New Ruger Blackhawk convertable and deer loads

[wendyj]

I picked this up today in 45 colt, 45acp. Four and 1/2 inch barrel. I'm not going to shoot any full house loads through it but thought I'd like to carry for something in 25 yard range with my rifle of course. I'm casting a Noe mold that's been sized to .454. After slugging this barrel I'm finding I'm running my bullets through a Lee 452 sizer and lubing on Lyman 454 lube sizer. Seems to be lubing ok. Bullets average 260 to 261 grains using wheel weights water quenched. Was what my rifle liked but it's gone now. Wonder if I should order another mold or just size these twice and go for it. .452 is .002 over my slug through the barrel. Was wondering what velocity to keep good ethical kills. I'm thinking 800-900 fps. I could be wrong. Going to use either Unique or HS6.

[Wheelguns 1961]

8 1/2gn of unique will probably get you 900-925 in that gun. My bullets run around 260 and this is my deer load. I am shooting it in a blackhawk bisley with 7 1/2” barrel. My bullet is a swc. In my gun it is not punishing but is very accurate. Don’t forget to check your throats. Nice gun! I wouldn’t water quench. Acww should be more than hard enough.

[tsubaki]

8.0gr of Unique did 700fps in my 2 1/2" barrel and 1064fps in my 24" barrel with a 452-255-RF (262gr actual), but they were powder coated.

[Wheelguns 1961]

Mine were also powder coated.

[wendyj]

I lubed mine with carnuba blue

[Wolfer]

8-1/2 gr of unique runs in the neighborhood of 950 with several different 255 ish boolits. My deer load at the time is the NOE 454-255- RF with the small HP in. These mushroom very well cast of 50/50 AC. Penetration is quite good with a very raking shot required to recover a boolit. We've recovered 3 so far that all looked exactly alike.
Me and two of my hunting buddies all have 7-1/2" barrels.
While this HP boolit leaves a little better blood trail than solids it doesn't seem to put them down any faster. 30 yds is very common with every 45 cal boolit Ive used with 75 yds being the longest so far. I'm very careful with my shots. I only take shots that are half of the distance I can keep all my shots on a paper plate.
Ive lost track of how many deer Ive killed with the 45 colt but it's enough that Ive formed some opinions. If you put a 45 cal hole in BOTH lungs it really doesn't matter what style or how fast it was going.

[quilbilly]

I traded for one of those 4-1/2" bbl convertible 45/45ACP Blackhawks a year ago and really like it. The 45 ACP cylinder tends to shave a lot of lead on the barrel but the 45 LC is great and very accurate. You certainly don't need heavy loads if your ranges are under 40 yards. An MV of 850 is more than adequate for deer and can easily be achieved by a variety of powders (Bullseye, Unique, AA-7, and even AA-9 etc). I will be using mine occasionally for deer in the next couple weeks from a ground blind where the maximum range will be 35 yards.

[wl620]

You more than likely have some thread choke where the barrel screws into the frame if your slug measures .450. and will probably have some leading problems due to that tight spot. I usually lap this out with clover brand lapping compound it takes some time but is worth it in the end. You should slug your cylinder throats also and have them evened up if they are not. in the meantime if you want to go hunting with it you are going to need to use abit softer boolit and kick it in the rear end pretty good so it will obturate to fill the bore once it gets past the choke I’ve found a good soft lube will help also 9 grs unique should get you there.but accuracy will be much improved when all the tight spots are worked out.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Wendyj,

I believe I'd try your bullets as sized before going to the effort to re-size.

Thread choke - a possibility and although time consuming, not that hard to lap out.

I've used the LBT (Lead Bullet Technology) for the lapping I've done, but I believe there are some lapping kits that would likely save time and mess.

Have never checked my RedHawk .44, but I did go that direction with a Super BlackHawk .44 years back.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[reloader28]

John Linebaugh swears by 13gr HS-6 from 250gr to 300gr and it will run around 1050fps. Says on average its the most accurate load and this man has shot ALOT of 45 Colt. I've tried it and thats right where it runs for speed and accuracy is very good to. Now I have a big jug of HS-6 in the reloading room. Pressures are good too. I aint checked that but he says its around 18,000

[wendyj]

HS 6 is what I ran in the Henry. Really nice loads and cleaner than Unique. Just happened to be out when I loaded these. I'm at a stopping point pretty much until I can get cylinders reamed out to match bullet size for the bore. They are undersized. Good old Ruger. Shot ok today but I'm betting with work it can do better than I can shoot it.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Hurry up Wendy, we are waiting!

CDOC

[wendyj]

I'm trying. Due to working all the time I can't find enough time in the loading room to get more than 50-60 rounds at a time. Lol. I had bought a Turret press to speed that up but I'm powder scared so I'm usually waiting on Chargemaster to drop while I'm patiently waiting to pour in and seat a bullet. Kind of kidding but Unique doesn't meter real well for me with Auto drum. Trying to keep charges consistent.