Anyone here reloading .45 Colt for the Taurus Circuit Judge?

[G-Mac]

A friend of mine has a Circuit Judge. I'm probably going to reload some once-fired empty brass for him. Anybody got any experience with this gun and reloading? I'm thinking that with the longer barrel, the loads should be different than a standard handgun load. Gun is used mostly for fun....plinking, informal target practice, etc. Potentially could be a home defense gun too....he doesn't live in the best part of town. Of course, it also shoots .410 shotshells. The box of 50 empty American Eagle brass he gave me has a price sticker of $32.99. I'm thinking it can be reloaded for a bit of a savings too. Any input greatly appreciated.

 

[G-Mac]

Will .45ACP cast bullets work for .45 Colt? I have a ton of those not being used.

 

[max]

Yes, you can use acp bullets in 45 Colt, but you have to be careful as some of them can be too long for some cylinders. I would not think they would in that gun, but I loaded some that would not work in a SAA clone. I use 200 gr cast swc's and crimp them in the top groove. They work fine in my 25-5. I use 7.0 or a bit more of Unique.

 

[G-Mac]

Thanks Max.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

A good .45 Colt load is a good .45 Colt load no matter what handgun it's fired from. BUT, like you said, with the longer barrel you might want to change powders to something a little slower just to take advantage of the barrel length. I use both W231 and HS-6 for my .45 Colt ammo and I'm thinking HS-6 would be a better choice with the longer barrel. AA#5 would probably be a good choice too.

The box of 50 empty American Eagle brass he gave me has a price sticker of $32.99. I'm thinking it can be reloaded for a bit of a savings too.

Actually, that is less expensive than most of the .45 Colt ammo I've seen on the shelves. Around me most of the ammo is $40 so yes, you will be able to save more than just a bit of money reloading instead of buying them... Without buying brass I can load a box of 50 .45 Colt rounds using a 255gr LSWC for $7.45, a far cry from $32.99 to $39.99 a box!

 

[G-Mac]

I use both W231 and HS-6 for my .45 Colt ammo and I'm thinking HS-6 would be a better choice with the longer barrel.

Thanks for the tip...I'll look into that.

 

[David LaPell]

I'm not sure how the Taurus is compared to some Rugers and my old New Service is, but 7.5 grains of Unique and a 250 grain cast bullet like the old #452424 cast bullet is certainly respectable.

 

[oneyeopn]

I am reloading for a Rossi Lever Action in 45 colt, anyhow just starting to, I reloaded some a year ago and am not real crazy about how they turned out. I mostly loaded for Dad and he wanted cowboy action type loads which you can almost see the bullet as it flies to the target. LOL I am looking for something stronger. I am wanting to try the Leverevolution FTX in 225 grain. The book says you have to trim the case back quite a bit but my rifle will feed and chamber the bullet without trimming the case back, I made one without powder in it to try. So I am not sure what I am going to do.

 

[oneyeopn]

I loaded the FTX's with 9gr of longshot and used cases and the group they shot is amazing. I trimmed the cases but I didnt trim the cases back to what they say you have to to shoot in a revolver and you wouldnt have to either because of the ability to shoot .410 shells. I got 1160fps and less than 3" group at about 70 yards. Rossi 92 with a 24" barrel.

 

[oneyeopn]

I did find out that the loads for the circuit judge can be taken from the newer load list instead of the older weaker loads..

 

[oneyeopn]

Ok after much more research my latest handloads were 23gr H110 with a 225gr LeveRevolution FTX bullet. Amazingly accurate and powerful 12ft from the muzzle they were traveling at an average speed of 1654fps with a +/- 12fps, knocking the center out of the bullseye at 50yards with Iron Sights.