What would you consider minimum vel from your handgun in the 45 Colt with the 270 cast SWC bullet to hunt deer, with shots coming 50 yards and under?

700fps.

+1

I got about 3 FEET of penetration on an 1,800lb bull starting a 270 at 900fps from about 7 yards.

You'd probably get through and through on a deer broadside with only 400fps at impact.

Remington's factory 45 Colt LRN standard velocity ammo makes a nominal 750 fps, and I think that's the most anemic commercially available round on the market. It should perforate deer just fine.

However, that doesn't mean it's the best choice of hunting ammo, IMHO.

I wouldn't drop much below 750 fps for hunting, based on some ballistic tests I did with 45 ACP 230 and 250 gr bullets about 14 years ago. Penetration really starts to drop off once you get below 700.

I thought you need at least 1200 fps for pass throughs.

Not for whitetail.

Maybe the long way.

That one made me laugh out loud, seriously. My secretary thought I had gone nuts!

This goes back a few years...

A friend of mine was the grandson of an old guy who owned a rendering plant in rural WI. My friend and I were aficionados of the then-new idea of firing heavy loads in our 45 Colt single action Rugers, and one dday we met at the rendering plant to shoot some dead horses to test bullet penetration. The horses didn't arrive at the yard dead, but they were very recently dead when we shot them with our revolvers.

We were shooting 270-330 gr hard cast bullets at velocities upwards of 1350 fps... I mean, we were pushing Linebaugh's limits.

All of our bullets traversed the horses crosswise, whether through chest or guts. Which was disappointing, as we really wanted to recover some bullets so we could measure them and weigh them and take photographs of them to prove the superiority of our bullets & ammunition.

So we did eventually get some of our bullets to stay in one horse, a big old Clydesdale gelding who was fairly long, the long way, as long as we shot through the brisket and aimed for the hindquarter.

The main result of that test, at least for my part, was to stop hunting deer with 325 gr hard cast bullets @1325 fps, which loads were hard on my hands, and apparently a tad more potent than shooting through a whitetail, crossways or stem-to-stern, required. I've killed several deer since then with 260-270 gr cast bullets toddling along at anywhere from 900 fps to 1100 fps and the deer are no more nor no less dead than those shot with transonic loudenboomers.

Your experience mirrors John Linebaugh's. The cited article is about loads for a Smith 25-5 but these passages seem appropos.

"...I have seen my wife shoot two or three mule deer and about eight antelope now with a .45 Colt. The load she has used almost exclusively for seven years now is a 260 Keith slug at 900 fps out of a 4 3/4" Seville revolver. This will consistently shoot length ways and exit on mule deer and antelope at 100 yards.

It kills in my estimation better than a .270 or .30-06 class rifle as it acts a lot like an arrow and doesn't excite the animal. They usually show minor hit reaction and trot off 20 to 30 yards. By then they have leaked so much, they are done. No whistles or bells, just honest consistent performance.

I have used this load on two antelope with exacting results. In my early hunting years I used the same 260 gr Keith at 1,400 fps. out of a dozen antelope and one mule deer I have personally taken I can't see that it stops them one bit better than the 900 fps load." (bold mine)

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=12

I personally have always believed that a hard cast 350 to 300 gr 45 cal bullet doesn't need all that much vel to penetrate most big game such as deer and elk if major bones aren't hit.

choose the bullet wisely. I tried a rnfp on a whitetail buck in the lungs. Maybe I should have just waited after the shot, but i dont quit if they are still moving. I turned into goat rope that only ended with a dash back to my rifle.

I set my lead-bullet working loads up to run 850-900 fps and if it's a SWC load likely to be used for hunting, 950-1050 fps. There is no doubt you can kill them with the 270 SAA at 750 fps; but I like a little more velocity as insurance that it will wreck major skeletal structures and still exit.

My 45 Ruger and hunting load

That's very nice, bea!!

Amazing how a fair number of folks don't realize that a healthy young man can probably pizz through a deer. When I moved to Texas and was invited to hunt a number of South Texas ranches with "big" deer most everyone used a 300 Win Mag with a couple going the 300 UM. Really?

I have just started using a .45 Colt, but shoot 300 - 335gr bullets, hard cast and Barnes mono-metal, out of a .44 mag at 1050 - 1100 fps on feral hogs (that are tougher than the average whitetail) and just about always get complete pass-throughs taking shoulder shots at from 25 to 60 yards. I expect my .45 will do as well with similar bullets and velocities.

A 275 gr .430" WFN at 1000 fps. In, out and on the ground in 20 yards.

Nice Porker and taken the right way with a handgun

255 LSWC started @ 1000fps. Probably never even slowed down when it passed through at ~ 30 yards.

Can't wait to receive my new mold, should be superb in the 45 colt.



I got it with the cup and deep hp pins.

Finally got a chance to take my wife to the range to try her new bisley 45 convertable. Needs a trigger job but looks like it will be very accurate once I dial in a load or two.

I shot many deer with the .45 Colt with 300 to 335 gr boolits to 1160 fps and it is true, they jump, walk off and bleed out. Not enough energy so they just bleed out.
yet penetration is still astounding. get lower then 1000 fps and there is a loss of energy but they still bleed out. I would still not go to 700 fps.
Everyone still says a .45 Ruger will match a .44 mag, not true until you have energy to match. I get the same weight boolits to a little over 1316 fps in the .44 but you will not in the .45 unless going to .454 pressures.
The .44 still kills faster.

Please explain how "energy" relates to the wound channel.

I'm just curious how the 45 has to be loaded to 454 pressures to kill as well as a 44? Plus, a 45 at the same speed, all else equal, has lower pressure.

A WFN 44 bullet has the same meplat as a 45 LFN.

First, the 45 Colt only needs 30,000 PSI to send a 300 grain hard cast to 1300 plus FPS, does not need 454 pressures to do this.

Second please explain this

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/9372890/45_acp_for_Deer#Post9372890

John, you've pointed out the feature that has steered me toward the 45 Colt rather than the 44 Magnum for the bulk of my handgun hunting. Equal velocities with lower pressure means more comfortable shooting at lower personal cost.

I've never found that to be the case. In almost identical custom Ruger Bisley's, I see no difference with comparable loads.

I have killed ~ 21 deer and antelope and every bullet went through. But those were fast bullets.

155 gr 458 cal cast bullets at 400 fps always go through a 20 pound raccoon, come out the other side, and make a 1/2" deep dent in Douglas Fir wood.

Is that the Miha mould? Will those bullets drop at .454"? I gotta start casting.

Yes, the new Miha mold. Hopefully it'll be arriving shortly.

Cyber Monday must be tying up the net as I'm having trouble accessing the specs on the mold. His machine work is impeccable, so if the mold is designated 454, that's what it should cast. I'm planning to size them .452".

Drop me a pm and I'll try and cast some up and send them your way to try out. He always makes extras when he makes a batch so you should be able to snap one up. My lube sizer is already packed as I'm in the process of moving, but I can tumble lube some samples and I'll mike the as cast dia.

45 Colt +P is 30,000 PSI, 36,000 for the 44 mag Underwood Ammo loads a 325 grain hard cast at 30,000 PSI in the 45 Colt to 1325 FPS. They load a 305 grain hard cast at 36,000 PSI in the 44 mag for 1325 FPS. 6,000 PSI max average lower in the 45 Colt.

I am still loading a 250 grain LSWC over Unique powder. It runs right at 900 FPS, and will go end to end through a fairly large pig. Never shot a deer with it, but I am sure it would work well.

Thanks for that post Mannlicher. That'll go nicely nicely in my New Vaq.

Like I said, in nearly identical Rugers, I've never been able to discern a lick of difference between the two. Even if it was there, it wouldn't be enough to get excited about. IMHO, wishful thinking more than anything else.