45 Colt Hunting Boolits

[shell70634]

I loaded up some 45 Colt ammo this morning for deer hunting this fall. The load was 8.4 grains Unique, WLP primer, new RP brass. The left boolit is a 250 grain PB HP, the center is the same boolit without HP at 255 grain, and the right is a 270 grain FNPB. 3 round average velocities were 1215 for 250 gr, 1183 for 255 gr, and 1167 for the 270 gr. All fired in Rossi 92 rifle. Not alot of difference between 255 and 270.
286866
I'm planning on trying to get the 270 up to 1300 or so with the Unique. Does anyone hunt with the 270? And at what velocities? Maximum distance will be 130 yards.
The HP's would probably not work well on deer and I loaded them just because I had a bunch.

[CastingFool]

I ve used the lee 455-255 rf behind unique, on deer. For some odd reason, I didn't get pass through, but it worked. My processor found the slug and saved it for me

[Walks]

8.4grs Unique ? 270gr bullet?
And you're getting over 1150fps ?
Ya gotta be shooting this in a rifle.

[farmbif]

my rossi 92 is shooting great with clww boolits out of mp 454360 20 grains of 4227 with wlp primer lube sized to .454

[black mamba]

The 270 WFN would be my choice, but I'd put a little heavier crimp on those rounds. 9.6 gr of Unique should give about 1275' @ 22 kpsi. How strong is the Rossi 92, can it handle tier II 45 Colt loads?

[USSR]

How strong is the Rossi 92, can it handle tier II 45 Colt loads?

It's a VERY strong design based on the Winchester 1892 - one of John Browning's best. It will take Ruger-only loads without batting an eye.

Don

[shell70634]

There is a crimp just not much. I did push one hard on the bench and it didn't move. Pics don't show it much. I thought I had some data from Taffin but can't seem to find it in my notebooks. Time for google search.

[black mamba]

Thanks, Don, I thought the Rossi was pretty strong. Cast bullets seem to have the best penetration at around 1250 striking velocity, combining maximum depth and straightness. Slower and they lose depth due to lack of momentum, and faster causes bullet deformation which can both slow them down and make them veer off course. This is why a lot of experienced handgun hunters keep muzzle velocities around 1300 fps with cast bullets. For bigger game where you want all the power you can get, then mono-metal flat nosed bullets can be driven much faster without deforming.

[shell70634]

Loaded 5 rnds with the 270 gr over 9.7 unique for an average of 1285 fps. That was my largest star powder bushing. This evening when it's cooler I'll make a bushing to to throw 10 grains to see what it gets to.

[Wheelguns 1961]

I never had much luck with anything over 9.5 grains of unique in 45 colt. When I want tier 2 loads, I use 18.0-18.5 grains of 2400. I use a noe 280 wfn over 18.0 grains of 2400 for my hunting load.

[USSR]

When I want tier 2 loads, I use 18.0-18.5 grains of 2400.

Ditto.

Don

[ddixie884]

I never had much luck with anything over 9.5 grains of unique in 45 colt. When I want tier 2 loads, I use 18.0-18.5 grains of 2400. I use a noe 280 wfn over 18.0 grains of 2400 for my hunting load.

Me too. It works in .44 Magnum too with 240 to 260gr swc........

[Outpost75]

I've never seen any need to use Tier 2 "Ruger Only" loads in the .45 Colt for either rifle or revolver. The 260-290 grain ogival flatnosed bullets having a meplat of 0.6 of the bullet diameter or larger are effective on game and give complete through and through penetration. No expansion is needed or desired. Cast lead HP bullets often fragment, cause excessive meat damage and fail to give adequate penetration on animals larger than white tails. I use 7.2 grains of Bullseye with any bullet from 230 to 300 grains.

[oldblinddog]

I've never seen any need to use Tier 2 "Ruger Only" loads in the .45 Colt for either rifle or revolver. The 260-290 grain ogival flatnosed bullets having a meplat of 0.6 of the bullet diameter or larger are effective on game and give complete through and through penetration. No expansion is needed or desired. Cast lead HP bullets often fragment, cause excessive meat damage and fail to give adequate penetration on animals larger than white tails. I use 7.2 grains of Bullseye with any bullet from 230 to 300 grains.

This ^^^^

[shell70634]

Stuck on Unique powder because I have 16 pounds of unique, 1 pound of 2400. I think I'll leave it at 9.6. Spent all afternoon and evening putting a new AC unit in the reloading room. 1285 should be just fine. I will see how they shoot in the 460 smith tomorrow.

[cwlongshot]

I agree with Ed. Your FINE!! Esp inside 100ish!!

Truck loads have fallen to Mine give me the confidence to know its solid fact.

Find a accurate load 1000+ a bit and forget about needing more.

CW

[USSR]

I've never seen any need to use Tier 2 "Ruger Only" loads in the .45 Colt for either rifle or revolver. The 260-290 grain ogival flatnosed bullets having a meplat of 0.6 of the bullet diameter or larger are effective on game and give complete through and through penetration. No expansion is needed or desired. Cast lead HP bullets often fragment, cause excessive meat damage and fail to give adequate penetration on animals larger than white tails. I use 7.2 grains of Bullseye with any bullet from 230 to 300 grains.

Ed,

Tier 2 are not "Ruger Only" loads - that would be Tier 3. Tier 2 simply takes the psi up from 14k to a little over 20k. Guns that are capable of and benefit by Tier 2 loads are the Smith & Wesson N Frames and the Ruger New Vaquero. With my S&W 25-5, 18.0gr of 2400 behind a 265gr SWCHP gets me about 1050fps - 1100fps and has killed several deer. Never recovered a bullet from them and puts them down with authority without excessive meat damage.

Don

[Outpost75]

Ed,

Tier 2 are not "Ruger Only" loads - that would be Tier 3. Tier 2 simply takes the psi up from 14k to a little over 20k. Guns that are capable of and benefit by Tier 2 loads are the Smith & Wesson N Frames and the Ruger New Vaquero. With my S&W 25-5, 18.0gr of 2400 behind a 265gr SWCHP gets me about 1050fps - 1100fps and has killed several deer. Never recovered a bullet from them and puts them down with authority without excessive meat damage.

Don

Don,

The clarification is very much appreciated. You are correct, of course.

[Wayne Dobbs]

Ed,

Tier 2 are not "Ruger Only" loads - that would be Tier 3. Tier 2 simply takes the psi up from 14k to a little over 20k. Guns that are capable of and benefit by Tier 2 loads are the Smith & Wesson N Frames and the Ruger New Vaquero. With my S&W 25-5, 18.0gr of 2400 behind a 265gr SWCHP gets me about 1050fps - 1100fps and has killed several deer. Never recovered a bullet from them and puts them down with authority without excessive meat damage.

Don

I've killed a bunch of deer with .45 AR from a S&W 625 .45 ACP Mountain Gun using 255 Keith SWCs over 6.5 Unique at about 875 fps. Shoots all the way through, kills very well and isn't hard on the gun. I realize folks like more velocity, but in this case I don't think there's a need.

[downzero]

I would recommend the hollow point. I'm going to be hunting this year with my .357 Magnum Rossi R92. I will be using a 158 grain LSWCHP over a healthy dose of H-110.

Were I in your shoes, I would be loading that hollow point bullet over 23-24 grains of H-110. And no, those of you out there who load .45 Colt for an SAA or similar, please don't load or shoot that load anywhere near those guns.

[cwlongshot]

I would recommend the hollow point. I'm going to be hunting this year with my .357 Magnum Rossi R92. I will be using a 158 grain LSWCHP over a healthy dose of H-110.

Were I in your shoes, I would be loading that hollow point bullet over 23-24 grains of H-110. And no, those of you out there who load .45 Colt for an SAA or similar, please don't load or shoot that load anywhere near those guns.


IMHO, your gonna want a SP or is cast a shallow HP. I have first ha d seen and been the sorry bastid who had to chase and track critters shot with the 357 mag and HP of any weight san maybe the 180 XTP.

A 158/160 sp or my fav jacketed the Hornady 158 XTP FP Bullet. Push that to near 1900 with no worries.

With the HP you can get lightning kills and horrendous shallow wounds. ESP in a rifle where velocity is up. Lungs with only ribs hit you will likely be fine. But hit that shoulder or spine you may be introuble. Been there dont that!

Good luck

CW

[downzero]

IMHO, your gonna want a SP or is cast a shallow HP. I have first ha d seen and been the sorry bastid who had to chase and track critters shot with the 357 mag and HP of any weight san maybe the 180 XTP.

A 158/160 sp or my fav jacketed the Hornady 158 XTP FP Bullet. Push that to near 1900 with no worries.

With the HP you can get lightning kills and horrendous shallow wounds. ESP in a rifle where velocity is up. Lungs with only ribs hit you will likely be fine. But hit that shoulder or spine you may be introuble. Been there dont that!

Good luck

CW

The deer here out west are small. They are hardly bigger than dogs. It's not like where I'm from in the midwest where they're as big as horses.

[cwlongshot]

Well yes that makes a difference. Our deer are pretty big. Does are 120+ and our bucks can easily pass 200. (Most 180 ish)

So a FLA swamp deer is allot smaller.

CW

[Kosh75287]

Going very much over 9.5/Unique/250 tends to be hard on the firearm and doesn't gain a great deal in terms of velocity (at least not in MY 2 firearms). 10.0-10.5/Herco/250 will sometimes bump velocities noticeably higher, depending on the firearm and projectile of interest.

[AlaskaMike]

I agree with those who say you don't need to drive the RNFP bullets to magnum velocities in your Rossi 92. That said, the Rossi has a fairly slow twist. The three that I have in .357 mag, .44 mag, and .454 Casull all are more accurate with loads over 1400 fps or so (depends on the bullet of course). It also depends on the individual rifle--over the years the Rossi 92s have gone through a lot of iterations and variations with subtle differences.

If your 9.6 grain/Unique load is accurate enough for your needs out of the Rossi, then by all means stick with it. You might try working up to 10 grains and see if it's any more accurate out at 100 yds. It certainly won't hurt the rifle any. We're not talking about a SAA or clone here.