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Thread: New to me Winchester AE 45 Colt Trapper

  1. #1
    Boolit Master


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    New to me Winchester AE 45 Colt Trapper

    Hey! To all.
    I purchased the AE 45 Colt Trapper Friday, and had to wait until today, Monday to get the background check ran. Looking forward to loading up some test rounds and heading to the gun club. I have a Uberti 45 Colt "Evil Roy" model to be the Trappers companion or visa versa, maybe the Trapper will be the companion of the two. Been doing some net searching to find out its year of birth. Serial number: 6413xxx. Kind of a crap shoot finding the manufacture date. Anyone here maybe have dates of manufacture for the Trapper? This one is roll marked New Haven Ct. I don't know if the Miroku factory ever made any Trappers? Seems I read that Miroku didn't start
    manufacturing the Winchester 94's until the mid 2000's. This one is in very good condition, with a couple small scratches on the top back end of the receiver. Bore looks as new. Stock is nothing special, but very nice straight grained walnut. Doesn't look to have been used much. But, I guess long enough to put scratches on it. Price was 450.00, I think I done well. Anyone have any cautions about these toys? Do's, and don'ts?
    My go to load in my Uberti is 9 grains of Herco under a 250 to 260 grain cast. Any experiences would be much appreciated.
    Regards
    Last edited by littlejack; 03-15-2021 at 10:36 PM.
    If a 41 won't stop it, I wouldn't bet my life on a 44.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    don't go too heavy a load, it will kick the snot out of you! Been there!
    Loren

  3. #3
    Boolit Master Castaway's Avatar
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    If you intend to shoot high end loads, the magazine cap retaining screw will eventually wallow out the recess hole in the barrel as the barrel is softer than the screw. Peening the hole back isn’t a long term solution. Cut a dove-tail slot on the bottom of the barrel and drill the slug to accept the screw. Size of hole depends on if you want a washer around the screw or not

  4. #4
    Boolit Master


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    Thanks for the replies fellas. I had the IOL implantation surgery this morning. Going to have to reply more after "eye" can see better. Right now the Trapper would look like a blurry stick.
    If a 41 won't stop it, I wouldn't bet my life on a 44.

  5. #5
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    That was a very good price.

    DG

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    DG, thank you sir, that is encouraging.
    A lot of the blurriness in my eye has finally gone. As most of us know, us that are up in years, have diminishing eye sight. I could see just fine with my prescription glasses, except for one big problem. When shooting iron sights, I could see the target very clear, but the sights were more than less a blur. My wife recently had the implant lense surgery. She needs reader glasses, but past that, her site is infinate. So, I decided to get my eyes done. Monday was the first surgery of my dominant right eye. Today, I shouldered the Winchester with irons, and what a blessing fellas. I could pick up the rear and front sights. The front sight is perfectly clear, and the rear sight is so much better. I'm expecting the eye to finish healing and be even better. I get my left eye done April 6. It's a very easy surgery with absolutely no pain involved.
    As far as the loads in the Winchester, I looked through my stash of .45 bullets acquired the past few years. Started working on some 265 grain factory cast. This slug has 3 driving bands, with no crimp groove. To get to the 1.600 coal, the case has to be crimped in the middle of the top driving band. I can hit that mark ok, but it will take some shooting to see if the crimp will hold. Oddly, the waxy lube has deteriorated in the top groove, but not as much in the bottom groove. Go figure?? So I used my fingernail, and removed the old lube from the top groove, than ran the slugs through the lyman .452 sizer, and relubed them. As I stated in my first post, my go to load is 9 grains of Herco in my Uberti 45 clone. I have shot some loads with 10 grains, with no I'll effects, and the fired cases eject easily. I will test with the 9 grain loads in the Trapper first, and if all looks good, will shoot some 10 grain loads. I've been doing a lot of reading about the pressures the Winchesters will take and don't expect any issues. Winchester did chamber the same carbines and rifles in the 44 magnum cartridge, and the 10 grain loads of Herco isn't going to come close to those pressures. I did run a few cartridges with different bullets through the Trapper today to check for function. Both fed and ejected just fine. I won't be shooting for another week, to let my eye heal. But will give a range report when I do.
    Last edited by littlejack; 03-19-2021 at 02:04 AM.
    If a 41 won't stop it, I wouldn't bet my life on a 44.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master


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    Update.
    Ok, finally able to see out of my right (dominant) eye for sighting purposes. So I'm walking around with the right lense out of my glasses, and my brain having a breakdown on which eye to focus through.
    Anyway, I loaded up quite a few 45 Colt rounds last week. For sight in and Chrony purposes, I did use the bullet previously mentioned in my earlier post. Testing was yesterday, Tuesday, and today, hump day. I did start with my go to load of 9 grains of Herco powder with a coal of 1.600. Starline brass and Federal 150 LP primers.
    This load data worked fine in my firearms. If anyone uses these loads in their firearms, use it at your own risk.
    Testing as follows: Ten shots per string. 12' from Chrony
    1. Win.94, 9 grns. Herco. Average velocity, 1160 fps. ES 41.26, SD 14.42.
    2. Win.94, 10 grns. Herco. Average velocity, 1228 fps. ES 35.74, SD 11.25.
    3. Win.94, 10.4 grns. Herco. Average velocity, 1266 fps. ES 34.71, SD 11.22.
    4. Win.94, 11 grns. Herco. Average velocity, 1325 fps. ES 39.58, SD 12.76.
    Uberti saa 5.5 bbl for comparison.
    1. 9 grns. Herco. Average velocity, 969 fps. ES 79.01, SD 24.28.
    2. 10 grns. Herco. Average velocity, 1014 fps. ES 92.24, SD 28.49.
    I don't plan on loading any higher than 10 grains of Herco in the Uberti. I'm going to stick with my go to load of 9 grains. For the Winchester94, I'm staying with the 11 grain load of Herco. The "new to me" Winchester Trapper functioned flawlessly. Loading through the gate was a pleasure. Cartridges fed up through the action and into the chamber so smooth. No failure to fire, or failure to eject. After shooting a string, I would check the bore. No lead at all. Absolutely bright and shiny. No flakes of unburnt powder at all, none. I can't say enough about Herco powder in this power range in the 45 Colt cartridge. Metering could be a little smoother, but its not that bad. I've been using my Little Dandy measure, and it works quite well.
    Last edited by littlejack; 04-01-2021 at 01:31 AM.
    If a 41 won't stop it, I wouldn't bet my life on a 44.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master rondog's Avatar
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    I've got one in .44mag, I call it Thumper. That Burris FastFire 3 fits like it was made for it!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20181002_123649-1992x1494.jpg   20180620_162019-1809x1357.jpg  

  9. #9
    Boolit Master


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    That looks just like mine. Looks like yours is a Centennial model.
    I don't care at all for the cross bolt safety, but l really like the carbine itself. When shooting, it seems like it has a very slow "lock time" compared to the older 94's I've fired. Anyone else notice this.
    If a 41 won't stop it, I wouldn't bet my life on a 44.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master rondog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by littlejack View Post
    That looks just like mine. Looks like yours is a Centennial model.
    I don't care at all for the cross bolt safety, but l really like the carbine itself. When shooting, it seems like it has a very slow "lock time" compared to the older 94's I've fired. Anyone else notice this.
    Yes, 1894-1994.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master


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    So this morning, I loaded up some more 45 Colt cartridges to test in the Winchester Trapper, with what will be my last Herco powder increase. I bumped the powder charge up to 11.9 grains. Let me say, that all previous loads fired in the carbine, showed no signs of pressure. No sticky cases, no problem of any kind ejecting the spent cartridges. Although, I don't put much confidence in visual primer condition, the primers in the loads today didn't look to be any different than all the other cartridges and loads fired. Not flattened, and still having a nice radius around the perimeter.
    The Winchester94 action is rated at 40,000 psi. With the 11.9 grains, results were as follows. 10 round string fired.
    Lo velocity, 1374. Hi velocity, 1397. Average velocity, 1387 fps. ES 23.96, SD 7.54.
    No high pressure signs at all. Recoil was nothing out of the ordinary. Recoil increase, un-noticeable. Again, the bore literally bright and shiny, with no powder residue. Love this Herco.
    Anyone care to post their favorite loads in their 45 Colt carbines.
    Regards
    If a 41 won't stop it, I wouldn't bet my life on a 44.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master veeman's Avatar
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    I had one of those trappers in .45 Colt, it was a joy to shoot, very accurate. My only problem with it was the chamber was very obese. The fired case had a very noticeable bulge. Never had a case crack or split, but it bothered me. Carried it along to a show one time and someone offered a whole lot more than I paid for it, so new home it got.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master


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    My spent cases have a slight bulge ( .001 - .0015 ) on one side, about 3/16" above the rim. Other than that, all else is good. The spent cases from the carbine will still chamber in my Uberti saa. They just barely rub in the chambers of the Uberti at the bulge point. I am able to partial size my brass with no feeding issues in the Uberti or the carbine. The Uberti will never see any of the higher power loads. 10 grains of Herco would be the max it will shoot, and 9 grains will be my main go to load. All loads for the Winchester will have the whole case head marked with a red sharpy for identification.
    Last edited by littlejack; 04-02-2021 at 12:56 AM.
    If a 41 won't stop it, I wouldn't bet my life on a 44.

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
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