4" RedHawk 45 Colt....more PACT results

[Stargazer]

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



I tried some new loads/bullets in my 4" RedHawk yesterday. 250 grain Nosler HP under 26 grs. of H110. PACT said an average of 1144 FPS. Cases come out easy, no bulging, primers look fine. 300 grain Sierra bullets with 23.5 grs. of H110, PACT said 1092 FPS average. Again cases and primers look fine. Here is a video of the recoil. Had to use Iphone recorder, Canon camera finally died.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~ispyu2/111409_2.wmv

[Pathfinder45]

.....that you aren't getting more velocity with that first load. Plenty of power though. H-110 is not a prefered powder for me. But if you are happy with it then fine. Cast bullets will likely give higher velocity, all else being equal.

[GeauxTide]

My load of 10gr. of Unique under a 275LFN clocks 1060 from my 5.5" Bisley. Brian Pearce posted a load of 25gr of H-110 under a 280SWC for 1387 in a 5.5" Bisley.

[mtnbkr]

Nevermind, I completely missed that the caliber was 45colt.

Chris

[Stargazer]

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


Two things are really slowing these rounds down compared to published data. I am using jacketed bullets so that is more friction, so slower bullet. This 4" barrel is a nice and handy size but the velocity readings even between it and a 5.5" Bisley are huge diffferences. The difference with same load between the BlackHawk 7.5" I have the this 4" barrel are huge too. Example, 25 grs. of H110, 250 gr. JHP bullet gives me 1240 FPS in the 7.5". 26 grs. of H110 with a 250 JHP bullet only gives me 1144 out of the 4". That 26 grains would have made that bullet go a good 1350 FPS out of the BH.

I have to tell myself I am just not going to get the same velocities or nowhere near them in that 4" as I do in that 7.5". I was suprised the Cor-Bon Hunter rounds, 300 gr. Sierra with 21.5 grains of something got 1187 FPS from the 4". But we think they mix powders too to get that speed.

I am going to give some AA#9 a shot at 4" loads to see if I can better what the H110 is giving me. Of all the Mountain Guns out there I thought I would find some actual Chrono readings somewhere on rounds and loads through it but I have not seen any. The shortest 45 Colt barrel loads have been the Bisley at 5.5". I am fixing to settle on 10.5-11 grs. of Unique for that powder and for H110/WW296 23 grains for the 300 grain bullets and 26 for the 250 grain bullets. I was going to try a little higher load but the cases have started to bulge a bit so I stop here. I did not notice the bulges until I cleaned them.

Anyone with 3" Mountain Gun readings?

[GeauxTide]

Just ran the numbers from my posting on their program to adjust velocities to barrel length. For the 25gr H-110 load, it only loses 107fps in 1.5" of barrel. the issue, then, is load efficiency. I confess that I view my LCs as "shoot all day" pieces and when I want more, I grab my 41 or 44.

Thanks for the video - that is some fireball.

[GeauxTide]

They list three loads with a 3.5" Freedom Arms 1997.

300 Speer Plated SP Hodgdon H-110 22.0 1,140
300 Hornady XTP-HP Hodgdon HS-6 13.0 975
300 Hornady XTP-HP Hodgdon HS-6 14.0 1,063

These came from Handloader #231. One other thing I thought of was the neck tension from resizing. Besides firm crimp, the best ignition from slower powders comes from hard bullet pulls.

[Pathfinder45]

I've been shooting a Ruger Vaquero with 4-5/8" barrel and it does not shoot slow. 14.0 grains of HS-7 gives me 1075 fps with 255 grain cast bullets. 9 grains Unique yields 985 with 250 Laser-Cast. My initial experiments with AA-9 is this: Lee 255 grain RNFP hand-cast propelled by 15.1 grains gave 926 fps in my Vaquero and 1,276 fps in the Marlin. I have run up to 18.0 grains but did not have the Chrony. I want to find my maximum load with this powder as it gains a full 350 fps in the longer barreled Marlin. Red Dot, in contrast, only gains 190 fps.

[Snyd]

I'm getting 1155fps (6 shot average) with 360gr Cast Performance in starline brass over 21gr H110 and a cci 350. 4 legged critter protection. Heavy for caliber boolit in a short barreled packable gun.