45 LC question

[Miracle Man]

I've loaded 45 LC for a Ruger Blackhawk for awhile now. But the bulk of my loading was with JHP's and JSP's. Only dabbled in lead a tiny bit.

This forum has spurred my interest in crossing the Rubicon into lead, so I just bought some 255 gr. Keith style lead SWC's.

I'm not looking for a hotshot load, just a fun plinker. I used tight group a few years ago for lead but man it's like shooting black powder haha. Is 231 a good subsitute? I'm open to whatever have several powders. CFE pistol, W231, Tite group, unique, and others.

 

[scattershot]

9.0Unique is a classic load with that bullet. Personally, I use 6.0 Red Dot for a nice shooting general purpose load. Lead bullets need to be about .001 over bore diameter to avoid leading. Don’t over think this, just buy .454” bullets and load away.

Good luck!

 

[RMFnLA]

I used 231 for mild .44 Mag with various lead bullets for years with excellent results, so I can’t imagine you not getting the same for .45 Colt.

I’m not going to quote charges because you’re better served using published data rather than some guy on the internet (even me! ) but there’s plenty of data from the various component suppliers.

 

[rockquarry]

A Lyman book is the place to start.

 

[470Evans]

With that bullet style and weight I have had the best success in multiple 45 Colts with HS-6

 

[mtgianni]

6-6.5 gr Red Dot is an accurate load that does well in a Blackhawk.

 

[Hair Trigger]

I bought 1000 250 grain RNFP plated bullets from Everglades. Plating is way thinner than a copper jacket so expansion is much like lead, and they don't lead foul the barrels of my guns. I don't own .45 Colt revolvers that you can load hot for (M25-5 and Uberti SAA), so I keep my loads around 900 fps for them, and the same load gives me about 1175 in my Henry Big Boy. I get good results with AA#5 and Power Pistol, using Hornady load data.

 

[Miracle Man]

9.0Unique is a classic load with that bullet. Personally, I use 6.0 Red Dot for a nice shooting general purpose load. Lead bullets need to be about .001 over bore diameter to avoid leading. Don’t over think this, just buy .454” bullets and load away.

Good luck!

I've got not quite a pound of unique left. May give that a shot.

 

[Miracle Man]

A Lyman book is the place to start.

I've got a couple of older (early 00's) Lyman manuals. Have to give them a look.

 

[rockquarry]

With that bullet style and weight I have had the best success in multiple 45 Colts with HS-6

After many years of using the standard recommended Unique loads in a number of .45 Colts with the Lyman design #454424, 260 grain bullet, I've also found HS-6 provided slightly better accuracy than Unique. However, HS-6 is more of a specialized "niche" powder, not at all a versatile one.

I say that as I'm now down to the very bottom of an 8 lb. keg of HS-6. I no longer load .45 Colt, preferring the .44 Special.

 

[Charlie Foxtrott]

For a plinking load.

Unique will work just fine.

 

[Miracle Man]

I was just looking at Hodgdon's website on the Ruger T/C only data and it's talking about Accurate #7 & #9 pushing a 255 gr. lead bullet to 1,200 to 1,500 FPS range. WOW

Not that a 5.5 inch Blackhawk would reach those velocities anyways. But am I correct in thinking you don't want to push lead like that? To me that just seems awful hot. I have #7 and #9 by the way.

 

[Grayfox]

The classic .45 Colt load is a 250-255gr lead bullet over 8-9 grs of Unique. This load has served me quite well for about 30 years now.
I'm getting older and all I do is punch paper these days. So I've scaled back just a tad to 8.0 grs of Unique for my loads. Still works just fine and is pleasant to shoot.

 

[Drm50]

Normally wold do the Unique load with cast 250RNFPs. Been loading with Win 630 because I picked up a lot of it cheap. Load to factory duplication for 250gr lead bullet.

 

[Rule3]

All I ever use for 45 Colt is Unique or HP38/W231

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Uh, there's a reason there are separate listings under the "Ruger / TC ONLY" headings...

And although not a "Ruger / TC / Freedom Arms"-type revolver the M25-5 is no pantywaist, either. For plinking with lead in 45 Colt don't overlook the many 200 & 230gr bullets: they open up a lot of different powder opportunities. The target paper will never tell the difference.

For those heavier bullets, John Taffin's 2019 Guns & Ammo article is a good place to start.

Cheers!

 

[Venom6]

I was just looking at Hodgdon's website on the Ruger T/C only data and it's talking about Accurate #7 & #9 pushing a 255 gr. lead bullet to 1,200 to 1,500 FPS range. WOW

Not that a 5.5 inch Blackhawk would reach those velocities anyways. But am I correct in thinking you don't want to push lead like that? To me that just seems awful hot. I have #7 and #9 by the way.

Right. Plain base cast bullets are best at about 1,000 fps or lower, depending on alloy. Swaged bullets below 900. Gas check cast can go higher.

Would also suggest you load up two or three dummies before you load hundreds for real. Lotta older Blackhawks had very tight throats. Neither of mine would accept .454" bullets until I had the throats honed.

 

[Pisgah]

I've got not quite a pound of unique left. May give that a shot.

Plenty of powders are out there; but, really, if you have 8 to 9-or-so grains of Unique and a 250-255 gr. SWC, you can pretty much cover all bases with the .45 Colt.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

My standard load for all my LC's (rifles and handguns) is my cast 255 gr swc pushed by 8.5 grs. of Unique.......I have no need to change.
Be aware. Swaged lead bullets are soft and usually will lead up barrels even at moderate speeds.

 

[max]

I have used between 7-9 grains of Unique. 7 is a good plinking load. You can also use 7 grains of 231 for the same.

 

[Grayfox]

And although not a "Ruger / TC / Freedom Arms"-type revolver the M25-5 is no pantywaist, either.

While I don't recommend trying to magnumize the .45 Colt, John Linebaugh proved the Model 25-5 could easily handle loads in the +P range without ill effects.
OTOH: considering that a standard velocity load will generally go completely through your average Whitetail Deer, I see no reason to push this fine old cartridge.

 

[BSA1]

I am probably the only person in the world that doesn’t like Unique. How much do I dislike it? Well I have about 1/2 pound in the tall round cardboard container sitting on the shelf. I can never get Unique to measure consistently enough for me.

I use a lot of W-231 in my medium bore calibers but don’t like it in the 45 Colt. I tried it when I was doing a lot of CAS and it felt inconsistent when I shot it.

I switched to 700X. It is a flake powder so it fills more of the case. I haven’t tried it but I would also consider using 800X if for some reason 700X becomes unavailable. There is reloading data available for both powder.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I am probably the only person in the world that doesn’t like Unique. How mich do I dislike it? I have about 1/2 pound in the tall round cardboard container sitting on the shelf. I can never get Unique to measure consistently enough for me.

I use a lot of W-231 in my medium bore calibers but don’t like it in the 45 Colt. I tried it when I was doing a lot of CAS and it felt inconsistent when I shot it.

I switched to 700X. It is a flake powder so it fills more of the case. I haven’t tried it but I would also consider using 800X if for some reason 700X becomes unavailable. There is reloading data available for both powder.

Whatever spins ya propeller ..........Lots of choices out there.

 

[series guy]

I have shot thousands of 255gr lead bullets loaded with 5.5gr of Titegroup.

 

[venomballistics]

Of those listed, Unique would be my first choice. CFE pistol might be the next.
Herco, and blue dot are also worth consideration, though BD might be a bit slow for your objectives.

 

[venomballistics]

While I don't recommend trying to magnumize the .45 Colt, John Linebaugh proved the Model 25-5 could easily handle loads in the +P range without ill effects.
OTOH: considering that a standard velocity load will generally go completely through your average Whitetail Deer, I see no reason to push this fine old cartridge.

exactly ...
While theres plenty to be found in the cartridge, it's legacy is a bit of a scattered mess of revisions.
This is why we have the 44 magnum and the 454 casull, to avoid the issues inherent to the rodded out 45LC

 

[alwslate]

I am probably the only person in the world that doesn’t like Unique. How mich do I dislike it? I have about 1/2 pound in the tall round cardboard container sitting on the shelf. I can never get Unique to measure consistently enough for me.

I use a lot of W-231 in my medium bore calibers but don’t like it in the 45 Colt. I tried it when I was doing a lot of CAS and it felt inconsistent when I shot it.

I switched to 700X. It is a flake powder so it fills more of the case. I haven’t tried it but I would also consider using 800X if for some reason 700X becomes unavailable. There is reloading data available for both powder.

No you are not the only one who does not like Unique. I hate it . Poor metering and the largest extreme spreads when compared with other powders in any cartridge, even with weighed charges. I have about a half pound somewhere around here that will be poured on the ground whenever I come across it. Bullseye is much better and 7.0 grs gives factory ballistics of about 870 FPS with a 255 gr cast bullet in the .45 Colt.

 

[Dvus]

I have used 700X for years, but I'm looking into 231 because I'm tired of the unburned powder. I set my six shooter on the bench after a cylinder full and find 20 to 30 unburned flakes fall out of the gun. And it's just as bad with my lever guns, only it all falls into the action. I tried Unique a couple of decades ago, but didn't care for the dirty mess it made.

 

[Simson-Suhl]

Unique works very well for me in my three USFA SAA's.

 

[Miracle Man]

Several years ago I was into the maxed out H110 loads in my Blackhawk. Never failed to open the eyes of whoever was around, haha.

But I'm well past that now for the most part. I'm way more into casual mild load plinking. I don't like the recoil, muzzle blast, sore web of my shooting hand anymore.

We all get old