'cowboy' revolver ammunition
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YosemiteSam357
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Hornady makes a .45 Colt load. Still seems to be 250gr/850fps, but it's sold as a "Cowboy" load... And my dealer will sell them to you for $20 for 20 rounds!
-- Sam
-- Sam
Stainz
Member
I bought most of my loaded .45 Colt ammo from georgia-arms.com. This November will mark five years since that changed... One day, at the suggestion of a reloader, I counted over 2,700 empties in bags under my work bench - shot from my Ruger SA's, .454SRH, and S&W 625MG. I did a quick cost analysis - and ordered a Dillon 550B press just to reload .45 Colt, figuring that by the time 2,100 of those cases were reloaded, the equipment would be paid for. Well, that didn't last... within weeks I was making .45 ACP... then .44 Special & Russian - then I bought a .44 with which I could shoot them. It started innocently enough - I would really save money on reloading .45 Colt - RIGHT! Reloading is an illness.
Seriously, look those folks up - their rounds are loaded in new Starline brass. They did have 240gr & 200gr LRNFP's - in Nickel or brass. I've never bought a bad round from them - or one that wasn't faster than their claims. Nice folks, too. I still buy protection rounds from them.
I'd spend more time answering, but I must get back downstairs to load 1k of .38 plate pingers for the local Steel Plate Challenge - total cost for 1,000 125gr plated HP's - <$100 (Plated bullets, primers, powder - inc s/h). And... they are mild enough to literally be 'poof' loads (650 fps from a 5" 627). Custom made ammo.
Stainz
Seriously, look those folks up - their rounds are loaded in new Starline brass. They did have 240gr & 200gr LRNFP's - in Nickel or brass. I've never bought a bad round from them - or one that wasn't faster than their claims. Nice folks, too. I still buy protection rounds from them.
I'd spend more time answering, but I must get back downstairs to load 1k of .38 plate pingers for the local Steel Plate Challenge - total cost for 1,000 125gr plated HP's - <$100 (Plated bullets, primers, powder - inc s/h). And... they are mild enough to literally be 'poof' loads (650 fps from a 5" 627). Custom made ammo.
Stainz
Sistema1927
Member
Pretty soon, you aren't just reloading them, you are scrounging all the neighborhood tire shops for wheel weights....
I think Remington makes a RNL .45 around that velocity, too. They may not call it "cowboy" but I can't see how it's different. It should be a tad cheaper than the stuff with the 1890s style labels.
Ultramax, Black Hills, etc. make Cowboy loads. They're expensive, for what they are. You can reload them a lot cheaper. Pays for the press real quick.
Ultramax, Black Hills, etc. make Cowboy loads. They're expensive, for what they are. You can reload them a lot cheaper. Pays for the press real quick.
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Stainz
Member
We need a reloader's help group... we are easy to spot... everyone else is shooting at the range. We are head first in the trash cans, dumpsters, and brass buckets... pestering new shooters "You won't be needing that brass, will ya?".
I never shot a .38 or .357M - or even handled one - but I had made ammo for them! Of course, that helped when I 'had' to buy one - of each! Then there is the .32 H&RM ammo I made... finally got the revolvers. Don't ask me what horrible things I do to a neat little .32-20 case so I can load it for my Ruskie 1895 Nagants. It is an addiction!
BTW, I checked the latest GA Arms (800-624-6861) price list - $40.50/100 + s/h for either 200gr (rated 750 fps) or 240gr (rated 725 fps) LRNFP's. I chrono-ed 740 fps from my 4" 625MG, 760 fps from my 5.5" BH. My reloads using a 255gr LSWC over a max charge of 7.1gr W231 gave 754 & 761 fps; switching to 6.1gr Titegroup gave 818 fps & 830 fps. For cost, consider today's horrid prices (inc s/h) - 255gr LSWC $85/1,000 (GA Arms 250gr LRNFP - $57/900 + s/h); primers $28/1,000; and powder $15/lb. So - 1,000 rounds would cost $128 to make - in your brass. Even the GA Arms ammo is $400/1,000 + s/h. You will gain a hobby in reloading... and 'shoot to reload', rather than 'reload to shoot', as you promised yourself! It's fun emptying good new brass - just save those cases - I never thought I'd do this, either.
Stainz
I never shot a .38 or .357M - or even handled one - but I had made ammo for them! Of course, that helped when I 'had' to buy one - of each! Then there is the .32 H&RM ammo I made... finally got the revolvers. Don't ask me what horrible things I do to a neat little .32-20 case so I can load it for my Ruskie 1895 Nagants. It is an addiction!
BTW, I checked the latest GA Arms (800-624-6861) price list - $40.50/100 + s/h for either 200gr (rated 750 fps) or 240gr (rated 725 fps) LRNFP's. I chrono-ed 740 fps from my 4" 625MG, 760 fps from my 5.5" BH. My reloads using a 255gr LSWC over a max charge of 7.1gr W231 gave 754 & 761 fps; switching to 6.1gr Titegroup gave 818 fps & 830 fps. For cost, consider today's horrid prices (inc s/h) - 255gr LSWC $85/1,000 (GA Arms 250gr LRNFP - $57/900 + s/h); primers $28/1,000; and powder $15/lb. So - 1,000 rounds would cost $128 to make - in your brass. Even the GA Arms ammo is $400/1,000 + s/h. You will gain a hobby in reloading... and 'shoot to reload', rather than 'reload to shoot', as you promised yourself! It's fun emptying good new brass - just save those cases - I never thought I'd do this, either.
Stainz
YosemiteSam357
Member
Yep, Remington has one, too. Forgot about that. My local Z-Mart sells them for $36/50. It's not UMC, but regular Remington. A downright bargain compared to those Hornady loads from my gun dealer. 
I get my mailorder ammo from Outdoor Marksman. They have .45 Colt from Miwall starting at about $15/50 +ship. I have not found a better price or cheaper shipping.
But many, many people reload their "cowboy" loads. That's the best (only?) way to get the reduced power loads many of the CAS shooters are using, too.
-- Sam
I get my mailorder ammo from Outdoor Marksman. They have .45 Colt from Miwall starting at about $15/50 +ship. I have not found a better price or cheaper shipping.
But many, many people reload their "cowboy" loads. That's the best (only?) way to get the reduced power loads many of the CAS shooters are using, too.
-- Sam
YosemiteSam357
Member
Yep. Like I said, regular green/yellow box Remington (like their rifle ammo), not UMC. This shop doesn't offer UMC in .45 Colt, don't know if they even make it. I could see the price if it were "personal protection" ammo (ala HydraShoks at just less than $1/pop), but these are just plain old LRN slugs. The $1/ea Hornady "cowboy" loads are the same.
That's why when I decided to get into .45 Colt I bought my reloading dies before I got my gun...
-- Sam
That's why when I decided to get into .45 Colt I bought my reloading dies before I got my gun...
-- Sam
Stainz
Member
Lots cheaper to shoot .38/.357M 'cowboy' loads - or even just inexpensive 158gr LRN/LSWC reloads. Of course, the .38 S&W wasn't that popular - and the .38 S&W Special was a turn of the century goodie, missing much of the 'cowboy' days. It took a while for the then new S&W M&P revolver to catch on - many police used .32 S&W's, etc. Of course, if you want to be period correct - and go with the 'original' mass-produced centerfire metallic cartridge, you'd have to go for the predecessor to the .44 S&W Special (1907 - and followed by the .44 Magnum in 1955) - the 1871 .44 Russian. S&W made more top break revolvers for that caliber from 1871-78 than Colt did the .45 Colt from 1873 until early the next century. Of course, try to find .44 Russian ammo today... (I make it - and like it!).
Stainz
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