The .45 Colts origins started in 1871 when Colt began designing a new sixgun specifically to house metallic cartridges. I seat and crimp just over the bullet radius. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, State Agency: Low Recoil Loads | Hodgdon Reloading Handloading allows the flexibility to adjust load ballistics for a particular purpose.
Alliant Powder - Reloader's Guide The Colt fanciers had .45's, usually in the New Service model, unless they were cowboy fans who had SAA's. The guys that worked in the paper mills and machine shops had 1917's. If you want-ed a handgun with power, the GI surplus .45 ACP in the 1917 was the only thing you could afford to shoot as reloading "ca'tridges" was unknown. I use WLP primers. in pistol calibers than the old. Prizes will not be awarded if illegal in jurisdiction of winners. No purchase necessary. Because case capacity is large, trying to produce lighter loads with slow-burning powders can give very poor results. Handgun Reloading Data .45 Colt 9mm Luger .32 Smith & Wesson Long .32 ACP .357 Magnum .44 Magnum .41 Remington Magnum .460 S&W Magnum .38 Special .327 Federal Magnum .357 SIG .25 Automatic 10mm Auto .500 Linebaugh Powder Data Accurate 5744 Hodgdon Extreme Powder Alliant Reloder 15 Norma Powder Ramshot Powder Accurate Powder Vihtavouri Powder They do provide identical results of muzzle velocities and pressures using the same charge weights, and I use them interchangeably. I did find a 225 grain jacketed bullet. HS7 is slowest of the group (Similar to 2400) Maryland Department of Natural Resources, State Agency: So both the up and down positions were closer in speeds and the spreads were noticeably closer. Factory warranties may apply in some cases. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, State Agency:
Reloading The .45 Colt - Reload Ammo In 1898, Colt made the necessary changes to permit its guns to be used with smokeless powders; however, it wasnt until 1900 (revolvers with serial number 192,000 or higher) that Colt began to officially warrant its guns for such. Giveaway prizes may have evidence of being test fired or exhibit minor handling marks. The Colt SAA .45 Colt with a 4.75-inch barrel ranks as one of Brians favorite handgun configurations. His 45 Colt bullet was #454424 and was available for decades from Lyman. Prizes will not be awarded if illegal in jurisdiction of winners. But the 45 Colt is a survivor. For several reasons they should not be used.
45 Colt Load Data - HunterHub Elmer Keith was way ahead of his time in developing everyday working and hunting loads. Space constraints keep me from looking at all of these powders in depth, but I can cover a few. It has never failed me. In spite of the above factory loads featuring the old Government bullet profile with a relatively small meplat, they are still effective. The Hornady 225-grain FTX bullet should be loaded in cases trimmed shorter than the industry standard of 1.215 inches. (III) Giveaway winner(s) chosen by random drawing. El Hombre Sin Nombre Members 6.3k Gender:Male Location:Oakland, CA SASS# 101096 Richmond Roughriders, Coyote Valley Cowboys, Faultine Shootist Society,Two Rivers Posse, River City Regulators Posted February 18, 2017 The .45 Colt is rapidly approaching 150 years in existence, and it remains one of our finest, most useful, versatile and handloaded sixgun cartridges. flatpoint Keith-style bullets. The smaller case-capacity means better performance with light loads, which is why I am interested in it. Note that the Ruger New Vaquero uses a smaller frame and cylinder That is, if the loading table calls for 40 grains of black powder, then one uses a 40-grain volume powder measure for the same amount by volume of Pyrodex. (III) Giveaway winner(s) chosen by random drawing. Unique and Universal still dont fill the case up as much as a yet slower powder (like No.9, AA5724, H-110/W296, AA5744, and Alliant 2400). Bullets from RCBS mould 45-270-SAA, which usually weigh around 280 to 285 grains, are designed to maximize powder capacity, are accurate and an excellent choice for hunting big game. The 9.2 got the best SD and EP, if that means much to you. Powders include The .45 Colt is rapidly approaching 150 years in existence, and it remains one of our finest, most useful, versatile and handloaded sixgun cartridges. No substitutions or transfers to third parties allowed.
Hodgdon's Clays And Your .45 - GUNS Magazine My powders of choice are Clays, HP-38, HS-6, Universal, Trail Boss, H110, IMR 4227, W296, and W231. Giveaway prizes may have evidence of being test fired or exhibit minor handling marks. and while they do not have the slick action of the slightly smaller Model 1892, they are fast handling and come up to the shoulder quickly. Make sure your gun can handle it before With multiple powder charge weights there has been considerable confusion on this subject. On the other end are the Ruger Only loads. It's always had a great reputation as a man stopper. 9, #5744, #2230, and #2460 are products of Accurate Arms Company. It is impossible to go wrong with the 45 Colt. Soon after smokeless powder came into use, throats were increased to .4555 inch (according to Colt specifications), which worked fine with .456-inch lead hollowbase bullets contained in Remington and Winchester ammunition. Chris Johnson, FN Senior Product Manager, walks us through two new FN striker-fired pistols at SHOT Show 2023: the FN 510 Tactical, chambered in 10mm Auto, and the FN 545 Tactical, chambered in .45 ACP. ), RCBS #45-270SWC (284 gr.). And about 1450+fps out of the 20" 454 Puma Levergun. Actually, we can divide 45 Colt sixguns into several reloading levels, and I have moderated these somewhat over the past several years, with the first two levels being very close together. Mike, who used to live in Newport News, but now resides in Poquoson VA. The more powerful loads are only suitable for strong handguns like the Ruger Blackhawk and the Thompson Center Contender. Deployed military should use stateside address. When Ray Thompson was designing his line of bullets, he did not neglect the 45. Lyman has a 255 grain .45 Colt gas-checked bullet, #454490GC, that was designed by Ray Thompson who also brought forth the .357 Magnum #358156GC and the .44 Magnum #431244GC. There simply is not much that cannot be accomplished with the 45 Colt. This load will certainly handle deer-sized game. Alas, the days of gun departments in grocery stores, department stores and drugstores are long gone. (IV) Winners must undergo a background check (if required) and comply with all other federal, state and local laws. Prizes will not be awarded if illegal in jurisdiction of winners. This brings us to powders, and I use a lot of Hodgdon powders. In 1935 we entered the Magnum Sixgun Era with the arrival of the 357 Magnum; however, long before that we had the 45 Colt. For several years Smith & Wesson cut throats at 0.455 inch or even larger, but now they seem to be running at a more proper 0.451 to 0.452 inch. His #452490GC was originally made for the 45 Auto Rim cartridge for use in the Smith & Wesson 1950 Target revolver, but I also use the Thompson design, which weighs around 255 grains, for heavy-duty loads approaching the energy of the 44 Magnum in the Ruger Blackhawk. This revolver is fitted with a new line-bored cylinder that is tightly chambered with .452-inch throats, a .003-inch barrel/cylinder gap and the forcing cone cut to 11 degrees. One problem inherent with the original #454424 was the fact that when sized to 0.451 to 0.452 inch, the crimping groove almost disappears. For example, Lyman mould No. ew eginnings - Mark 7 is now part of the Lyman family! The on-line Hogdon load data shows the following for TiteGroup and a 255 gr LSWC: Starting load of 5.0 gr for an approx 716 feet per second and a pressure of 7.6K cup.
Load Data - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc This Colt SAA .45 was manufactured in 1893 and saw extensive use on the frontier prior to being professionally restored. I chose the Herco powder to utilize as much case capacity as possible. This significantly improved its accuracy when compared to the original cylinder with its typical oversized throats, and resulted in increased velocity. Share to Reddit. The Lyman family of brands including Pachmayr, Mark 7 Reloading, TacStar, A-Zoom, Trius, Butch's, and Targ-Dots offers products to meet the needs of shooters and reloaders. At 1,400 fps it is an excellent hunting bullet. The .45 Colt was developed in 1872 and first chambered for the Colt Single Action Army revolver in 1873. There are some excellent jacketed bullets available for use in the 45 Colt, including the Sierra 240-grain JHP, Hornady 250-grain XTP-JHP, and the Speer 260-grain JHP, all of which I prefer for deer-sized game. It would also be excellent for a defense load.
Shooter's Reference Load Data for .45 Colt Contrary to what has been traditionally published, records indicate that early loads from Frankford Arsenal contained a copper case loaded with a 250-grain, roundnose flatpoint lead bullet pushed with 30 grains of black powder, with additional charge weights soon added. If you want those speeds and power, buy a .44 magnum. Others are the New Model Blackhawks, the Bisley Model, the Redhawk, and the Super Redhawk. There are many outstanding cast bullets for the .45 Colt. This is a plain base bullet and I found out very quickly it was not very accurate in either rifle. Do Pistols Benefit From Popular Aftermarket Modifications? The new big bore pistols feature industry-first capacity, with a standard 15-round capacity and 22+1 rounds of 10mm or 18+1 rounds of .45 ACP from the extended magazines. Many early black-powder-era Colt revolvers (1873-1898) feature .449- to .452-inch throats that corresponded reasonably with .450- to .452-inch barrel groove diameters. Bullseye is a bit fast for this big cartridge and I dont especially recommend it, but it will work. Over the nearly 15 decades since its arrival, there have been many attempts to pronounce it dead. Two other powders for standard loads include W231 and HP-38. I would conclude this powder is much more consistent in speeds than others that I have tried in the .45 Colt. * which is just a little over maximum Colt loads (but mild for Ruger) shot an average of 880.2 fps pointing up and 708.0 fps pointing down, but the spread between shots was 146 fps and 235 fps respectively. Sep 8, 2016 (Edited) Greetings, recently I received a quantity of .45 185 gr LSWC's. (II) Limit one (1) entry per household; multiple entries will disqualify entrants. A pair of Old Model Blackhawks with 4-5/8 and 4-3/4 barrels put five rounds in 1 at 20 yards while traveling at about 800 fps. Giveaway prizes may have evidence of being test fired or exhibit minor handling marks. The charge weight is 9.2 grains. 454190 (255 grains) shares a similar profile as the original Government bullet but is a plainbase design that is generally very accurate and can be sized to around .454 to .455 inch for guns with larger throats. Because case capacity is large, trying to produce lighter loads with slow-burning powders can give very poor results. No purchase necessary. Balloonhead cases were discontinued around World War II but still show up regularly on handloaders benches. Additional evidence can be found in Colt-published specifications dated June 1924 that list the .45 Colt with a groove diameter of .451 inch minimum and .452 inch maximum (with bore diameter being .444 inch minimum and .445 maximum). In actual weight, Pyrodex is lighter than black powder, being about 80 percent of the weight of black powder. Not only do the Hodgdon folks offer excellent powders, but also they are simply some of the nicest folks in the industry.
Caliber .45 Colt| Reloading Data If reliable expansion is desired, consider 230-grain JHP bullets designed for the .45 ACP or the Hornady 225-grain FTX, which can be pushed close to 1,000 fps while staying within pressure guidelines.