got me a new 45

[BigMagShooter]

got a new 45 colt, Ruger blackhawk. :) NIB. :) Slapped some hogue grips on it and now I'm loading some ammo. Well, I will in a minute.

Got some 230gr cast HP's I'm gonna use first go round just to make it go bang.

I'm thinking 8gr of unique to start.

What say ye of many 45 colt experiences. :)
ok
I can't figure out what I have slugged on my gun will get the correct details later.

What is your favorite plinker load for 45 colt?

What is your favorite hunting load in 45 colt?

[Char-Gar]

Just a couple of thoughts....

1...If you are going to shoot cast bullets, those .451 cylinder throats will bring you no joy. Send the cylinder to DougGuy and have them opened up to .4525 and then you will have joy.

2...For a factory level load, I like 6.2 to 6.5 grains of Bullseye over the 230 - 260 grain cast bullet of your choice.

3...Rubber grips? You got to be kidding me! Get some good wood on that thumbuster. Like say good Texas Honey Mesquite.

[BigMagShooter]

yea, well wood grips are a bit out of my price range at the moment. :) in the future....

[DougGuy]

I bought a new .45 too! New Model Vaquero, one of the newer medium framed Vaqueros and I gotta say it is a sweet one! This one is the best Ruger single action I have ever had my hands on and I have been through quite a pile of them over the years!

167332

Haven't shot it yet but I already determined the throats were .4505" and .451" and since I am the guy who reams cylinders, they are now .4525" lapped and hot re blued. Forcing cone just barely touched up to 11° and a Wolff 30oz. trigger return spring installed. Got antsy and did a David Bradshaw style trigger job and now there is no creep and a nice clean breaking trigger..

http://singleactions.proboards.com/thread/11650/new-model-ruger-trigger-bradshaw

8gr Unique under a 230gr is a little light, may have sooty cases, 9gr under a 255 is a good load.

Might want to re measure your cylinder, sounds as if the two measurements you posted got switched..

For a long time Ruger .45 barrels have been right at .451" and most of their throats are .4505" or .451" but either way a .452" boolit will not usually go through with finger pressure.

Before we get into hunting loads, does yours have a TWO or THREE digit prefix in the serial number?

[BigMagShooter]

two digit, what does that mean?

[BigMagShooter]

so you want the cylinder chambers bigger than the barrel right?

[roberts1]

my favorite plinker in 45 colt is the lee 452 200 over 8 grains of unique

[roberts1]

oh and personally id shoot it first and see if the throats need to be opened up. U could slug the bore and see if the slug drops easily thru each chamber. That'd tell you if they are big enough. They do need to be a little bigger than the bore.

[Seeker]

Congratulations on the new guns fellas. Sure is a good feeling huh? I hear everyone asking, "What is your favorite load?" I have so many that shoot really well in my NM Blackhawk 5 1/2" and my Henry Steel 20" (both 45 Colts)...I can't say as I have a favorite. I just finished loading up 150 rnds., 50 each of 200rf with 6.9 gr. of Trailboss, 200rf with 9gr.of Unique and 255swc with 7.9 gr. of BE-86. I also have great shooting loads with A#9, A#5, Red Dot, Bullseye, Tite Group, H110 and Powerpistol. The 45 Colt is so versatile,... and data is everywhere. Have fun with it. G.

[DougGuy]

two digit, what does that mean?

Two digit prefix is used on the large frame guns, they are capable of taking the Ruger Only loads you see in the reloading data, safe up to 30,000psi and maybe a scoch more but let's say the safe pressure limit is 30,000psi in the .45 caliber guns.

Three digit prefix is used on the medium frame guns made since 2005, the cylinders are smaller, shorter, and thinner on these guns, the cylinder frame and grip frame are smaller, and they are NOT SAFE with the 30,000psi Ruger Only loads! These medium framed guns have a safe pressure ceiling of 23,000psi which is what the .45 ACP +P load develops.

Many of the gun writers are more or less adhering to the 3 levels of power for the .45 Colt cartridge, tier1 which is capped at 14,000psi and safe in old smokeless powder Colt SAAs, S&W, and Colt clones. Tier2 is capped at 23,000psi and is safe in all Ruger SA revolvers, as well as modern S&W, tier3 is for only the stoutest handguns, Ruger large frame Blackhawk and Vaquero, Redhawk, Super Redhawk, Super Blackhawk, and other very well made revolvers such as BFR, Freedom Arms, Linebaugh, Bowen, etc..

So before anyone can recommend any hunting loads, if we know what prefix your revolver's serial starts with, we know what kind of loads it is capable of and also, if it is a three digit prefix, what kind of loads to avoid.


so you want the cylinder chambers bigger than the barrel right?

That's correct. In a perfect world, a revolver's dimensions read not unlike that of a funnel. Largest dimensions in the back, and getting progressively smaller as you work your way forward. The boolit should be .001" to .002" greater than groove diameter of the barrel, and the cylinder throats should be .0005" to .001" greater than boolit diameter.

If your throats are smaller, and the boolit is fired through the tight throats, it comes out the front of the cylinder at throat diameter, regardless of what the size of the boolit was when you loaded it. The throats swage the boolit down until it fits through and now you have an undersized boolit being presented to the barrel if the throats are smaller than the barrel's groove diameter and this causes groups to open up, can cause leading in the forcing cone and or barrel and should be corrected by reaming the cylinder throats so that the full diameter of the bullet as sized and loaded, is presented to the barrel upon firing.

[BigMagShooter]

nice to know about the digits, all I know is I asked they guy I got it from if it would handle the 'ruger only loads' and he said yes it would. and a few other chimed in saying it would too.

[DougGuy]

nice to know about the digits, all I know is I asked they guy I got it from if it would handle the 'ruger only loads' and he said yes it would. and a few other chimed in saying it would too.

I apologize, I did not see your earlier reply where you said it was 2 digits.. Carry on!

[sandman228]

for a plinker load ive been shooting a 200 gr swc from a lee mold over 8 gr imr 4756 .ive also shot this bullet over I'm pretty sure 6.5 gr of 231/hp38 . another plinker ive been experimenting with is the lee .452 160 gr bullet over 4.8 gr 700x with a heavy crimp . it shoots pretty nice out of my Blackhawk .ive got a bucket full of 230 gr tc bullets ive been sitting on a few years now I plan on experimenting with next . oh by the way ive got the Hogue mono grip on my 45 too along with all of my other revolvers. are they as nice looking as wood grips ? no .but at the same time I don't mind the looks of them either and like the way they feel in my hand .

[DougGuy]

Full house ruger only loads are downright painful to the middle knuckle, the Hogue grip may tame it down and make it more bearable. I found out that if I used the factory grips that it hurt my hand enough that I wouldn't shoot more than 10-20 rounds before I gave it up and it saved me a lot of money like that! :bigsmyl2:

H110 is the most accepted powder for full house loads with heavy boolits for .44 and .45, just don't download it. Stick within published min. and max. charge weights and you will be fine. A 300gr boolit over 21.5gr H110 with WLP primers is a very stout hunting load, good for hog, deer, bear, elk, and for defense in dangerous game country. Again, stick with published data for COA length and you will be fine.

If you want less than max loads in the .45 Colt, I found that 2400 and LilGun got me right into the 75% ~ 90% range quite efficiently, with a little less recoil, still very accurate, and I chose this level of power for all my hunting loads. I have a bunch of heavy weight boolits loaded up from years gone by but they are overkill and painful to shoot. I mean what animal on the North American continent needs a cartridge capable of shooting through OVER THREE FEET of seasoned oak firewood?

Brian Pearce has written two good articles for the trade rags, if you google Brian Pearce .45 Colt loads you will find them. I don't use some of the powders he uses so it didn't do me a ton of good but you can get an idea of the boolit weight and the velocity he is able to reach while staying within the pressure ceiling. You can use a lot of different powders to achieve basically the same results if you hunt around you can find load data for the combination of boolit and powder that you have on hand.

There are some basic do's and don't do's that will help anyone with a big bore handgun. Don't use fast burning powder to try to achieve magnum velocities with heavy boolits. If all you have is fast burning powder like Unique, use a lighter boolit. Don't download the slow burning magnum powders, they shine when case capacity is nearly filled. Don't use a taper crimp on revolver loads, use a roll crimp.

Other than that, these suggestions are a couple of good things to keep in mind with the .45 Colt, you will enjoy it!

[BigMagShooter]

thanks dougguy, lots of info greatly appreciated!

I have a plethora of powders to choose from.

I got lots of 2400 and lil gun, just need to find some loads for it I suppose. I have 230 gr bullets right now, I THINK I have some bigger ones but likely not as most of my 45 was ACP stuff.

[runfiverun]

I'm using 8.5 and .452
didn't measure anything but how close the holes in the paper are.

you might wanna include your 45 acp taper crimp die if the boolit doesn't have a roll crimp groove.
I use a 45 win mag T/C die but the acp die should back out far enough to just iron things straight.

[rexherring]

My old Blackhawk is after the three screw but before the warning barrel stamps. Been hunting since then with it with an RCBS 255 SWC and 18.5 grs of AA#9. Never needed more than one shot on mule deer. The only bullet I ever recovered was from a head on shot as it was coming at me, the bullet went through the full length of the mule deer and was just under the hide in his rump.

[41mag]

If you want a mold to pour up a LOT of decent plinking and target shooting bullets give the Lee 6 cavity 452-255gr RF a try. I have used it for a couple of years now and find with around 8gr of Unique it shoots lights out in my Redhawk. I have used other molds as well but that one gets me a BUNCH of bullets in a short time that will last me quite a while. The others are the MP molds like the 45 270 SAA which is an awesome mold itself. Another MP is the 454640 which drops a nice 270'ish grain HP if you like that. I also have a couple of Accurate molds as well as a couple of NOE's that shoot great.

The biggest thing is deciding on just what you want and what your going to do with it. I hunt and target shoot with mine so I like a little variety, but they all shoot plenty good enough for either job. That Lee will shoot straight through a 5 gallon bucket of fine sand at 25yds so don't think you won't get penetration from it.

Good luck and work up your loads for accuracy and leave the velocity what it ends up being. Most anything from the start load up, is going to hit hard enough for deer hunting, as long as you can shoot it properly.

[BigMagShooter]

thanks for the info! I will likely want to use it for target shooting and hunting for close in stuff. I'll probably get one type of bullet and use it for both. I am leaning towards a round flat nose.

[TXGunNut]

Most of my 45 Colt loads involve BP. I have a RBH I use for hunting but for most range trips it's a case full of FFg or FFFg. Go BOOM! or stay home, lol.