Ruger 45 Colt Hunter for deer?

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Joseywales3

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Ok, as usual, I put the cart before the horse, so I'm wondering how deep, if at all, I've gotten myself. By brother and I were considering handgun hunting and I like the blackhawk hunter. So, when a 7.5" Blackhawk Hunter came up in 45 Colt I figured I had an excellent deer gun. I don't reload, but have read that there is ample ammo from Car Bon and the like so it shouldn't be a problem.

The Ruger I bought has the standard grip and not the Bisley. How much recoil does the Bisley absorb? SA revolvers tend to roll anyway and this won't be target gun for me. I'll practice to become proficient and stay fresh, but it's no plinker.

I'm also considering a 45 Colt as a defense against bears, sicne they seem to be appearing closer and closer to our hunting areas. I know everyone recommends adjustable sites, but I thought a Uberti or other cowboy gun in 4 5/8" might make a nice carry gun. I can adjust the front site as need with a hammer or file!

Thoughts?
 
Full bore (Ruger and T/C only) loads in the Colt .45 will kick. The primary effect is smacking the knuckle of your "social" finger. Good shooting gloves will help, though -- as will starting out with lighter loads and working up.
 
You will at somewhat of a disadvantage not reloading. I think you could set you up to reload for less than the cost of 100 rounds of the boutique ammo.

David
 
I might consider relaoding, as I shoot 45 acp as well. You mentioned the "social finger", but this Blackhawk has the rounded trigger guard. Is the finger still an issue?

I plan on starting with light loads and was also looking into gloves. Any glove you recommend?
 
You mentioned the "social finger", but this Blackhawk has the rounded trigger guard. Is the finger still an issue?
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Yes. It will smack your finger, regardless of the shape of the trigger guard. You can get grips to correct this, but they're fugly.:barf:
 
ROLF!

But that's right. A full-bore load with a .45 Colt can be unpleasant to shoot. That's not unique to the .45 Colt or the Blackhawk -- any .44 Magnum will be just as unpleasant.

The only advice that I've found that works is -- start low and work your way up. You'll subtly change your grip as recoil increases gradually.

And don't fire a lot of full-charge loads in one session!
 
One advantage the 44 Mag does have is the wide variety of factory loads to work yourself up with.

David
 
or buy a similar Ruger Single Six in 22 and then practice a brick at a time :D

I thing garret and buffalo bore have hopped up 45LC as well as CorBon, but I concur that you should reload

believe it or not, back in the old blackpowder days, before "hot" ammo people shot deer with their colt 45s......kinda as a gun of opportunity......kinda the same way I've shot more groundhogs with my 30-30 than with my 22-250......
 
One advantage the 44 Mag does have is the wide variety of factory loads to work yourself up with.
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'

Light "powder puff" or "cowboy action" loads in .45 Colt are everywhere. It's the high-end loads that are less plentiful, but you won't be wanting to shoot many of those.
 
I like the fact that the ol' plow handle rolls on recoil. It disipates the recoil in the hand rather than punishing the web of your hand. I have a Contender and a Blackhawk in .45 colt and with hot loads, the Ruger is by far the most pleasant to shoot, or the least unpleasant, however you wanna look at it. :D That Contender slaps the web of your hand, no mercy. :what:

I don't really notice my finger getting whacked so bad until later in the day when it is throbbing a little. Can't say it really hurts, though. It's no worse than my shoulder and cheek bone after a good morning's duck hunt with my 12 gauge. Just gotta learn to take it and enjoy the pain. ;) Too, the trigger guard on the Contender is much worse about this than is the Blackhawk.

.45 Colt and .44 mag ain't so bad, though. Try a .454 Casull sometime. :D I haven't shot anything bigger than the .454 (a friend's gun).
 
I found the Bisley grip to hurt my middle finger more than the plow handle grip. (that was with some insane 1500fps .45LC loads that a friend had made up)

In fact, I've shot a few .44 magnums (Blackhawk) with the plowhandle grip and didn't see what the big deal was other than quite a bit of muzzle rise and some torque.

My Vaquero doesn't bother me at all, though I haven't shot many really hot loads out of it. My reloads are somewhere in between a standard (BP) load and .44 mag levels.
 
Thanks for all of the input. When I close my hand on the Ruger grip, I actually have some flesh left over at the bottom, so gloves might make it more comfortable overall. I have fired the Super Redhawk with 44s and it jumps straight up, but it's not outrageous recoil. I had read that the 45 Colt can achieve similar or better terminal performance with less pressure, hence less felt recoil. For that reason and the fact that I want to try a shorter barrel for the field and maybe even cowboy shooting at our club, I went with the 45. Just something about the authenticity of the 45 for CAS that grabs me.

Any recommendations on gloves?
 
Recoil is a simple function of mass times velocity -- pressure has nothing to do with it. A 250 grain bullet at 1400 fps doesn't care if it got there with 40,000 psi from a .44 Magnum, or with 32,000 psi from a .45.

I recommend P.A.S.T. shooting gloves.
 
Recoil is a simple function of mass times velocity -- pressure has nothing to do with it. A 250 grain bullet at 1400 fps doesn't care if it got there with 40,000 psi from a .44 Magnum, or with 32,000 psi from a .45.
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Are you sure about that? I remember lookin' at recoil calculations when I was writing and exterior ballistics program, really didn't wanna mess with writing a section on recoil, was more into drop tables and such. But, I seem to remember a pressure or powder weight or something variable in the math which would indicate that pressure is indeed a factor. I'd think it would be since a lot of the recoil, or at least I've always thought, was from the jet effect of the charge as it escapes the barrel. It is this jet effect, redirected to an up/rearward vector, that causes muzzle brakes and compensators to work and the more pressure a round makes, the better these devices work.

I would have to go find that paper with all the math on it to answer this from a knowledgable position 'cause frankly I never was that worried about recoil, but I don't think pressure doesn't matter. You may be right, though. Like I say, I'm not real sure, but it sorta defies simple man's logic to think it wouldn't matter.
 
I know it takes away from the look of the gun, but grips like these totally eliminate the trigger guard hitting your finger if you should find that a problem. You could always hunt with 'em, pull 'em off and put on the ivory at the house to look at. :D

Big file, just click the link.

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=36061&d=1140748446



That's my .357 and it's a pu$$y cat for recoil. My .45 is a 4 5/8 stainless and I've got stag grips on it to look at, but even with heavy loads it doesn't bother me. I don't shoot it a lot with the heavy stuff, but I've shot it enough to know it don't bother me.

32215185116.jpg
 
With the grip you have, you may or may not have issues. It'll depend on your hands and the way you hold it. A lot of people with the "squareback" SuperBlackHawk grips either had a gunsmith round out the triggerguard to look like yours or scored your type of grip frame to eliminate knuckle-wack issues. It works for some people.

If not, $250 (tops) or so and a bit of wrenching on your own will convert your gun to Bisley.
 
Thanks again for the info.
MCgunner, I can live with those grips. Are they Eagle grips?
 
Are you sure about that? I remember lookin' at recoil calculations when I was writing and exterior ballistics program, really didn't wanna mess with writing a section on recoil, was more into drop tables and such. But, I seem to remember a pressure or powder weight
Click to expand...


The basic formula for calculating recoil is M1*V1=M2*V2, where M1 is the mass of the ejecta (everything that comes out the muzzle) and V1 is the velocity of the ejecta. M2 is mass of the gun and V2 is the recoil velocity of the gun.

Powder
weight
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comes in because the powder is part of the ejecta. There is a standard rule of thumb for estimating the weight of the powder gasses (not all of them are ejected) and the velocity (which, once the bullet escapes increases.)

In some cases -- blackpowder loads particularly -- powder mass is considerable.

But pressure doesn't enter into the calculation.
 
Powder burn does enter into the recoil equation, at least to how it feels. For example, black powder guns tend to give more of a "push" than a sharp "smack." The total force imparted under recoil may be the same but the time in which it is imparted is different.
 
Powder burn does enter into the recoil equation, at least to how it feels. For example, black powder guns tend to give more of a "push" than a sharp "smack." The total force imparted under recoil may be the same but the time in which it is imparted is different.
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Rate of burn affects acceleration, not velocity. Recoil is traditionally expressed as velocity. And rate of burn is not related to pressure, which is the question here.
 
A word on Uberti and other Colt Clones. I would be careful using full power loads in these if you were to choose one for Bear defense. Ruger SA revolvers are a lot stronger, and can take the high pressure, the clones often cannot.
Georgia Arms makes a fine 260 grain JHP that works well from a Ruger for deer, hogs or I would think, black bears.
 
A word on Uberti and other Colt Clones. I would be careful using full power loads in these if you were to choose one for Bear defense.
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The Colt SAA and the clones have the cylinders stop dead center in the frame. This means the cylinder stop notch is cut into the thinest part of the chamber wall. Rugers have the cylinder stop offset, and have thicker walls, to boot.

SAAs should never be used at pressures greater than specified by SAAMI.
 
MCgunner, I can live with those grips. Are they Eagle grips?
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Actually, the ones on the .357 I bought at a gun show for something like $14 and I have no idea the brand. The ones on my .45 are stag from Ajax.

Those grips on the .357 might be Eagle. Just check around and look at different grip designs offered. If you can find 'em like those, fill in behind the trigger guard so your finger isn't there and allow for more grip in hand, that's what you're looking for.

I also had a set of Pachmayrs, rubber Presentation grip, on a stainless Ruger Old Army. Now, they didn't look traditional, but they filled in behind the trigger guard and allowed for a little recoil buffering. I had 'em on that cap and ball gun because I could bring it home from shooting, just pull the cylinder out, and stick it in the dish washer for clean up. :D I had to pull the wood stocks on it, didn't have to with rubber.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/73003


The basic formula for calculating recoil is M1*V1=M2*V2, where M1 is the mass of the ejecta (everything that comes out the muzzle) and V1 is the velocity of the ejecta. M2 is mass of the gun and V2 is the recoil velocity of the gun.

Powder
Quote:
weight

comes in because the powder is part of the ejecta. There is a standard rule of thumb for estimating the weight of the powder gasses (not all of them are ejected) and the velocity (which, once the bullet escapes increases.)

In some cases -- blackpowder loads particularly -- powder mass is considerable.

But pressure doesn't enter into the calculation.
Click to expand...


OOOH! That makes sense! It's not the pressure at which the gas is escaping, but the AMOUNT of gas escaping, thus the powder weight thing. That also explains why muzzle brakes on magnums (usually large charges of slow burning powder) work better than brakes on cartridges firing fast burning small charges of powder. Also, you can push peak pressures up with a fast burning powder though it lasts a shorter amount of duration, but it won't kick like 20 grains of 2400 in the case does, equal pressures. Completely logical, thanks!
 
I'd second the thing about hand loading. I use Laser Cast Keith style 255's. These will shoot clear thru a deer from any direction and are quite pleasant to shoot out of my Ruger Bisley. Haven't chrono'd them, but I'm guessing 1,100-1,200 fps.

I can load a box of 50 45 LC's for something like $3.80. FWIW, I loaded some "super stompers" with H-110. They exceed the performance of my .44 mag, but after a while "why" came to mind.

I've got a friend that uses a .45 clone with moderate loads of Unique and XTP's for deer. Took a record book deer with one shot at 60 yards. DRT.

Bisley style grips and trigger guard make a TON of difference. I shot a friend's .44 mag Blackhawk. Painful. Shot my .45 LC. Nice.
 
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