45colt loads

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jsickle

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Setting up to load for a 45Colt Vaquero 3.75" Bird Head.
I did a search on this forum and went through all my manuals, for now have decided on starting with 7 grains of Unique behind 250grain lead bullet.
I would like to here some of your favorite loads
 
My standard load in a Colt SAA is the 250 Keith SWC over 8.5 Unique.

It will just about match the orginial black powder load that made the cartridge famous.

rc
 
I use a load similar to rcmodel. The Vaquaro and Blackhawk will take heavier loads but the 8.X of Unique has always been the most accurate for me.

Jeff
 
My SAAMI spec load is Trailboss. Don't shoot softer Cowboy. Most shooting is with heavier loads aka Tier II using IMR 4227.
 
I have an 1873 Uberti Sporting Rifle and two Uberti cattleman SAA clone revolvers.
In the revolvers, my first loads were 8.6 gr Unique with 250 gr RNFP and they shot fine with it but it was as high as I would go. Personally, I felt they were a bit hot and perhaps a tad too much for making shooting comfortable for both myself and my firearms.
A Vaquero is certainly built to handle that combo, but I thought it might be slightly too much for the build of my Uberti's.
I have settled on 8.2 gr Unique over the 250 gr RNFP alloy #2 cast bullets.
These seem to be just right out of my 5.5 inch barrels with little recoil but good accuracy and are fun to shoot.
I think they are kinder the the bolt linkage in the rifle too.
I have a couple hundred 250 gr RNFP on top of 5.1 gr Trail Boss loaded up too.
These are fun to shoot and do well with accuracy.
All my cases have a moderate crimp.
 
I was just trying some loads in .45 Colt yesterday, and found a recipe I liked in my Ruger Flattop. 9.0 grains of SR 4756 under a Bayou Bullets 200 grain coated RNFP bullet. It was a mild-to-moderate load, and accurate. The 4756 shot a bit dirty, but that's nothing new. I don't think .45 Colt gets up in the pressure range that 4756 likes in order to burn clean, if such a range exists.
 
I load for my rossi 92 16in barrel in 45 colt I have two loads I use first one is mbc cowboy #1 250gr lfp bullet with 6.8gr greendot and it shoots this very well! plus I also load sierra 300gr jsp with 20.8gr h110 powder and this is a ruger only load I shoot in the rossi 92 rifle and has the power to boot, do not use this in colt ssa or colt clones! but in ruger pistols and the newer rifles will be fine!
 
I have used 13 grains of unique with a 225 grain hornady bullet since finding the article in guns and ammo in 1978. I also load 13.3 with 200 gr sierra. A real tack driver
 
Went out today and shot the 7grain loads of Unique, at 12 yard rested I was putting them in a 3 inch circle most of the time (not the guns fault).
Really liking this gun next loads I'm thinking of going up to 7.5grains.
Kind of confused on loads the manuals have different load ranges for 250 grain lead and Unique powder
Lyman 6.0 to 9.0, Hornaday 4.6 to 7.0, Lee 8.4 to 9.5, and Alliant has a max of 9.0. So I'm staying in the 7 to 8 grain area for now.
Thanks for your responses
 
I'm also a fan of the standard 8.5 grains of Unique with a 250-255 grain SWC.

It's plenty heavy enough of a load to handle most anything you could encounter and but not too much to handle.
 
jsickle,

Did you notice the black marks around the outside of the cases after firing those 7.0gr loads? That's because your load is WAY below the pressure necessary to seal the case in the chambers. That's why most guys use at least 8.0gr of Unique with 250gr bullets. Personally, I use 9.0gr.

Don
 
I plan on buying a Rossi '92 with the 24" octagonal barrel in .45 Colt, and I'm curious if anybody here has one and handloads for it, and what kind of recipes work well in such a long-barreled beastie? I plan on using the basic 250gr. RFN lead bullets, and probably jacketed hollowpoints too, target and deer hunting loads.
 
I plan on buying a Rossi '92 with the 24" octagonal barrel in .45 Colt, and I'm curious if anybody here has one and handloads for it, and what kind of recipes work well in such a long-barreled beastie? I plan on using the basic 250gr. RFN lead bullets, and probably jacketed hollowpoints too, target and deer hunting loads.
Click to expand...

My view of my 45 Colt Henry Big Boy is that it would be a companion to and share ammo with my side arm. Wishing not to be confined by SAAMI specs and older guns, my side arm would be capable of the 20k+ range of pressure, aka Tier 2. The rifle would be expected to handle that. Bullets would likely be 255 grain lead alloy.
 
I have used W231, Unique, Red Dot, AA#2, AA#5, Trail Boss, Zip and a bunch more but my current favorite is HS-6. Use a magnum primer or a Winchester LP primer with HS-6. Great 45 Colt powder IMO.
 
I use a Lee 255gr SWC with 10.0 gr Unique. Ths is in a S&W 25-2 and a Redhawk. Verypleasant and very accurate. For serious work I use Hornady 250 and 300 gr bullets in Starline cases . I use the Hodgdon data to load these to full power. 23.0gr with the 300 gr and 25.7 gr with the 250 gr. The 300gr out of a 20"SS Rossi 92 produces 1700FPS. The 24" will probably gather a few moreFPS since the H110 is slow enough. his exceedes the ouput of most 30-30 offerings. This is serious stuff. Im becoming more fond of VV N110 now because its clean accurate and has nearly the same power level as the Hodgdon powder. These loads shoot just fine in the Redhawk but I dont want to shoot the S&W loose. The S&W is more of an instrument while the Ruger is more like a farm implement.Not so crude but as durable.
 
Snowbank! wrote:
I have used 13 grains of unique with a 225 grain hornady bullet since finding the article in guns and ammo in 1978. I also load 13.3 with 200 gr sierra. A real tack driver
Click to expand...

13 and 13.3 gr of Unique in a 45 Long Colt case sounds dangerously high to me. I have never seen anything in that cartridge over 10.0 gr for a revolver and that was with 185 gr bullets MAX.
I do believe you have 44 Magnum in mind.
I also doubt anything over 8.0 gr would get burnt out of a 3.75 inch barrel.
 
The 13+gr of Unique w/225 can be found published,BUT ONLY in the stouter guns not the SAA or its clones. The S&W will not blowup but it will loosen all its joints.
 
Thanks for the replies
I'm going to make some 7.5 and some 8.0 grain loads tomorrow, I'll let you all know how they shoot.
Thanks again
 
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