Cowboy 45 Colt Loads for Henry big boy

[Cherokee Sam]

I just picked up a Henry Big Boy 45 colt. Wondering about cowboy loads. I use Trail Boss for my Vaqueros in same caliber. Had heard that Alliant 2400, being a little slow may be good powder for the 45 rifle in a lighter load. Anyone have any suggestions.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

There's no reason to build a different load for your Vaquero and your Carbine. What shoots well in the revolver should shoot well in the rifle. Also, you wouldn't want to mix up the heavy load made with 2400 and shoot it in your revolver by accident. 2400 is a "magnum" powder not usually associated with light loads.

Welcome to the forum...

 

[loadedround]

+1 on ArchAngelCD's comments.

 

[rcmodel]

+2 on ArchAngelCD's comments.
You do not want 2400 Cowboy loads!!!!

Also, be sure to use flat point bullets in the Henry rifles tubuler magazine.

I know most .45 Colt bullets are RN-FP.
But folks have been known to use .45 ACP round nose bullets in them.

rc

 

[zxcvbob]

Use Red Dot or American Select for "cowboy" loads (buy a jug of Promo powder if you start loading 'em by the thousands), Unique or Herco or black powder for full-power loads (950 to 1000 fps with 250 or 255 grain bullets from a 7.5" revolver), and Blue Dot or 2400 for rifle-or-Blackhawk-only loads.

But folks have been known to use .45 ACP round nose bullets in them.

Is that a bad thing? (at least with cast bullets) I believe .30-30 rifle cartridges with round nosed bullets are as common as flat-points. The biggest problem with .45 ACP bullets is they don't have a crimp groove, so you can get bullet setback if you're not careful.

 

[rcmodel]

Is that a bad thing?

It could be in a Henry Big Boy.
They don't load through a loading port in the receiver like a normal center-fire lever action.

You drop rounds down the magazine from the front end loading port in the tube like loading a .22 RF tubular mag.

A fairly heavy .45 Colt load dropped on the primer from a long distance is probably not the same as recoil of a 30-30 RN with the bullet in contact with the next primer.

rc

 

[zxcvbob]

A fairly heavy .45 Colt load dropped on the primer from a long distance is probably not the same as recoil of a 30-30 RN with the bullet in contact with the next primer.

That makes sense. I forgot that you drop the rounds down the magazine in a Henry, and those first couple drop a long way...

 

[Red Cent]

Zbob must be a cowboy.

If you are a purist that requires the pistol to attain a straight up barrel upon recoil, do not read the following.

160 gr RNFP over 4.2 gr. American Select. Red Dot is almost identical. Super nice cowboy load that will function in pistols and rifle.

 

[zxcvbob]

My favorite load is 7.5 grains of Promo, any LP primer, and 230 grain Lee truncated-cone tumble lube bullet. I roll crimp into the top little grease groove. It is definitely not a "cowboy" load (it's probably about 19000 psi, which is over SAAMI specs but should be OK for any steel framed post-war gun) I like that load because it's very cheap to load, it's accurate, and I can shoot them all day. (Ruger Bisley) I also load barn burners, but only the first few of those is any fun, then I start flinching.

 

[CraigC]

Also, you wouldn't want to mix up the heavy load made with 2400 and shoot it in your revolver by accident.

Not sure why, the large frame Vaquero is perfectly suited to "Ruger only" loads.