.45 LC Loads in BP

[Saddlebag Preacher]

I enjoy shooting and reloading .45 LC in BP. I Use an old Lee Hand Loader and just relax while reloading a box of shells.

I do not own a chronograph so I'm picking some brains. I load the cases with 35 grains 2F goex and push a 250 grain .454 lubed bullet. Any idea what FPS I'm pushing out of a 4 5/8 barrel? I just asking for a ballpark figure.

The reason I want to know is I ordered a Ruger New Vaquero (4.5/8 BBL) and all I hear is I need the Older model to use heavy loads.

I Shoot my reloads through Ubertis and a 8" Remington Conversion with no problem. The recoil is a lot more than the "cowboy" loads, but I use them for pleasure and for a hard hitting load here on the farm and the woods. Besides, I love the darn thing's history.

An thoughts will be appreciated.

 

[Phantom Captain]

Last October I chronied my Colt open top conversion with .45 LC that I hand loaded. Mine is the 5" barrel. I was using the same 250 grain lubed bullet as you over 30 grains of either 2f or 3f, I don't currently remember, and they were pushing between 600-650 ft/sec.

Just as a reference for you.

 

[rcmodel]

and all I hear is I need the Older model to use heavy loads.

That applies only to smokeless powder "Ruger Only" heavy loads.

You can't get enough black powder in a .45 Colt case to make a "Ruger Only" heavy load.

The original 40 grain BP / 255 load was fine in 1870's Colt SAA's.

And your new Ruger New Vaquero is a heck of a lot stronger then they were.

rc

 

[Saddlebag Preacher]

Thanks for the info! Made my day.

 

[buttrap]

Using 2F the cases wont even expand and seal. A piddly load of 5.6 grains of unique powder would be a barn buster compard to that.

 

[jphendren]

I load .45 Colt with blacpowder. I use a Lee 2.2cc dipper, which dips about 34.5gr of Swiss FFFg. I have used the 250gr Lyman 454190 from Buffalo Arms, as well as the 235gr Black Dawg bullet from Powder Inc. This is a very powderful load, I am pretty sure that it is in the mid-800's to 1,000fps out of my 7.5" barreled USFA Ainsworth SAA. It kills 1 gallon milk jugs as violently as my 4" Python with 158gr Magnum loads. I have also fired this load out of my 4.75" USFA Pre-War, and the recoil is fairly stout. FFFg powder will give you more velocity than FFg, and more recoil. Also, I recommend Swiss powder, it burns with softer fouling, and has more energy than Goex. Goex will work fine though. I also shoot 250gr bullets over 8gr of Unique in these same guns, and I can tell you that the Swiss BP loads pack much more punch.

Jared

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

The reason I want to know is I ordered a Ruger New Vaquero (4.5/8 BBL) and all I hear is I need the Older model to use heavy loads.

Hogwash!

I shoot full house 45 Colt loads, 2.2CC of FFg and a 250 grain bullet out of Colts all the time, and New Vaqueros are pretty much the same size as a Colt.

You need the more massive 'original model' Vaquero for 'Ruger Only' Smokeless loads, but the original Black Powder loading of the 45 Colt cartridge was designed for the Colt Single Action Army in 1873, and a New Vaquero is basically the same size and same weight as the SAA.

 

[Foto Joe]

I don't have my chrony info with me in my phone, but I think you'd be mightily impressed with a mil-spec 45Colt load from 1873. The 600fps number mentioned above will have a LOT to do with barrel length.

My AAA with a 12" barrel and just 32gr 3f pushes a 230gr LRN out of the tube at North of 1,000fps. I did jam 40gr and a 255LRN into a 45 Colt brass once, but they are pretty hard on the shooting hand. I couldn't bring myself to load more just to chrony them.

 

[BHP FAN]

the Army dropped the 40gr. load pretty quickly .
[from Wikipedia]
''Colt began work on their 1873 Single Action Army Model in 1871. Sample cartridges submitted for Army tests were made by UMC, using the Benet cup primers; commercial ammunition used the Berdan-type primer, followed by the more common Boxer priming. Original UMC loads used a 40-grain (2.6 g) powder charge and 250-grain (16 g) bullet. This was reduced to 35-grain (2.3 g) of powder, and later, by the Army, to 28-grain (1.8 g)...''

 

[Foto Joe]

Anyone who has actually fired one of those 40gr monsters, even using modern brass and bullets understands why the Army Ordinance Department said they were too difficult for the soldiers to control.

They are fun to impress smokeless shooters with though.

 

[BHP FAN]

Amen to that. I loaded up twenty just for grins and giggles ... ended up shooting six in my revolver and fourteen in my levergun!

 

[EnsignJimmy]

Yes, 40 grains of FFFg under a 255 grain lead is a hoot. Modern brass only holds 37 grains of powder, but the difference between 37 and 40 grains of black or black substitute seems pretty negligible.

Out of the 5.5" barrel of an actual Colt 1878 double-action revolver (manufactured in 1889,) I've clocked such loads at just under 940 ft/sec (average. The high was 970 ft/sec.) Felt recoil is well in excess of a .357 Magnum (it approaches the felt recoil of a standard 240 grain .44 Magnum load out of a 4" S&W Model 29,) especially in the double-action, whose grip has a hump to direct recoil force straight back. The load is pleasingly accurate, but you sure know it every time you touch one off.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Modern brass only holds 37 grains of powder, but the difference between 37 and 40 grains of black or black substitute seems pretty negligible.

Well, actually, some brands of powder are denser than others.

My normal Black Powder load in 45 Colt is 2.2CC of FFg under a 250 grain bullet. But depending on what brand of powder I am using, the actual weight will vary. Back when Elephant was still available 2.2CC of FFg weighed about 37 grains. But 2.2CC of Goex FFg only weighs about 33.5 grains. And 2.2CC of Shuetzen FFg weighs even less.

So I would be able to cram 40 grains of Elephant in a lot easier than trying to cram in 40 grains of Schuetzen.

But it is really a moot point. No matter what brand I use, 2.2CC is still plenty of powder and gives me plenty of boom and smoke.

 

[loose noose]

I use a 260 grn handcast in front of 27 grns of Goex BP and a Wonder Wad. according to my 2 Colt 45s with 4 5/8" barrels I've been averaging 650 fps according to my Chronograph. The recoil is really not all that significant.