Need advice on loading for 45 Colt

[gareth96]

I reload cast boolits for 9mm, 380 ACP, & 45 ACP already, so no stranger to the pain. I already have the Lee 6 cav TL452-230-2R and Lyman 452630 200gr so want to use one of those. I assume the 230gr would work better? I also already have .451, .452, and .453 boolit sizer dies.

Anyway, the story is.. my brother got a Ruger Redhawk pistol that I want to reload for for him.. Mainly interested in safe plinking ammo. Will be loading at the slower end using Unique or True Blue..

Any die set will do? Should I use a taper crimp in a separate step from seating? Other tips? Thank you for any help.

[Winger Ed.]

I work out of the Lyman Cast book for the few I load. I'm content with 'middle of the range' for a powder charge.
And just enough of a roll crimp to iron out the case mouth flare and barely get the crimp into a boolit's groove.
The brass is kind of pricey, and I don't want to flare & crimp the case mouth any more than I have to
so it'll last longer before it splits.

As for dies, I use RCBS, but it is well plowed ground, and any of them will work just fine.

[45DUDE]

I use the Lyman Cast book also. 45 L.C. needs a roll crimp like 44 mag. My shooting buddy's S&W model 25 has .454 throats and likes heavier boolits in the 255gr. range. You can get by with crimping the 452 200gr. in the lube groove.

[gareth96]

Do you roll crimp in a separate step with an special die, or just use the one in the seater and seat/crimp at same time?

[45DUDE]

The 45 L.C. die is roll crimp. Seat and crimp at the same time. If you load by the Lyman book and have a dial indicator all should work. I use Dillon dies which has crimp in the last stage and easier to use. I have the same 6 cavity mold as you but shoot 45acp. You can seat the 230 shorter and roll crimp over the nose to keep from moving forward under recoil. A new RCBS die comes with different seating stems for the nose. If you buy used be sure to ask.

[Alstep]

I've found that the H&G 68 that I use in my 45 ACP shoots equally as well in the 45 Colt. And Bullseye powder works just as well too. 6.0 grains works for me. Roll crimp. 1.690" OAL. Size at .452, same as my 1911.
My Colts throat gage at .452, not the larger .454+ that some are. So size to your gun's throat.
It'a a nice load that doesn't beat you or your gun up.
Your Lyman 452630 is close to the H&G 68, so you should be good to go. Let us know how it all works out for you. Good luck

[challenger_i]

As you are looking for plinking loads, and you are currently set up to load 45 ACP, might I suggest you look at loading 45 Cowboy Special? Light loads in 45 Colt can be tricky to get consistent performance, due to the large case capacity.


I reload cast boolits for 9mm, 380 ACP, & 45 ACP already, so no stranger to the pain. I already have the Lee 6 cav TL452-230-2R and Lyman 452630 200gr so want to use one of those. I assume the 230gr would work better? I also already have .451, .452, and .453 boolit sizer dies.

Anyway, the story is.. my brother got a Ruger Redhawk pistol that I want to reload for for him.. Mainly interested in safe plinking ammo. Will be loading at the slower end using Unique or True Blue..

Any die set will do? Should I use a taper crimp in a separate step from seating? Other tips? Thank you for any help.

[fredj338]

Do you roll crimp in a separate step with an special die, or just use the one in the seater and seat/crimp at same time?

Either bullet will work, but you dont have a crimp groove. The Lee 200FP for the 45colt is a good bullet that will work in both 45acp & 45colt. I always seat & crimp in separate steps, just get a better result. Loading for the 45colt is pretty straight forward. Fast powders work fine for light loads, just hard to see the small charges. I loaded pounds of RedDot under 200gr bullets for CAS. Very accurate & I can see the small charge in the big case with a light over the press.
https://leeprecision.com/mold-dc-452-200-rf

[Tall]

I use a separate Lee Factory Crimp die - I use the one that came with the die set to set the overall cartridge length without crimping. I have a S&W 25-2, a Colt flat top target New Service, and a S&W 25-3 all in 45 Colt caliber. For mine, all of them like .454" diameter bullets. Generally I use a Keith SWC that is powder coated from Missuori Bullet Co.

[Larry Gibson]

I suggest using 7.2 gr of Bullseye, Red Dot or 700X under the 200 gr 452630 cast bullet. I use that load under several similar cast bullets. I use a taper crimp with the case mouth covering 1/2 of the front drive band. Measured pressure runs 14 - 16,000 psi with velocities in the low 900 fps range out of my Uberti SAs and 1150 - 1200 fps out of my Uberti "73 carbine. I've tried .451, .452 and .454 sized bullets but can't tell the difference in accuracy out of any of the 2 revolvers or the carbine. Thus, I simply use .452 sized bullets as that's also what I use them for in the 45 ACP.

[Gobeyond]

.7 dipper of unique. I’ve used up to 1.0 cc less than 10 grains. Unique is Not my favorite. I like to use a little Dacron to hold the powder down to the primer. Have no faith in the accuracy with that little bit all over the case. It’s a pain to put the Dacron, but I think it gets a better burn. They say only a couple grains.

[gareth96]

Just realized I also have a pound of 700x.. may try that. RCBS 3-die set inbound..

[Bazoo]

Plenty of good advice above. With the Lee TL452-230-2R you can just crimp in the top micro groove. You can get away with seating and crimping in one step provided you use a modest crimp. The smaller the crimp groove, the more likely you are to shave lead off the second driving band when seating and crimping at the same time. One of, if not the main benefit of a large crimp groove is that you can get a healthy crimp while seating bullets.

You can't go wrong with RCBS dies. I've had an occasion when I needed a seating stem for a hard to fit bullet and they sent me a variety to try to get me going.

[Winger Ed.]

On any of the revolver cartridges, since I don't load more tha a couple hundred at a time, and I'm not in a big hurry-
I crimp separately on a single stage so I can feel the crimp going onto it.
For me, it's faster and easier than measuring & trimming cases to a uniform length.

[Larry Gibson]

Using those fast burning powders at the mentioned velocity level with your 200 gr cast bullets, or even the 230 gr bullets, you'll find no need for a roll crimp. I've shot thousands of similar velocity/recoiling loads out of the 45 ACP cartridge in revolvers for years and never had a bullet come out of the case in the cylinder due to recoil. So why should similar 45 Colt, 45 Scofield or 45 American cases need to be crimped with similar loads.......they don't. That's why I simply straighten out the case mouth flair with a taper crimp die and even RCBS dies that roll crimp. BTW, an RCBS steel 45 Colt sizing die also makes a good taper crimp die as the RCBS steel sizer maintains the slight taper of the 45 Colt chamber specs.

[gareth96]

And bonus.. I just found about 100 Missouri Bullet Co 250gr Cowboy #1s that I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago.. I was going to melt them down for the lead, but now I can use them ;)

The MBC site says 'For cowboy action velocities'.. What's that range for the 45 Colt?

[Tall]

And bonus.. I just found about 100 Missouri Bullet Co 250gr Cowboy #1s that I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago.. I was going to melt them down for the lead, but now I can use them ;)

The MBC site says 'For cowboy action velocities'.. What's that range for the 45 Colt?

Cowboy action shooting with those bullets will be around 800 - 900 FPS. Probably a load of W231 would be my choice for that. See Hogdon's site for amounts.

[Larry Gibson]

Actually, experienced SASS shooters who use the 45 Colt seldom use 250 gr bullets, they use 165 - 225 gr bullets. If they do use the 250 gr bullets the velocity is kept minimal as more recoil takes longer to get back on or to the next target. Cowboy action shooting is all about speed. Who hits all the targets the fastest wins. Cowboy action rules are the ammunition, regardless of cartridge, must have a minimum power factor of 60 and a minimum velocity of 400 fps. Numerous factory 45 Colt "Cowboy Action" loads I've tested give velocities out of my 4 3/4" barreled Uberti "Evil Roy" SA of 409 - 800 +/- fps with 200 - 225 gr bullets. Most SASS competitors will push 200 gr bullets at 500 - 600 fps. That give a large enough power factor with a bit of fps "fudge factor" with low end recoil for faster shooting.

[gareth96]

Just threw about 300 of the Lyman 452630 200 gr.. Will prob load a few of each and see which works better.. Thanks for all the help!

[justindad]

I’ve used the 454-237-RN (H&G 34 clone) in .45 Colt, taper crimped with a .45 ACP die and had excellent results. No need for a roll crimp. I prefer True Blue over Unique - burns cleaner.

[Bazoo]

Very interesting discussion. Thanks all for sharing.

[Kai]

Do you roll crimp in a separate step with an special die, or just use the one in the seater and seat/crimp at same time?

You will get varied answers on this one. I use the die the way it is meant to be used and always seat and crimp in one step using RCBS dies with roll crimp. There are tools out there such at the lee crimp die that make up for sloppy reloading practices such as reloading cases not trimmed to uniform length. However, this a moot point with 45 colt as I have never needed to trim a case to uniform in 35 years.

[Kosh75287]

One of the more "congenial" .45 Colt loads I've found has been 8.0/Unique/255 gr. RNFP or Keith. I've never found a firearm chambered for the round that did not shoot well with this load. If you have access to Herco, 8.5-8.8/Herco/255 gr. RNFP/Keith completes the same mission. I generally use Win. LPPs, but because both propellants are easily ignited, any standard LPP will work.
I tend to seat and crimp in one step when reloading auto pistol ammo in large quantities, IF I am certain that the load functions well, and if the ammo of interest is intended for practice, not competition. Rounds intended for hunting or competition are seated and crimped in separate steps. It tends to enhance reliability and accuracy (for me, anyway).
I don't know that there an advantage to taper crimping over roll crimping, except that bullets intended for use in auto pistols may lack crimping grooves. Herco and Unique have a tendency to burn on the dirty side, unless pushed hard. Increasing the crimp by 1/8th - 1/4th turn on the die often improves things.
The (more) bulky nature of Unique and Herco make it next to impossible to double-charge the .45 Colt case, if charge weights are kept in the range I mentioned above. There is nothing really wrong with using denser, faster-burning propellants in the .45 Colt, but extra care should be taken to inspect powder levels in the case, as a guard against double charges.

[kaiser]

My favorite .45 Colt 230gr cast load is loaded with 6.0gr Trail Boss. I leave the bullet "unsized", which is usually cast .453 to .4535 diameter, and use a Lee Crimp die after seating. Nice easy load on the gun and "shooter"; also accurate in every gun (5) I've tried.