W231 .45 Colt Load for Remington lead bullets

[shortround451]

I want to load some Remington 250 grain LRN bullets in 45 Colt for my Mtn gun and Colt SAA. I'm using W231 and my normal load for 255 hard cast lead is 7-7.4 grains. The Remington bullets are a lot softer and I'm thinking 6 grains might be about right. Is anybody else using this bullet and powder combination? How fast can the Remington bullets be pushed? Thanks

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I never used those bullets but I have used soft bullets in the .45 Colt and my charge under a 250/255gr bullet is 7.2gr W231. (12 BHN bullet)

 

[Skip Sackett]

I have never used this combo either being as I cast 99.99999999% of all of the bullets I shoot. That being said, I have shot some soft cast out of several of my firearms and usually use this rule when doing so.
Try to keep the velocity below 1000fps, make sure they fit the cylinder throats, bigger is usually better, make sure there is no fouling to start with, start with a clean gun.

W231/HP-38 will get you there just fine. What is the book load for that bullet/powder combination? Don't go below the starting load.

FWIW

 

[Calaveras Slim]

As I get older, I find my tolerance for recoil get less. Almost 70 now, and I like about 6.8-7.0 of Win. 231, with that bullet. This is a nice plinking round and you can always go higher for hunting and defense.

 

[BUFF]

I have shot quite a few of Remington's swaged lead 250 grain bullets and the extremely similar Winchester 255 grain bullets. According to Winchester's data, 7.1 grains of 231 in a Winchester case sparked by a Winchester large pistol primer produces 875 fps at 13,000 C.U.P. This combination, using either bullet, pretty well duplicates the traditional factory loadings with their heavy, conical ball load with the small flat tip and slightly concave base.

I have shot this load, changing the bullets from the 255 grain Winchester to the 250 grain Remington to the swaged Speer 250 grain SWC and to my home cast Lyman 454424 260 grain SWC sized at .454". They feel pretty similar to each other, and center their groups a few inches different from each other when fired at 25 yards.

I find that following this loading data gets me ammo that produces the same results, insofar as velocity and accuracy, as I would get by firing the same bullet loaded commercially by the bullet maker's factory. I.e., in my guns, Remington traditional 250 grain conical ball factory loaded ammo shoots the same as Remington's component 250 grain bullet loaded into my primed, sized case over 7.1 grains of W-231. when given a good crimp.

I have shot factory loads paired up against my handloads using the same bullet the factory load had fired; 7.1 grains of W-231 seems to produce the same velocities and group sizes, roughly.

In other words, I feel I have pretty well duplicated their factory loads when I can obtain their bullets and load them in the .45 Colt.

I have shot these combos in a 4-3/4" Colt SAA, a 7-1/2" nickel Colt SAA, two different 4 inch S&W Model 25's, one an original Model 25-5 the other a Model 25-2 that had an auxillary cylinder for .45 Colt added and the barrel cut to 4", a S&W Model 625 Mountain Gun, a 6" Model 25-5 and an old Colt New Service with a 4-1/2" barrel.

I find the original Winchester and Remington factory ammo to be extremely satisfactory for 99% of my .45 Colt shooting, and my handloaded .45 Colt ammo using the same bullets as the fctory, with 7.1 grains of W231 to be virtually the same

 

[shortround451]

Thanks for all of the information. BUFF, thanks for all the details. 7.1 grains of W231 has been my standard load with 250-255 grain hard cast lead and I think I'll stick with it for the Remington bullets too. I spent yesterday cleaning cases and changing my press over from 38 SPL to 45 Colt. I had planned to load today but storms and tornadoes in the area changed that. Hopefully I can get a few loaded tomorrow so I can shoot on Thursday.
Does anybody know who has either the Remington or Winchester bullets in stock. Midway seems to be out and I have a limited supply to try for now.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Does anybody know who has either the Remington or Winchester bullets in stock. Midway seems to be out and I have a limited supply to try for now.

There are so many good bullets out there I wouldn't worry too much about finding Rem or Win bullets. Tennessee Valley Bullets and Missouri Bullets both mane great cast bullets at a fair price.

 

[Rule3]

There are so many good bullets out there I wouldn't worry too much about finding Rem or Win bullets. Tennessee Valley Bullets and Missouri Bullets both mane great cast bullets at a fair price.

Plus you can get a much better price from MB, I am not up on TV prices.

You might want to buy some Unique powder if you do not have any. 8-9 grs under a 250 gr cast bullet makes a great 45 Colt load.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Rule3,
I'm with you on the prices but not so much on the powder. W231 works quite well in the .45 Colt and is cleaner and meters better than Unique. I also like AA#5, HS-6 and Universal better than Unique in the .45 Colt.

 

[Rule3]

Rule3,
I'm with you on the prices but not so much on the powder. W231 works quite well in the .45 Colt and is cleaner and meters better than Unique. I also like AA#5, HS-6 and Universal better than Unique in the .45 Colt.

I do not disagree and I am a HP 38 fan as much as you are HS 6.

I never used much Unique due to the metering as you mentioned but according to some it is the powder for 45 Colt.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I do not disagree and I am a HP 38 fan as much as you are HS 6.

I never used much Unique due to the metering as you mentioned but according to some it is the powder for 45 Colt.

IMO Unique is considered the powder for the 45 Colt because Unique has been around almost as long as the 45 Colt and originally there really wasn't another choice. When your great grandfather, grandfather and father all used Unique for the .45 Colt so will you and not even think of using anything else. I on the other hand like to try new powders in old favorite and sometimes I find a gem.

 

[shortround451]

I finally got time to switch my press over to 45 Colt and just finished loading 50 rds. I loaded 7.1 gr W231 with a 250 gr hard cast rnfp. 7.1- 7.4 has been my standard load for years and after all of the comments I see no reason to change. I have never loaded Unique and really see no reason to try it. I understand that it is "the" powder for 45 colt but W231 has served me well and it meters very well. W231 is my standard pistol powder for everything except heavy Colt loads and full house 44 Mag.
I'm getting low on bullets and I think I will try some Missouri Bullets next. I believe they will be a little softer than what I've been using. Thanks for all of the discussion.

 

[Skip Sackett]

IMO Unique is considered the powder for the 45 Colt because Unique has been around almost as long as the 45 Colt and originally there really wasn't another choice. When your great grandfather, grandfather and father all used Unique for the .45 Colt so will you and not even think of using anything else. I on the other hand like to try new powders in old favorite and sometimes I find a gem.

I'm weird, I guess. For years and years I steered away from Unique. I started with Bullseye and Blue Dot, migrating to H110 & AA#9. Everyone that I knew said the same things about Unique even though they used it over and over and over and .....you get it, while shooting competition.

I reloaded for quite a while before I bought my first pound of it. When did I? When I got my first 45 Colt! I thought to myself as Rule says, if it was good enough for greatgrandpa (I have no idea if he ever reloaded one round), it was good enough for me!

All kidding aside, there is just something so American, so Western, so nostalgic about the Ole' Colt cartridge that begs to be loaded with its old nemesis, Unique! Like peanut butter and jelly, like biscuits and gravy, like baseball & hot dogs and apple pie! I mean, they just go together!

So much so, I got tired of buying Unique one pound at a time but wanted to get it even cheaper. So, this past month, I went and bought 6lbs for $60 from gibrass.com.

Does it meter poorly? Yep, but you can get around it. #1: Don't try to use it in less than a 5gr charge. #2: Put a weight on the top of the powder. I load on Dillon presses and have a low powder sensor. What I do is place a tool head on top or a die or something, to help it stay pressed down into the feed portion and I get +/- .1gr charges. Pretty good for this old warhorse!

The other thing, dirt. Yes, it is dirty. It will make your gun dirty, no two ways about it. It will get all over you too and you will have to wash. Get over it!

Here are some pictures of my M25 -7 after about 300 rounds of 45-270SAA HP boolits and 9.0gr of Unique. Then, there are pictures after a soft rag was used to wipe it down.

Pretty simple and it works great. If you want it to run cleaner, use it at the upper end of its loading data.

Hope this helps!

 

[Snapping Twig]

I started with Bullseye and 2400, but after a time I set about aon a talent hunt for better powders - higher velocity at lower pressures - and I ended up with 231 & 296 as my moderate to high velocity powders.

Used them for years and years.

Then I bought a 25-7 like Skip has. Thought about it and tried 7 ~ 7.5g 231 under a cast 255g SWC. Liked it, but I wondered if there was something better, so I bought a pound of Unique. I'd dabbled with it many years ago, but it was dirty and 231 covered its uses, but for the Colt - I liked it.

I use 9g Unique now, but you can go down to 8g and still have a sweet round.

Of late I have delved into 44 Spl. in a big way and I use Unique for the Skeeter load (7.5g Unique/250g cast SWC) and it is a fine thing to behold. I also use 231 and have a load called the Snapper which is 6.5g and again, a very fine round.

231 is good stuff, but try Unique just to say you did, see what you think.