45 colt question

[ground blind]

I have some acme 225 grain 45 colt RNFP bullets ,I have lots of reloading books but can't find data for this bullet weight I found one in old Speer book that was close and it had starting charge of 5 grains of bullseye,i loaded up 20 ,to see how they did ,am I ok at that charge rate ?this is for light plinking ,I just want to use this box up I am not a fan of the 225 grain.cci 300 primer Starline case .any opinions on this matter thanks,,I want to load 255 swc with trail boss but still cant find it ,

[black mamba]

A very mild load, roughly 700 fps from a 6" barrel.

[ground blind]

yes should be vary light ,does anyone see any safety issue with this load ?225 grain RNFP,300 cci primer and 5 grains of bullseye.?

[richhodg66]

Skip the Trail Boss and get some Bullseye, Red Dot or 700X. Six grains of any of those is a great load with just about any bullet weight and I have shot a metric ton of 200 grain SWCs with such loads through various .45 Colts.

[ground blind]

sounds good ,I am trying to use up oddball stuff I have on hand ,given the fact I cant find any supplys for sale in my area yet, but I do have a good supply of red dot ,

[richhodg66]

With the possible exception of Unique, Red Dot is probably the best powder for .45 Colt for everything except top end loads. My Backhawks handle top end loads better than I do, I don't shoot to get punished, so that 6-6.5 grains of Red DOt universal load works great under just about any bullet in .45 Colt.

[jim147]

.45 long Colt is pretty forgiving unless you try to seat the bullet all the way in the case. Your charge is fine seated at a normal length.

[ground blind]

ok thanks guys it was making me a little uneasy because that load was only found in one loading book out of 6 books' im going to use these 225 grain bullets up and go to 250 grain s w c and red dot,

[kaiser]

You might consider using data listed for the more common 230gr bullet. Decreasing the bullet weight (within reason), while using the same powder charge, will usually get you a safe load with the heavier bullet; however, accuracy is never guaranteed. I use 230gr bullets (cast and jacketed) frequently in the .45 Colt because the bullet is sometimes more available in our area. My favorite 230gr cast load utilizes 6.2gr Trail Boss, which is a very efficient and accurate load in my gun. I like this powder because you can't accidentally overload the Colt case, and I have a 6 cavity mold that turns out a lot of good bullets in a short session! Good luck with yours.

[Walks]

I used 5.0grs of Clay's under a 225-230gr bullet since Clay's came out. Its a good light Cowboy load.

Red Dot = 4.5grs -7.0grs. Unique = 6.5grs - 9.0grs. 700X = 4.5grs - 6.5grs.
Don't care for trail boss, pressure seems to increase almost exponentially as you go to warmer loads.

W231 & Bullseye are excellent choices too.

[ground blind]

thanks for all the info im just getting into cast bullets ,I am getting a lot of arthritis in my hands and find I really like the lite plinking loads ,I have been shooting 2.8 grains red dot in my 38 sp wad cutters and love the light recoil ,no more hot rod loads for me..I am going to be making 41 mag ,45 colt ,44-40,and 44 mag ,cowboy loads this summer.

[richhodg66]

If there was ever a great gun/cartridge combo to cut your teeth on casting with, it's a .45 Colt revolver. The older I get, the less I like getting thrashed during a range session so I sympathize with you. Red Dot is great stuff for such loadings.

[black mamba]

6 grains of Red Dot is almost a magic load in 45 Colt with any bullet between 200 and 260 grains:
very accurate and consistent in every firearm.

[Outpost75]

Six grains of Bullseye or Titegroup closely approximate the velocity of the same charge of Red Dot using any bullet from 200 to 260 grains, but with the advantage of a smaller particle size which meters more uniformly in the Dillon machines. Up to 7 grains is safe as a standard pressure, but "full charge" load.

[smkummer]

Skip the Trail Boss and get some Bullseye, Red Dot or 700X. Six grains of any of those is a great load with just about any bullet weight and I have shot a metric ton of 200 grain SWCs with such loads through various .45 Colts.

Yep, I use about 4.8 grains 700x with a 200 grain FP. Cases are just bit sooty from less tha full case expansion but way better than reducing unique. This is because I use a lot of 700x for shotgun loads. That’s my cowboy load. Good reduced plinking load at the range too. If I didn’t have 700X I would use red dot. Bulky shotgun powders are good in 45 colt.