hi folks,
looking for a mild load in 45 lc, have 250gn coated bullet, maybe 750-800 fps. have a 625-6 in 45 lc coming. thanks......dan

Trail Boss is a very mild shooting powder to use for 45 Colt. From Hodgdon's website 5.8gr with 250gr bullet puts you around 727 fps. That is listed as MAX load so work your way put to it if you desire. Starting point 4.5gr @ 606fps listed by them.
Karl

I believe that about 6.5 grs of HP-38 would be a good starting point . A chrono will tell you if more or less for your particular gun .

My standard light load for the .45 Colt (NOT LC) is the 200 grain flat point cowboy bullet over 6.5 grains of Bullseye. Should get you a MV of around 900 ft/sec.

I believe I would buy a reloading manual rather than taking internet suggestions.........

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S&W Accumulator

My light lead load is a 230-240 LFN over 6.7 of WW231 or 4.4 Clays. Same volume of powder and same velocity, about 700-750. Hodgdon Clays (not universal clays or clay dot, just CLAYS) is a powder that is not position sensitive, meters well, and burns fairly clean. WW231 is about as good. Brand of brass or primer don't seem to matter!

I shot about 12,000 of the WW231 load and about 4,000 of the Clays load in cowboy action shooting with not one problem.

Ivan

8 grains of Unique with Elmer's bullet is a tackdriver in all of my 45 Colt revolvers.

7 or 8 grains of Unique has always worked well for me.

I always wondered if the LC nomenclature came from the Movie "the Quick and the Dead" when Crowe asked the blind boy to throw him a 45 Long Colt. Or was it around before that?

My current 45 Colt reload for Plinking and
Indoor Range (S&W 625 Mountain Gun 45
Colt).

Oregon Trail Laser Cast 250gr Lead RNFP Round
Nose Flat Point, Diameter .452 Bullet
Tumbled lubed with Ben's LL formula,
6.0grs of Alliant Red Dot powder,
Primer: CCI LP #300 or S&B LP primer
Crimp: Medium?
Brass; Starline, Win, Rem, CB,
FPS: 850?

I used Handloader Magazine Article by Brian Pearce.

Other Powders I use sometimes are; Unique, Bullseye,
American Select, and Long Shot.

Long Shot is for low pressure, high velocity,
FPS: 1000?, Black Bear load.
Hard Lead Bullet (RCBS SAA-270) by Montana Bullet Works.

Also from a Handloader Article.

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	BenLiquidLubemix.jpg (3.9 KB, 897 views)

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SD social distanc'n since 1889

There was an informative article in Handloader magazine about 5 years back that explained the history of the US Army's adoption of handgun ammo between 1865 and 1875. If I recall correctly the original ".45 Colt" is the case that was developed for the 1873 SAA and which is available commercially today as either the .45 Colt or sometimes called the "long Colt". When the US Army adopted the S&W Scholfield top break in 1875, the standard .45 Colt case was too long to chamber and a shorter case was adopted as the standard for both the Scholfield and the SAA. The shorter Scholfield chambers in the SAA. So, in reality there is a .45 Colt round, the 1873 original case length available today, and a .45 Scholfield or "Short Colt" round, but not a "Long Colt".

My 25-5 is technically chambered in .45 Colt.

If you have a revolver chambered for 45 Colt (weather you call it "Long" or not), and it has a recessed chamber; it will not chamber a 45 Schofield. The rim is too big in diameter. If your revolver isn't recessed, it will chamber 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, & 45 U.S. (the 45 U.S. is a Colt case the length of a Schofield.) The bullets are: 45 Colt 255grain, 45 Schofield 200 grain, and 45 U.S. 230 grain @ 810fps (It is what Col. Thompson patterned the 45 ACP after) I have F.A. examples of both lead and jacketed ammo, the jacketed is for the M1909 Colt revolver, even though the chamber is 45 Colt.

Ivan

My standard "Cowboy Load" for my Colt SAA's are 7.8 grains of Unique capped with a 250 grain RNFP Dardas cast bullet. Accurate and easy to shoot. Won't wear my Colts prematurely and that's a good thing!

Good information, thanks. I was working off of memory.

8.2 Unique with a 255 flat tip or S.W.C.

I truly like the 45 Long Colt cartridge.......
Have been loading it for nigh on a half century.

With the hard cast Keith SWC over an avg. dose of Unique or 700X.
Also, I like the Speer 250gr lead SWC for general knockin around load with the same powders.

I use these in revolvers as well as a carbine...

.
* I always heard it called the Long Colt by ol timers that actually used the cartridge.

My old Sierra & Hornady manuals lists it as the 45 Long Colt as well.


.

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Cabela's has an inexpensive series of books named "The Complete Reloading Manual for the "Caliber Name" I picked one up for the 45 Colt to get a handle on what I might use as a load for myself. Hogdgon and other manufacturers have reloading data on line. You might find that a particular favorite for a reloader is based on available powders and not any other "science" or preference. I have been using W231. It's cheap and a great general powder for a number of calibers in the velocities and pressures I like to shoot. It also tends to be in stock when I need it (critical factor because the local Cabela's tends to be powder "limited" in selection and availability.) The advice given in a previous post to get a manual if you do not have one is the best place to start.

Also, for lower velocity "cowboy" loads, a lower BHN hardness for the bullets is appropriate. As an example Missouri Bullets provides many of their lead bullets in a 12 BHN or an 18 BHN. I have not researched Laser Cast or other manufacturers bullet hardness. The hardness requirement is related to pressure and controlling barrel leading.

Link to general explanation: Missouri Bullet Company

Note: I have no relationship to MB, other than being a satisfied customer.

Just got through reloading some Missouri Bullets 250grain RNFPs. I use 6.8grains of Green Dot, a mid-burn rate propellant, and chrono @ 790ft/sec out of a 4 5/8" Blackhawk. Same round chronos @ 950ft/sec out of a 20" Marlin 1894. OAL is approx. 1.550.

Laser-Cast, IIRC, is pretty damn hard. They describe it as "hard cast", and tout their use of silver and "7 other virgin elements".

Well hell, good thing I wear gloves when I reload! Probly the only reason why my MBC bullets haven't given me the clap!

I don't think hardness is crazy-important in terms of leading--size is. But when you get down to minute degrees of accuracy, then yes--I want a very soft bullet for light loads.

hi folks,
just want to say thanks for all the replies, yes you are right about what loads that are found on the net. you can never be to careful. thanks....dan

.45 Long Colt or .38 Long Colt ??

It was .38 Long colt . It was a 51 Navy conversion .

Eddie

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Grumpy Old Man With a Gun

Since the size of purchased lead is limited, I would think BHN might play a more important factor??? Not sure exactly where one becomes more important than the other though.

First, for all you anal-retentive folks, what difference does it make?

Second, my favorite load for the cartridge with a 250 grain bullet is 6.0 Red Dot.

You can purchase custom sizing quite easily, it just limits your choice of manufacturer.

In any case--and I stress again, for the purposes of leading--sizing is more important than hardness any day of the week. There are a lot of manufacturers that cast everything from .38 wadcutters to .44 Magnums out of the same 18 BHN alloy. But that's okay, they still won't lead so long as they're sized correctly. On the other hand, if they're over- or under-sized, there's no way to adjust the hardness either up or down to prevent flame-cutting or create obduration.

Where we're lucky is that most of the bores we're dealing with conform to the standard pretty well. We can buy a gun and a box of bullets, and be reasonably assured that the two will play nice. If you play around with old Colt single-actions, or lever-action carbines, that's not not a guarantee.

The end result of that standardization is that we don't even think about sizing. So we take all that piss-and-moan power and put it into complaining about hardness.

Hodgdon Reloading free website plenty of great reloading data both pistol & rifle.

Are you sure the 625-6 is chambered in 45 Colt, not 45ACP? It was my understanding that in the model 25/625, even dash were 45ACP and odd dash were 45 Colt. Those more in the know can correct me if I am wrong.

If it is indeed a 45 Colt, one of the mildest loads I have found is 5.0gr of American Select with a 250gr lead RNFP(I use Laser Cast). MV is ~750fps.

Wise S;totally agree with you and I like your way with words way better than mine.
Qc

You got me curious so I looked at my S&W Model 625
45 Colt, it is a Model 625-6, barrel on the right side
says 45 Colt.

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SW MG 629 625 right.jpg (3.7 KB, 589 views)

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SD social distanc'n since 1889

And a easy load to handle, That's my favorite Load.

Just came back from shooting a new load for S&W 25-5 Long Colt, using 200GR SWC 45ACP bullets, hard cast moly coated. Just wanted a light target load using some 45ACP SWC bullets since I have a few boxes.
6.5 grains Red Dot, 1.650 OAL, estimated 875 FPS. At 30 feet gave 1.00 and 1.10 groups. Shot well for me.

Ha! Much appreciated, QC.

For the record, I, too, get all picky about my hardness as well--no snickering in the back, you guys. I really like 12 BHN .45 ACP, but I've shot enough 18 to know that I'm just being unreasonable. Still, I keep buying those 12 BHNs when I can get them.

Now, were I actually competing with my centerfires, I'd spend the money and get swaged lead for my .38s and .45s. Probably not for action pistol, but for Bullseye, you bet.

I don't think I would post a 45 colt recipe until I knew the OP. The 45 Colt scares me more than any other caliber because of the three tiers.

The three tiers are differentiated by ability to handle different pressures. Old peacemakers are weak and T/C or FA are strong.

45 colt ammo that can blow up a handgun fits perfectly into any 45 colt cylinder. I don't know any other caliber like that.
357mag will not fit into a 38 special.
44 mag will not fit into a 44 special.
and both those have the caliber shown on the brass. all three tiers of 45 colt just say 45 colt.

This OP said using a S&W 25-6. I'm guessing that's tier 2.


Prescut

Yeah, but he said he was looking for a mild load.

35 grains of GOEX under a lubed LEE 255 grain RNFP sparked by a CCI 350 LPM primer. This load works real good. For a milder load the powder charge could be reduced, with the extra space filled with wads but where is the fun in that.

Years, years and years before that. I can't begin to tell you when this started but it was probably more than 50 years ago.

I do second the suggestion to buy a good reloading manual. The Hornady manual is my favorite but I do consult Speer and Lee for backup.

Although you didn't say, I think you are talking black powder with that GOEX. I would strongly suggest that you never give a recipe to these guys without specifying BLACK POWDER and the accompanying dangers.

BP is measured by Volume. Your post of 35 grains will fool about 90% of the folks reading it to think you mean Weighs 35 grains.

I love magic black, but it is an explosive.


Prescut

Grains are a measure of weight, 7000 to the pound. You are correct that black powder is usually dispensed by volume, but the volume being discussed weighs 35 grains.

None of the load suggestions I've seen listed above appear to be a threat to revolvers in reasonable condition - including original Colt SAA guns.

8 grains or so of Unique and a 250 grain lead bullet would shoot just like Wyatt Earp's (save for the smoke).

To clarify I should have said GOEX real black Powder 2fg granual size. The 35 grains weighed on a scale.

To clarify I should have said GOEX real black Powder 2fg granual size. The 35 grains weighed on a scale.

My regular range load is also 6.0gr Red Dot and a 250gr LFP as others have mentioned.

VL

The starting load of pretty much ANY powder in .45 Colt is mild to say the least. Just find a valid load manual and use the starting load...it can't get any milder than that!