Powder suggestions for 45 Long Colt

[wiiawiwb]

No doubt about it, a .44 Mag is a pretty hot and fun round. Mine is a .454 Casull, that also chambers 45LC, so it's fairly snappy itself.

 

[Patocazador]

For the range, 7.5 to 8.0 gr. of Unique with a cast SWC.
For hunting in that Super Redhawk, 20 gr. of 2400.

 

[Bula]

The classic .45 Colt load is the Keith 250 LSWC over 8.5 grains Unique.

Try it, you'll like it!!

rc

This is my favorite load as well. Easy on the hands, plenty fun but still plenty capable in the field. Save the high velocity stuff for the .454 loads.

 

[25-5]

I use Titegroup for a lot of my pistol calibers because I have a lot of it, and powders are scarce. It was my original choice for .45 Colt and .44 special and I have been using it for many years now.

 

[Hondo 60]

I use one of 2 loads.
45 Colt - 7.0 gr of Titegroup under a 200 gr LSWC
or 11.0 gr of Accurate #5 under the same 200 gr LSWC.

Accurate tends to leave unburned powder with charges lower than 11.0gr.

Careful now, that's a light-for-caliber bullet.
You'll have to adjust charge if you go with the standard 250 gr lead.

 

[cheygriz]

Another devotee of 8.5 Unique under a 255 cast SWC! Been using that load for almost 60 years.

My dad carried that load in his Colt New Service revolver as a duty load for many years.

 

[cpt-t]

I used Unique for 30 + years. Then was given a couple of 8lb jugs of WIN 231. And I have been using it ever since. I have been loading 7grs of WIN 231 and a hard cast 250gr LRNFP bullet ever since. My Son and I use this load for all of our SA Rugers and Lever Action Guns in 45LC. We think it is the best choice for us, and it works well Pig Hunting.
ken

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I too am a huge fan of the standard 255 grain SWC and 8.5 grains of Unique.

If I want a slightly warmer load, I love the same 255 grain SWC and 17 grains of 2400.

For light plinking loads that the wife can handle easily I like 6 (I think) grains of Trail Boss. Nice easy load. Kicks like a .38 Spcl.

 

[Redstate]

I burn a lot of 700-X in mid-range cowboy loads.

Likewise... 700-x works well for me

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I'm glad you guys have mentioned 700X. I have a can I didn't know what to do with.

I picked it up when powder was in short supply because there was data for some other rounds I load for (.40, .38 spcl etc). Then shortly after I picked it up I found HP38 in stock so I didn't use much of it. The stuff meters like corn flakes so I didn't care for it when I did use it in small cases.

Maybe I'll load up some plinking rounds for the .45 Colt with it.

 

[Walkalong]

I used 700X in .38 Spl and .44 Spl with lead for years and while it metered poorly (Not quite as bad as cornflakes. ) it shot very well, especially in .44 Spl.

700X shoots much better than it meters.

 

[CraigC]

You can get a lot done with Unique and 2400, without having to bother with magnum primers. H110/296 is really at its best with the heavier +300gr bullets.

 

[ljnowell]

I'm glad you guys have mentioned 700X. I have a can I didn't know what to do with.

I picked it up when powder was in short supply because there was data for some other rounds I load for (.40, .38 spcl etc). Then shortly after I picked it up I found HP38 in stock so I didn't use much of it. The stuff meters like corn flakes so I didn't care for it when I did use it in small cases.

Maybe I'll load up some plinking rounds for the .45 Colt with it.

700x was one of the first things I loaded in 45 colt Paul. It makes sone very accurate loads with a 255 grain SWC and they burn very clean in that light load pressure range. I always used 5.5 grains of it for a soft easy shooting load that would stack them up on each other.