Loading for .45 Long Colt

[thefitter]

I'm a new reloader and I'm getting a Colt SAA in 10 DAYS. I'm looking into reloading components. I wanted to try this Barnes bullet:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=613004

The dimension listed is .451 which is loadable in .45 Colt. My question is why do they have it listed as a 454 Casull bullet? I know that they are they same caliber. Is it the weight? The original .45 Colt was a 250-260 grain projectile wasn't it? Am I missing something else or is this just Midway marketing? Thanks

[ojisan]

The .454 launches the bullet much faster than the .45LC.
A bullet soft enough to expand reliably at the much slower SAA appropriate velocity may over-expand, "blow-up" and fail to penetrate if used at .454 velocities on tough big game.
These .454 bullets are designed for slow expansion and deep penetration to get through bones on big critters.

Be sure to read the loading manuals carefully.
There are many different power levels for loading the .45LC round, depending on what action type or gun is being used.
The SAA is a fine gun, but is usually loaded to much lower power levels than, for example, a Ruger Blackhawk, and never ever up past the Ruger loads to Casull loads.

[brassballs]

just check out some of my winchester cowboy loads. bullet is 250 grain and mic's out at .449, inside of once fired cases are about .450 don't know if that helps?

[EOD3]

The 454 bullet is designed for a "much" higher muzzle velocity than you can get out of a SAA without blowing your hand off.

I presume by SAA you're talking a real Colt? In any case, a jacketed bullet, such as a Nosler Sporting or the Hornady (NON MAGNUM) bullet should work reasonably well. When you decide to use lead bullets, you'll want to size them to match the chambers of your revolver.

You might want to wander over here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

A BUNCH of old codgers but mostly good guys.

[22popnsplat]

I belive it has more to do with the construction of the bullet , That bullet is designed to withstand the large increase in velocty and the operating pressure of the .454 . I have my doubts that they would expand at 45 colt velocitys.At $1 each I would need a real good reason to use those , they are intended for hunting in the Condor range as they are lead free.
I have had hornadys jacketed bullets seperate from the lead core in my .454 when driven over 1500 fps . I shoot mostly lead bullets from my 45 colts for target/plinking .

[thefitter]

I'm not sold on this bullet. I just wanted something in the 250 grain range and had heard the all copper Barnes were good. But obviously if they are designed to perform at higher velocities then they are not appropriate for A Colt SAA. And there are plenty of other great bullets in that weight- XTP, Gold Dot, Golden Saber etc., Thanks

[Cowboy T]

For a Colt SAA, nothing beats a cast bullet of between BHN 8 and 10, though 12 will also work pretty well. Stay away from the so-called "hard cast" bullets unless you want to be cleaning out lead fouling (gas cutting). I'm assuming you want good expansion, based on your choice of hollow points. If you want good expansion, your best choice for a SAA or clone is a BHN 8 cast bullet with a nice, wide meplat. Something like this.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=570018

I reload a whole lot of .45 Long Colt for my Super Redhawk 454. Most of my rounds are fairly minimum loads of about 850 fps with a 200gr cast "boolit" that I pour. The BHN is about 11, and the lube is liquid Alox. I get no leading and lots of fun from this round...and I have every confidence that it will drop the BG should that ever prove necessary (hopefully never!). I also use the 255-grainer with a harder alloy (BHN 15-16) for my "Magnum" .45 Colt load on top of a very healthy dose of 2400 powder. Why not the 255-grainer for my light load, too? To save lead. To me, lead = gold these days.

This is the 200gr "boolit" that I use most of the time. Notice the nice, wide meplat on this one as well.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productnumber=110378

[bwhited]

The 454 is a lenghtened 45 because Dick kept blowing up 45's.
Bullet construction (hardness) does need to match the velocity that it will be launched at.

[thefitter]

For a Colt SAA, nothing beats a cast bullet of between BHN 8 and 10, though 12 will also work pretty well. Stay away from the so-called "hard cast" bullets unless you want to be cleaning out lead fouling (gas cutting). I'm assuming you want good expansion, based on your choice of hollow points. If you want good expansion, your best choice for a SAA or clone is a BHN 8 cast bullet with a nice, wide meplat. Something like this.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=570018

I reload a whole lot of .45 Long Colt for my Super Redhawk 454. Most of my rounds are fairly minimum loads of about 850 fps with a 200gr cast "boolit" that I pour. The BHN is about 11, and the lube is liquid Alox. I get no leading and lots of fun from this round...and I have every confidence that it will drop the BG should that ever prove necessary (hopefully never!). I also use the 255-grainer with a harder alloy (BHN 15-16) for my "Magnum" .45 Colt load on top of a very healthy dose of 2400 powder. Why not the 255-grainer for my light load, too? To save lead. To me, lead = gold these days.

This is the 200gr "boolit" that I use most of the time. Notice the nice, wide meplat on this one as well.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tnumber=110378

Thanks, but I really don't want to cast my own bullets just yet. I'm just getting started on reloading.

[Cowboy T]

While casting is a lot of fun, you don't need to start casting yourself to get the benefits of softer lead. When you purchase your bullets, just make sure they're soft lead with a wide meplat, as described above. That info was more so you know what to tell your bullet vendor.

BTW, welcome to the world of reloading! With that round especially, your gear will pay for itself fairly quickly. My Pro 1000 paid for itself in about 2 weeks, given the price of factory .45 LC ammo.

[flyer898]

I have been loading, among other things, .45 Colt for 25+ years. I currently have a Ruger Blackhawk with a 4 5/8" bbl. I have loaded for modern Colt SAA and S&W 25-5.

I like Unique as my first choice powder. It gives a good loading density and is very consistent and accurate with a wide variety of bullets.

The loading data in most manuals caps the loads at 14,000 psi and that is the SAAMI maximum in deference to many older Colts that are still in circulation.

My favorite load is a 255 cast lead bullet (Lyman 452424) of the "Keith" design on top of 10 grains of Unique. It sends this bullet down range out of my Blackhawk at just under 1,000 fps. It also works well in my buddy's 7 1/2" Colt New Frontier revolver and he gets just over 1,000 fps. I routinely get 5 shot groups in one ragged hole at 25 yards with this load. This load exceeds the SAAMI maximum pressure.

Speer has a jacketed bullet designed to expand at standard .45 Colt pressures. It is their 45 caliber 250 grain Gold Dot hollow-point. The latest Speer manual list this bullet at 840 fps with 7.8 grains of Unique.

Your mileage may vary and exceeding published loads is something that must be done very carefully if it is done at all.

[Cowboy T]

Speer has a jacketed bullet designed to expand at standard .45 Colt pressures. It is their 45 caliber 250 grain Gold Dot hollow-point. The latest Speer manual list this bullet at 840 fps with 7.8 grains of Unique.

For bullet obturation, yes, I agree that pressure is the important factor, but for bullet expansion when hitting a target, wouldn't velocity be the determiner? The same load pressure can generate different velocities out of different firearms (barrel length, revolver vs. T/C or levergun, etc.).

Your mileage may vary and exceeding published loads is something that must be done very carefully if it is done at all.

That's for doggone sure. +1. Like you, I wouldn't try that 10gr Unique load in a SAA or clone. BTW, in case Unique proves difficult to get reasonably in the OP's locale, Titegroup is another fine powder for .45 Colt due to its position insensitivity in that cavernous case.

[five.five-six]

I like loading .45LC with 250 grain cast boolets and trail boss, it does a guud job of duplicating black powder

[zdragon]

Hit the bullseye(dead center) on my first shot at 15yd last night(45LC Ruger Blackhawk) .....(12gr HS-6 / 200 LRN).

[z-bob]

Poor choice of bullets, IMHO. For one thing, it's over $1 a pop. For another, that bullet is designed for .454 Casull. You could probably get it to expand in .45 Colt "Ruger" loads, but not in anything safe to shoot in a SAA. So you might as well be shooting a FMJ bullet.

Check out mastercastbullets.com