Silver Supporter
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My "normal" 45 Colt load is 6.5 grains of true blue with a 255 grain slug for about 950 FPS. Speaks with authority but no too much authority.
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Remember, you can always double the speed a them slugs by shooting old movie cowboy style! lolA "Normal Load" for me in .45 Colt would be 26 to 28 Gr of B.P. under a 220 gr lead Bullet. Not bad performance, certainly more then the Poof, tink, but safe enough to not cause any troubles, Besides, this is a pretty accurate load out of these!
Ahaw heck Sarg, it's just for Sh!t's and Giggles, Not like any one actually carries any of these for daily carry ( Or DO They? hummmmmm) Worked for many a year in the past, maybe they still do! Personally, I just enjoy the fun of shooting ANY THING COOL, and these Are pretty damn cool!
The 45 Colt is among my favorite calibers, very easy to get components and handload for. I've loaded it way down for plinking and way up (in a Blackhawk only) to compete with 44 mag velocities. Lots of options for platforms to shoot it out of as well..I don't particularly like adding more calibres, it becomes a pain the back side to 'manage' - however i'm getting to the point where i have enough 'stuff' that i won't be able to fire much of anything.
Based on that, being able to buy a box of range ammo every so often for the odd calibres will be plenty to have for my low use firearms - .44 mag, .303 British, .45 Colt etc.
Anyway, i've got a rough idea on the first two for range ammo prices, but not sure on the .45 colt, best place to get small amounts of range priced ammo? and how much is normally a good price?
The 45 Colt is among my favorite calibers, very easy to get components and handload for. I've loaded it way down for plinking and way up (in a Blackhawk only) to compete with 44 mag velocities. Lots of options for platforms to shoot it out of as well..
It's a very easy shooting cartridge..I worked up a plinking load for my 74 year old mother and she did just fine!My Judge pistol and my wife's Circuit Judge will shoot both .410 and .45LC. I've never shot the Long Colt out of them because someone mentioned gumming up the cylinders. Just once I'd like to try it tho.
I had also heard many warnings in the past regarding loading the .45 Colt to .44 magnum and above pressures due to the "weak brass".
I rarely load the 45 Colt to magnum velocities any more unless I'm heading into bear country. Out of my Blackhawk, the most accurate loads seem to be in the 800-850 fps range anyway using Unique. I only buy Starline new brass, but will use Winchester if necessary. One of the most surprising things I discovered, however, is how well 45 Colt performs out of an older Winchester lever action set up for long range shooting. I was in Tonasket, WA last year at an informal shoot with some buddies and we were lobbing lead projectiles at a steel plate out to 650 yards. Yep.. we put a fairly healthy arc into the trajectory, but we had no problem hitting on target with a very audible "ding". The guy was loading with some old Herco powder he had on his back shelf; apparently the rifle liked it. The 45 Colt is anything but an outdated cartridge as I continually find more ways it amazes me.most of my own 45LC loads over the last 35+ years have been in the moderate Cowboy Action levels. Brass has survived multiple reloads into perhaps dozens of times average. While case mouth splits were more frequent when excessive belling was employed, in general 'brass brass' cases were considerably robust for at least *that* level of reloads.
More frequent mid-body splits were encountered with whatever the bright shiny 'silver brass' was.
Frequency of brass loss due to splitting, in approximately 500 rounds per month in both SAA revolver & lever carbine, might range from ~zero~ loss to a couple per match for 2 or 3 shooters. One memorable time there was 6, but of known very aged & re-re-reloaded brass.
Still the loss of whatever flavor of 45LC brass, was in the 1-2% range. I reloaded my new brass so many time lost track of lifespan. Sometimes the reloading phase would split a case unexpectedly.
In any case, at this level of 'moderate loads' a split might result in a little more difficult extraction. Rarely did a lever gun require extra attention to remove stuck split case....maybe 2 or 3 times in nearly 15 years of match conditions.
My everyday load is 9.0 grains of Unique under a 265 gr hardcast Keith. Great round, have dropped two deer with it, no problems. Easy shooting. For bear/elk I go with 325 gr hardcast wide nose flat point over 24 gr of H110--that one will get your attention.
The great thing about the 45 Colt, is I ordered up a bunch of 45 Cowboy Special brass, got some Trail Boss powder, and 160 grain lead bullets and loaded up some rounds for my kid--it's a bit more expensive than a BB gun, but one heckuva lot more fun.