Anybody loading 45 Colt with black powder? I’m fixin to start and have a few questions.

I’ve heard do and don’t on BP substitutes like 777. The do’s mentioned it leaving moist residue and therefore not needing as much lube. Anybody tried it?

Can I use my Dillon 550 powder measure? It is aluminum so I shouldn’t have the spark issues right?

Where do you get cast bullets lubed for BP? Moyer’s sells them but they don’t have pics on their website. I’ve seen some cast bullets with HUGE grease grooves and would like to find some of those in say a 250gr FP full of SPG.

I shot some 777 in .44 Special and WCF. Worked fine with hard smokeless lube.
I have not (yet) loaded a revolver with real black, but have some Meister + SPG. They are the same pattern as used for smokeless and I doubt they have enough lube for black.
Might check on the SASS Wire for some information on those Big Lube bullets.

I have shot my Ruger Bisley Vaquero a good bit with Black Powder. It is a pretty simple operation.

For most performance, use 3f powder (Swiss is the most powerful available). For less performance use 2f powder (Goex has less power than Swiss). I use regular primers (Fed #150). The bullet alloy is important. I use 30/1 lead/tin. Bullet lube is VERY important. The standard is SPG. I use Emmert's home mix (50% pure natural beeswax, 40% Crisco, and 10% Canola Oil). I now modify Emmert's by using 5% Canola Oil and 5% Anhydrous Lanolin instead of 10% Canola Oil.

Load enough black powder in the case that the powder is compressed 1/16" by seating of the bullet. Use a moderately heavy crimp.

My particular revolver will allow me to shoot 70 accurate loads before the cylinder starts to bind. I get 1.5" groups at 25 yards. Using Swiss 3f powder behind a 250 gr bullet I get nearly 1000 fps. This is a serious load. I wouldn't feel undergunned with this load while deer hunting.

Dale53

I don't know about the aluminum powder measure, most BP measures are copper or brass. I have shot quite a few BP loads in my Rugers, and they shoot quite well, I use Goex FFFg. I recommend bringing a bucket with some soapy water, the residue is hard on a guns finish, and it will dis-color your brass. Soft lube worked best for me.

Dave

My understanding is that even static electricity can be a problem with black powder. In addition to brass measuring barrel I note that the photos I have seen of Lyman and RCBS BP measures show a metal, presumably aluminum, powder reservoir.

It appears to me that they are worried about black powder motion generating static charges in a plastic reservoir too.

Any idea where to buy bullets? I'm not into casting (yet)

These are the best I have found: http://bullshop.gunloads.com/index.html
He even makes a special BP lube that is softer than his smokeless lube. Leadhead makes some good bullets as well. I haven't bought a cast bullet in over 5 years, so I may be a bit out of touch. Beartooth used to be really good as well.

Dave

Howdy

I shoot nothing but Black Powder in Cowboy Action Shooting. I've been loading Black Powder in 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 44-40, 45-70 and 12 Gauge shotgun for years.

If you load real Black Powder, you will need a bullet lube that both lubricates the bullet AND remains soft to keep the fouling soft and moist. Regular Smokeless type lubes cannot do this, they will only lube the bullet. But regular Smokeless lubes will not help keep the fouling soft, and the fouling will quickly build up into a hard caked deposit that fills the rifling, destroying accuracy, and is very difficult to remove. I cast my own soft lead Black Powder bullets and lube them with SPG, which is specially formulated to be compatable with Black Powder. You can also make up a pretty good BP lube by melting equal quantities of Crisco and Beeswax in a double boiler. Don't put it directly on a flame, it is flamable.

You do not have to use a soft lead bullet, I used regular hard cast Smokeless bullets for years, that I melted the Smokeless lube out of in a 200 degree oven, then pan lubed with Beeswax/Crisco. The point of a soft lead bullet is it will obturate better to fill the rifling under the softer impulse of Black Powder. But I used regular hard cast bullets successfully for years.

If you use either Hodgdon's 777, or American Pioneer Powder (APP) you can get away with regular Smokeless bullets with regular Smokeless lube. Those two products do not need a Black Powder compatable lube. 777 has considerably more power than real Black Powder or any of the other subs, about 15% more power. You can read about these two products here:

American Pioneer Powder

777

The basic idea behind loading a cartridge like 45 Colt with real Black Powder is to fill up the case with enough powder that the powder is compressed around 1/16"-1/8" when the bullet is seated. Obviously, the actual powder charge will vary by how deep the bullet sits in the case when fully seated. You MUST NOT leave an airspace, the powder should be slightly compressed. Unlike Smokeless powder, for most applications the actual amount of Black Powder is not terribly critical. As long as you fill up the case and compress the powder slightly, all will be fine. You don't have to sweat the tenths of a grain like you do with Smokeless powders. Once you determine the ideal powder charge for any cartridge/bullet combination, you can duplicate it by weighing or by volume. Lee's inexpensive powder dipper sets are a very good way to do this. Not all Black Powder weighs the same, it can vary significantly by brand. for what it's worth, my favorite load with the PRS Big Lube 250 grain bullet is 2.2CC of FFg powder. With Goex, that works out to around 34.5 grains, with Elephant, which is no longer available, it was around 37.5 grains, whith Schuetzen it is around 33 grains. You can use either FFg or FFFg powder in 45 Colt. FFFg will give you around 60-100 fps more with the same bullet and same powder charge. I load all my BP stuff with FFg these days.

Somebody mentioned Swiss powder. Swiss is the very best BP on the market today, but it is also the most expensive, and too pricy for shooting in most applications. Most of my experience over the years was with Goex, although I have also used Elephant and Wano powder too. The very best buy for the money right now in real Black Powder is Schuetzen. Schuetzen is made with the same superior charcoal as Swiss, so it burns much cleaner, leaving less fouling behind than Goex. But Schuetzen costs just about the same as Goex. Graf also sells a powder with their own name on the label, but it is really Schuetzen with Graf's label.

The bullets I use for BP are the Big Lube series of bullets. I cast them myself in 250 grain and 200 grain versions for 45 Colt and a 200 grain version for 44-40. You can buy these bullets all lubed for Black Powder here:

Big Lube bullets

Clean up with real Black Powder is actually easier than clean up with Smokeless. It is messier, but it is easier. If you use a good BP compatable bullet lube, the fouling melts right off with any water based BP solvent. You can even just use hot water, just be sure to get all the water out of the gun when you are done, and oil the gun. I use Ballistol. Do not use Hoppes or other modern powder solvents with real Black Powder, you will wind up with a mess.

The Static Electricity aspect of loading Black Powder is a very controversial subject. Empirical evidence seems to show that you cannot ignite Black Powder with a Static Spark. I do exercise caution and have a Lyman Black Powder measure on one of my Hornady presses that I use for all my BP loads. The Lyman press is all metal, with no plastic parts. It is also non sparking, having an iron base, with a brass metering unit and aluminum hopper.

For brass cleanup I dump my spent brass into a jug of water with a squirt of dish soap in it. No, I do not add any vinegar. Pop your spent brass into the jug of water within a few hours of shooting, or the brass will corrode badly. Rinse repeatedly with clean water until the rinse water runs clean. Air dry them overnight and then tumble as usual.

I use American Pioneer (formerly Clean Shot) for my BP substitute cartridge powder. Load the same as BP,,full case allowing about a 1/16" to compress when seating the bullet. No special bullet lube, just regular out of the box cast lead bullets for intended for smokeless reloading. Fireing leaves no more fouling on the 100th shot than the first. Plenty of smoke but no fouling buildup in the bore or mechanism. I clean up with a couple of water wet patches, dry, followed by a WD40 patch then oil. Wipe the outside down with a damp patch and oil. Check the next day. Never had a hint of corrosion. Water soak clean the cases and dry. I used to shoot alot of BP in rifle, pistol and shotgun but got away from it. For the amount that I do shoot now, this stuff is more convenient for me and still does everything I want it to do. Very accurate in my Winchester 73 44-40. Great fun for skeet in a Winchester 97 pump.