What is the .45 Colt *boolit* length (200, 250, 255gr...)

[victorfox]

Hi folks. I have a smoothbore Taurus Judge, sold as .410 only (live in BRazil), but the bore is in fact a .450" smooth.

I'm trying to use the fast powders we have here to make a .45 Colt-ish load using round balls and *possibly* a custom slug (probably won't pan out). I had some success, using Magtech .410 brass cases, seating the wad and balls at case ridge depth (due to the revolver cylinder throat, the brass fireforms at .45 Colt length, so I seated the wad far from the powder), and using 6gr of powder under a wad and two ~.433" balls (payload about 260, 270gr) with quite good results. No bloops or much unburnt powder.

I want to know the real length of the boolits in some sizes (200, 250, 255) so I can deduct from .45 Colt COAL to see how deep I can seat the wad to simulate a seated boolit. I don't have access to .45 rounds because it's a restricted caliber here and not very common too (.45ACP is restricted too, but some there are some licensed shooters that use it a lot).

The original thread on this experience:http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?295782-45-colt-ish-wildcat-in-Judge-help-needed

The idea is to load at least 2 round balls close to case inside diameter, far from the powder, like a regular .45 Colt with boolits.

If you guys have other ideas, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

[runfiverun]

actually you'll want the number [length] from the crimp groove to the base of the boolit.
and you'll need the column volume of the powder used inside the case to figure the air gap.
for instance 5 grs of clay's is a 14-K psi load under a 250gr boolit but the air space will be huge while the same boolit and 19 grs of 2400 will be pretty much touching each other, and a load of H-110 will be slightly compressed. [no air gap]

same boolit different powder volumes, different air gaps.

[Outpost75]

Here are some bullet drawings from Accurate molds of standard designs normally used in the .45 Colt. The base to crimp groove length will approximate seating depth.

165003165004165005165006

If planning to shoot a bullet from a smooth bore barrel, you probably want one in which the bullet length is not appreciably greater than its diameter, like one of these:

165007165008165260165259

[victorfox]

R5R, Yes thanks for educating me. That's it. I need to know how deep I can push that wad. The length from the base to the canelure... Now what's this number?I'll will quote your sig, it's an educated guess till the trigger is pulled, but I believe my poor 7/16" wad, two round balls, card and glue, won't be equal in pressure to a mighty full size 255gr boolit with a crimp groove well filled with brass, I'm correct?The powder I use is somewhere in the middle of W231, the aforementioned Clays and Red Dot, the reason I can't push the wad over it and load as a regular shotshell... And seat a reasonable payload over it (over 3/8oz will be dangerous me thinks).

[victorfox]

GREAT Outpost75! I will take these measures and retest...It would be very cool to try these, but my resources are quite limited and am insisting on this experiment because I can reload these modified shells for about 3/4 of the cost of a .22LR round and that's the only handgun one can actually handload for without a lot of paperwork and costs...I even thought about some square cylinder short boolits but will be a later test (sort of a wadcutter), but I'm not having much either time or money for my shooting...But thanks again folks you were very valuable again. I'm very satisfied in being part of this great forum, full of spectacular people. And I'm not flattering you, you all know that you are.Many of you got out of their way to give me information I don't have access to, lots of support, good ideas. Many many thanks.

[runfiverun]

you have the line where the 45 colt case mouth would be so you have a starting point to push the 'crimp groove' to
you probably won't be using a normal boolit but a cylinder shaped cast projectile can be used as long as your pushing it to the same depth each time.
this will set your air gap.
now if your using 231 or red-dot your in good shape.
if your using clay's, your window of error becomes much smaller.

how I would approach it is like any other reloading project where my data is limited.
set your boolit to the mark on the case and use known data for a similar weighted boolit or bullet and work up from the bottom.
the case your using is of course different so you have to be careful and use critical judgment of what your seeing.
you can move the boolit out some after trying a few things and re-work the data as you gain experience with the load.
but getting the raw data first means following a set of rules, and then adjusting from there.
your brass is gonna be just enough different than regular 45 colt brass that you have to be careful from the bottom up and think each step through.

[victorfox]

All right R5R! thanks. As I said before, I had quite good success with the wad seated at the 45 colt case mouth and a heavy payload (up to 1/2) using 6gr of the powder we have here. Nice stout recoil, passable accuracy at 10m (each ball hits about 4" apart). Not having a chrono is hard to tell the velocity. The load I'm borrowing from .45 colt is published by the powder maker as giving (6gr) 720fps from a 4" test barrel. Mine is 6.5" and will be satisfied in the 800-900fps range. I'm probably around this now, but can't tell for sure. Have everything written down in my paper notes.Edit: Forgot to add. No pressure signs what was expected since I'm giving a lot of room for powder and no under pressure signs either. With lighter payload, got sooty case mouths and less of a boom and more of a pop with some unburnt powder in the case.

[runfiverun]

I know stuff isn't readily available to you there so you have to get creative.

you can make a pseudo chronograph like they used to use in the old day's.
it involves shooting a log suspended on a chain and measuring how far it goes.
then figuring the energy based on the boolits weight since mass times velocity equals energy you have to back figure things a little bit.
by figuring out the energy first then use the weight to figure out the velocity.
I'm pretty sure the whole thing was explained in one of Parker Ackley's books or the supplement that come with them.
but the principle and plans should be pretty easily found on the internet with some decent google-foo applied.