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45 Colt Blackhawk for Deer
- Thread starter hikingman
- Start date
My first "case history" with the hot .45 Colt occurred when my younger son and I were watching a wheat field from the woods, and four deer walked right up, about forty yards in front of us. Then they just stood there.
It was Mark's first hunt, but he could not get a clear shot through the brush where he was sitting, four feet away. Moving the deer ten yards either way would put him in business, so I picked a fat doe and held on the center of her shoulder with the five and a half inch Blackhawk. The load was Sierra's 240 grain .45 JHP, over a healthy dose of Hogdon's H-110 powder. She crashed on her chin at the shot, and then fell again as she jumped the little creek bordering the stretch of woods we were hiding in.
I knew she was hit hard, so I held my fire while Mark shot a button buck out of the herd, which by then had meandered a few feet into his line of fire. After tagging his deer, we went back into the timber after mine. It was the easiest tracking job I've had in years; she left a blood trail you could have followed with dark glasses on. We found her about 30 yards from where I had hit her.
http://www.thesixgunjournal.net/handgunning.html
You can kill all the deer you'll ever want to butcher with that .45 and a good 250-300 grain SWC trundling along at 850 fps- and you'll be amazed at how much meat & bone such a load will shoot through. If however you intend to 'give her some throttle' and warm things up a tad, do yourself a favor & read what John Linebaugh has to say on this subject:
http://www.customsixguns.com/writings/dissolving_the_myth.htm
Ross Seyfried & Brian Pearce have also written quite a bit on on hunting loads for the Rugers. All three of these gents know their topic, and nothing I discovered in loading this round ever did anything except confirm their work. My only other advice is to get yourself a copy of Hodgdon Manual #26 and ease into it.
Good luck, stay safe and enjoy that .45 Colt.
It was Mark's first hunt, but he could not get a clear shot through the brush where he was sitting, four feet away. Moving the deer ten yards either way would put him in business, so I picked a fat doe and held on the center of her shoulder with the five and a half inch Blackhawk. The load was Sierra's 240 grain .45 JHP, over a healthy dose of Hogdon's H-110 powder. She crashed on her chin at the shot, and then fell again as she jumped the little creek bordering the stretch of woods we were hiding in.
I knew she was hit hard, so I held my fire while Mark shot a button buck out of the herd, which by then had meandered a few feet into his line of fire. After tagging his deer, we went back into the timber after mine. It was the easiest tracking job I've had in years; she left a blood trail you could have followed with dark glasses on. We found her about 30 yards from where I had hit her.
http://www.thesixgunjournal.net/handgunning.html
You can kill all the deer you'll ever want to butcher with that .45 and a good 250-300 grain SWC trundling along at 850 fps- and you'll be amazed at how much meat & bone such a load will shoot through. If however you intend to 'give her some throttle' and warm things up a tad, do yourself a favor & read what John Linebaugh has to say on this subject:
http://www.customsixguns.com/writings/dissolving_the_myth.htm
Ross Seyfried & Brian Pearce have also written quite a bit on on hunting loads for the Rugers. All three of these gents know their topic, and nothing I discovered in loading this round ever did anything except confirm their work. My only other advice is to get yourself a copy of Hodgdon Manual #26 and ease into it.
Good luck, stay safe and enjoy that .45 Colt.
Mannlicher
New member
When hunting with a Ruger SA, I carry Hornady XTP/HP 250 grain bullets over 15 grains of Blue Dot powder.
This is a great load for hogs and deer.
This is a great load for hogs and deer.