What's a good, moderately stout, "+P load" for .45 Colt for deer, in Win (Puma) 92?

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Not super hot +P, but a little warmer than plain .45 colt, which will like shoot well in my new Puma 92, with 250-300 gr bullets, which will perform well on deer vital zone at short ranges (out to 60 yards)? Which bullet type, cast or jacketed? Thanks.

P.S. Also, separate question, for spits & giggles, would this be possible/easy/hard/advisable: I have a lot of .454 Casull brass (a bit longer). What if I loaded the .45 colt load in this brass, then seated the bullet a smidge deeper to get the COL correct. Since the .45 colt headspaces on the case mouth, would the case go into the chamber or not? IOW, is there a "forcing cone" of sorts, or a "lip / ledge" as there is on rimless cartridge rifles? (I cannot see in there adequately to tell). If there's a forcing cone, then it may work.... just a crazy thought - brass would last forever using the stout .454 brass for just "warm" loads.

 

[Slamfire]

A 454 Casull case is 1.381" long, a 45 LC is 1.285. A Casull is too long, by design.

I don't have a M1892 Winchester type action. But I have handled them, and it is a rear locker, like a M1984. I don't see why it could not take the same loads.

Sierra tested loads in a 1894 with a 16" Barrel. For a 240 JHC, their max was 23.2 grains and they got 1550 fps.

With their 300 JSP, their max was 21.7 grs with H110 at a velocity of 1500 fps.

A 300 grain bullet at 1500 fps in one of those light carbines is going to hurt, on both ends!

 

[rcmodel]

Cut-off .454 cases would chamber if trimmed to .45 Colt OAL.

But, the .454 brass is much thicker in the web area, and it runs up the sidewall to the base of the bullet.

Barnes even makes thier .454 X-Bullet with a slight base taper to avoid guppy belly cases when the bullet bases run into the case web.

rcmodel

 

[rcmodel]

Both the 94 & 92 Winchester (Puma) actions are safe for 40,000 PSI loads. No more then that however in .45 Colt, and preferably a little less.

They should be safe with +P loads listed for the Ruger BH & Contender pistol.

The .44 Magnum develops 36,000, the .218 Bee 40,000, and the 30-30 developes 42,000.

However, the .45 Colt case-head is bigger then any of those, and will generate much higher bolt thrust on the locking bolts at the same pressure.

Here is some good lever-gun load info for them.
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/45coltlevergun.htm

rcmodel

 

[zxcvbob]

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

With 250 or 255 grain cast bullets, my favorite hot loads for a Ruger Bisley (in order of increasing power) are 7.5 grains of Red Dot, 12 grains of Herco or WSF, and 16.5 grains of Blue Dot. That's a big jump from the Red Dot load to the Herco load; I shoot a lot more of the Red Dots. (you can increase the Red Dot to 8.0 grains or more, max is probably about 8.8, but the recoil in a handgun gets really nasty above 8 grains without a big increase in performance. In a rifle it might be different)

10 grains of Unique is a classic hot .45 load, but I never got around to trying that one.

If you want the maximum power, that'll be about 25 grains of 296, H110, or Lil'Gun, but I don't have the actual load data.