Opinions needed for cast in 45 Colt

[Alan in Vermont]

My son-in law has been given Uberti clone of the 1873 Colt single action in 45 Colt caliber.

We have dies coming and I'm going to get a mold appropriate for the caliber. It will be a Lee DC either 452-252-SWC or 452-255 RF. I'm paying for the mold, since I figure it will probably never see over 100 rds. a year a 2-cav will be adequate.

The gun is not my idea of ideal, fit & finish is good to excellent. Real pretty, brass grip frame & nice color case on the gun frame, excellent blue on the barrel. A bit lacking in some areas, I took the cylinder out so I could look at the bore and it took five minutes to(finally) get the base pin back in, expect he will come to love that if he ever takes the cylinder out. Fixed sights which shoot patterns 10-12 inches low at 25 yds. and don't get any help from the trigger pull, which varies from just over 3# to almost 6#.

I was able to cobble up some shootable loads by honing out a 45 acp steel sizer and loading Lee 230gr TC bullets(452"), over 9grs Unique, Whichever boolit I settle on is going to be heavier than the 230s. I have never had to adjust loads to shoot to the sights since I have never had a gun without adjustable sights so any suggestions for loading to-the-sights would be greatly appreciated

[DougGuy]

Most of those are sighted for boolits in the 255gr range AND a velocity of 850fps which you have to figure the dwell time in there as well, 255gr boolit over 8.5 ~ 9.0gr Unique should have it pretty close.

Lighter boolits will leave the barrel much earlier than heavy boolits, this all happens while the gun is pivoting upwards in recoil, so you can see how a heavier, slower boolit will give the barrel more time to arc upwards, releasing the boolit at a higher degree of rotation causing it to fly to a higher point of impact on the target. Whew hope I said that right....

I have great luck with my avatar gun shooting the well received 454190 boolit over 9.0gr Herco, recommended alloy would be 50/50+2% with soft lube. If you can scratch the boolit with a thumbnail, and coupled with soft lube it will work great, likely won't have to clean the barrel, I never have to clean mine.

Whatever boolit design you settle on, see if they will go in the cylinder throats from the front. This is always a good place to start with a new revolver.

[ryanmattes]

Slug the barrel.

In a lot of those .45 colts a .452 bullet will be too small to seal properly, and you'll get leading.

My absolute favorite profile for .45 Colt is the Keith 454424 255g SWC with the square lube grooves, and I size to .454 in my Ruger Vaquero. I'm currently using an NOE brass replica because they want a pretty penny for the old ideal molds.

They shoot great lubed or coated.

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[DougGuy]

Slug the barrel.

In a lot of those .45 colts a .452 bullet will be too small to seal properly, and you'll get leading.

The Uberti barrels are right at .451"


I size to .454 in my Ruger Vaquero.

Regardless of what you size to when you assemble loads, the boolit will exit the front of the cylinder at throat diameter if the throat is smaller than the boolit. All it does when shooting a .454" boolit through a smaller throat is raise pressure.

[Froogal]

I get along just fine with a .452 200 grain round nose flat point. Revolver and rifle.

[Larry Gibson]

I get along just fine with a .452 200 grain round nose flat point. Revolver and rifle.

Me too, in both my Uberti SAs and M73 Carbine.

I use the Lee 452-200-RF cast of 20-1 or whatever left over alloy is around, sized in a .454 H&I (basically "as cast") and lubed with BAC or 50/50 lube loaded over 7.5 gr Bullseye for 1230 fps out of the Carbine and 950 out of the SAs. Excellent accuracy once I regulated the sights to that load, fun to shoot, plenty of power.

[Larry Gibson]

I get along just fine with a .452 200 grain round nose flat point. Revolver and rifle.

Me too, in both my Uberti SAs and M73 Carbine.

I use the Lee 452-200-RF cast of 20-1 or whatever left over alloy is around, sized in a .454 H&I (basically "as cast") and lubed with BAC or 50/50 lube loaded over 7.5 gr Bullseye for 1230 fps out of the Carbine and 950 out of the SAs. Excellent accuracy once I regulated the sights to that load, fun to shoot, plenty of power. Measured psi runs right at 14,000 which is very close to what the original BP load does.

[Harter66]

I shot both the 452-252 and the 452-255 . My in use lot of Unique needs only 8.0-8.5 to deliver "full power Colts" results in a 7.5" RBH .

I won't go into the gory details but the one bullet for Colts solution is good to go with either in a pistol . Check the twist in a carbine if it's less than 1-24 like the 1-32" Rossi M92 you will have wasted the 452-252 . If it's faster than that spring for any 454424 and never have any regrets .

For Lee alone , just get the RNFP . Be aware my first -255 poured 50/50 at .454-265 gr . The second a 6c casts at .454-263.

[Alferd Packer]

The 255 grainer is the most effective for hunting and dispatching an animal.
Lesser weights such as the 230 grain, 200,185, and even the 160 grain are perfect for plinking or shooting holes in paper and also make your lead supply last longer if you cast your own.
Reloaders have the most control and access to manage your fun and your budget.
I have loaded and shot them all.
If you only shoot enough to maintain proficiency, then by all means shoot the factory 255 grain weight and you will be satisfied.
If the recoil is too much, then try the lighter weight bullets.
They will probably require an adjustment in sighting but it's all just part of the sport of shooting.

[Baltimoreed]

I run about 5.0 gr of Clays with a 250-255 gr rnfp or swc in my rifles and 200 gr rnfp in my revolvers. Can’t go wrong with the 45colt.

Sorry Dusty, missed the jist of the op’s post. To the op, do a ladder of loads, powders and as many different weight bullets that you can borrow from fellow shooters. You will probably wind up with some amount of Kentucky windage. Hopefully just in one direction. My vaqueros are minute of sass marshal. Good enough.

[Messy bear]

The op asked for help with poi. As one said heavier is better. I would suspect maybe the 255’s aren’t enough either. In fact with it shooting that low at 25 a 280 or heavier slug might be needed. I’m sure someone would send a few 280 rcbs saa to try.
Heavier and slower will help

[Dusty Bannister]

As far as I can see, no one has asked about the POA by the OP. This is not a target pistol so is probably regulated for a dead on hold, not a 6:00 hold. I only see where the OP selected a load of 9 grains of Unique with a 230 grain bullet. He may consider loading a series of loads starting with the recommended 7.4 grains of Unique and then proceed up from there in small steps. Expect the bullet impact to move at a diagonal on the target. You will learn more from shooting a succession of increased loads about bullet impact with fixed sights than you might expect.

[Kosh75287]

Lighter boolits will leave the barrel much earlier than heavy boolits, this all happens while the gun is pivoting upwards in recoil, so you can see how a heavier, slower boolit will give the barrel more time to arc upwards, releasing the boolit at a higher degree of rotation causing it to fly to a higher point of impact on the target. Whew! Hope I said that right....

I think you said it QUITE right. I believe that you gave just about the clearest explanation I'VE ever heard, of an effect that is not only difficult to understand, but also to explain well.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Most Uberti 1873-types are very well made, to close tolerances, as you noted in your OP. I'm sure you'll want to remove the cylinder for cleaning--it makes it so much easier. The trick to re-inserting the cylinder pin is just technique. What works for me is to insert the pin into the front end of the frame while pushing the spring loaded locking mechanism to allow the pin to enter, and when it's past the lock its presence will hold the locking mechanism in the open position. Then, while maintaining a light pressure on the front of the pin pushing inward, just gently wiggle the cylinder around until suddenly the cylinder's center hole lines up and the pin enters. Be sure to push it in far enough that you feel the lock release, then give it an outward tug or two to make sure it caught the pin.

.45 Colt--one of the truly great cast bullet calibers. Like most here, I use 8-8.5 gr. of Unique and a 255 gr. RNFP bullet. .452" has always worked well for me.

DG

[sharps4590]

I'm pretty much a "one load" kinda guy. I'd find the load that was most accurate and I liked best. If it's low, so what? I'd file that front sight in to hit POA at 25 yards, call it good and live the rest of my life a happy man.

The best bullet I've used in the 45 Colt over the last 40 years has been the RCBS-255 gr KTSWC. It's quite similar to Lyman's 454424 and I'd expect similar accuracy from it.

[jonp]

I get along just fine with a .452 200 grain round nose flat point. Revolver and rifle.

My "go to" in my 45lc.