WOOT! Ready to reload 45 Colt with Black Powder

[ClemBert]

Finally, after four months I have all the components to do some 45 Colt reloading. Brass, Bullets, Dies, and Primers were all hard to get at a reasonable price. Rather than be impatient and spend the big bucks from those profiting off the shortage I took my time getting components. Last week I finally got my 45 Colt carbide die set. These were on back order from MidwayUSA for about 4 months. Today, I actually found some Winchester large pistol primers at Gander Mountain. They had a two pack limit (100 primers per pack at $3.99 per pack) so I took what I could get. This was the last component I needed. So I can at least load up 200 cartridges until I find more primers. Now I just need to figure out how much black powder to load the brass up with. For you BP reloaders, how much FFFg are you getting into the cases? I plan on putting a 0.030 thick Walter Wad between the powder and the bullet.

[sundance44s]

I load mine with out useing a drop tube by volume 30 grs of 3F Goex .030 card and topped off with a .250 gr lyman RNFN cast bullet . ( pan lubed 50/50 crisco & beeswax )
I have loaded some with 40 Grs of Goex 3F useing a drop tube and skipping the card .
Both loads shoot well out of my rifles and pistols ....plenty of boom for your bucks...

[ClemBert]

I bought Starline brass and Dardas 250 grain RNFP bullets. I'm just going to use the bullets as is with the hard lube. From what I've read and been told the hard lube that the bullets come with is fine as long as you are shooting from a short barreled firearm such as a revolver. Apparently, hard lube only becomes a problem with BP if you are shooting through a long gun barrel. I guess we shall see.

Are you using 2Fg or 3Fg in your 45 Colt re-loads? The reason I ask is because I just came across a Goex reloading chart

[Hawg]

What's a Walter wad? I don't load .45 Colt but just fill the case until you have a 1/16 space after the wad is in place. Personally I don't use wads in cartridges. I've got a feeling you're not going to like that hard lube with bp.

[NWPilgrim]

ClemBert, did you have to pay the $25 hazmat fee for those 200 primers? I have considered picking up small amounts of primers as available, but put it off due to the extra shipping fee. Normally I buy a minimum of 3000 through the Web.

[ClemBert]

Hawg, Google is yur friend.

Walter Wads

[ClemBert]

ClemBert, did you have to pay the $25 hazmat fee for those 200 primers? I have considered picking up small amounts of primers as available, but put it off due to the extra shipping fee. Normally I buy a minimum of 3000 through the Web.

Pilgrim, I'm lucky enough to have a Gander Mountain retail store within 5 miles of my house so I picked the primers up in person. The price was $3.99 per 100 plus FL sales tax. No HAZMAT fee.

The HAZMAT fee is why I haven't bought any online. In addition, I think you will find most if not all online sources have the primers on backorder.

[Hawg]

Hawg, Google is yur friend.

I deserved that, I really did. I just never heard of them before. I usually make my own.

[ClemBert]

I deserved that, I really did. I just never heard of them before. I usually make my own.

Hawg, I never heard of them either but then again I'm new to BP reloading. I just happened to be buying reloading dies and other goodies from MidwayUSA and was wondering what else I needed before hitting the ORDER NOW button. If I'm gonna pay for shipping then I like to slap on whatever else I need without making the shipping charges go up. The Walter Wads were a suggested item based on something I was ordering so I said "Huh, I wonder what Walter Wads are and what they are used for". So, since Google IS my friend, I checked it out and found out that many BP cartridge reloaders are using either home punched wads or Walter Wads. So me brain sez "ClemBert, you needs to getcha some Walter Wads 'cause I just don't seeings ya punchin' dem yurself".

[Hawg]

Well I've been shooting it a looong time but I don't pretend to know everything.
They're not hard to make. You can get a cheap set of hole punches from Harbor Freight for about 5 bucks. Course the shipping is gonna be another 5. Then go to a thrift store and get an old felt hat for a buck or so and you're in bizness.

[sundance44s]

I have used some smokeless lubed bullets with the subs like 777 and APP powder with some success ..
My cylinder binds with real black and smokeless lube ../ tried it once .
I use 3F Goex ..just because thats all I buy and it works well in all my guns .
I suppose you could put a dash of lube over each chamber to keep the fouling soft ...but would be a lot of mess for shooting cartridges .
I only load 45 LC and 45 Schofields ...all my guns shoot the 45 Schofields as well as the 45 LC ...and it`s less powder to fill them up .
Here`s a good tip ....do not punch wads on the coffee table ...unless you live alone ....

[grymster2007]

do not punch wads on the coffee table ...unless you live alone ....

... or feel some burning desire to start living alone.

Never loaded BP cartridges yet, but I'll probably get around to it someday. Maybe when me brain sez "grymster; ya'll oughtn' ta mebbe do whut ol' Clembert done did and start a loadin' some o them thar cases with a heap o holy black."

[tomh1426]

BP sounds like a PITA to me, why would you want to load with it, whats the advantage? cost? fun?
Im not tryin to be a smart a$$ or anything I just never got it.
I load and shoot alot of .45 Colt, usually with Trial Boss, I got a old can of fff that Ive been avoiding for years.
I can tell alredy Im gunna be loadin up some of these pretty soon, Im curious

[Hawg]

BP sounds like a PITA to me, why would you want to load with it, whats the advantage? cost? fun?

Advantage? None. Dirtier, more mess. Lotsa noxious smoke.
Cost? About the same, maybe slightly less. Not enough to really matter.
Fun? Oh HELL yeah! More fun that you should be allowed to have with your clothes on.

I can tell alredy Im gunna be loadin up some of these pretty soon, Im curious

DON'T DO IT!!!!! Once you go black you never go back.

[ClemBert]

BP sounds like a PITA to me, why would you want to load with it, whats the advantage? cost? fun?
Im not tryin to be a smart a$$ or anything I just never got it.
I load and shoot alot of .45 Colt, usually with Trial Boss, I got a old can of fff that Ive been avoiding for years.
I can tell alredy Im gunna be loadin up some of these pretty soon, Im curious

You mean more of a PITA that loading up with heathen powder? Seems to me to be about the same effort, no? Perhaps cleanup? Seems to take the same amount of time for me but I'm picky when I clean my firearms.

The way I see it I have a ROA that I shoot BP from. But, wouldn't it be cool to shoot 45 Colt or cap-n-ball style from the same firearm. Enter the 45 Colt conversion cylinder. Now I can shoot cap-n-ball and go bang-bang six times then for grins pop out that cylinder lickity-split and pop in a cylinder with 45 Colt cartridges then go bang-bang six more times. I can shoot 45 Colt all day or cap-n-ball all day or switch back-n-forth all day long. The bottom like is you get to shoot 45 Colt the way it was designed to...with the holy black. 45 Colt is one of the few cartridges still around that was designed for BP. That heathen powder came along sometime later.

[arcticap]

Here's the Cabela's brand of "Walter" vegetable
wads which are so tough it was impossible for me to
twist and rip one in half at all with my bare fingers.
They're made from a tough gasket material that's
flexible and won't crack like some other vegetable
wads. These are the thicker of the 2 thicknesses
Cabela's sells.

[Claddagh]

Mike Venturino's recommendations for best performance from handloaded BP cartridges:

Use bullets made from very soft alloy ( eg: 1-20 tin to lead) or pure lead.

Use Magnum primers for the most consistent ballistic performance.

Charge all cases with a drop tube. Use charges that fill the case to the point where seating the bullet, with or without a fiber overpowder wad, will slightly compress the powder.

Use SPG or other BP-specific lube on your bullets.

[W. C. Quantrill]

With all black powder loads the rule of thumb is to start with 1/20 alloy and if that isnt accuate, then go to 1/30 OR 1/40.

[SG29736]

The biggest hurdle shooters new to loading black powder cartridges usually have is getting good bullets that hold enough soft black powder lube. Many of the bullet manufacturers just take their regular cast bullets with a very small lube groove and fill it with bp lube. They don't hold enough lube. It usually costs quite a bit more for good blackpowder lubed bullets because the manufacturers have to pack the bullets more carefully because of the soft lube. If you just dump 500 of them in a box like regular hardcast bullets you'll end up with lube everywhere. I buy lots of cast bullets but for my blackpowder cowboy action shooting I cast my own 44 and 45 cal bullets that have large lube grooves that hold enough to shoot out of my rifle.
Some blackpowder shooters will run a bore snake through their gun between stages to insure that they maintain accuracy. With bullets holding enough lubricant you can shoot an entire match without cleaning and maintain good accuracy. Smokin Gator

[W. C. Quantrill]

Good black powder bullets come in the little foam boxes to keep them separated so you dont loose the lube. With the red or blue hard lube, if you recover a bullet and it still has lube in the grooves, then it hasnt done its job. For the lube to be effective, it needs to melt down and LUBE the barrel on the way out.

[ClemBert]

If anyone is curious, this is what a $6 drop tube looks like. Made from a 24" inch copper pipe and two copper pipe fittings. The funnel from my Lee Anniversary Reloading kit fits on top and the bottom of the drop tube fits right in the top of the neck expander and charging die. The charging die holds the drop tube just fine but you can see the horizontal wood dowel I added to hold it perfectly straight. The picture shows a primed brass case sitting inside the charging die ready for powder.

I used it primarily to get 40 weighed grains of 3Fg Goex into a .45 Colt casing. It works great and there was about 1/8th of an inch of room to spare to get a Walter Wad in there and get the bullet started. The powder is definitely compressed, I tell ya that! It wasn't compressed enough to force the bullet up. I gave it a light crimp anyway just in case it change it's mind later.