.45 Colt “medium spicy” loads?

[hondamikek]

Hey there, so I’m still pretty new to the brass reloading but I’ve done a couple batches of .45 Colt on regular plinking style and up to “bear loads”. What I’m looking for is something in the middle, but I heard some powders don’t like to be loaded on the light side. Wondering if anyone can shed some light for me. The projectiles I have at hand are 200gr, 230gr, 255gr. The powders I have are: Red/Blue/Green Dot, Unique, Win 296, Win 572, Lil Gun, H-110 and Hodg Universal. Looking for something more stout than a regular Red Dot load but not quite as spicy as a H-110/296 load. Cheers!

[Thumbcocker]

255 8.5 of Unique in a modern gun in good condition.

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[Kosh75287]

Alliant Powders lists 9.5/Unique/255 gr. LSWC as a max load, AND it's not half bad. I've read and been told that one may venture upward to 10.0/Unique/255 gr. LSWC, but I find that a lot TOO "spicey". Others who've tried it report that the load makes their cases stick.

[DougGuy]

What gun? That would tell us a LOT.

Meanwhile you can google for Brian Pearce Tier II loads and see how many hits you get, he has 3 charts for 3 different power levels, you will find some of your mid level 45 Colt loads there.

[ryanmattes]

Unique, around 8gr +/- 0.5 with a 255gr bullet is about where my old Vaquero likes them.

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[littlejack]

Unique or Bluedot would be your best powders for what you're looking for. With the BD, you would want to load to the upper end loads. BD burns more efficiently and cleaner with close to max loads. 8.5 grains of Unique is pretty much a universal load in the 45 Colt cartridge. My go to load is 9 grains of Alliant Herco. Which revolver are you going to shoot your loads in?

[Bakebfr480]

If you’re using a Ruger Blackhawk you can hot rod them quite a bit! Since you don’t state what gun you’re using I wouldn’t use more than 8.5 grains of Unique with any projectile!

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I found 20 grs IMR 4227 under a 255 to be very accurate in several 45 Colt revolvers.

[John Boy]

Pick one … https://stevespages.com/451p_3.html
Plus add horse radish to your lube … and let us know which recipe you picked

[Outpost75]

Full charge load I use in the Colt New Service and Pietta clones of Colt SAA is 7 to 7.5 grains of Bullseye with any cast lead bullet from 230-290 grains. Thanks to Larry Gibson for the pressure test data shown below:

295171295172295174

Revolver velocity about 100-150 fps lower than the 10-inch Contender, depending upon barrel-cylinder gap.

The 290-grain bullet load gives 855 fps from my 4-5/8" Ruger Blackhawk with cylinder gap 0.006"

[Baltimoreed]

5.2 gr of Clays or Clay Dot with a 250 gr rnfp or 255 gr swc work in a 45colt or a 45 Schofield make a warm cas rifle load to me. The shorter case feels a tad warmer. I use the same load but drop to a 180 or 200 gr bullet in my revolvers.

[megasupermagnum]

Bluedot is where I would start. It's a great powder for the caliber.

[Baltimoreed]

Is Bluedot not temperature sensitive anymore? Or just not in rifle/pistol loads?

[gwpercle]

Factory Equivilent Load - 250 to 255 gr. cast boolit (RF or SWC)
8.5 grs. Unique @ 900 fps ...

7.5 grs. Unique @ 850 fps is my favorite pet load with the 250gr-255 gr. cast SWC ... and the same powder charge does nicely with 200 gr and 230 gr. cast boolits . Very accurate and not punishing to revolver or shooter .

These are standard pressure loads .

Gary

[Castaway]

I had to reread the original post. Of the powders on hand, there was no 4227, Clays, Clay Dot, Bullseye or Herco. Given the powders available, my vote is for Unique right around the 8 grain level. For what it’s worth, the 1.09 Lee disc drops 7.9 grains of Unique, my most accurate load for a 255 grain cast bullet in a Black Hawk or Model 92

[badguybuster]

https://leverguns.com/articles/paco/45coltlevergun.htm

Look at the bottom

[paul edward]

It would help to know what gun you are loading for and your intended target.

My standard 45 Colt load uses 8 grains of Unique with a cast 255 RFN. Works well on tin cans, plastic milk jugs, cardboard boxes and paper targets.

[megasupermagnum]

Is Bluedot not temperature sensitive anymore? Or just not in rifle/pistol loads?

Same as any other older powder. About the same as Unique or H110 as far as velocity loss.

[rintinglen]

Assuming a 250-ish cast SWC, 8.0 grns. Green Dot or W-572, 8.5 Unique, or Universal: all of these are "peppy" and not for grand dad's old SAA, but they are fine for modern New Model Vaqueros and the like.

Personally, I found that Green Dot was something of a sleeper in this caliber, though I only had about a quarter pound of it. It worked very well with a 452-424 in my Ruger.

[hondamikek]

Thanks for the replies! It’s going thru a Henry Big Boy lever gun.

[littlejack]

In that rifle, to get medium heavy loads, you would do well using 9 grains of Unique. With the BD, you could use 1 to 1.5 grains below the recommended max. With the H-110/296 powder, drop back a couple grains below max. Do not drop below the recommended starting load with the H-110/296.

[Jack Stanley]

255 8.5 of Unique in a modern gun in good condition.

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I've used that load quite a bit , just the right amount of spice .

Jack

[RayF]

My father is 86 and wanted a woods carry load for his original Vaquero. I came up with this:

- 255gr Missouri LSWC (BHN 18)
- 7.8gr of Ramshot True Blue
- Starline brass
- Winchester Large Pistol primers

I haven’t had a chance to chrono it yet, but Ramshot claims 852fps out of a 7.5” barrel. Holes touching at 25ft with plow handles. Its the base load, so there's plenty of room to spice it up. What I like about the Ramshot line of powders is they burn relatively clean. My experiences with Blue Dot and 4227 revealed 1-2 kernels of unburned powder if not pushed hard enough or the projo is too light.

[Crow_Eater]

I found 20 grs IMR 4227 under a 255 to be very accurate in several 45 Colt revolvers.

IMR (DuPont) used to recommend 17.7 gr of IMR-4227 as a top load with 250 gr bullets. Hodgdon said 20.0 gr with the same bullet. I had good results with 18.5 gr under a 255 LSWC with a CCI or FC large magnum primer. It wasn't a "Ruger load" but fairly stout in my Model 25-5.