Hey folks, I've loaded handgun cartridges for the last 35+ years, but never for the .45 Long Colt. I've never owned a handgun chambered for this cartridge until just this week.

I've purchased an excellent Ruger Blackhawk Three-Screw Convertible in .45 with the 7 1/2" bbl. and need some suggested loads for the Long Colt.

I don't care about the upper end loads, just some fairly accurate loads with a 245 to 255 grain bullet pushed to around 900 to 950 fps.

Many thanks in advance for your time.

Hey folks, I've loaded handgun cartridges for the last 35+ years, but never for the .45 Long Colt. I've never owned a handgun chambered for this cartridge until just this week.

I've purchased an excellent Ruger Blackhawk Three-Screw Convertible in .45 with the 7 1/2" bbl. and need some suggested loads for the Long Colt.

I don't care about the upper end loads, just some fairly accurate loads with a 245 to 255 grain bullet pushed to around 900 to 950 fps.

Many thanks in advance for your time.

I load 7g of Unique to push a 200gn RN at ~760fps out of a 5" barrel Vaquero. The bullet is a little lighter than your request however this can give you a reference point for comparison.

These round out of a 2" Bond Arms derringer run at ~532fps - I wonder if your added barrel length will give the Mv you want from these rounds?

I own several .45 Colt chambered revolvers. I load 8.5-9 gr. of Unique behind a 265 gr. Keith (the real design) for right around 900-950 FPS depending on barrel length. Mild and easy to control. Try it, you'll like it. Unique isn't any dirtier than any other powder any more. They cleaned it up several years ago. You will have to clean your gun no matter what powder you use, when firing lead bullets.

Another good load is 16 gr. of 2400 with the same bullet. If you have 255's it works just as well, and velocities seem to run about the same in my guns as the heavier bullet, due to the fact that while they are lighter, they have less resistance to build up higher pressure, so the speed seems to remain about the same. In your 7.5" barrel, you should see right around 1,000 FPS with this load.

Check out Hogdon's cowboy manual. It has quite a bit of data for .45 Colt with lead loads for less than 1,000 fps.

Thanks guys for the replies....all good suggestions. I do like Unique as I use it in my .44 Specials and Magnums, the .45 ACP and the AR as well. So I'll surely give it a try in the .45 Colt. I also like 2400 in my .44's as it is about my favorite powder. I'll, for sure, try it too. Hogdon's powders are good too, and I completely forgot I do have a copy of that cowboy manual. thanks 2000Z-71

7.5g W231 is also mighty fine with a 255g LSWC.

The gold standard is 8 ~ 9 grains Unique with the same bullet.

Is is a coincidence that 8g gives you 800fps, 8.5 gives you 850fps and 9g gives you 900fps, or is the good Lord trying to tell us something?

8.5 grains of Unique with most any lead bullet in the 250 gr. range (240-260)......for my Uberti it's all I load. Works perfectly.
HD2

Sir, FWIW, the vast majority of my .45 Colt loading has been with 8.0 or 8.5 grains of Unique and a cast 250, either roundnose flatpoint or semi-wadcutter. Accuracy's good, report and recoil are mild, yet it smacks things with authority. I'll have to chronograph those loads one day, maybe this spring.

I've gone as high as 10.0 grains of Unique with cast 250s in a Ruger. That load was quite accurate, but too stiff for much other than hunting IMHO.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Ron, Snapping, and Hounddog, hey thanks a million guys. Can't wait now to load some of your suggestions.

Hey, has anyone mentioned 8 to 10 grains of Unique behind a 250 grain SWC? If not, that is a good combination to try. Seriously, I bought a gun like yours, except without the ACP cylinder, in 1973, and that combo has been working well since then.

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Georgia On My Mind

my two most used loads in .45 Colt is 8.5 grs of Unique under any good 250 or 255 gr bullet, or the same weight bullet over 8.5 grs of Universal Clays. Actually Universal Clays is a bit easier to meter than Unique and burns a bit cleaner too.

Any idea of how the burn rates compare?
I've used a ton of Universal Clays for trap loads and just happen to have about 2 or 3 lbs hiding around somewhere.

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Uncle Larry, the burn rates are very close but not identical. Universal Clays is also my favorite powder in lighter .44 mag loads.

If you'd like to try a slower powder, I like 13.5g of Blue Dot. This is a +P load, but not magnum. If you want to stay within SAAMI, try 13.0g of Blue Dot.
By thwe way, if you want a really good article about loading the 45 Colt, send away to Wolfe Publishing for the June 2002 issue (#217) of Handloader magazine. It contains an excellent article by Brian Pearce.

I have had great results with a 255gr semi-wadcutter and 6.0 Bullseye or AA#2, 7.0 W231 or HP38, and 8.0 Unique. Primer is Remington 2 1/2 LP. These velocities are a bit lower than you are looking for, but the accuracy will not disappoint. I have also put the same charges under a 200gr semi-wadcutter normally fired in .45 ACP. I seat the full bullet diameter flush with the case mouth and roll crimp just a hair over the shoulder. Looks a little weird because only the bullet cone sticks out. You have to see the accuracy to believe it. Near 1" groups bench-rested at 25 yards in a 25-5, Anaconda, and Blackhawk. I have also tried 230gr lead round nose and FMJ but have not had nearly as much success as the 255 or 200gr loadings.

I've loaded W231, HS-6 and Unique in the .45 Colt. With a 250/255gr bullet I like W231 for target loads and HS-6 for working loads. Unique also works fine but it doesn't meter well and it's dirtier than the other 2 powders.

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SWCA #3437

i have been loading for the .45colt for over thirty years. the best powders i have found are hs-6, unique & 231. be sure to ck in manuals for data. hth.

for SASS events I've come to prefer by far the virtues of 200g cast lead & about 6.2 grains of Trail Boss. Gives around 850fps. I've used it in hotter loads, and in 41 & 44 mag. Prefer the moderate pleasure of a moderate load. Plenty accurate for my use.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

Hey, thanks again guys for all your suggestions. As I said in my original post, I will soon take delivery of an old 3-screw Ruger .45 Convertible. Those of you who have one, does it shoot as good with the .45 ACP cylinder as it does with the .45 Colt cylinder?

re: old style 45 convertible

The one I had didn't like the transition very much.

It worked great for the 45LC cylinder and SASS use. When I would use the ACP cylinder my miss ratio would increase by about 20%, for reasons I never was able to understand. Liked the gun, but traded it off.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

Just remember one thing. If you are going to be around the Cowboy Action crowd don't refer to the .45 Colt as the .45 Long Colt around them. They seem to be very touchy about using the correct name for that caliber.

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SWCA #3437

My 3" SS Judge likes 240gr XTP Mag, 6.7gr Titegroup, WLP primer. I just fired the first couple into some very hard (TOUGH) wood. They both went over an inch deep. I doubt there is a hog in America that can handle them and live. I'll be carrying them in various national forests this year, 2017.

When I go to the range to punch holes in paper with a 4" 25-5 I load 8.5gr of Alliant BE-86 under a 230gr LRN in Starline cases.

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I figure after 8 years, he's probably come up with a good load for his .45 Colt.

Don

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NRA Cert. Reloading Instructor

Unique and 2400 is all I use for the colt. Great powders. Since is case is huge just be careful of using fast burning powder as you do not want to double charge.

I use 16gr. of 2400 with a 250gr. NOE rnfp boolit and a standard primer. it is super accurate. unique is very good. I use to use 19gr of h4227 and a mag primer. that load is very accurate and powerful and safe but it leaves a lot of yellowish granules behind.

Give TRAIL BOSS powder a shot! It's designed to fill the large cases more that conventional smokeless powders do as it is a bulky powder. Supposed to provide more even powder burn/ignition.

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

I realize that this thread is 8yrs old and that Texas Roots has probably settled on his load by now . But I wanted to list one of my favorite loads for the 45 Colt , no one has mentioned this one . 8.0grs of Ramshot Zip , shots very well (flat) out past 50 yds , something that unique did not do for me or my BIL . The Zip load has a low recoil , should be about 900fps . My BIL , after shooting this load in his Uberti will not every shoot a unique load again .
He uses the Lee RNFP 255gr , sized 454. He shoots this same load out of his Rossi 92 carbine , 16" barrel . Would make a good hunting load as well .

I have been reloading the .45 Colt for many, many years and I have tried many, many different powders during that time, under a 255gn Flat Nose SWC from Oregon Bullets. In the end I always came back to 8.5gn of Unique. That is for handgun loads. Out of a 4 3/4" barrel that comes out at about 850fps.

When loading .45 Colt for my lever gun, same bullet, over 10.0gn of Unique.

ArchAngelCD finally got me to try HS-6 for .45 Colt loads and I like it a good deal. I have used 10.5 grains and a 255-gr RNL over a magnum primer for an accurate load, and 11.4 grains for a more accurate and getting-warm load.

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If I have a choice, I like 200 & 230 gr. bullets. I use them for A.C.P. & Colt.
It helps to keep the cost down. Do load 250 & 255 for Colt also. Check out handloads.com. Neat stuff there. Bob

+1 for 8.5g of Unique. I have tried HS6 and Blue Dot with the 250 to 255g. bullets as well, but nothing showed an improvement over Unique.

I primarily used Unique for almost forty years, but lately have been using HS-6 . I only shoot heavy cast bullets, about 260 grs., in this cartridge. Try the Lyman book, lots of loads.

I like, for my 250 gr RNFPs, 9.1 gr of Herco.

Funny how an over 7years old thread will spark interest;well,I guess a good topic is as valid today as it was in 09!And any post about an almost 150 yearts old cartridge is a good one.The .45Colt makes a lie out of the saying:''only the good dies young''!
Qc

After being very disappointed with Unique loads , I switched to WSF and have never looked back . My favorite load is the "Keith " swc , 255 gr ( H&G 501) sitting on top of 10.0 grs of WSF .

My pet load is 7.8 grains of Unique with a 250 grain Lead round nose-flat point bullet. I use this load in both my Colt SAA's and my Marlin Lever actions with excellent results.