finally got the 45 colt to cook!!!!!!!

[mainiac]

ive been playing with my 45 colt/ ruger bisley 7.5 inch for a while now. been trying to find a bullet that shot real well. Today a cast some 452460 bullets out of an old single cav mold that ive had for a while and never used. Upon reading ken waters pet loads, i see where he used 7 grs of red dot powder and a light bullet(19o grs) and it was the most accurate load tested.... let me tell you, this load will shoot! i shot 5 shots in a ragged hole and kept firing until the 12th shot jumped out of the group. 11 shots went into less than a inch easily! 25 yards of course. shot a few more groups that went an inch or less. this load shoots at 1020 average velocity. this bullet is made for the 45 acp i beleave, it doesnt look all that sexy in the big colt case but looks dont mean a thing to me! out of wheel weights i cast 203 grains. had to share it and was wondering if anyone else has stumbled on to this before? thanks,mark

[26Charlie]

Had a similar experience with the Ruger Blackhawk 7 1/2" bbl., not a Bisley, and a bullet even lighter - I'm not quite sure of the number, maybe 45468, but it is a 190 gr. hollow base, with 5.0 grains of Bullseye in the .45 Colt case.
I was using it on an indoor 50 foot range, thinking just to have something to shoot during the winter, offhand. Lo and behold, 5 shots cut one ragged hole about an inch in diameter - the best offhand shooting I've done that I can think of. Maybe once I equalled it with the .32 S&W long, but this was really surprising with the big gun.

[SharpsShooter]

That sounds like a load to try in my Cimmaron arms Colt copy. I bet recoil is non-existant.

[David R]

452460 shoots great in my model 25 smith.

[fecmech]

452460 averaged 2.25" at 50 yds for 5 ten shot groups out of a Ransom Rest with my "wad gun". It even shot better than the H&G 68. It's my favorite in the .45acp. Nick

[PatMarlin]

My BlackHawk loves Red Dot.

What size are your throats and bore, and what size are you running?

[fourarmed]

Interesting. The accuracy of mine has always been disappointing with heavy loads and normal to heavy bullets. I just loaded some lapping loads to polish out the constriction at the frame.

[9.3X62AL]

Mainiac--

Thanks for passing that info along. I have both the BisHawk x 7.5" and the #452460 mold, but never tried them together. The revolver had recent throat surgery, so it's acting better with the 250's now--and the #452460 shoots GREAT from 45 ACP's.

[mainiac]

my gun has .451 throats and .4515 grooves. I size them with a .452 cause thats all i have. I havent found a lyman 452454 that drops ww bulleta any bigger than .4505- think this is why in desperation i tryed something different in the gun. this 452460 mold drops them .454,by the way.

[9.3X62AL]

Mainiac--

You got pretty lucky with your Bishawk......the reamer used on your cylinder was newer than the one they used on mine. Grooves were (and are) .452", while throats were .449"--NOT GOOD. Throats were reamed to .4525" thanks to the reamer loaned by a member here and a little guidance and cutting oil donated by Buckshot. The wheeler is a lot better shooter now.

[DanWalker]

My blackhawk loves red dot, and so does my win 94 trapper. I load 6.5 grains under either a 300 gr LEE bullet or the LEE 255rf. Both shoot great from my guns. Might have to try to work up to a 7 grain load.

[Blackwater]

Mainiac, don't know what kind of precedent this sets, but a buddy's New Vaquero in .45 LC shot 200 gr RNFP's from Oregon Trail like it had eyes using 6.5-6.7 gr. Red Dot. More than 6.7 gr. opened groups a bit, but was still accurate. Just for an experiment, you may want to try the 6.5 and 6.7 gr. loads too? Might be interesting. BTW, his cylinder throats ran .452" and the bore .451". FWIW?

[9.3X62AL]

Blackwater--

Your buddy's New Vaquero sounds like Ruger is getting it right in 45 Colt--finally.

I gotta try these 200 grainers with the Red Dot. They'll be nice light loads, and if they do good things on paper they would make a fine "rat & jack" round. Any chronography or guesses about the velocity from the 6.5 grain load?

[Blackwater]

All, can't remember, but IIRC, it was something in the 900 fps category. Good, light load. Easy on the ears, and you can shoot all day in total comfort. He ran out of WLP primers and tried some CCI's, and his group size halved! He replaced the factory sight with a Lyman Shorty ramp, the little shortest one, and a white bead sight, and the sight picture's just dandy!

Maybe they're using new reamers for the NV's? I dunno. His may or may not be typical. His was a very low serial number, so was an early one. The gun handles like a dream with that new grip frame and grips - MUCH more nearly like a Colt. Very nimble in the hands, and noticably better balanced than the larger full size Vaqueros, IMO. Just a real dandy of a 'totin' gun.'

He's gotten quite a few 1" groups for 6 rds. with those CCI's and Red Dot. Would be curious to see what results others get with this load. I've about talked myself into getting the .357 with the adj. sights instead. Will weigh a tad more, and not balance quite the same, but I really need another .357 now that I sold my last one. DID pick up a really neat and tight old pre WWII Colt Police Positive, though. Ought to make a neat "river gun" with some cast boolits. Even got a set of imitation stag Jay Scott (remember those?) grips with it. Maybe with a Tyler T-Grip added, it'll be a looker AND a shooter??? Gott'a give 'er a go and see if she speaks as nice as she looks, first. Tight barrel/cylinder gap, locks up tight as a million dollar bank safe - a real pawn shop pearl! If she's well behaved, may not even need a .357. I just love those neat, compact, short, light, handy lil' PPS's!

[Buckshot]

..............I'd bought a stainless Ruger Vaquero in 45 Colt, 7.5" bbl several years ago. Not my fault though, as a shooting buddy forced me into it. But anyway, I think the only 45 cal peestol boolits I had immediately on hand was the Lee 452-190 SWC's. The powder was probably Red Dot. I have the "Book of the 45" (why I don't know ) authored by Dean Grennell who is my favorite gunwriter.

In one particular part he mentioned that Wiley Clapp had suggested he substitutte Red Dot for whatever it was he'd been using, as it burned cleaner. Dean liked it so that was good enough for me. I don't recall what the load was and I can't check, being here at work at the moment but the pistol really did well. Oh it had some issues like shooting about 6" left and way low, but it grouped them very well.

I thought, "Hot Damn" if it'd shoot those short squatty boolits like that, it orta be match quality with a REAL 45 Colt boolit like the Lee 453-255RF. So I order up a 6 cavity in that design and drained the pot of ww type alloy casting up a pile of'em. BTW, the Vaquero has .451" chamber mouths and a .451" groove. I loaded up 200 rounds using Bullseye, W231, Red Dot, and Unique.

Lemme tall'ya, THAT was a waste of 200 primers and about 2000 grains of powder, as it didn't shoot anywhere near as good as the 190gr SWC's did. I still hold out hope that if I cast up some softer 255's it might do better. Much better would be great, but I'll settle for better :D.

..............Buckshot

[Bret4207]

I've just gotten into 45's in the past few years. Like most, I had high hopes for big, heavy boolits. Hasn't worked out that way yet. So far my best loads in a '17 Smith and Blackhawk Convertable have been with a 200 gr wadcutter type out of an H+G mould. I didn't even cast them. The BD45 shows promise and I have hopes for the group buy 452423. Time, I need more time.