I have been attempting to get an accurate load for 45 colt for some time. I have a fine Taylor Cattleman 1873, an EAA revolver and a T/C contender carbine with a scope and silencer. Finally found two loads that work very well. The problem was the large air space in a 45 Colt case and most powders only used up 1/4 of the space. This leads to inconsistent ignition and poor accuracy. With the pistols you could get away with that sloppy accuracy but the carbine was useless. I finally discovered that by seating a card wad on top of the powder (Win 231) which keeps the powder up against the flash hole solved that problem. Now pressure and accuracy are very good. I have also found some Tin Star powder from LG Outdoors and tried that a try. The Tin Star powder filled the case very good nearly full to the base of the bullet when using a 250 gr lead bullet. Accuracy was also excellent with 100 fps faster the the win 231 I was using and had lower pressure. I was able to get 930 FPS from the 5 1/2" Taylor barrel using 9.6 gr of Tin Star. Cases extracted easy and the S&B primers I used looked good with less flattening then the win 231. I have tried many bullet types , jacket and cast and several different weight. I finally came to the conclusion that the best proper load for the 45 Colt in standard guns should be a 250 gr hard cast bullet ( I prefer Missouri Bullets because of their low cost and consistency) and 9.6 gr of Tin Star powder.
Reloading the Colt .45
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CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Always had excellent results from 8.0-9.0gr Unique.
VINTAGE-SLOTCARS
member
2nd, for 8-9 gr unique, for better than 35 years in my Ruger.
Arkansas Paul
Member
Broken record time.
8.5 grains of Unique and a 250-255 grain lead bullet. It's almost a carbon copy of the original BP load, minus the smoke of course.
I love 231 in smaller cases but in larger cases Unique gives you a better fill.
8.5 grains of Unique and a 250-255 grain lead bullet. It's almost a carbon copy of the original BP load, minus the smoke of course.
I love 231 in smaller cases but in larger cases Unique gives you a better fill.
Deanimator
Member
Regarding excessive case space, other people have used a small amount of kapok fibers instead of the card wad, with good results.
BullRunBear
Member
I load 45 Colt for a Blackhawk, new model Vaquero, and a 10" barrel Contender (not the 45/410 version). All three like a 255 gr. cast bullet with 8 to 9 grains Unique. (I'm sensing a pattern here.) This has been an accurate and consistent load that I've used for decades.
I don't use fillers. Tried them years ago and couldn't see any benefit.
Jeff
I don't use fillers. Tried them years ago and couldn't see any benefit.
Jeff
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy
It really is not a good idea to put a wad down inside the case with Smokeless powder. None of the powder makers recommends doing that.
Better to use a powder which does a better job of filling up the case. When I am not filling my 45 Colt cases with Black Powder I too use Unique because it fills the case up better.
You could also try Trailboss. The large, fluffy grains of Trailboss were designed specifically to take up space in the old cavernous cases such as 45 colt.
It really is not a good idea to put a wad down inside the case with Smokeless powder. None of the powder makers recommends doing that.
Better to use a powder which does a better job of filling up the case. When I am not filling my 45 Colt cases with Black Powder I too use Unique because it fills the case up better.
You could also try Trailboss. The large, fluffy grains of Trailboss were designed specifically to take up space in the old cavernous cases such as 45 colt.
yamahawarrior89
Member
I like a 250gr rnfp with 8.0gr of 800x
but many people don't like the "corn flake" metering capibility of it
but many people don't like the "corn flake" metering capibility of it
dickydalton
Member
I just bought a pound of that Tin Star because Trail Boss is unavailable forever here. I haven't loaded it yet though and most of my loaded 45 Colts have Unique or 2400 in them. And I have some loaded with Black.
USSR
Member
+1. Should not be done with straight wall handgun cartridges. If you want a high fill rate, try some IMR4227. You can go from mild to wild with IMR4227.
Don
marsofold
Member
Trail Boss powder. Bulky and gets tight groups. Burns clean.
Thanks for replies guys. I have some unique on the shelf and didn't think of using that. I'll give that a try. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up the the Tin Star. Just for reference shooting from a rest at 50 yards what kind of accuracy should I expect to achieve? From a 5.5" barrel. a 7.5" barrel and a 16" carbine?
RealGun
Member
That is pretty high velocity for a 45 Colt. Whose load data did you use?
I use Trailboss for SAAMI spec and IMR 4227 for Tier 2 loads. Above that, I would probably use 2400, all filling the case quite well.
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midland man
Member
I must be the only one using greendot as my load i'll share with you is mbc cowboy #1 250gr lead round nose flat point with 6.8gr greendot and this is very accurate and I have zero problems with this load! shoots tight groups...
35 Whelen
Member
All 45 Colt, all 50 yd. groups, seated, leaning back against one of the legs of my shooting bench:
And just for grins, a 100 yd. group (Don't use this load in your Uberti):
Air space really doesn't matter in straight wall cases. Like everyone else said, us 8.0 - 9.0 grs. of Unique. However, as you can see AA#7 has worked well for me in the Vaquero.
My hunting load this year in the Uberti Bisley has been a 263 gr. cast SWC loaded over a healthy dose of Blue Dot (a little over Aliant's recommended max). Runs right at 1000 fps and shoots fist size groups at 50 yds.
35W
Grumulkin
Member
Perhaps ya'll remember Bob Munden. I have a Ruger Vaquero in 45 Colt that was turned into a race gun by him before his regretable passing. His recommendation was Tightgroup and 250 grain cast bullets.
jgh4445
Member
I don't think anyone mentioned Unique, 231, HP38 and Herco. Bet you could find some dandy 45 Colt loads for a 250-260 Cast boolit with one of them. Hear the Echo? You just can't go wrong with any of them. Pity you'll have to do a lot of load development and shooting to find whats right for your shootin arm, but it just has to be done sometimes. Don't be a speed freak with this one. A 260 gr load going at about 850-900 fps is a formidable thing! Doesn't matter what powder pushed it that fast. It will shoot slam through two medium sized does at 50 yds standing side by side. The front one drops right there, the back one can take about 4 steps.
opos
Member
I have a Pietta millenium in 45Colt...sort of a "loosy goosy" type of clone..but man does it shoot with Missouri #4 200 grain Cowboy (bhn of 12) with Trail Boss (I'll leave the load work up to you for your gun)....It shoots so good it feels like something is wrong!! I shoot the high tech bullet or the straight lead equally as well but am leaning to the coated as I'm shooting the same bullet in my CZ 97 .45acp with 231 and again...it is amazing...not a hot load at all.
When I load for my Blackhawks or for my original full size Vaqueros (they have had the cylinders reamed) I like Unique or Universal..I don't mind cleaning when I'm done...Missouri 240 grain is the fodder...I also load Nosler sporting handgun sjhp or sjfp with 231 and it's just a dandy...just have to load it up a bit and it's a bit stingy on the arthritic hands but it does shoot nice...I won't even try the Noslers and their loads in the Pietta...it get's the softer stuff.
When I load for my Blackhawks or for my original full size Vaqueros (they have had the cylinders reamed) I like Unique or Universal..I don't mind cleaning when I'm done...Missouri 240 grain is the fodder...I also load Nosler sporting handgun sjhp or sjfp with 231 and it's just a dandy...just have to load it up a bit and it's a bit stingy on the arthritic hands but it does shoot nice...I won't even try the Noslers and their loads in the Pietta...it get's the softer stuff.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I'm not sure there was a question in the OP. I have loaded many powders in the 45 Colt and most worked well. I can't remember having any problems with faster powders that don't fill the case. I have used many powders like I said but if you want to fill the case Tin Star will do that as will Trail Boss. Nothing wrong with Unique although there are better metering and cleaner choices than Unique. My current favorite powder in the 45 Colt is HS-6 ever since I gave it a try about 2 years ago when I had no more W231 or Red Dot. I use only HS-6 now with exceptional results. I'm using a Winchester LP primer. I recommend that primer or a LP magnums primer with HS-6. Don't trash the power if you don't use a magnums primer.
berettaprofessor
Member
TrailBoss....6.0 grains behind a 230gr LRN = 778.3 fps out of a 5" Ruger Vaquero.
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