45 Colt powder charges...

[USSR]

I have a Smith 25-5 4".

Ah, Mike, those are tough to find. A lot of the 6" guns were made, but not as many of the 4" model. I was lucky to pick one up a couple of years ago at a "reasonable" price to join it's 6" brother.

Don

[Mike Irwin]

"Ah, Mike, those are tough to find."

Tell me about it. I looked for it for over 10 years before I finally found it. Turned away from multiple 6" ones.

I finally had to order it, praying that the pictures were showing what I was actually going to get, from Gun Broker or a similar site.

Guy I got it from was an undertaker with a sideline in selling the guns the widows of the guys he buried didn't want. He said one of the most common questions he got was "What do I do with Charlie's guns?"

So he got his FFL and started brokering them. He took a small bit and the widows got fair price for the guns.

Unfortunately mine didn't come with a box, but my God was it in beautiful condition. Barely a drag line on the cylinder. Apparently everyone at the gunshop where I had it shipped wanted to fondle it.

[Pathfinder45]

There are a lot of good powders... in times of shortage, if you can't get the powder you love, then it's good to know which powders you can make do with. I agree with the tip about slower powders for that 1873 Winchester as long as they are suitable to the pressure limitations of the rifle. Thus, for that rifle, I would avoid W-296 and H-110. But IMR-4227 is a lot more flexible across a wider range of pressures, so it would be worth experimenting with.

[Unclenick]

Originally Posted by Mike Irwin

Barely a drag line on the cylinder. Apparently everyone at the gunshop where I had it shipped wanted to fondle it.

Are you saying that even though you didn't get drag marks, you did get a lot of fingerprints to clean off?

[Mike Irwin]

No, the owner made sure all of the employees were extra careful with it and that they wiped it down thoroughly.

It was a really good shop.

[USSR]

Just a "peek" at what we're talking about.

Don

[Mal H]

Like Mike Irwin, I also use Universal Clays for my .45 Colt loads. I shot some just 2 days ago in my Winchester 1894. I load 9.0 gr. of Universal under a Laser-Cast 250 gr. LRNFP.That loading is very pleasant to shoot in both the 1894 and in a Ruger Vaquero. And it's accurate to boot. It doesn't fill the case up, in fact it leaves a lot of space, but I haven't found that it is position sensitive in the case.

[Scorch]

Heresy! 45 Colt needs 40 grains of ffg in a baloon head case! No, just kidding

9-ish grains of Unique will launch a 250-ish grain bullet fast enough. If you really want to hot rod them, Unique will do it. Universal Clays or 231 will work too.

[44 AMP]

I had a few years of running the .45 Colt at top end, matching or slightly exceeding the .44 Mag. Got tired of that. For over the past 30 years my .45 Colt load has been 10gr Unique under a 250gr SWC. Clocks just about 1100fps from my 7.5" Ruger and is slightly under the listed max load in the old Lyman books (which used a Colt SAA as the test firearm).

And, while there is plenty of recoil, its not so bad as to be punishing or painful, for me, at any rate. Not so with my full house .44 mags, unless I'm shooting a Desert Eagle)

If you're shooting a S&W or a smaller lighter SA I'd recommend a slightly lighter charge, 8.5-9gr will do fine, just as it has for well over a century...

[Hanshi]

My cabinet has been pared down to 2 .45 Colt revolvers, Ruger BHs in 4-5/8" and 7-1/2". I only have one load that I settled on long ago to be used for every/any thing. That load is 18 grains of 2400; this is the same cast bullet powder charge that I shoot in my .44 & .41 mags. Accuracy is all I could ask for and plenty powerful to boot. Actually I do use two different cast bullets, a 245 grn rn and a 260 grn swc. Only some 10 to 12 fps separates the two slugs. Velocity in the shorter barrel runs around 1060 fps and 1260 fps in the 7-1/2" barrel. I've taken a good bit of small game with this load. Squirrels don't offer enough resistance to cause expansion and hits simply result in entrance & exit slits. On deer size critters more damage would be likely; but I don't know, not having tried the load on deer.

[USSR]

Hanshi,

Since 18.0gr of 2400 behind a 265gr SWCHP is my deer load, I can tell you in all certainty that it does the job on deer.

Don

[The Happy kaboomer]

I run 8.5 grs of Unique behind my 255 gr cast swc's in my 45LC revolvers and rifles. I standardized on this load many years ago.

[Ike Clanton]

My heavy 45 colt load is 9.2 - 9.5 grains of CFE Pistol with a 255 gr GT bullets hollow point. I get just over 1000 FPS in my 5.5 BH and great expansion. I’ve shot the 9.2 load in my SAA clone with no problems but haven’t shot the 9.5 (.3 over max) but I can’t imagine it’ll have any issues.

[chris downs]

Originally Posted by Aguila Blanca

I used Winchester 231 for .45 Colt, but the powder charge occupied so little of the case volume that I had concerns that powder shift would affect velocity consistency. I switched to Trail Boss, which is a much bulkier powder.

Would this be a consideration for "cowboy" pistol loads? thx.

[mehavey]

Faster powders (like 231) tend to not be position dependent/very flexible
And "Cowboy" 45 Colt is still fairly "competent" at doing what 45 Colts do.

[GeauxTide]

Have been loading for a Ruger Blackhawk Bisley since the 80s. I don't like the hot stuff because I use flat based SWC. I use 10gr of Unique under an RCBS SAA 280gr SWC for 1057fps. Blows through hogs to 40 yards, at any angle and is very comfortable to shoot. If you shoot an old Colt or European revolver, use manual.

[USSR]

GeauxTide,

I use the same bullet as a HP at about the same velocity. Never recovered a bullet from a whitetail.

Don

[Mike Irwin]

"Faster powders (like 231) tend to not be position dependent/very flexible
And "Cowboy" 45 Colt is still fairly "competent" at doing what 45 Colts do."

I used to think that, too.

Until I started loading .44 Special using WW 231 and I discovered that it was VERY position sensitive and gave me significant variations in velocity, which translated into crap accuracy.

I switched to Trail Boss in .44 Special and have never looked back.

[rclark]

I actually didn't find W-231 to be position sensitive in .44 Special. I found it accurate and consistent in my revolvers.

{ removed my tests, as slightly above SAAMI pressures for 240g SWC in the 900fps-1000fps range, ES results were < 32fps }

Also found Trail Boss okay in .44 Special. Starting at 4.5g, wasn't as consistent as w-231, but I marked each test as accurate with 6.5g under 240g SWC being marked as accurate plus. Funny thing, with my test .44 Special revolver, I had a tough time finding a load that wasn't accurate!

Of course this was in my revolvers and experience. your mileage may very.

[Carriertxv]

I use a lot of Bullseye for various calibers but the best I get for Colt only loads is either Unique or Herco and have a tack driver load using HS6.

[FoghornLeghorn]

Originally Posted by USSR

No. The Winchester Model 1873 is not a strong action. If you want a strong action in a lever gun, go with something based on the Winchester Model 1892 action.

Don

Could I use the same loads for a second generation Colt SAA as I could in the 1873 Winchester?

I had read to not use loads crafted for Ruger, in the SAA.

[USSR]

FL,

Your Colt SAA is stronger than your Model 1873 Winchester, so Yes, anything that is safe to use in your Model 1873 will be safe to use in your Colt SAA. And, yes, do not use loads designed to be used in Rugers in either of your .45 Colts.

Don