Greg8098
Member
Where can I find 50-round boxes of .45 Colt for a pretty reasonable price. I prefer something with a jacket of some sort, but all lead will suffice. Hoping for something priced at about what .45 acp costs on average.
.45 Colt ammo.
- Thread starter Greg8098
- Start date
- Status
SnWnMe
Member
Sad to say that you should probably handload if you plan on shooting the grand ol lady of big bores in quantity.
Nothing.
Sorry.
Cheapest .45 Colt is the crappy factory cowboy stuff and the cheapest I have ever seen that was $16/50 made by magtech, but that was 4 years ago. MidwayUSA charges $23 for them now. Cheapest on midway was ultramax for about $19.
There are some better factory bullets but they cost more (like $10-$15 per 20).
You might be able to find some locally a little cheaper.
I went the reloading route. I bought the lee anniversary kit, some calipers, a vibratory and a couple of manuals. Then I got components for 1000 rounds. All together I think I spent under $200. So that comes out to 20 cents a round (including equipment costs). I am able to produce more powerful, more accurate ammunition than what is available. I can also make .45 Colt +P rounds which the factories want about $1.50 a shot for and I make them for 12 cents.
You can buy factory ammo but you'll go broke pretty quickly...
Sorry.
Cheapest .45 Colt is the crappy factory cowboy stuff and the cheapest I have ever seen that was $16/50 made by magtech, but that was 4 years ago. MidwayUSA charges $23 for them now. Cheapest on midway was ultramax for about $19.
There are some better factory bullets but they cost more (like $10-$15 per 20).
You might be able to find some locally a little cheaper.
I went the reloading route. I bought the lee anniversary kit, some calipers, a vibratory and a couple of manuals. Then I got components for 1000 rounds. All together I think I spent under $200. So that comes out to 20 cents a round (including equipment costs). I am able to produce more powerful, more accurate ammunition than what is available. I can also make .45 Colt +P rounds which the factories want about $1.50 a shot for and I make them for 12 cents.
You can buy factory ammo but you'll go broke pretty quickly...
Greg, I would love to find what you're looking for too but I hate to tell you that you not gonna find any .45 Colt ammo like that. Even the light cowboy lead loads are much more expensive than .45ACP stuff and since the prices have risen, even the 20 rd boxes of .45 Colt now cost about what the 50 rd boxes of Federal 225 gr lead and the Win 225 gr Silvertips used to cost at least in my area. Being rather lacking when it comes to money I have to reload if I want to shoot the .45 Colt a lot. I don't load anything but cast lead bullets and even the components have gone up quite a bit in the last year or so.
MrAcheson
Member
Around here colt runs about twice what acp goes for. Which is why every cowboy shooter I know reloads.
Everytime I think about buying a cowboy .45 I shudder at the ammo costs because I don't reload. Uberti seems to put out .45acp conversion cylinders for most of their guns. At $100 or so, it will earn your money back in what 500 rounds? Ruger doesn'tthough. I'll probably just suck it up and buy a gun in .38/357 instead.
Everytime I think about buying a cowboy .45 I shudder at the ammo costs because I don't reload. Uberti seems to put out .45acp conversion cylinders for most of their guns. At $100 or so, it will earn your money back in what 500 rounds? Ruger doesn'tthough. I'll probably just suck it up and buy a gun in .38/357 instead.
KINGMAX
Member
No such animal is alive at this time.
No deal on 45 Colt. A hundred pcs. of brass naked will cost you $20.00. Start reloading.
No deal on 45 Colt. A hundred pcs. of brass naked will cost you $20.00. Start reloading.
45 colt...reload
like many have said...best and less expensive route is to reload...i was paying about $25/ 50 rounds..now i pay $2/50...i even started casting my own bullets...and get the wheel weights free from local tire dealers.....
its nice to be able to blast away and then just sit back and reload..or cast in my case
like many have said...best and less expensive route is to reload...i was paying about $25/ 50 rounds..now i pay $2/50...i even started casting my own bullets...and get the wheel weights free from local tire dealers.....
its nice to be able to blast away and then just sit back and reload..or cast in my case
Ruger makes a convertible blackhawk (which I have) but that is an adjustable sight. My first 1000 rounds through the gun was .45ACP until I started to reload. I don't think they make a vaquero conv.
I prefer to shoot the .45 Colt anyways. Get into reloading. You won't regret it.
I prefer to shoot the .45 Colt anyways. Get into reloading. You won't regret it.
MrAcheson
Member
True, but you have the purchase the gun that way from the factory. And last I checked they only make it in blue on the Blackhawk frame. No chance of stainless or something that might fit a New Vaquero.
Since the cylinder is one of the handful of parts Ruger won't sell on the open market (cylinder, frame, barrel, medallion), you can't just have a smith rework a cylinder for you to roll your own either.
What bullets do you shoot?
I'm curious, what bullets are you folks reloading in 45, and for what purpose? I'm trying to develop a black bear defense load. So far, i've only been able to play around with some 290 grain bullets, but I just got in some 265 keith, 270 grain, and 310 gran bullets.
thanks.
I'm curious, what bullets are you folks reloading in 45, and for what purpose? I'm trying to develop a black bear defense load. So far, i've only been able to play around with some 290 grain bullets, but I just got in some 265 keith, 270 grain, and 310 gran bullets.
thanks.
There is a lot of good ammo out there for the .45 Colt. The cheapest that is modern-style ammo is CCI Blazer, which is a 200 grain hollowpoint at 1000 fps or so. There are several smaller ammo makers, and I recommend two - Georgia Arms, and DoubleTap, that make good ammo for the .45 Colt. The Georgia arms stuff is 200 or 250 grain, and the DoubleTap ranges from 250 to 335 grain (for stopping cement mixers and the like).
The cowboy stuff is definitely cheaper, but it is usually dirtier.
The cowboy stuff is definitely cheaper, but it is usually dirtier.
Stainz
Member
I discovered .45 Colt via the Blackhawk convertible I had bought, whose initial purchase was to shoot away my ACP cache. The .45 Colt was/is addictive - I soon had a DA (A .454 SRH) - and then another BH. I bought most of my ammo from Georgia Arms - in nice bright new Starline cases. I saved the empties. When I added a S&W 625MG, I really started plinking those rounds away. The folks at the range store kept trying to sell me a Dillon Square Deal press... I had never touched a reloading press - scurried past that reloading dribble at the shows, etc.
Four and a half years ago, I did some reflection. Actually, I counted the .45 Colt brass I had amassed in Ziploc bags - over 2,700! A little math, and I figured that a new 550B and reloading accessories and supplies would cost less than the next S&W I had planned to buy, so I ordered it. Oops. I had the equipment 'paid for', at the then current new ammo prices, by <2,100 rounds loaded. Future reloads would indeed be at just the component cost. I soon started to make ammo for guns I didn't have! That hobby is invasive. I now 'shoot to reload'... thought it was going to be 'reload to shoot'. I soon became that swarmy guy I once saw dumpster-diving at the range for brass and boxes!
My suggestion, worth what you paid for it, is simple... Find GA Arms site - call them Monday AM (800#) - order a couple hundred rounds of their ammo. They make 240gr LRNFP's now in Starline brass, with their name headstamped on it, in either bare brass or Ni/brass - somewhere ~$36/100. They also have the Speer 200gr Gold Dot in brass, and I have chrono-ed them at 1,123 fps from my 4" 625MG and 1,210 fps from my 5.5" Redhawk - probably a decent deer round - ~$21/50. No boxes - just ammo in plastic bags. Nice folks, very good product. Store your empties... I never thought I'd reload, either.
Stainz
PS Get a proper bore AND chamber brush in bronze - use Hoppes #9 - and give it time to 'work', and the residue from shooting lead will be a non-issue.
Four and a half years ago, I did some reflection. Actually, I counted the .45 Colt brass I had amassed in Ziploc bags - over 2,700! A little math, and I figured that a new 550B and reloading accessories and supplies would cost less than the next S&W I had planned to buy, so I ordered it. Oops. I had the equipment 'paid for', at the then current new ammo prices, by <2,100 rounds loaded. Future reloads would indeed be at just the component cost. I soon started to make ammo for guns I didn't have! That hobby is invasive. I now 'shoot to reload'... thought it was going to be 'reload to shoot'. I soon became that swarmy guy I once saw dumpster-diving at the range for brass and boxes!
My suggestion, worth what you paid for it, is simple... Find GA Arms site - call them Monday AM (800#) - order a couple hundred rounds of their ammo. They make 240gr LRNFP's now in Starline brass, with their name headstamped on it, in either bare brass or Ni/brass - somewhere ~$36/100. They also have the Speer 200gr Gold Dot in brass, and I have chrono-ed them at 1,123 fps from my 4" 625MG and 1,210 fps from my 5.5" Redhawk - probably a decent deer round - ~$21/50. No boxes - just ammo in plastic bags. Nice folks, very good product. Store your empties... I never thought I'd reload, either.
Stainz
PS Get a proper bore AND chamber brush in bronze - use Hoppes #9 - and give it time to 'work', and the residue from shooting lead will be a non-issue.
Last edited:
Ammo Price Comparison
I have a spreadsheet with about 3 dozen .45 colt vendors listed. Can't post the xls file here so I have a PDF version of it if anyone is interested. This are mostly cowboy rounds as I am thinking of starting CAS.
If you have other sources let me know and I'll add them.
I have a spreadsheet with about 3 dozen .45 colt vendors listed. Can't post the xls file here so I have a PDF version of it if anyone is interested. This are mostly cowboy rounds as I am thinking of starting CAS.
If you have other sources let me know and I'll add them.
Attachments
North Bender
Member
Nice work Jed, thanks.
mrrick
Member
I buy a lot of ammo from outdoormarksman.com
they have 250 round cans for very reasonable prices (when in stock, keep checking back and buy a bunch when they have it).
they have 250 round cans for very reasonable prices (when in stock, keep checking back and buy a bunch when they have it).
Joe Gunns
Member
Ruger does do convertible 45/45acp in the Vaquero from time to time. And in stainless. Getting one seems to be a case of being in the shop at the right time.
- Status
Similar threads
