45 colt powder choices

[btroj]

I use mostly a 290 gr flat nose from a group buy here years ago. I like it with 10.5 gr of a surplus powder that is similar to AA5. I get just over 900 from my Blackhawk. Recoil is very manageable, accurate too!
In the past I loaded this revolver to the gills. Recoil was bad. Hurt my wrists. I decided I didn't need all that.

[bigboredad]

I can tell you from experience the Dan Walker load is a fun and accurate load in not just the 255 but also the 300. For me the 300+gr. loads have worked best for me and you don't have to beat yourself or the gun to death one of my all time favorite loads is a 340gr lee rnfp loping along at 1000fps ymmv

[Doc.Holliday]

Thank You ALL kindly for your advice . I appreciate the help.
With my 270; 308 and 250 savage I was never as perplexed as this.
This is the first pistol cartridge I am reloading and was getting more confused as I went along.
I shoot a lot of 30/30 but we only pay about $12.00 a box up here for Rem or Win brand in either 150 or 170 gr so I never took up reloading for it.
Again I digress. Sorry for the rambling.
Many thanks again truly appreciated.

Doc.

[rbertalotto]

I can tell you that pronghorn can be an awful lot harder to put down than a deer.

Huh???

My buddies out in Montana have been using 22BR with 50 grain bullets out of XP100 to kill Pronghorns for years. Seems it doesn't take much to knock one over.

I would guess Deer depends on where you find them. Up in Maine I've seen some of those 250 pounders take a real beating and keep running.

[USSR]

Doc.Holliday,

The answer to your question is whatever of the listed powders you have on hand. The .45 Colt is not fussy. I use Solo 1000, Unique, HS-6, 2400, and 4227. There are a lot of other powders that will work as well, but those powders are powders I use for other applications and have in stock, so that is what I use.

Don

[Doc.Holliday]

Good Evening ; Is there any advantage in using Green Dot powder?
I see it is in between Red Dot and Unique in burning rate.
Yet I see very little or no reloading data for it with 45 colt loads, it seems to be a forgotten powder as compared to Red Dot.
Loads that I have found are pretty anemic.
Another question ; is PB a powder that takes up a lot of space?
It seems my Lyman book is showing what I call a lot of shotgun powders when you use cast bullets and more pistol powders when you use a jacketed slug for some reason ?
Thank-you
Doc

[white eagle]

definitely not a barn burner type but I do like to use the old colt to its potential
my favorite and most accurate loads come from H-110

[DanWalker]

Huh???

My buddies out in Montana have been using 22BR with 50 grain bullets out of XP100 to kill Pronghorns for years. Seems it doesn't take much to knock one over.

I would guess Deer depends on where you find them. Up in Maine I've seen some of those 250 pounders take a real beating and keep running.

I'd wager that your friends are crack shots, who place their bullets carefully. I'd also wager they sneak in and make close range killing shots, or hang back and snipe at long range. You hit an antelope poorly with your first shot, or get one nervous and worked up, and they can take huge amounts of punishment and not go down.

[dk17hmr]

I have a 15" TC barrel in 45lc that will push a 300gr LEE to 1450fps without much trouble with W296 and I havent really worked with it all that much because I am having a brake put on it so I can use it as a rifle barrel. For plinking I like trailboss and unique, most of the time I plink with my full tilt loads though. Warm 45lc loads are nice to shoot in my 454 though.

[Rocky Raab]

Doc, Red ad Green are VERY close together. (In fact, Green Dot IS Red dot - when they get a batch that's a bit too slow to call it Red, they throw in those green flakes. Honest.)

You can safely use Red Dot data with Green Dot in handgun loads. The difference will be meaningless. I actually prefer American Select to either. It supposedly falls between Red and Green in burn rate, which as we've just learned is a very narrow slot indeed. I can use load data for any of the three and get nearly identical velocity results.

[ButchC]

I'm a big fan of 2400 myself, I tried out Red Dot behind a Lee 255gr and it grouped just as tight in my puma 92 at 50 yards with less powder. I went with 2400 because it will make it to the 100 yard target without insane holdover :P

[bigted]

my very first handgun to load for was an old colt replica in 45 colt. i loaded tons....well pounds of lead and hundreds of primers and bunch's of different powder thru that old handgun. i can tell you that the very best i came across as a broke kid was unique...8 grains of it behind a lead 255 grain cast bullet i bought by the thousand. cant remember the diameter and i never slugged the barrel nor the cylinder...didn't know anything about that then...man wish i had a dollar for all the ground pigs and rabbits i killed....er sent to the big belt up above...with that revolver. the unique load was and is a stand-by for me but im trying the trail-boss now but i doubt that it will ever take the unique loads place.

[429421Cowboy]

Yep, i like Unique in mid range revolver loads. One thing to consider is that of two loads that post the same average velocity, the load that fills the case better will likely be the more accurate one due to a potential for lower velocity spread because of the reduced position sensitivty. I'm speaking in generallitys there but that is the theory there.
And i don't care what anybody says, antelope can take a ton of punishment if not hit correctly on the first shot.

[bowfin]

And after shooting more than few whitetails, I can tell you that pronghorn can be an awful lot harder to put down than a deer.

That has been my experience as well, although I don't have a theory on why that would be so.

[rwehuntn]

I use Lil gun and a 255gr swc in my 45 colts, works well for accuracy and velocity. dont have the exact amount in front of me right now, but it is definitely only for t/c, ruger etc. at around 1300 fps, it is a stout load but very manageable and on par with my 44 mag.

[429421Cowboy]

I use Lil gun and a 255gr swc in my 45 colts, works well for accuracy and velocity. dont have the exact amount in front of me right now, but it is definitely only for t/c, ruger etc. at around 1300 fps, it is a stout load but very manageable and on par with my 44 mag.

I have heard good things about Lil Gun on this forum besides the barrel heating issue, i have no experience with it so this could be pure moonshine for all i know.
We must all remember that the ol' .45 can be loaded up to .44 mag levels in strong actions but still obtains this threshold at a lower pressure (24,000? don't have my manual in front of me) than the .44 magnum.

[TXGunNut]

Gandydancer is correct, the 45 Colt will do everything a 44 mag will do and maybe a bit more. I have a 296 load I stuff under a 300gr XTP j-bullet that is very accurate, deady and punishing at around 1300 fps. I prefer my Universal load gently shoving a 255 Keith boolit at BP velocities. Someday soon I'll load it with FFFg and shoot it the way Sam Colt intended.

[mattbowen]

I love 2400, I use it in my 357 and 45 colt My favorite load is 340 grain RNFP (a .458 sized down to .452) over a load of 2400 and it's running out of my 7" barrel at 1045fps and 1275fps from my 24" barrel M92. I even worked up a load (for the M92 only) with a 405 gr HBFP over 2400 running at 950 fps

[zxcvbob]

the 45 Colt will do everything a 44 mag will do and maybe a bit more.

I have a .45 and a .41 (don't have a .44 yet) The .45 Colt can be overloaded to do everything an off-the-shelf .44 Magnum will, but the .44 hasn't started stretching its legs yet -- so I don't think it's a fair comparison. Can a .45 Colt can keep up with a .44 Magnum handloaded to CIP pressures and beyond for a long-cylinder gun like a Redhawk? I doubt it.

[ocelott]

+1 on the unique loads 8.0-9.0grains under a 250-255 will work wonders

+1 on the W231 6.5-7.5 under a 250-255

+1 on 2400 - I use 15.0 grains under a 250/12.0 grains under a 300gr