load for the 45 lc

[jimmyj]

Reloading .45lc

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?

.45 Long Colt or .38 Long Colt ??

 

[Eddie Southgate]

.45 Long Colt or .38 Long Colt ??

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

Eddie

 

[Fostereast]

BHN vs. Size

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.

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.

 

[scattershot]

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.

 

[Wise_A]

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.

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.

 

[daniel lawecki]

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

 

[garryj]

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.

 

[Qc Pistolero]

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

 

[The Norseman]

S&W Model 625-6 45Colt

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.

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.

 

[OU 812]

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

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

 

[SoCal1911]

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.

 

[Wise_A]

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.

 

[oddshooter]

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

 

[scattershot]

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

 

[Greenjoytj]

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.

 

[bd629DX]

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?

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.

 

[oddshooter]

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.

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

 

[scattershot]

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.

 

[crstrode]

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).

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

 

[Greenjoytj]

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.

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