.45 LC for hunting

[Southlander]

It's been a while since I have been on, but I thought I'd show my face and try to get a little of the wisdom on here for myself.

I have a Uberti SAA clone with a 4-5/8" bbl as my woods sidearm. I'd like to hunt with it a bit and I do carry it as a bear gun (being I already own it and can't afford anything else at the moment). I do occassionally use it as my CCW piece, too. What I'd like to get from y'all is some hand load recipes for it.

I already have a 200 gr. Lee RFP mold and access to WW. I am also wanting to get one in 250 and a 250 SWC mold, too. I can get all the above locally as well as 240 gr. XTP (all in .452 dia., just for clarity). The only powder I currently have is Bullseye, but I'd like to try some different powders, including FFg or FFFg eventually. I'm open to any and all suggestions that anyone here has tested.

 

[41 Mag]

I'm pretty sure your not going to, or shouldn't be using the Ruger/TC data for your specific revolver. That said, when I was researching loads for my Redhawk I came across the following site,
Custom Sixguns

There is some wonderful information there on the 45 Colt and several of the revolvers it is chambered in. If you read through you will find that Mr. Linebaugh restates several times that while the 45 Colt can be loaded up to some pretty impressive velocities, that with the standard loads using 260'ish grain WFN or RFN bullets it is highly capable of doing the job on medium sized game.

I used his recommendation for the 260gr load of HS-6 with mine and is shoots wonderfully. It is just over 1000fps, and from a rest shoots around 2" groups at 50yds. It would probably hold a bit tighter if I could focus on the sights and bull at the same time but my bifocals come into play at arms length and really work on my abilities. LOL

To be honest, I have found that between 850 and 950 mine is just as accurate with just about any bullet I have tried. I have used several different powders, Unigue, HS-6, AA-5,7,and 9, as well as 2400, all with good results. For general hunting or an all around bullet ift is hard to beat the 255 - 265gr weight range IMO. Most of the offerings are very well balanced with a good meplat on them and even in a SWC design your still going to put a .452" hole in what ever you put them to task on.

I have the Lee 6 cavity 452 255rf and with WW alloy it throws them right at 260grs on the money. I use the 45/45/10 version of the Alox which can be found on Castboolits.com in the Lubes forum under Tumble Lubing Made Easy. I like it because it is quick, simple, effective up to 1700fps which is about as high as I have run it in any of my revolvers, and it dries within minuets to a non sticky coating. It might be a pain to mix up initially but once you do a decent batch your set for a LONG time.

When your working up your loads you can try different primers, I have been using Wolf LP, WIn - WLP and CCI-300's and to be honest haven't noticed one was any better than the others. THey have all effectively lit of every charge with no issues. So, I have been working on the Wolf and saving my others for later on.

With 2400 and AA-9 you will probably see some unburnt powder with some of the loads as they simply aren't up to top end pressure where the powder will get a complete burn. While it might not look good the loads I have shot were very accurate and the velocities were pretty consistent. With Unique, HS-6 and AA 5 or 7, I have gotten the best results. The unique loads are a bit smokey but I have to think the lube has a lot to do with that also. I have been told that Universal is almost a direct cross over for Unique but I haven't looked for any data to confirm it, and since I have about 7 more pounds of Unique to work on I haven't been worried about the smutty look after shooting a hundred or so rounds.

Anyway there is a TON of laod data out there for the 45 Colt, the main issue is picking a starting point and bullet weight to go with. Even though I have several molds in several designs and weights for the 45, I have relegated the majority of my brass to the Lee 255 bullet. It simply works and works well, plus with the 6 cavity mold I can turn out a bucket full in one sitting.

Hope this helps.

 

[huntershooter]

You will be limited to standard pressure .45 Colt loads.
You mention this being a "Bear gun", so I assume Black Bear, not Grizzly/Brown Bear.
I would opt for a KTSWC for penetration.
From Hodgen's load data:
250 gr. cast-7.1 gr. Winchester 231-916 fps-13,900 CUP
250 gr. XTP-7.3 gr. Winchester 231-797 fps-14,000 CUP
I would not try to use Bullseye for this application (upper end, standard pressure .45 Colt loads).

 

[critter]

Here's my only hunting experience with the .45 Colt but it may be informative to you.

I use a S&W 25-5 in the .45 Colt to deer hunt. I load a hard cast SWC at a bit over 900 FPS using 231 powder. It is a VERY accurate load in my 8 3/8" barrel gun.

I took a whitetail with it at almost exactly 50 yards. It hit at the point of the right shoulder and exited out the short ribs on the far side. Quick and easy recovery.

Penetration is what you want in your application and I was well pleased with how it penetrated for me in this application.

 

[1911Tuner]

You will be limited to standard pressure .45 Colt loads.

That's the standard advice and generally true, especially if the desire is to fire heavy loads as a matter of habit. Although I advise against the published "Ruger Only" handloads in any SAA Colt or faithful copy...the occasional excursion into that neighborhood on a "Need" basis shouldn't hurt anything.

The gun was proofed at about 25% over industry standard pressures. Elmer Keith developed his heavy .45 Colt data in the old SAA revolvers, which were made of wrought iron and early 3000 series steel. The modern clones are at least as strong as his guns, and probably stronger. Don't get carried away, though. Moderation in all things...and don't load to the top end of the Ruger Only data. A 260-grain lead bullet driven to a thousand fps from a 4.75-inch barrel should be okay if loaded with a slow powder like 2400, and it'll punch clean through a big Whitetail lengthwise at 50 yards. More velocity really only serves to flatten the trajectory.

 

[USSR]

I hunt deer with my S&W 25-5 in .45 Colt. It's a great cartridge to load for with any number of bullets and powder. I would recommend either the RCBS 255gr SWC or 270gr SWC moulds. I have a Mihec version of the RCBS 270gr mould that drops 265gr hollowpoints that I use for deer. A couple of good loads that are above standard (read that as low) power .45 Colt are: 13.0gr of HS-6 (John Linebaugh's load), and the 18.0gr of 2400 load that I use. Both these loads are below Ruger-only loads, and are in a pressure range such as that produced by .45 ACP +P ammo (21k to 23K psi).

Don

 

[Patocazador]

I have a great hunting load for use in my Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt but it has too much pressure for your gun. My load uses 2400 with Mag. LP primers and Hornady 250 gr. HP-XTP bullets. See what is suggested for 2400 in one of the reloading manuals and try that. Do NOT use Ruger/T-C data.

 

[rcmodel]

For your Uberti?

8.5 - 9.0 grain Unique & a 250 grain Keith SWC will kill anything that walks or crawls in the lower 48.

It is perfectly safe in your gun too.
About equal velocity to the old 900+ FPS black powder load that made the caliber famous.

rc