, and then get to scrubbing. If I am going to use black again, I use real grease on all parts, bore, cylinder, moving parts, all parts. I may not do this, if I don't intend on using black in it for a while, but before using black, I grease everything,

[Lloyd Smale]

same powders that work in long barrels work just as well in short barrels in handguns.

[bobthenailer]

My vote goes for either Bullseye or Tightgroup powders have been using both for many decades for velocties from 750 to 1,100 fps in the 44 mag , 45 LC and 454 Casull cases with excellent results!

For the 45LC try 6.0 gr of either powder.

[M-Tecs]

Unique has been my standard for forty years. Tried other always went back.