What 45 LC bullet weight?

[MrKSB]

Hey y’all-

Snagged a 16” 45LC lever gun for deer this fall.

Gonna load Blackthorn powder, because it’s easy to get locally.

What weight bullet do y’all suggest? 230, 255 or some other grain weight?

I’m leaning towards the 230 grn.

Shots will be 100 or less yards.

Thanks!

[Mk42gunner]

Welcome aboard.

I tend to stick with the traditional 250-255 grain boolit for the .45 Colt. Whitetail deer aren't all that tough, no matter what the magnum fans will tell you.

In my opinion if you need more than that, you need to go to a real rifle caliber.

Robert

[MrKSB]

Thanks for the welcome and the info.

After some more research, I’m looking at the 252grn SWC.

[murf205]

I'm in the same boat with Robert and the 250-255 gr boolits. If you have or get later, a fixed sight 45 Colt, they tend to shoot to the sights a lot easier with that range of boolit weights. If you stuff one of those in the right spot on a deer, all you will need is a sharp knife afterwards. Welcome to the site.

[farmbif]

the mp 454640 is the only mold I need for my old Rossi 92 lubesized at .454 with 20 or 21 grains of 4227.
you might find that quite often semi wadcutters dont feed though a lever gun very well

[Land Owner]

If the SWC doesn't feed, give the 255 gr., Truncated Round Nose, Lyman #454190 boolit a try. It is my Go To for both a 7.5" barrel Ruger Blackhawk and an H&R Buffalo Classic Handi-rifle. I know that my rifle has not been used on buffalo. The Ruger though shot that boolit, off hand, through and through a 145# feral hog broadside, from 21 yards, on a stalk and see hunt. DRT. I was amazed and fixated at the spray of the boolit's impact in a small water body beyond the sow, only to miss a chance for the larger boar that had been obscured as it stood behind some brush and lit out at the shot. Oh well. There is no "end of line" with feral hogs...but there is a great amount of trigger time.

[pworley1]

+1 on what Land Owner said.

[sharps4590]

250-255, hands down. I have an RCBS, KTSWC and a Lee 255452 or 452255, whichever it is and, both come out around 265 from basically wheelweight, the OLD, REAL wheelweights, from the 70's. Ain't had anything walk or run away from them yet.

[HATCH]

You don’t want cycle issues so 250-255 grain

[Jeff Michel]

Depends a lot on who made your rifle. Marlins eat pretty much everything, Rossi and Winchester '92, can be picky as to OAL. In the latter, I use the Lee 255 grain RNFP and 8.5 grains of Unique and they work like a charm on deer.

[MrKSB]

That’s the mold that I bought!

[1Papalote]

My cowboy likes the Lee255. Bisley doesn't. Both like the RD454300TL plain base.

[gwpercle]

Thanks for the welcome and the info.

After some more research, I’m looking at the 252grn SWC.

LIKE !
Use load data for 250 gr. Boolit , you will do just fine .
Still plan on using Blackthorn Powder ... Western Powders makes one called Blackhorn that would probably work too . There is loading data in their Handloading Guide edition 7.0

Gary

[pdgoutdoors]

My MP 454640 drops around 262gn with the Penta HP installed and shoots great out of my Marlin and SAA Clone.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I use a MP CLT CARB using hollow point it is around 266 or so grains about the same as the lee mold 255rnfp casts with my alloy , advantage in a 73 rifle to the lee as its crimp is easy to be right for length the MP has to be seated and crimped right at top of crimp groove as in the 73 rifle it will be a hair to long otherwise , I do use the lee 255rnfp a lot though and am using both those bullets in 73 rifles and 73 pistols along with 92 rifles .

[Land Owner]

Nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a solid rest, a 45LC projectile within its deadly-impact velocity, and a well-placed shot no matter which profile is shot. Practice, practice, practice. KNOW where your boolit(s) impacts. The first round should always be enough. Load lead-alloy rounds to higher velocity if the firearm will handle it. Aim small - miss small and collect the game DRT. This knowledge is from decades of feral hog killing (in the hundreds) where adjacent land is too thick to crawl on hands and knees looking for wounded animals, making it imperative, that when seen, to drop them in their tracks. As you get older, you will thank yourself for the practice hours you spent developing confidence in your reloads, your alloy, your equipment and its accuracy, imparting a confidence that where you aim is where that boolit is going. Good luck.

[hawkeye1]

I shoot a lot of 200 gr RNFP from a six cavity Lee mold. That’s our daily go to bullet. For hunting I use the 255 SWC. Works every time. My son and I have taken several deer with that bullet.

[Froogal]

Cowboy action shooting, my Rossi R92 likes 200 grain RNFP over 8.5 grains of Unique. Bullets are seated to the crimp groove. NO problems with feeding or cycling and NO problems hitting targets at 80+ yards.

[foesgth]

Good advice in all the above posts. But, most of these guys seem to be shooting smokeless. Most of the boolits they have mentioned won't carry enough lube for BP. I shoot BP and with a rifle and 40 grains of BP the 45 colt rocks. You might want to take a look at the NOE 454-241-RF. It is a big lube groove mold and you can get it in hollow point. I use it in my rifle and SAA.

[Froogal]

Good advice in all the above posts. But, most of these guys seem to be shooting smokeless. Most of the boolits they have mentioned won't carry enough lube for BP. I shoot BP and with a rifle and 40 grains of BP the 45 colt rocks. You might want to take a look at the NOE 454-241-RF. It is a big lube groove mold and you can get it in hollow point. I use it in my rifle and SAA.

You are correct about those 200 grain bullets not carrying enough lube for black powder. I HAVE tried it. Lucky to get 10 rounds off before fouling the bore.

[Kosh75287]

I've tried a number of different bullet configurations through my .45 Colt Carbine (which will not reliably feed LSWCs), and I keep coming back to the Lee 452-255-RF projectile. I prefer it when PCd, but even if conventionally lubed, it is a solid performer. It feeds well, shoots nice tight groups, develops high (for .45 Colt) velocities when I use Ruger/TC-only loads, and smacks targets HARD, when it connects. The only other projectile that even gets close (in my carbine) is the Lee 452-230-TC.
I'm not sure what velocities a factory 240 gr. JHP obtains from a .44 Magnum carbine, but I would wager that my handloads are "in the same neighborhood" with either projectile. BTW, I get best accuracy with Hercules/Alliant 2400. I get slightly less, but still quite acceptable accuracy and higher velocities with either of the 4227s. I'm not a fan of H110/W296 in anything except .30 Carbine (for which it was originally developed) and avoid its use whenever possible.
I think LAND OWNER is on to something about the .45 Colt. Properly loaded, I think there is very little in north America that cannot be quickly downed by a heavy (240 gr. and up) flat-point cast .45 Colt projectile out to 100 yards. I don't think I'd try tackling the largest bears (Grizzly, Kodiak, Polar) with a hot .45 Colt, but that's about the only exception that I can think of.

[Bud Hartrampf]

yep, I use a switch for Grizzy...well, that and 385gr HC in a 45 Colt Ruger..lol

[Stalrev]

i am using the NOE 454-307-A6 at shallow hollow point, about 287gr at that setting, powder coated, starline brass, and tite group or AC5 loaded at the pistol specs. been having good luck with it so far.

[kaiser]

+1 .45 Colt user that favors the Lee 252- 255gr bullet (unsized) in a 1873 carbine and 1873 pistol. The rifle, with a 20" BBL, is loaded to 1350fps; which is about 400fps more velocity than what I get out of the pistol. It smacks deer hard at reasonable ranges before gravity messes up the trajectory. My "hardness" tester (Lee) tells me my "water quenched" bullets are about a 12 BHN. I haven't recovered one, as of yet. (Shooting pigs in their shoulder area would be the real penetration test for that lead composition.) IMO!)

[Stalrev]

with what i listed it will bust a hogs shoulder but doesnt get in far enough, letting the hog run off to far to track. then again i smacked one with the truck at 60 and that hog ran another 100 yards before she went down, although she stopped a full size Chevy lol.

[Baltimoreed]

I loaded some 300 gr rnfp once to mess around with. I don’t remember how they shot.

[Land Owner]

Shoot hogs in the "X" between ears and eyes for a DRT experience.