Target loads for 45 Colt, SAA clone

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J

JCmax

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Hello Gents,

Been a member since '11 but working intl oilfield service left little time for my hobby of target/plinking type shooting & load development.
Now retired, i hope to become a more active member of your fine forum.

Been reloading for 243, 22Hornet & 38/357mag for many years.

While browsing my LGS I happened across a 45 Colt SAA imported by Taylors and mfg'd by Pietta in Italy.
I've had many opportunities to own, handle & shoot handguns; Colt Pythons, various S&W and Rugers but NEVER has a gun instantly melded to my hand like this one.

Needless to say i left the store with that gun along with Unique powder, hornady 200gr C/T bullet, WLP primers, cases and die set.

After browsing the forum the last few days I'm preparing my 1st order from Missouri Bullet and thinking either 250gr rnfp or 255gr SWC. Thanks to your forum I believe 12 bn hardness will best for -1000 fps loadings.
Plan to order their starline brass as well.

I also have Bullseye, lil gun, & various rifle powders in stock.

Any opinions on good 45 Colt target type loading with these components?

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

JC
 
Even though you're not really new here, welcome to the conversation.

The .45 Colt is a handloader's dream IMO. It is my favorite round to load and shoot by a fairly wide margin. I cast for it as well, and load everything from powderpuff loads for plinking to pretty stiff loads for hunting (mine is a Ruger Blackhawk).

With a 200 grain lead bullet and Unique, Alliant's Reloader's Guide lists the starting charge at 5.5 grains and the max at 9.5 grains. It isn't the exact bullet you have, but it is a 200 grain lead bullet, so just begin with the starting load and work your way up like always.

Here is a link to the Alliant Reloader's Guide.
http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/Powder.aspx?powderid=3

My favorite all around load is probably the most popular one. A Keith style 255 grain SWC and 8.5 grains of Unique is a medium powered load that will give you about 900 fps or so.

I've had many opportunities to own, handle & shoot handguns; Colt Pythons, various S&W and Rugers but NEVER has a gun instantly melded to my hand like this one.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the SAA and clones of it do fit the hand very nicely.

After browsing the forum the last few days I'm preparing my 1st order from Missouri Bullet and thinking either 250gr rnfp or 255gr SWC. Thanks to your forum I believe 12 bn hardness will best for -1000 fps loadings.
Click to expand...

Excellent choice.
Missouri Bullets is a great company and make a great product. Before I started casting my own, that's who I used and if I couldn't cast anymore I would go back to them.
Never been disappointed with their bullets.

And yes, 12 is all you need for .45 Colt stuff.
A bullet that fits your bore properly is more important than BHN in my opinion. I have pushed wheel weight alloy (about 12 BHN) to over 1,200 fps with no leading at all. That is through a 7.5" barrel.
 
I loaded 45 LC with Unique and my best suggestion for .252 diam 250 gr RNFP is 7.5 gr Unique up to 8.2 gr. That would be mid range which is just fine to closer to max at 8.2
I had some 8.6 Unique over these pre lubed 250 gr alloy #2 bullets and they were too hot for me but my 1873 Uberti rifle and 1873 Uberti cattleman revolvers were not affected. I personally wouldn't push my clones any higher than that.
That load was just not necessary. I settled on 8.2 gr loads on my shelf with the 250 grainers. They work fine. I have a Lee factory crimp die I use and put a moderate crimp on the cannelure.
 
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My two loads that I've used for my 45Colt have been 255gr with Unique or W231. I enjoy shooting both of them with Unique giving me better accuracy.

I've shot 200gr Xtreme's out of it and had no joy at all. They were really not accurate. Also the it caused the sights to be way off. I'll stick with the bullet that the 45Colt was made for.
 
Thanks Gents, good information.

Looking at the 200gr hornady bullet and their 9th ed. manual, they state a range of 5.8 - 8.6 gr of Unique. Bullseye is also listed. I'll stay under 1K fps to start.
This bullet is swaged with no crimp groove so i suppose you crimp over the base?

I'll go with 250gr rnfp along with 45 & 38 starline brass for my 1st order. Their brass pricing is very good.
I'll likely end up with another 45 SAA revolver and possibly a 45 lever gun to go with it for WT deer season. This bullet should feed safely in the lever gun, right?

Thanks again for the suggestions & comments.
JC
 
Welcome to the addiction, umm I mean reloading lol.

If the 200 gr bullets you bought don't have a crimp groove they are probably meant for loading in the 45 ACP. They might pull when you fire a full cylinder.

I have loaded the 45 Colt with at least 8 powders, maybe more and it's very hard to produce a bad load. Right now I mostly use HS-6 but have used plenty of W231/HP-38 and some Trail Boss too. Unique will certainly do a good job though. I like loading a 250/255gr bullet in the 45 Colt.

Just a note, check that it us safe to carry that revolver with all 6 rounds with the hammer resting on a live round. If the Taylor revolver is true to the original SAA you should only load 5 with the hammer down in an empty cylinder for safety.

Good luck, let us know if you face any questions. There are a lot of helpful members here who are more than happy to help.
 
ArchAngelCD,

Yes, bullet shift is my main concern with the 200gr hornady. I suppose crimping over the front of the base will prevent this?

I did want to experiment with trailboss but no luck finding it. I'll work up loads with Unique & Bullseye and see what the gun likes out to ~25 yds.

You are correct, this gun is true to the original Colt, no transfer bar. Has a very nice trigger also.

I rarely purchase a gun on first sight but the egos, looks and feel of this piece sold me on the spot.

I don't want to mess with the front sight so I'll work up 5 round loads with both bullets and find the most accurate loading.

Will give a change to try out my new Hornady Auto charge dispenser...


Thanks, JC
 
Yes, crimping over the front band will probably prevent bullet pull. I wouldn't however make any accuracy conclusions when shooting that bullet. Wait until you shoot a made for revolver bullet for that. Incoming PM.
 
Thanks everyone, MBC order placed.

Will likely be late September but i'll provide a range report at that time.
 
Welcome to the addiction of Colt reproductions. Mine started 4 or 5 years ago when I wanted to try Cowboy Action Shooting. I set myself up first with a brace of Uberti 1873 revolvers in .357, then a pair of .44 Special Uberti's. I haven't shot CAS in a couple of years, but never grow tired of the 1873 single actions and have been hunting with them now for three seasons.

Regarding the 45 Colt, you're probably going to be best off with bullets in the 250-260 gr. range because they'll shoot closer to the sights. My latest acquisition is a 5 1/2" Uberti Bisley in 45 Colt. I mainly shoot 260 263 gr. SWC's in standard and HP configuration. managed a buck and a javelina last season.

Bisleys5517.jpg

Spike%20with%2045%20Colt-%20reduced_zpsqwppzshz.jpg

Bisley%2050%20yds._zpsrdc7mqxk.jpg

Alliant Unique is your friend. Alliant lists up to 9.5 grs. with a 250 gr. SWC, but 8.0 to 8.5 grs. works well for just shooting.

Have fun!

35W
 
One of my most accurate loads has been
MBC's Cowboy # 4 (200 gr RNFP) 11.0 gr of Accurate #5

So I bought a mold & started casting my own
To be honest, it's not as accurate as MBCs bullet.
But I still have LOTS of powders to try ;)

PS. If I were still buying bullets - I think I'd try the Hi-Tek coated ones.
Almost zero chance of leading unless you're really messing something up.

By the way .. welcome back
 
at moderate loads iv'e not had a problem with cast boolits that don't have a crimp groove, I just back off my roll crimp die and do a taper crimp on the boolit. Load itup ,shoot 3, then check the remaining rounds for movement. i don't think you'll find any.

I"m pretty sure that swaged bullets can't be pushed hard like cast boolits,check the mfgr, or maybe their pkg. for guidance here.

For great bullets at a great price that includes shipping, try T&B bullets, in Oregon. Badman also makes a great cast bullet.
 
All good information folks, thanks again.

35Whelen, beautiful handgun, really like the holster too. Mind sharing the mfg'r? The LGS also has a used Uberti 'el patron' w/o box&papers for ~440$ I'm looking at.

Arkansas Paul, thanks for the Alliant link, archived for reference.

SASS, thanks for the taper crimp idea for the 200gr bullet. Is that doable with the Lee FCD?
I'll check with hornady. Really enjoy punching paper with their 148gr HBWC in my GP100.

Hondo, yes, i wish i had known of MBC before i purchased the hornady 200gr. I notice they have a crimp groove. Haven't researched the hitex coating yet.

Can't wait to get my order and start working up test loads. May have another SAA and a lever gun before I finish...
 
SASS,
It just occurred to me how right you are regarding the swaged Hornady bullet. This is why they state a max load of 8.6gr Unique for that bullet in their 9th ed. manual..
 
Thanks JC. The holster was made by a fella up in Sweetgrass, MT. As far as I know he makes them one at a time when someone orders one. When I had this one made a coue of years ago, he only charged $45.
If you're interested PM me and I'll forward his contact information.

35W
 
I have the Pietta in 357 mag, the Uberti in 45 Colt. The Uberti has a far better trigger, but for the prices I paid I can't complain. I would recommend you do a trigger job on the Pietta. I have the books by Jerry Kuhnhausen, but there are some good places on the web. My only problem with the Uberti was the softness of the metal where the hand pushes on the cylinder ratchet. I cured that by restoring the shape and quenching the steel.

My 45 loves the 255 Keith-style pushed by 4227 or 800-X. For accuracy, one day I was shooting real good and decided to shoot around the outer ring on a pistol target. Got about 3/4 of the way around when I missed my first and soon found myself out of ammo. Needed about one more box to finish knocking out the center of the circle.
 
Yes, after squeezing what I can from Unique, IMR4227 is stocked by LGS and is next on the list.
My MBC order shipped yesterday so hoping to get started soon.

Actually I am impressed by the Pietta's trigger pull, clean and very crisp. Better than my DA GP100 for sure. Of course this is my first single action revolver so take my opinion for what it's worth.

By the way, nice shooting there!
 
JCmax said:
Yes, after squeezing what I can from Unique, IMR4227 is stocked by LGS and is next on the list.
My MBC order shipped yesterday so hoping to get started soon.

Actually I am impressed by the Pietta's trigger pull, clean and very crisp. Better than my DA GP100 for sure. Of course this is my first single action revolver so take my opinion for what it's worth.

By the way, nice shooting there!
Click to expand...
You are correct, Pietta makes a very good product. The Italians know their gun making for sure.

Unless you want to produce Ruger Only 45 Colt loads 4227 might not be a good choice. A while back I gave HS-6 a try and it's all I use now in the 45 Colt. There are other medium speed powders too like AA#5 which also did a good job in my tests. I went with HS-6 because I also use it in other cartridges. 4227 is a magnum class powder that doesn't work well in my experience at lower levels. Now, for full power .44 Magnum loads it's great!
 
I finally picked up a replica 1873 this year.
I can't believe I waited so long to do this!!!

I finally found some CFE-Pistol and have been playing with it.

I am happy with it so far.

Shooting Coated LRNFP & XTP's (both are 250/g)
 
JCmax said:
Yes, after squeezing what I can from Unique, IMR4227 is stocked by LGS and is next on the list.
My MBC order shipped yesterday so hoping to get started soon.

Actually I am impressed by the Pietta's trigger pull, clean and very crisp. Better than my DA GP100 for sure. Of course this is my first single action revolver so take my opinion for what it's worth.

By the way, nice shooting there!
Click to expand...

As for powder, I have yet to find one that didn't work. Anything from Titegroup to 4227. The feel in the hand is different, but the results are similar.

Sounds like I bought a Uberti made on the right day, a Pietta made on the wrong day. Might have had something to do with the wine. :D
 
For mid-range .45 Colt loads heavier than the standard 8.5 of Unique under a 255, I highly recommend AA#7 as the next powder in your quest, as opposed to either of the 4227's...

YMMV...
 
I have become very fond of Missouri Bullet 200 grain lead RNFP (both plain lead and powder coated) over TrailBoss in my .45 Colt loads. As a 'cowboy load' it is just about perfect for my plinking.
 
Yes, Trailboss would be ideal if i could find it.. Both AA#7 & W231 are available however.
Lot of open space in that 45 case with Unique & Bullseye..
 
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