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

As cast can be exceptionally accurate, provided as cast is the right size for a given gun. I've shot a 1 1/2" 100 yd group with a revolver using an as cast tumble lubed bullet.

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http://www.dardascastbullets.com/mm...Code=45250RNFPBB500&Category_Code=45

My old 94 Trapper in .44 mag would put five 280 grain WFN LBT cast bullets in 1.5 " at 100 yards with a Weaver 2.5 power scope.

Sure they work if its the correct size for an individual barrel..I slug all my barrels, don't buy many stock molds anymore especially Lyman. I prefer having them custom made nowadays dropping a few thousands over bore with plenty of deep grease grooves if possible..Not a fan of Lee molds,the ones I have drop bullets very close to their listed dia but most of their grooves are too shallow to suit me since I tend to cast on the softer side and prefer lots of lube.

Woody,

I agree. Lyman has a great history and a wonderful book on casting and loading bullets, sadly I rank them as bottom rung on the quality of their products. Lee makes great handgun molds that shoot accurately and with the six cavity molds production is awesome for mold that costs about 1/2 what a stock 2 cavity mold runs from RCBS. I haven't used Lee rifle molds but can see how they are lacking in many aspects.

We are in the best of times for custom molds, I have several mountain molds and mihecs and have no doubt from reports from others that NOE, Accurate and others produce top notch products.

I got a 230 grain mold from N.O.E and it gets used in a single action pistol,my 45 ACP and is shot all the time in a rifle made like a Colt lightning.

The load we use in the 45 Colt is 10.0 grains of red dot.

If you use other powder just load for the pistol and the rifle will be faster.
The lead i use is a mix of medical and wheel weights with about 10 inches of 95/5 solder.
They are air cooled.
They are real good on jackrabbits out to 150 yards with the rifle and in the single action if he practices some more he should hit out to 75 yards.

The bullet was used last week to take a turkey at 80 yards and the folks he was hunting with could not believe ti would work.

It is a hollow point mold and it cast fine bullets after only breaking it in for 3 casting sessions.
It does do a yeoman's job on coyotes as well.

As for pushing cast faster i use them in my 250 SAV.,300 SAV.as well as the 45-70.
The speeds are around 2400-2500 with the 250 and 300.
The 308 works as well.
Are of these are air cooled but i do add some lino to male them a tad harder.
The lube i use for all of my cast is 2500+ and i believe it will hold up to faster speeds.
The same lead mix is used in the 38,357,9mm and 40 smith.
I have recovered some amd they expand real well,while holding together.

Do you have to use a heater for your lubrisizer to get that lube to flow?

Rf

You bet they work, loafing along at 950 fps in my Colt SAA or loafing a little faster at 1400 fps in my 45-110 Sharps or 335 gr at 1585 in a FA 454.

Nope is does help on a cold day to put the desk lamp by the sizer for a little while.

I do have a star with a heater base but it is set up for other pistol bullets.

The lube comes in tube form and you can buy it with or without the hole in it.
I buy it in bulk form because i do
The price is not that bad ,but i do not need any more tubes.

White label lubes i believe.

I should have been more specific about the Lee criticism ..yes I was referring to their rifle molds..I have several six cavities for handgun application and really like the way they drop and shoot without sizing..This one is the 430-310 RF I use in my !0" barrel 44mag Abilene silhouette pistola.

I realize I did not word my original post very well, not that it matters much. I have killed more than a dozen deer but this was the first with a handgun.

I know that I do not need more power or a change in bullet to effectively kill deer but just wondered if there were a better bullet choice that would more likely give me a blood trail to follow if needed.

Also when I say the bullet hit the top of the heart it was not exactly at the 12 O'Clock position. It hit a little below the top but probably 85% up from the very bottom if that makes sense.

Thanks for the feedback.

I"ll just ad, that I've not been unhappy with XTP in pistols. And have never not had 2 holes.

I just have an issue that shooting a hard cast lead bullet in my mind... since no one is supposed to hunt with FMJ.. I don't doubt that the large lead bullets work, they always have.

But expansion, controlled and not chaotic, but with retained weight, is always a good thing in my mind unless I'm trying to stop somehting big and bad with CNS hits... then I want penetration in a straight line period.

YMMV.

Oh yeah, blood trails on lung shots with XTP lately with the 10mm have been there but they are generally not quite as good as rifle type wounds. Easy enough to follow though generally. And nothing has made it past about 40-50 steps lung shot. Heart shots IMHO can vary wildly.... but are always dead also.

Low hits tend to give more blood trail than high.

YMMV

Surely you can see how a cast bullet with a wide, sharp edged meplat will produce a lot more trauma than the typical fmj.

Compare 45 ACP hardball to an NEI 454-270-PBK. The meplat on that one is .340" across IIRC.

http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/index.html

A cast or monometal bullet with a large meplat (ogival wadcutter) is a completely different animal than a round nose fmj or small flat point with rounded edges. Think of it in terms of a pre-expanded bullet. Shoot some media that leaves a permanent wound channel. Round nose bullets leave a caliber size hole, ogival wadcutters depending on caliber and meplat size leave a nickle to quarter size hole. IMHO the flat and sharp shoulder of an ovival wadcutter is the most effective shape for leaving a permanent cavity and performs like a larger dia expanded bullet due to the rounded edge of an expanded bullet.

And the Penn Bullets 45 cal 270 gr Thunderhead with a .440" meplat, I put finishers into two deer this year, they IMMEDIATELY coughed blood from their nose and mouth after the shot in the ribs, amazing.

I've never tried the Thunderheads. Are they easy to load re accuracy?

That thing looks like a big ol wadcutter!

How hard are they?

Yessir, 40 grs of 3F blackpowder in a Colt SAA sized to .454" dia. shoots to the sights too.

Harder than a whores heart Mooner ;]