45 Colt hunting ability

[JustsayMo]

My favorite woods packin' gun is my 5.5" Ruger NEW Vaquero. The aesthetic and the ergonomics are as close to perfect as I can imagine. I've enjoyed taking it along hiking, camping, scouting and fishing this year. With hunting season upon us I'm wondering if it would make a viable hunting handgun?

The "official" recommendation is to keep the loads at Colt/replica levels. Staying very close to that level I have a load that pushes a 255 gr SWC a little over 900 fps. I have another load that pushes a 255gr RNFP with about a .275" meplat nearly 950fps on average. Both shoot very accurately.

How viable and ethical would these loads be for Deer sized critters?

 

[timothy75]

Either of those would be fine for deer and are very classy loads imho.

 

[JoeHatley]

Pick your shots and keep the range reasonable (<75 yd) and either should be fine.

Joe

 

[MCgunner]

Me, I'd keep the range under fifty yards. It's gonna have a rainbow trajectory if nothing else with a load that slow. It's a rather weak load, too, but under 50 yards it should get good penetration on deer. I wouldn't shoot a big hog with it.

I prefer my 300 grainer at 1200 fps, but I shoot it out of a Blackhawk and I understand the NM Vaqs aren't that strong. My light load is 8.3 grains Unique under a Lee cast 255 flat nose. That one's about in the 900-1000 fps range. I can say, the load is extremely accurate.

 

[Stainz]

I would think that even the Speer #4484 250gr Gold Dot, whether handloaded or commercially loaded for .45 Colt SAAMI spec's, would be good, too. It opens well in 'soft tissue' or 'thin skinned' game - like deer (and humans) - at 800+ fps.

Stainz

 

[JustsayMo]

A few years back had an experience with a JHP in 44 Magnum that didn't exit. Good hit, both lungs but didn't exit. Deer took off and didn't leave much of a blood trail. It was difficult to find him. That convinced me of the importance of an exit wound and have been hunting cast bullets ever since. No complaints and in my limited sample that includes two bears are more effective. Plenty of blood, short if any run, critter DRT.

Mc: Agreed, my BH is a superior hunter because it easily handles big bullets and spits em out fast. For practical reasons it should be my first choice. The RNV just appeals to me more.

 

[Texas Colt]

I have taken several deer with the 45 Colt. Loads have been either the 250 grain Hornady XTP or a 255 grain cast SWC. Both loads doing about 900 fps out of a 4" S&W Mountain Gun.

I have had the same experience as JustSayMo with the XTP. Twice I have made solid heart/lung shots at less than 25 yards, but the bullets didn't exit. Both deer went 50-60 yards before expiring. I had to walk in widening semi circles to find them because there was no blood trail.

The cast SWC will almost always penetrate and give you a blood trail. It's a better choice in my opinion.

 

[Colt46]

I'd go with the SWC

Not so sure of the wound channel associated with the RNFP. A good SWC at 900 fps will be all you need for deer sized game. practice by firing at a paper plate at various ranges so you can get the confidence needed to take your shots. anything over 50 yards I'd not take unless I was a really accomplished handgunner.

 

[huntershooter]

Two yrs. ago I shot several feral hogs in Okla. I used a .45 colt with 300 gr. XTP's @ 1250 fps from a tricked out Bisley. The largest hog was over 450 lbs. It took 4 rds. to put him down (yes, shot placement was lung/heart). The recovered rds. looked like ball ammo. No expansion. I've gone to CP or Beartooth 265 or 300 gr. cast WFN (gas check). These will shoot through anything I'm likely to encounter, and have pretty good "shock" value. At 950 fps they won't hit as hard, but should still be a quantum leap above the RNFP's.