Good Powder For 45 Colt?

[Don McDowell]

Hogdon specifically states that 70% of the weight of the powder that it takes to go to the BASE of the bullet is the maximum load.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Hogdon specifically states that 70% of the weight of the powder that it takes to go to the BASE of the bullet is the maximum load.

Please read that again. To the base of the bullet is the Max load and the 70% load is the starting charge weight.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have come to the same conclusion with Trail Boss, load it to 100% load density.

But even then, in pistols, it doesn't behave well with plated. Didn't try it with jacketed. Thought that would be defeating the purpose.

This is why I no longer use Trail Boss. There are too many other better choices.

 

[CraigC]

Unique, 8-9gr, 200-275gr bullets.

Why do so many reloaders worry so much about double charging a case? Unless you are using a progressive press without a powder check die of some sort how can you double charge a case? It's not the powders fault if the handloader doesn't look inside the case before a bullet is seated.

Bingo!

 

[rondog]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Don McDowell View Post
DO NOT compress trail boss. When those little donuts get broke the pressures get really weird.
Read the trail boss loading instructions available on Hoydens web site.
Trail boss is not a very accurate powder in the large cases, due to it being just one step slower than bullseye.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rondog View Post
You know, I just read the same elsewhere - DO NOT compress Trailboss! So I'ma scratching that idea.....
I specifically said that in Post #34 when I suggested:

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArchAngelCD View Post
With Trail Boss I have found it's almost useless to load it any other way than like black powder. Unless you fill the case without compressing the little donuts you don't get the best results. That is true for any cartridge I have used it in.

Gotta admit, your original post was a little confusing to me, I took it to mean compressing. Now I believe you're saying "full to the bottom of the bullet, but NOT COMPRESSED". Correct?

I believe the hottest TB load I've made to date was 5.9gr, no idea how "full" that was. Investigate this, I must..... Safe plinking loads both for my Uberti and Rossi would be ideal! I can still use the 4227 thumpers in the Rossi for deer.

 

[rondog]

OK, so I filled a .45 Colt case up to just under the base of a bullet. Measured from the bottom of a .255 LRNFP to the crimp groove with a depth gauge, then filled the case to that depth gauge. That gave me 8.5 gr of TrailBoss. Is this really safe? The Hodgdon site shows 5.8 as the max for TrailBoss.

Hodgdon Trail Boss .452" 1.600" 4.5 606 8,800 PSI 5.8 727 12,700 PSI

Granted, this is for a regular pistol, not a rifle or Ruger recipe.

 

[Don McDowell]

That pressure is right at the top of the SAAMI specs. To proceed beyond that point would be at your own risk.
That high pressure and low velocity that trail boss gives is the one thing that folks so often overlook, but it is doing exactly what IMR designed it to do, near capacity powder charge with the piddlydink velocity the CAS crowd uses.

 

[GooseGestapo]

My favorite powder has been Universal and 255gr Lee, but the best load for my S&W 625 has been LongShot. 11.2gr will make the Wyoming minimum with RCBS 270gr SWC (mine casts to 275gr), but 9.2 gives 900fps and is adequate for anything east of the Mississippi River.

With the Lee255, I load to 8.2gr of Universal, as this is necessary to maintain case obturation to prevent blow by into the action and my face with my 24"bbl Win M94. It is VERY accurate. Unique wasn't available for years and I had 8lbs of Universal. It's gone, now and I'm now working on some 8lbs of GreenDot. 7.4gr seems to be adequate.

 

[RecoilRob]

Goose...it's good you mentioned the case obturation issue with many 45 Colt rifles. Using minimum charges out of a manual might not be hot enough to seal up the cases though they might be otherwise safe and a prudent place to start. My Taurus Thunderbolt slide-gun is really bad this way....takes a fairly stout load to keep blow-by from going back through the action which will tie up the gun in quick order.