Just another Redhawk .45 colt thread..

[OldClay]

Hehee.... Just bored outta' my mind,thought I'd post a thread. Thought I'd talk about my 4" Redhawk .45 colt. It took awhile for me to get some dies for it. And I've just started loading for that. Shooting factory loads through that wheel-gun is very pleasant to say the least. In fact it kinda' took some getting used to. In order to get the ol' coffee cans rolling along in proper fashion.


At any-rate I squeezed together my first box of that.

Hornady XTP 300gr Boolits
CCI 350 (LPM) Primers.
In once fired "Starliner" brass.
H110 powder 1 cylinder at 21.2
3 cylinders worth at 21.5
And the remainder at Hodgdons recomended starting load of 21.8 Ruger T/C Freedom arms... No real intended use for these except to see what they'll do.

So I thought I'd post this up. And to kinda' get a general consensus on that. As I haven't tried them yet. Next I'll load out some much milder plinking type loads I expect some probably some 270gr cast boolits to maybe to around 850/900 ish. (Maybe less.) For this I have some blue-dot some red-dot, and some 2400. But I guess we'll see how all that goes. I don't really like to play with the red-dot too much. You CAN call me paranoid about that.. I was thinking about starting off with 12grs o' blue-dot CCI 350 LPM primers. But I really don't have a-lot of data on the blue-dot in .45 colt. (I know it works pretty darn good in a .357 though.)


Also does anyone know where I could maybe find a SRH cylinder?. I would like to use the .454 cases in that pistol. Probably loadings not much hotter, but to help prevent possible mix-ups.. Not really a big worry though.. And could could someone post a picture of a redhawk with the .454 SRH cylinder in it? I've been given to understand this is an easy conversion.

Thank you all in advance.. Best to all of ya's.

"Clay"

 

[CraigC]

If you handload, you don't need the .454. The .45Colt Redhawk is fully capable of loads in the 50-55,000psi range. There are far easier ways to keep your loads segregated than to go to the trouble of a .454 cylinder.

 

[murf]

bludot is a great upper-midrange powder. you don't need magnum primers for it, though. cci 300s work great.

murf

 

[VA27]

My go-to load is 8.5grs of Unique under cast bullets in the 200-255gr range. This is for the safety of my 1860 & 1873 rifle clones. That 1860 Uberti Henry is crazy accurate with that load.

When I'm doing serious work for the Blackhawk and the 4" Redhawk I use your load of H110 with 300-325gr cast. Yeah, you can go a little higher, but the recoil ceases to be 'fun'. And truthfully it's all you need for hog or deer sized animals.

I use a different brand of case and a different sizing method in order to protect my weaker guns. For the 'standard' load, I only neck size the brass. After they're loaded they look more 44/40 than 45 Colt. The hot stuff gets full length sizing.

I've been experimenting with using 412gr hard-cast gascheck 45/70 bullets sized to .451 just for fun. I really need to fit a much taller front sight for these, but just haven't had the time lately. I haven't chrono'ed the load as this is early days in the project, but I hope to get 850-900fps safely. No real reason, just something to do.

The Redhawk is such a hoss that the Blackhawk (with Bisley grip mods) is feeling neglected.

 

[Armored farmer]

I have been shooting 8gr of Unique under a cast 255gr bullet for several years. Last Monday, I was called on to dispatch a large animal. I dug around in my ammo cabinet and found a dusty box of 'Ruger Only' ammo that I had bought at a gun show years ago. They were loaded with XTP's and who knows what powder and charge. WOW, I had forgotten what the .45Colt was capable of. I suppose you all know what I'm doing now.....searching for 300gr molds and load data for .45Colt.

 

[OldClay]

Thank you all for your replies..

@CraigC: Hehe.. Yeah I know I don't need a SRH cylinder but that really doesn't stop me from wanting one.. There's something about that unfluted Carpenter steel cylinder that very appealing to the eye. It's not on the worry list. But still I'd kinda' like to keep an eye out for one.

@Murf: Yeah the CCI 350's are a carry over from my M29 6". Next time I'm near the primer store I'll grab 1000 300's to go with a can of "Unique". Lotsa' load data for .45 colt for that powder. From mild to fairly wild nearly every bullet covered at least by weight.. It seem to be a staple for .45 colt. I'll pick some up. I'll see how things go with that.

@VA27 and kbbailey: 8-8.5grs of unique seems to about tops for my old lyman and speer books for colts w/255. Seem to be almost a starting load for the ruger sections. Sierra only offered a 185 and a 240 gr bullet for .45 when that book was published. And so the powder charges are somewhat higher. I've been surfing around trying to get as much data as I can for .45 colt and the powders/primers I have. But it looks like I'll need to get some LP primers at least to carry on with the milder loads. Too little data w/lpm's in moderate/lite loads.

I found some data I may try w/250-270gr bullets. LPM and 17grs of 2400 powder but this is still a somewhat heavier load than what I had in mind.

Alliant's .45 colt blue-dot loading, speer 260, cci 300. sez 13gr's for 941fps from a 5.5" bbl so from a 4" about 900? Humm..
Actually that could be about right for what I think I might want for my socalled plinker loads. Except I'll use lead bullets.
I'll keep surfing see if I can find more on this.


Casting lead? Yeah I've thought about that a lot of late. I even have picked out a nice outdoor spot under the carport. For smelting. And I think I still might have a 5 gallon bucket of lead wheel-weights under the house. Still that's not on the worry list either.(yet) But it makes me think..I'll have to get molds/handles a ladle a smelter(Hot Plate with a cast iron pot?) Lead nearly melts itself during the summer here. So that shouldn't be a problem. Then I'd need a sizer/luber. I would probably only use that for sizing. And I'd pan pour some kinda' concoction that I'll call "Homemade lube". I'll need some kinda' flux. I'd need a whole lot of help with knowledge which I don't have. But still that would be something new. And I kinda' need to learn some new things. Sounds Like FUN in it's self. Plus the cost of shooting would go down quite a bit. But I really don't go out as often as I used to.


I getting tired so I guess I'll finish this post. Hopefully ya's will forgive my baud splng and tpyo's and the one big long sentence's that all must be in there somewhere.

Best to all of ya's...

"Clay"

 

[OldClay]

Thank you all for your replies. Somehow I managed to delete my last post along with all the edits. I spent some time on it. But it really wasn't too important anyway.

Best to all of ya's...

"Clay"

Edit: Ooops it's still there. My bad, to tired to type. Good-nite everyone..LOL...

 

[SDGlock23]

Nothing like big bore shootin! I had a 4" Redhawk .45 Colt but during a lapse of reason I sold it, now I regret it. Hang onto yours!

H110/W296 and Lil'Gun are gun for the big boomers. In my 5.5" Bisley I load 22.0gr Lil'Gun (1.625" OAL, CCI LP primer) under a Beartooth 330gr WFN for 1,290 fps avg. It gets your attention...lol. No sticky extraction either!