Loading 45 colt.

noell316

I have purchased a Cimarron SAA copy. I have not loaded 45 colt in about 10 or 11 years, I have a bunch of 255 grain RNFP and SWC. What powder, and how many grains of, would y'all recommend for these?

longspur rider

What are you planning to shoot with the loads? Just plink? Match shoot? Hunting?

Zinderbloc

5.5 grains of Red Dot is a good plinking load with a 255 grain lead bullet. Works for me.

noell316

Plinking and / or match use.

bartman45

When I loaded smokeless, I used Trail Boss and it is a very good powder as it fills the case and help prevents any over charges. Real black powder in a 45 will give you an appreciation of how powerful this load was in the 1870's.

longspur rider

5 grains of Trail Boss is a good plinking & shooting load. Have a friend that loads 4 grains of TB for cowboy because there is hardly any recoil. I like a little more bang, so I go with 5.0.

flyingcollie

I've been using Trail Boss, 7.5 grains under a 250gr cast bullet . . . runs about 800fps. I like TB because being bulky, it's not position sensitive.

How much black powder would you load under a 250gr bullet ? (I think I'd like to have that 1875 experience!)

44caliberkid

quote:Originally posted by flyingcollie
I've been using Trail Boss, 7.5 grains under a 250gr cast bullet . . . runs about 800fps. I like TB because being bulky, it's not position sensitive.

How much black powder would you load under a 250gr bullet ? (I think I'd like to have that 1875 experience!)

If you're not using a black powder bullet (like the Big Lube) then fill the case with enough 2 or 3 F to add a 45 cal Wonder Wad and compress the charge while seating the bullet. Probably around 36 - 38 grains. I don't load black by weight, I just fill up the case about 1/8 of an inch from the top and seat a Big Lube bullet on top.

bartman45

quote:Originally posted by 44caliberkid
quote:Originally posted by flyingcollie
I've been using Trail Boss, 7.5 grains under a 250gr cast bullet . . . runs about 800fps. I like TB because being bulky, it's not position sensitive.

How much black powder would you load under a 250gr bullet ? (I think I'd like to have that 1875 experience!)

If you're not using a black powder bullet (like the Big Lube) then fill the case with enough 2 or 3 F to add a 45 cal Wonder Wad and compress the charge while seating the bullet. Probably around 36 - 38 grains. I don't load black by weight, I just fill up the case about 1/8 of an inch from the top and seat a Big Lube bullet on top.


Right on, and skip the bp subs. Real bp is easy to clean up.

machine gun moran

I like some 'bang' myself, so I use Unique or 231 data from the Lyman manual that produces about 875 - 900 fps. That's in the neighborhood of .45 BP velocities.

BTW, I think the .45's of yesteryear reduced the repeat-crime rate a lot more than the 9mm's of today, have. [:)]

v35

Today's solid head cases wont allow the original 40 grains of BP to be loaded. The old folded head brass had more capacity. That also goes for 38-40 and 44-40 brass.
Yes, one does get a big boom and more recoil from 40 grains of BP under a 250 grain bullet.
Any lube wads between powder and bullet further reduces case capacity.
I've used Keith 2400 loads for impressive, max loads years back but found the cylinder bushing gets pounded, increasing cylinder fore and aft play. Fitting a new bushing restores the damage.