S&W mountain gun .45 Colt loads.

[brutus51]

This 625-3 has become one of my favorite revolvers. Mostly I've loaded it with 8.0gr. of Unique under a 255gr.SWC. Having been unable to replenish my supply of Unique I've been using 7.6gr. of Universal clays (8.0gr's seem hotter than the Unique load). Anyway my real question is, before running out of Unique I was working up a woods load for critter defense. I had gotten to 8.5gr's under a 265gr. Cast Performance WFN gas check bullet, all data for these Cast Performance bullets are for Ruger .45 Colt's and .454 Casulls. Going to be heading up north next week and I need a good substitute. Never had a chance to Chornograph the 8.5gr. load but I figure it to be around 800/850fps. out of my 4" barrel. Don't want to stress the gun and these loads will be used sparingly. would like to get around 900 fps. and call it a day. Any suggestions or more knowledgeable input would be readily appreciated.

 

[Rule3]

As I really do not want to get into the 45 Colt loads of what a SW VS Ruger can take discussion I suggest you search the reloading section of the SW Forum. It has been bantered and beaten to death. I do not know if I am allowed to link to threads on anther forum. I load for the 625 with around the load of Unique that you do, I am not one to push it and try to make a Magnum out of it, It was not intended for that. Big heavy and slow works just fine. I do not use Universal so can not help much. HP 38 works well also.

Some universal loads here

http://www.reloadammo.com/45cload.htm

Good article

http://www.customsixguns.com/writings/dissolving_the_myth.htm

 

[USSR]

Never had a chance to Chornograph the 8.5gr. load but I figure it to be around 800/850fps. out of my 4" barrel. Don't want to stress the gun and these loads will be used sparingly. would like to get around 900 fps. and call it a day. Any suggestions or more knowledgeable input would be readily appreciated.

brutus51,

Believe me, you are not going to "stress" your S&W N frame with a 8.5gr Unique load. I would estimate your velocity at 875fps. That is a powder puff load. You can easily go to 1,000 fps with the right powders. If you have HS-6, I would suggest 13.0gr (this is John Linebaugh's load). If you have 2400, I would suggest 18.0gr (my favorite load for my S&W 25-5). Or, you can bump your Unique load up to 9.5gr for about 975fps. Hope that helps.

Don

 

[Jesse Heywood]

The website is down right now, but John Taffin has load data for the 45 Colt with heavy lead bullets. http://www.sixguns.com/

 

[huntershooter]

Google--"John Linebaugh on the S&W model 25 in .45 Colt...".

 

[ArchAngelCD]

brutus51,

Believe me, you are not going to "stress" your S&W N frame with a 8.5gr Unique load. I would estimate your velocity at 875fps. That is a powder puff load. You can easily go to 1,000 fps with the right powders. If you have HS-6, I would suggest 13.0gr (this is John Linebaugh's load). If you have 2400, I would suggest 18.0gr (my favorite load for my S&W 25-5). Or, you can bump your Unique load up to 9.5gr for about 975fps. Hope that helps.

Don

I have used Universal, W231/HP-38, AA#5, Trail Boss, Red Dot, HS-6 and I think Clays in the 45 Colt and for a long time I was loading with W231. Last year I really tested HS-6 and I now use nothing else, it's my favorite 45 Colt powder now.

I have never gone as high as 13.0gr but I have loaded 10.5gr HS-6 in the 45 Colt. (that might not deliver the velocity you're looking for though) I know powder is hard to find but a charge of 10.5gr AA#5 is a good accurate load too.

 

[Rule3]

And here I thought I posted the link to John Linebaughs article

 

[brutus51]

Thanks for all the replies, problem is powders are scarce around here, what I have available is 231, being hoarded for .45ACP, AA#7 and AA#9, mostly used in 10mm, 2400 and Universal clays. when the powder crunch hit I had a couple cans of Universal, which I used for 12ga. trap loads, since it's the closet thing to Unique I have delegated it for .45Colt, 44mag and .357 mag target loads. Other powders I have been able to acquire, because of their availability are Power Pistol, WSF and Autocomp. While I've used Power pistol in the past for .45ACP, 10mm and 40S&W, WSF and Autocomp are new to me. Need to develop a load with one of these.

 

[USSR]

Been meaning to try another of John Linebaugh's loads: 8.0gr of W231. Have never used AA#9, but that should produce good results, and of course, my previously mentioned load of 2400.

Don

 

[Rule3]

Been meaning to try another of John Linebaugh's loads: 8.0gr of W231. Have never used AA#9, but that should produce good results, and of course, my previously mentioned load of 2400.

Don

I have used it with the 250'ish gr lead bullet. Pretty much the Unique load so I go back to that. I have not chrono'ed it though.

 

[osteodoc08]

I use a 20k mid level load suggested load (by Linebaugh I think or perhaps Quinn) with HS-6 in my MG and Marlin lever guns with good success. I've shot 1200-1500 through my MG and it's still as right as rain.

http://www.handloads.com/articles/?id=12

It's the general duty load with HS-6.

 

[GooseGestapo]

You're right about the Unique vs. Universal.
I've been using 8.2gr of Universal with a 255gr cast bullet for some time now. I use that load as it's just enough to obturate the case and maintain a gas seal in my 24"bbl Win Mod94 rifle. It runs just about or slightly under 1,200fps from the rifle and just under 900fps from my 5.5"bbl New Model Flat-top Ruger Blackhawk (.357mag frame and Single-six grip frame; roughly the same strength level of the S&W).

However, lately I've been running some of Brian Pierce's loads (Handloader Magazine) for the same gun as mine (Ruger). I've found 9.8gr of Hod. LongShot to be superior even to the HS6 loadings mentioned above. I've gone as high as 11.2gr with the 270gr RCBS SAA bullet (mine casts to 275gr w/w-w metal) for just over 1,100fps,(to meet the Colorado minimum of 550ft/lbs @50yds) but much prefer to shoot the 9.8gr for just under 1,000fps.

My other "revolver only" load is ~6.0gr of Clays (not Universal, just straight Clays) and the 255gr RFN Lee bullet. It closely approximates the 6.0gr RedDot load w/255gr RFN; and is much more pleasant to shoot and just as accurate as LongShot/Universal loads. It will however give badly sooted cases and gas in your face from the rifles...

p.s. I had a Ruger RedHawk 5.5" and It was very, very accurate with 18.5-19.8gr of #2400 under a 300gr FNGC. Recoil was "fierce". I much preferred the 255gr w/8.2gr Universal.
A friend of mine shot a ~100lb whitetail doe w/24"bbl Taurus pump with Universal/255gr RFN load. Bullet cut a 1/2" hole in, and out w/20+" penetration. Short, double blood trail ~20yds. Sounds like a "bass" .22lr going off. Bullet impact on an Armadillo @50' is louder than gun going off !!! It's enough, thankyou!

 

[SDGlock23]

The Mtn. Gun will handle some fairly stout loads, but they're not fun to shoot. I had a .45 Colt Mountain Gun that I sold a few years back and never ran anything hot in it, but have shot my unlces .44 Mag version and it was not very pleasant. The cylinder in the Smith is plenty tough, but the frame isn't so that's where the problem is.

http://www.handloads.com/articles/?id=12

 

[GaryL]

So, read the Linebaugh article. Very interesting. Not to argue with an expert, but a couple points he makes seem - I don't know - I guess I have questions. I won't argue the efficiency of H110, clearly it works in high pressure pistol calibers. And I can't speculate about what happens when loads go outside the limits of the data he has published. But I did notice something in the data...

I just picked the 260gr cast data to plug the numbers into a spreadsheet to see the % changes.

% increase, min to max
Powder, Grs, Velocity, CUP
H110, 5.9, 7.0, 23.4
2400, 7.9, 11.1, 20.2
Unique, 14.3, 14.2, 21.0

Anyone else notice anything?

I won't speculate on what happens if setback occurs, since I don't have any data at all to go on.