45 Colt First Time Handloads

[gpurp]

I just got the Lee 4-die set for the 45 Colt and had my first go at handloading this fine old caliber. Ingredients included new Starline brass, Hornady 250gr XTPs, Unique, and CCI 300 primers. I made two batches of starting loads. One with 7.5gr Unique and the other with 7.8gr Unique. OAL was 1.57 - 1.58 with a medium crimp. I tried them out this morning and here's what my Chrony told me.

Marlin 1894 24" CB: 7.5gr Unique = 926fps; 7.8gr Unique = 968fps

Rossi 1892 16" carbine: 7.5gr Unique = 970fps; 7.8gr Unique = 1029fps

Ruger 7-1/2" new Vaquero: 7.5gr Unique = 811fps; 7.8gr Unique = 825fps

Unique was the only powder on my shelf suitable for 45LC so I used what I had. I'm planning on trying 2400 next time for the rifles. I was kind of surprised to see higher velocities in the 16" barrel vs. the 24" barrel. I'm also wondering at what point 45lc jacketed bullets obturate and create a good seal. Any rules of thumb about that?

 

[rcmodel]

Your light loads of Unique are running out of steam in the long barrel.

You can bump it up to 8.5 to 9.0 grains safely in any of your guns.

Loading hot for the rifles with 2400 can lead to problems if they get in your medium frame Ruger by accident.

Loading lighter with 2400 won't work as well as the Unique.

rc

 

[murf]

jacketed bullets will not obturate . lead is a different story.

murf

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Like RC said, your light loads are running out of steam in the longer barrel. I have gotten good success using HS-6 in .45 Colt ammo especially for use in a Carbine. The results are surprising using a slower powder like HS-6 but not too slow like 2400.

AA#5 will deliver similar results to HS-6 but for some reason i haven't been able to achieve as good accuracy with AA#5 as with HS-6.

Thanks for the range report...

 

[Hondo 60]

As murf said, jacketed bullets do not obturate.

Obturation is where the base of the bullet melts a bit to seal the barrel so gasses don't blow by.
That blow by is one cause of leading.

 

[dagger dog]

No doubt the base of lead bullets can melt from blow by if they are too hard or under size,but obturation is from the pressure built up from the expanding propellent gasses working against the friction of the bullet in the bore and the weight of the bullet.

Gas checks on the base of the bullet are used to stop the leading from blow by melting, but they still let the bullet upset,obturate, to fill the bore and grip the rifiling for best accuracy.

Lee's Modern Reloading has a good chapter on pressure to bullet hardness, having the correct lead alloy bullet hardness along with correct sizing are the top 2 factors in lead bullet accuracy.

 

[rcmodel]

Obturation is where the base of the bullet melts a bit to seal the barrel so gasses don't blow by.

No melting involved hopefully.
If the base melts, obituration didn't take place, and you will have bore leading.

Obturation is where a soft lead bullet cold forms or expands to the bore due to the pressure kicking it in the butt.

And just for the record, jacketed bullets can, will & do obertuate too.

rc

 

[moxie]

Haven't dealt with gas checks in a long time. Both individually and as part of ready-made cast bullets, they have become very expensive. I usually just chicken out and use jacketed when I want to go fast. Seems they're awful pricey these days too. And the newer harder cast offerings don't seem to lead much.

 

[murf]

obturate means to seal the bore from expanding gases. in this scenario, a jacketed bullet will not obturate the barrel (not enough pressure), unless its diameter is barrel groove diameter or larger.

at sammi pressures for the 45 lc, even a lead bullet will have a hard time expanding to obturate the barrel (assuming its diameter is less than barrel groove diameter).

so, to get back to the op question, the point where a jacketed bullet will obturate the barrel is the groove diameter of the barrel.

murf

 

[Walkalong]

Obturation is where a soft lead bullet cold forms or expands to the bore due to the pressure kicking it in the butt.

And just for the record, jacketed bullets can, will & do obertuate too.

Yep.

But whether or not standard .45 Colt pressure will do it to a jacketed bullet is not the question, nor is it important. The OP isn't getting low velocity from gas getting by the bullet, he just needs to bump up the charge.

 

[Trad Archer]

HS-6!

Works awesome in 45 colt.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

HS-6!

Works awesome in 45 colt.

Yes in deed, just like I mentioned in Post #4 above... It is a great choice for the .45 Colt...

 

[gpurp]

Thanks for the replies. My first loads with Unique were starting loads. Definitely going to bump it up on the next batch. I also might try HS-6. Surely its cleaner than Unique. My goal is a mid range load good for plinking and some hunting. I know to be careful with the NV and don't want to feed her anything too hot.

 

[oneyeopn]

Before I got my Chrony I reloaded some 200gr JHP with 9gr of Unique, I still have some but they just feel weak, I never cared for them and are probably going to pull them and start over. In the last couple of days I have loaded some Hornady FTX (leverevolution) 225 gr with 9 gr of LongShot. I didnt trim the cases back but loaded them up and shot them. In my Rossi 92 45lc they cycled and ran beautifully. They ran with an 1160 average and basically all the shots were touching each other. Before I shot those I ran 10 Freedom Munitions FPFMJ 255gr bullets and they average 1087 (I slept last night so it might have been 1086) and had about a 6" group. I am going to load up the rest of the 225's staying with 9gr of longshot and maybe pull the 200's and load them up with 9.5gr of longshot to see what they will do. According to the ballistic sheet from Freedom the 255 are supposed to run about 960fps but I am shooting them out of a Rossi 92 with the 24" Barrel. Trying to get a 100 yard brush gun set up for deer season.