Good morning High Road!
I finally broke down and bought some 225 grain FTX bullets to play with in my older Vaquero and Henry lever gun. (Both are chambered in .45 Colt.)
I have cases ready to go at Hornady’s recommended trim length of 1.215. I contacted Hornady and was told the velocity range should be at least 800 for expansion and no more than 1500 fps to avoid fragmentation.
Here’s my issue: Hornady doesn’t publish above standard pressure data for this bullet. Hodgdon’s data doesn’t take the smaller trim to length into account. VV only publishes standard pressure data and very little for 3N37 in 45 Colt.
I plan on using the following 250 grain jhp loads as a point of reference.
• 12.0 3N37
• 9.5 CFE Pistol
• 8.6 W231
These produce 950-1050 in my 5.5” barrel and a couple hundred more from the 20”. I’m shooting for about 150 fps more with the 225 FTX.
* These are Tier 2 “Ruger/TC only” loads. They are above standard pressure published data and are safe in MY guns. They produce unsafe pressures for SAA and replicas.
I’m thinking my Tier 3 loads with AA#9 and W296 are a bit much with these bullets.
Question: Would anyone mind sharing their experience loading these bullets?
I finally broke down and bought some 225 grain FTX bullets to play with in my older Vaquero and Henry lever gun. (Both are chambered in .45 Colt.)
I have cases ready to go at Hornady’s recommended trim length of 1.215. I contacted Hornady and was told the velocity range should be at least 800 for expansion and no more than 1500 fps to avoid fragmentation.
Here’s my issue: Hornady doesn’t publish above standard pressure data for this bullet. Hodgdon’s data doesn’t take the smaller trim to length into account. VV only publishes standard pressure data and very little for 3N37 in 45 Colt.
I plan on using the following 250 grain jhp loads as a point of reference.
• 12.0 3N37
• 9.5 CFE Pistol
• 8.6 W231
These produce 950-1050 in my 5.5” barrel and a couple hundred more from the 20”. I’m shooting for about 150 fps more with the 225 FTX.
* These are Tier 2 “Ruger/TC only” loads. They are above standard pressure published data and are safe in MY guns. They produce unsafe pressures for SAA and replicas.
I’m thinking my Tier 3 loads with AA#9 and W296 are a bit much with these bullets.
Question: Would anyone mind sharing their experience loading these bullets?
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