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I just wonder about the levels of "power" that handgunners say they need these days. I talked to a guy at a gun shop the other day and he wasn't interested in a Colt SAA because he had black bear on his property. Now I live not more than 10 miles from this guy, so chances are the bear that are on his property are the bear that are on my property. And I'm here to tell you that if any of them hit 300lbs I'd be shocked.

But he wants a Ruger in .45 colt so he can push up the load. It took me 15 minutes of convincing that the current Vaquero's aren't much stronger than a Colt or Uberti; he still had skepticism in his eyes.

Now when I had my last Uberti, I worked up a load using a 275 grain Keith style bullet and a generous dose of either 2400 or 4227 (now that I need it, I can't remember which - that's gettin old for you). The end result was nearly 900fps out of a 4 5/8" barrel, and I'm here to tell you that's some POWER.

I used that load to L E V E L a pissed off 1,600 bull that was about to kill a neighbor. A shot through the side of the head and he dropped like he was hit by the hammer of thor. The bullet was never recovered and you could park a bus sideways in the wound.

Guys, that's a STANDARD pressure .45 Colt load. Yep, its on the the knife edge of SAAMI pressure limits, but according to the manual I pulled it from, it's within STD pressure limits.

Once a bullet hits about 800fps, (speaking of solids here) the only real advantage of velocity after that is a flatter trajectory for distance shooting. I say this with a mind toward the norm, not extremes. Of course you can get more performance out of an LBT style bullet at higher velocity, but that's a whole different arguement.

My point is, the standard pressure .45 Colt is a very powerful handgun. Inside of 50 yards, given proper projectile choice, it's a magnificent tool.

Yep, if you want to make 1/2" holes in most things then the 45lc works. No matter what the dreamers say, LBT WFN or otherwise, you get a 1/2" diameter hole with a 45cal hardcast. But you can get a bigger hole if you go to a 300gr XTP and run it faster - and that is why those other cartridges exist.

I'm not knocking a 1/2" diameter hole - we're pretty happy if our 30cal fodder expands 1.5 diameters, and lots of critters are taken with 30cal cartridges.

Now when I had my last Uberti, I worked up a load using a 275 grain Keith style bullet and a generous dose of either 2400 or 4227 (now that I need it, I can't remember which - that's gettin old for you). The end result was nearly 900fps out of a 4 5/8" barrel, and I'm here to tell you that's some POWER.

well Derby...after 100 years the eyesight starts to go so...rifle's probably better.

I finally found out what LBT stands for, Lead Bullet Technology and you can only get them from one company or so they say.

Yep, if you want to make 1/2" holes in most things then the 45lc works. No matter what the dreamers say, LBT WFN or otherwise, you get a 1/2" diameter hole with a 45cal hardcast. But you can get a bigger hole if you go to a 300gr XTP and run it faster - and that is why those other cartridges exist.

I'm not knocking a 1/2" diameter hole - we're pretty happy if our 30cal fodder expands 1.5 diameters, and lots of critters are taken with 30cal cartridges.

Good post!

I used to be a devout disciple of the Church of the LBT Hard Cast Bullet. I've backslid some since then, though!

As I've read more of the literature out there by people with lots of knowledge about cast bullets I've come to see Veral Smith's view as a bit more narrow than I like. Sure, I still cast, load and hunt with LBT and LBT-style bullets, but I also use SWC bullets, and I'm starting to get some experience with cast HP bullets. For one thing, I don't use "hard cast" bullets much at all any more. I haven't hunted with bullets harder than BHN 14 or so for years, and most of my hunting bullets are closer to a BHN of 10-11.

I used to hunt with XTP bullets, but I've found that the velocity range over which most XTP bullets will expand reliably is too narrow for my liking. And XTP hollowpoints cost a lot more than my own cast hollowpoint bullets. I can get reliable expansion and penetration and very credible lethality with a 45 caliber cast HP driven at 900-1050 fps muzzle velocity, but I need to drive an XTP 200-300 fps faster to get it to do the same job.

More velocity, more recoil, more expense... who needs that? So I'll just keep moseyin' on down the cast bullet trail and see where it leads me.

BS. 1/2" is all you get. You've never measured the actual hole - you glance at it and think "that's a big mess!", but it is still just a 1/2" hole.

If you shoot a chuck roast, you'll get a 1/2" hole. You shoot something living and you think the hole is bigger because of the peripheral bleeding.

BS. 1/2" is all you get. You've never measured the actual hole - you glance at it and think "that's a big mess!", but it is still just a 1/2" hole.

If you shoot a chuck roast, you'll get a 1/2" hole. You shoot something living and you think the hole is bigger because of the peripheral bleeding.

BS. 1/2" is all you get. You've never measured the actual hole - you glance at it and think "that's a big mess!", but it is still just a 1/2" hole.

If you shoot a chuck roast, you'll get a 1/2" hole. You shoot something living and you think the hole is bigger because of the peripheral bleeding.