Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best 45 Colt deer bullet?

I shot my first deer (a whitetail doe) with my 45 Colt Ruger Bisley revolver on Thanksgiving. I have killed 3 black bears with it in the past with hotter loads (Beartooth 345 grain cast bullet at about 1170 fps). On this deer I was using the Lead Head 270 grain cast Keith bullet at about 1000-1100 fps. It worked just fine but there was no blood trail. Fortunately I was easily able to find the deer. I was hunting from a tree stand and the deer was 55 yards away at the shot. The bullet broke her onside leg bone above the knee, put a hole through the top of her heart and lodged in a tree behind her.

I now live in SW Michigan and we cannot use high powered rifles. I think next year I might get a 45 Colt lever action but wonder if there would be a better bullet choice that would more likely give a good blood trail in case that were needed to help find the deer. I suspect that had I hit the deer higher in the chest through the lungs instead of hitting her in the top of the heart I may well have seen a blood trail. As it was with the hole in her heart the blood just pumped out into her chest cavity. Do you all think I should switch bullets or just try to not hit the heart and only get lungs? If a bullet switch is recommended what bullet should I use?

Thanks and good hunting!

I'd stick with what is working for you. I have seen Keith style hard cast LSWC go end to end through big hogs. Killed 'em grave yard dead.

Hornady XTP is favored by many whitetail hunters that I know.

Hardcast

This...

A 250-255gr PB cast bullet over 8gr. Unique will do the job. Faster and heavier will, too, but it doesn't have to be.

As with real estate, it's all about location, location, location. Nothing wrong with your current bullet/load choice at all.

Ed

Agree with Ed & Sam. Hard to beat a cast bullet for penatraition and a better chance of a exit wound. Which gives a better blood trail should they run. I use 8 grains of Unique in my original Colt SAA, and 10 grains of Unique in my Ruger Revolvers. And a really like a 260 gr WFN LBT hard cast bullet the best. But a good ole Keith style SWC will work well too.

300-325 WFN pushed by H110/296

can't add anything better then all the above

That would be my vote as well, Hornady's XTP bullets a incredible.

One of THESE Will do the trick. They've been sellin fast out of Here.
You can also get a 450 Bushmaster, AR 15, if ya chose.

Been shooting this 300 gr cast mold for sometime in my '66 it actually drops 315 grs at 30:1 alloy and really packs a punch over 6.5 grs Unique..Velocity is very modest but constant at 1040 fps.and bangs steel at 100 with authority. Lots of good bullets out there these days to make the Colt sing but I'll always prefer a good cast for penetration. This profile also feeds 100% better than the 255 Keith I started with.

You can use the 450 Bushmaster and would find the Ruger American very accurate with the 250 grain FTX load. That round has a very good reputation for making deer DRT.

For the 45 Colt, which I have used in both pistol and rifle, you won't beat a 300 grain Lee RF gas checked with a full charge of H110 or LiL' Gun.

Absolutely nothing wrong with a 255 SWC at about 1000 fps. Can you load bigger, heavier, faster? Yes, but the deer won't be any deader because you do. A lever gun may feed better with a roundnose flatpoint, but that's not an issue in a revolver. Your bullets don't have to be "harder than a mother-in-law's stare" either. Muzzleloader guys hunting with pure lead have been tipping deer over for several centuries with bullets the same weight and speed you're shooting.

That's what I was going to say.

Looking good Woody! wish my SAA would shoot the heavies to the sights, the 250 gr round flat point does pretty well, no leading and 960 fps with Holy Black.

What Rocky said!

If you didn't have much blood trail, it's not the bullet's fault... and it's actually not something to find "fault" with anyway. A shot through the lungs, even if it punches a big hole, may not leave much blood behind, because the holes are relatively high in the deer's chest. By the time the chest fills up with blood to the level of the holes, the deer is almost, or actually, dead.

I've killed a lot of deer and hogs with the 45 Colt. I used to think I needed a big, heavy bullet at supersonic speeds to kill quadrupeds. Turns out I was wrong, and that a standard factory 45 Colt load (255 gr lead bullet) travelling at 850-900 fps will kill just as well as a loudenboomer. Shot placement is the key, not bullet, caliber, or gun.

I sure like the looks of these bullets, Woody. I've not got around to loading the box you sent me, but I'll get to that soon. I'm planning on using them on Axis does in a couple weeks.

Torg, thanks so much for the info on the Ruger 450 Bushmaster. I will seriously consider that.

i have some 300gr bear tooth i need to load.

That's a HARD bad assed bullet Roger, I shoot the cast performance 335's in my 454 full power loads, damn they plow.