45 long colt hunting round

[brian923]

i am looking at purchasing a ruger blackhawk for use as a plinking, hunting tool. as i live in illinois, i cannot use rifles.:banghead:

i have done a lot of resaerch, and this will be my first revolver. i know that 45 long colt is not cheap, but nothing really is anymore.

i am thinking of buying starline brass from midwayusa.com. i havent picked a bullet type yet, nor powder. those are my two questions. i have heard hat regular loads for the 45 LC are fine for taking deer. i would like to load a little hotter, but i dont need to really over do it if i dont have to. i want it to still remain safe and fun. my guess on a bullet type would be something that is made of hard lead and has a braud meplet. (do i stick with .451" or .452"... or does it matter?) do i need to go with a fancy copper plated, pointed, ballistic type bullet? or will lead fit the bill?

what type of powder will result with decent velocitys, slightly above factory velocitys? another guess hear is that if i can stay just below the supersonic transition line of velocity, i can keep a lot more energy trviling downrange, with more accuracy. is this right?? or does this not work for pistol bullets as it does rifle bullets?

thanks for sharing your knowledge with me. i appreciate it a lot, fellow hunter and lover of AMERICA, brian

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have three revolvers in .45 Colt, a Colt New Service (made in 1906) and two Ruger Blackhawks -- one made in 1976, the other in 2006.

I like a wide flatnose bullet (Lee 452-255-RF, cast of wheel weights) over 12.0 grains of HS 6. This load is safe in 19th Century SAAs, and will shoot completely through a white tail.

 

[zxcvbob]

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

what type of powder will result with decent velocitys, slightly above factory velocitys?

Anything powder faster than about Blue Dot will work for you.

7.5 grains of Red Dot with a 250 grain is a good plinking load in a strong gun. So is 10 grains of Unique. I like 12 grains of Herco for my hot loads (about 25000 CUP) but that might be too much for what you want; try 11 grains.

I think the 10.0 Unique with a 250 grain RNFP "cowboy" bullet or SWC is just what you want. HTH

 

[MCgunner]

In a blackhawk for hot hunting loads, go slow. 2400 works for me. Stay away from the fast powders. Think magnum.

There are Ruger only loads in the manuals and I will not divulge mine as it could frag a non-Ruger/TC, but I've fired quite a few in my Blackhawk with no signs of over-pressure. These loads generally use powders used in hot magnums, 296, 2400 and the like. It pushes right at 1200 fps from the Contender's 7 inch barrel and 1110 fps from my 4 5/8" Ruger firing a 300 grain Hornady JHP XTP bullet. It'll do anything a .44 magnum will do and it's not really THAT hot as Ruger loads go, on the safe side. I've heard of folks getting 1300 fps from a 300 grain bullet, but I fail to see the need in abusing the gun THAT bad. There ain't a hogzilla that would pass my stand that this load won't make one shot pork chops out of.

Check the manuals. The Ruger only loads are out there and published. I'd rather let you work up your own for YOUR gun.

 

[Snapping Twig]

Pick the pistol you like best then work up a load.

A Ruger Bisley would be my choice for a "magnum" .45LC and a S&W would be my choice for a standard .45LC.

I shoot an S&W 25-7, so for me a .45LC is a 250g RNFP or Keith over 8 ~ 9 grains Unique.

If you can't get the job done with a 250g .45 moving along at 850 ~ 900 fps, I doubt a magnum would make much of a difference.

 

[Ifishsum]

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

.45 LC is not any more expensive than anything else if you reload. A flat nose 250 grain cast bullet in front of 9 gr of Unique will do fine - my brother killed a black bear a couple of years ago with this load, and it's not even a "Ruger only" load. You could bump up the charge a grain or so if you're shooting a Blackhawk and you feel the need.

 

[JustsayMo]

I like the same bullet Vern is using. I push it to 900-950 fps with SR 4756 which is at the bottom of the Ruger levels.

For Elk and Bear I load a Lee 300 grain cast bullet (excellent in my Marlin too) and push it to the same velocity using IMR 4227.

After having a bad experience with a hollow point in 44 magnum I"ve gone to using cast bullets for hunting. Two holes are better than one.

 

[mbt2001]

Cor Bon makes some loads for .45 lc... They really make a great hunting round, but I think that the "original" / "cowboy" loads are under rated hunting rounds as well.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Two holes are better than one.

Especially if one is an enterance hole, and the other is an exit hole.

 

[brian923]

heres another question. would a 5 1/2 inch barrel be acceptable for hunting deer out to 100 yards, or is the 7 1/2 needed. not better but needed?? whats the velocity loss from the 7 1/2 to the 5 1/2" barrel...

thanks,. brian

 

[.38 Special]

i am looking at purchasing a ruger blackhawk for use as a plinking, hunting tool. as i live in illinois, i cannot use rifles.

That's an excellent gun. I prefer the Bisley grip frame, as do many handgun hunters, but there's nothing wrong with the Blackhawk frame until recoil gets pretty severe.

i have done a lot of resaerch, and this will be my first revolver. i know that 45 long colt is not cheap, but nothing really is anymore.

As has been pointed out, it doesn't cost any more to reload .45 Colt than anything else. If you are stuck with factory loads, of course...

i am thinking of buying starline brass from midwayusa.com.

Good stuff, in my experience.

i havent picked a bullet type yet, nor powder. those are my two questions. i have heard hat regular loads for the 45 LC are fine for taking deer. i would like to load a little hotter, but i dont need to really over do it if i dont have to. i want it to still remain safe and fun.

I personally prefer a bit hotter load than standard in the .45 Colt, even for smallish big game. The standard load isn't much more than .45 ACP, and I don't trust it for anything but the "close range broadside" shot that I rarely seem to get. No, you don't need the fire-breathing full house loads, but I would go as hot as you can handle comfortably.

my guess on a bullet type would be something that is made of hard lead and has a braud meplet. (do i stick with .451" or .452"... or does it matter?) do i need to go with a fancy copper plated, pointed, ballistic type bullet? or will lead fit the bill?

Again IMO, there is only one type of bullet worth investigating, and that is the Lead Bullet Technology style LFN or WFN. Molds are available from LBT, and premade bullets are available from Cast Performance. I like the 300 grain LFNGC for six shot guns. Copper plating is pointless, as far as I am concerned, and pointy bullets are worse than useless. Stick with hard cast -- water dropped wheel weights are perfect -- and you won't go wrong.

what type of powder will result with decent velocitys, slightly above factory velocitys?

H110 has no serious competition in the Colt, again IMO, of course. The Hodgdon manual lists 23 grains as maximum with the 300/325 grain lead bullets, ONLY FOR THE BLACKHAWK, BISLEY, AND SIMILAR GUNS, and it is an effective, but very hard kicking load. Backing down to 18-19 grains makes a more pleasant-shooting load that is still very effective. You can also try about 9 grains of Unique, which should get you around 850-900 FPS.

another guess hear is that if i can stay just below the supersonic transition line of velocity, i can keep a lot more energy trviling downrange, with more accuracy. is this right?? or does this not work for pistol bullets as it does rifle bullets?

This is BS, in my experience. Certainly it is untrue that starting a bullet at lower velocity can somehow result in higher energy downrange. It is theoretically possible that a handgun bullet loses some accuracy as it goes transonic, but the truth is that in terms of practical accuracy, it makes no difference whatsoever. Put another way, there are fellows shooting one inch groups at 100 yards with bullets that go transonic during flight. For the responsible iron-sighted revolver hunter limiting himself to 50-75 yard shots, it's a non-issue.

HTH!

 

[zxcvbob]

It depends on your load. With 10 grains of Unique and a 255 grain cast bullet, the muzzle velocity will drop from about 1150 fps to 1100. This is a bigger energy loss than it looks like, but I think it should still shoot clean thru a deer and out the other side -- lengthwise. (disclaimer: I am not a hunter)

The bigger question is can you hit a deer in the vitals at 100 yards with a 5.5" barrel?

 

[MCgunner]

I prefer the Blackhawk frame, just rolls in the hand under recoil. No problems for me!

heres another question. would a 5 1/2 inch barrel be acceptable for hunting deer out to 100 yards, or is the 7 1/2 needed. not better but needed?? whats the velocity loss from the 7 1/2 to the 5 1/2" barrel...

thanks,. brian

Depends on your eyes, I reckon. At 100 yards, I just have to have optics mounted. I can't do it with a 50 yard barrel using iron sights, not in the field. LOL! I can hit pretty well off a bench at the range at 100 with irons, but that's not field conditions. 50-75 yards is about my limit with irons. I don't think the extra length is going to matter in sighting, though you will want all the velocity you can get with Ruger only loads for reaching out there to 100 yards if you don't want a rainbow trajectory. The .45 Colt ain't real flat shooting even at 1300 fps. Might wanna go with a .44 mag, better at long range IMHO. It's steppin' out there pretty fast and has better BCs to work with, though not exactly in the boat tailed 6.5mm class. But, it shoots flat enough for 100 yard work without too much hold over/under at any given range.

I can push, with a hotter load, a 300 grain bullet out of a 7" barrel to 1300 fps. My load only pushes 1200 fps and I've shot it at 100 yards using a scope. It's several inches high at 50 so sighted, so that ain't real bad. But all those 255 at 900 fps loads, well, like tossing a watermelon at those ranges. Past fifty, such a load falls in the dirt.

 

[brian923]

okay guys, i still cant make up my mind. i am leaning towards the 7.5" barreled blackhawk. the only thing is that it looks like it would be hard to carry on hunting trips. i would like to have a shorter barrel, i.e. the 5.5, but i just cant find any info on the velocity differance and accuracy between the two barrels. is there anyone here that can show me a website, or personal experiance on the velkocity differances between the two differnt barrels? if i were to go with the 5.5" barrels blackhawk, would the hotter loads helkp to gain some more of the lost velocity and energy?? (i know that if i load both barrels hot, the 7.5 will still beat the 5.5, but can i get hot loads in the 5.5to match regulaer loads in the 7.5?)

thanks alot guys, brian

 

[.38 Special]

If you had to average, I'd say that you can expect 30-50 FPS difference for every inch of barrel length. That's all but meaningless, though, as revolvers are such individuals. I'd bet a serious sum of money that there's at least one 5.5" Blackhawk that's faster, load for load, than a 7.5". And yes, you can easily add a grain or so of powder to offset any difference, until you get into maximum load territory.

As for accuracy, there is no intrinsic advantage to a long barrel. That is to say, if you mounted a dozen 7.5" guns in a Ransom rest, and another dozen 5.5" guns, there'd be little difference. The difference is in sight plane: the further apart the front and rear sights, the easier it is to line them up accurately. Thus a long barrel is not technically more accurate, but it is easier to shoot accurately.

I personally choose 5.5" as the perfect barrel length for a hunting gun because A) I limit my shots to 50 yards -- it's hunting, right? -- and B) 7.5" barrels are an utter PITA to carry, for me.

Bottom line, great work can be done with either. If the 7.5 speaks to you, buy it. Worst case scenario, you can't stand to pack the thing and you have to pay a gunsmith a hundred bucks to shorten it.

Have fun!

 

[Catherine]

Barrel length~~~

Some states only ALLOW a minimum of a 6 inch barrel for a handgun for 'hunting' deer. I am sure that you already know the answer for your state.

I can't answer your load question. My husband reloads.

Right now, I am using up some store bought 45Colt ammunition that I have had for a few years. Magtech, 250 grain, lead, flat nose, cowboy action loads. I got it on sale. I usually use another brand or his 'reloads'.

I do have a RUGER Blackhawk in 45Colt aka long colt. It is a great firearm. Mine has a 7.5 inch barrel. Bought NIB between 1998-2001. She is a straight shooter!

I go on hunts with him but I have not 'officially hunted'. He has used a handgun for hunting but most of the time it is with a rifle.

Best wishes.

Catherine

 

[Catherine]

PS

PS:

You can get a leather Triple K belt and holster for this too. It is a VERY comfortable set up for woods/wilderness walking and/or hunting. I don't know if you want to use a shoulder holster or a belt holster or something else. One or two guns in the Triple K set up work great for the 7.5 inch Blackhawk. I have one holster for the 45Colt and one holster for a couple of Ruger 22LR S/A revolvers.

Uncle Mike's has nice shoulder holsters too. Not too expensive.

Catherine

 

[MCgunner]

My 4 5/8" Blackhawk in .45 Colt is plenty accurate enough to take game to 75 yards with iron sights, at least with me shooting it. I would prefer to keep 'em under that yardage, but it hits well even at 100 at the range in ideal conditions and off a field rest, 75 is doable. It just takes practice, not unlike bow hunting. Know your weapon and work within its limits.

Also, yeah, I lose about 80 fps from my 7" Contender to my 4 5/8" Blackhawk, but I like the handiness afield of the shorter barrel. For pure hunting, perhaps a longer barrel would be better, but I don't know that a hog is going to know the difference in a 300 grain .45 caliber bullet slapping him at 1120 or 1200 fps, frankly, well, at the muzzle anyway.

 

[JustsayMo]

In revolvers barrel length has less to do with velocity than cylinder gap. I have a 4-5/8" Ruger Single six that over the chronograph will out perform my 5.5" & 6.5" versions.

 

[MCgunner]

That also has to do with the speed of the powder. A slow powder like I use, 2400, will lose more speed in a shorter barrel than something like Red Dot or Bullseye. Of course, you'd blow the gun up before you could get 1100 fps out of a 300 grain bullet with Red Dot. You have to use the slower powders to get the velocity.

 

[Selfdfenz]

I know you said you must hunt with a handgun but isn't any 7.5" revolver going to be easier to carry around hunting than just about any rifle or shotgun?

I'm not sure you save much in the way comfort/convenience/etc with the short barrel for what you might be giving up in velocity & a longer sight radius with the longer one.

Just me...

S-

 

[redneck2]

I can tell you that the Bisley frame seems noticeably easier to shoot well and is more comfortable than the standard Blackhawk for most people.

I tried some of the "stomper" loads of WW-296/110. Got tired of getting beat up while shooting. I settled on Universal Clays (basically the same as Unique without the mess). My loads are slightly over the standard LC loads, but less than "Ruger Only" man killers. I have every confidence that my 255's would punch thru any deer from any direction, and they're pleasant to shoot.

 

[brian923]

thanks guys and girls, for all the info. i really appreiciate it. i think that i am probably going to go with the 5.5", just because i think its better for me. thanks for everything, brian

 

[pete f]

ONE safety note, if you have a RBH and then buy another of the SAA clones out there, and you reload, get in the habit of ONLY loading for the Blackhawk in nickel cases. and keep the brass for the clones.

Reasons are simple, a load which a blackhawk will not even burp over will turn a lot of the clones into grenades. I used to load both in brass, but after turning a model 25 S&W into pieces, I learned my lesson the HARD way.

 

[rcmodel]

+1 to that!

I took a different tack and just got rid of the Ruger BH & it's hot .45 LC loads.

Just too much risk of sooner or later, one of them getting into one of my Colt SAA's or S&W 25's by accident.

rcmodel