Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .45 Colt Help

I just ordered a Super Blackhowk (4 5/8") chambered for .45 Colt (LC) and don't know much about reloading the cartridge. I am an avid reloader but haven't done much with pistols. I have a couple of questions.

1) Is there a particular powder that is versatile enough to consistantly load this cartridge from really light to "hot"?

2) I've never loaded cast bullets. Where do I start?

3)Do I need to crimp? If so, all of them or just the heavy stuff?

Thanks!

I have shot 1000's of rounds through a Colt 45. I have used Red Dot powder for over 25 years at 6.5 grains behind a 250 grain RNFP hardcast bullet. It is a reproduction of the equivalent load for original black powder. It should get the 250 grain bullet to about 900 FPS in a 7 1/2 inch Colt.

I load for 38-40 and 44-40 as well, but have elected to shoot Trailboss powder in those guns. I don't know about hot loads with Trailboss, but it should be attainable as it is slower powder than Red Dot.

You do want to crimp your bullets as that is part of the essence of handloading and shooting consistent loads. I have Factory crimps for the 38-40 and the 44-40 as with a bottleneck case, they are subject to creeping in or out and getting a good crimp that will still chamber in a revolver cylinder is paramount. The 45, however isn't as critical and the roll crimp on the 45 will work fine. But a crimp is necessary in anything shot in a revolver or magazine rifle.

I can "roll crimp" with the standard seating die, correct?

Yes, but it is necessary to have the bullet seated to the proper depth in the crimping groove on the bullet. Then the crimp has to be just enough, but not too much or the crimp can roll back over itself and make the cartridge hard or even impossible to load into the chamber.

Got it, I loaded a little .44mag years ago and remember a little about that. Can I just buy cast bullets and load the same as jacketed bullets?

FYI:

A friend of mine who was into cowboy action shooting blew a cylinder apart and the top strap of his Colt with a light load. My friend has decades of reloading experience. I asked him how that was possible because I always thought it was hot loads one had to be careful of. He said not necessarily. Light loads can actually be more dangerous than hot loads and that light loads under the right conditions can actually create higher pressures.

YMMV.

That shouldn't be a problem in a 45 Colt. I have a 41 mag. and load them to around 1300 FPS with hard cast bullets and no leading problems.

I always stay in the middle of the load charts and have never had a problem yet. I use to experiment alot but stopped after I hurt myself with 2400 powder in a 41 mag. at the top of the chart.

Stay to the middle and you can not go wrong.

Not powder wise Pat, cast bullets use a bit less powder. Go here for good load info on Unique & Bullseye, they are all I use in handguns, especially .45 Colt.

http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/index.aspx

BTW, I use 9.5 grains of Unique for a tad over 900 fps with a 250 grain LRNFP. Plenty of wallop and easy shooting in my 4 5/8" Vaquero.

2400 is very versital. As far as cast bullets you might try RCBS-270-SAA from Mt. Baldy bullets. You can use 2400 for light to moderatly hot loads. If you want even a hotter load try H-110. Laod data.com is a great site for reloading info.

RCBS-270-SAA from Mt. Baldy bullets. I just ordered 500 and will load them with 9.5 gr of Hod Longshot for my Ruger Bisley. They should work well for hunting and general carry.

Especially if a big cavernous case like the .45 is filled with a double or triple charge of fast burning powder and left un-noticed. I've been loading the .45 Colt off-and-on for over 25 years. Red Dot and Bullseye were my powders of choice for a long time with never an issue. Middling charges of Unique, and recently Universal Clays + the Lyman 454242 255gr. semi-wadcutter are now my standby. From day one I have double and triple checked all charged cases as they set in the loading block to make dam* good and sure there are no double charges.

I'd bet that there have been hundreds if not thousands of revolvers blown up by light loads. The trouble with that is that not a single one has ever been proven to have happened with an ACTUAL light load. Every one as far as I know has been shown to have contained a double charge or worse.

Light charges are just fine - as long as every cartridge contains one and only one!

Much good info above - what I will add is, get a tight bullet fit. A tight crimp cannot replace a tight bullet fit.

Some years ago Dave Scovil detailed in Handloader his tests of .45 Colt loads, trying different degrees of bullet fit and crimp. The best accuracy and least velocity variation occurred when the case expander plug was turned .005" below bullet diameter, and a tight crimp was also present. A tight roll crimp by itself did not achieve the same results.

I also like the Redding Competition Seating die, as it's done the best job for me in seating the bullets straight. It is spendy but worth it IMO.

Unique or Universal are the most flexible. You can load from cat cough to pretty good wallop. I think Universal burns a little cleaner. However, I've found my most accurate cast bullet loads used heavy Ruger-sized doses of 2400. Have fun. It's a great round to shoot in a single action.

Ella

My friend loads a lot of 45 colt and uses 296 powder. H110 would be the same. He claims velocities i really dont believe so im not posting them. I like 2400 for large capacity pistol cases. I have not loaded much 45 colt but i know they are simple to work. I have had folks say the rim is easy to pull off but it never has been an issue with me. As far as blowing the gun up you should have no issues as long as you are using proper data and have hand loading experience, i will admit i do not like powder that leaves a lot of space in the case. i have found a times this can give pressure issues a stated above. The Ruger is a strong revolver and will be fine compared to older revolvers, even Colts. I would proceed with caution when loading on the high side of the scale and be sure to use data for the bullets you are using and not just a "generic" bullet weight load. Crimp, case length, and primer can change pressures easily above listed data. adhere to data as exactly as you can. The newer 45's and powders can now perform very well above the original cartridge if one is cautious in doing so. 45 Colt is tried and true, good choice and good shooting..

Depends on how "hot" hot is. I would divide the 45 Colt into four power levels. The top power level would be difficult to achieve without slow burning powders like 296, H110 or 4227. These would be loads rivaling the .44 Mag. in velocity and using heavy bullets-above 250 grains. Freedom Arms guns, custom Ruger Bisleys and the like. People like Whitworth use them and can tell you more about them than me.

Next you've got "Ruger/Contender Only" loadings found in most reloading manuals. These are pretty hot and I'd characterize them as above 900 fps or so and 250 grains.

Standard 45 Colt loadings to me are about 825 fps with a 250 grain bullet. These are old-school factory loadings that have been around forever and might not chrono as hot as they are supposed to be. For SAA's that are smokeless steel and in good shape or replicas of same. Ruger New Vaqeros too.

The last would be weak-sister cowboy-action type loadings that are a fairly recent development. These are for Schofield replicas and the like.

I've loaded Unique a lot in the 45 Colt and it is pretty versatile. It wouldn't be my first choice for the 2nd category, but would work. I've loaded very hot loads with Unique. A better plan might be W231 for light loads and W296 for Ruger Only. I don't fool with those in the top category anymore.

You start by ordering up some bullets from this joker.

http://www.missouribullet.com/results.php?category=5&secondary=14

Then you get a set of Lee Carbide dies and go to town.

Crimp them all with a pretty good roll crimp.

Thanks all, no "hot hot" or very light loads intended. Just one for armadillos and beer cans, and another for hogs.

275 grain WFN
10.0 grains Unique

It'll be somewhere around 1000 fps, from that barrel.

That'll handle anything you point it at.

+1 here, both bullet and powder.

But only use 2400 if you tend to lean toward the hotter loads on average, but for the .45 Colt, 2400 is pretty versatile. But like most slower magnum powders, it's kinda loud and gives off a noticable muzzle flash.

If you expect your average load is going to be a bit on the lighter side, then I'd recommend Unique as you can make some hot loads, and a bunch of mid to low velocity loads and avoid all the excess noise.

If I were stuck with just one powder for the .45 Colt, it would be either Unique or Trai Boss, but those two powders fit MY kind of loading.

But 2400 IMO offers the most versatility in this cartridge.