45 Colt lead bullet diameter

J

JJ45

New member
Hello, I know this has probably been covered before

I buy bullets from Montana Bullet works for a 45 Ruger Blackhawk 4 5/8"

I slugged my chamber throats at 453.7 average, I never slugged the bore but since this revolver was made in 2008 I am assuming it is around .451-.452. (I know ass-u-and me :)

If any of you are old enough to remember John Wooters he did an extensive article in a 1985 Guns and Ammo annual on the .45 Colt and said that it was proper to size bullets according to chamber throats and not the bore.

Before I slugged my chambers,I have always bought .454, 15 brn hardness bullets in Keith style SWCs that are extremely accurate in this pistol....my question is; has anyone had problems with cast bullets of this hardness and slightly larger diameters in their pistols? Are there reasons not to use .454 dia. bullets?
 
I would be fine with it. In my 357 mag revolver a .358 bullet will pass through the throats but not a .359. So I buy .359 bullets or size to .359 when i cast my own so i get a good seal between the bullet and throat.
 
If you have a Ruger 45 with cylinder throats at 0.453/4, you are the exception and very lucky.
Continue shooting what works . . . .
 
Might depend on how hot you are loading them, but a Ruger large frame 45 LC can be loaded very stoutly. Am surprised about the chamber throat diameter in your Blackhawk, all mine have been very tight at approximately .450 But they are mostly slightly older ones and haven't measured any new ones for quite awhile.

If they are extremely accurate and not above any listed loads, wouldn't change anything.
 
You should be fine. You want a bullet slightly larger than the throat diameter. .454 or .453 will work if your throats are .4527.

If the bullets drop through the cylinder they are too small in diameter. If they can be pushed through with a little bit of force you're probably good to go. If they are too big to push through with finger pressure you should be fine but will have to make sure they aren't too big that they cause problems with chambering.
 
45 Colt is .454" diameter.

45 ACP is .452" diameter.

Modern guns say they both are .452" but all my stuff is pre - 1980 so it's all as above.
 
The original bore size for the .45 Colt was .454". When production resumed after the end of WWII, the bore size was eventually changed and generally standardized with .452" bores to better use ACP bullets, and the original .45Colt lead slugs would squeeze down a little bit just fine.

I do not know if the SAMMI spec today is .454" or .452" and frankly, don't care.

I've got several Ruger .45 Colts (Blackhawk and Vaquero) as well as a couple T/C barrels, I run cast bullets and jacketed bullets sized .451-.452" and have never had an issues with them.
 
Yeah bobn...I get really good accuracy with bullets cast .454 from .4527 chamber throats. I'm no expert but I don't get any excess leading either. The bullets are relatively soft at 15 brinnell hardness.

What I worry about is excessive wear on the Ruger but don't see any excessive pressure signs.

How should I check for excessive pressure, anyone?
 
Thanks mehavey, good to know....I have only 9 RCBS mold 270 G SAA left so I'm going to order some more from Montana Bullet Works...they actually weigh almost 290 grains probably because the are .454...

This will be my whitetail, black bear bullet but I'm going to load to only about 950 fps. That should be more than enough power for shots held to 50 yards and under.
 
In my New Vaquero, .45 Colt, & a Colt SAA lll generation, both with cylinder throats that mic just over .4525, I size my own cast bullets and commercial bullets from Missouri Bullet Co. to 0.453. If you're having trouble with undersized bullets that don't match your cylinder throats, try re-lubing with Lee Liquid Alox thinned 1/3 with paint thinner. I use Lee's swirl lube method for all of the commercial bullets that I buy.

Unclenick once said that overly large bullets, forced to size down as they entered the cylinder throat would hasten onset of end shake...I agree with his warning. Best Regards, Rod
 
..they actually weigh almost 290 grains ...
Click to expand...

I wonder why so heavy? (I don't mean why they come out so heavy, I mean why choose that heavy of a bullet at all?? )

My personal experience with 250s is that the right bullet and load does everything I could ask it to do, and extra heavy bullets aren't useful other than a few very, very specialized applications.

Not everyone gets one, but for me, and the .45 Colt, there came a point in my life where loads that rival or exceed .44 Mag and extra heavy bullets were something I asked my self, "why am I bothering with this?

And I didn't have a good answer. So, for the last 30 some years I've been shooting just one load in .45 Colt, a 250gr swc over 10gr Unique. This clocks just a whisker under 1100fps from my favorite 7.5" Blackhawk, and I know exactly where the bullet will hit at ranges from 0 to 200yds.

Nothing I've shot with it has ever complained about the bullet being too light, or too slow....:rolleyes:
 
44 AMP said:
I wonder why so heavy? (I don't mean why they come out so heavy, I mean why choose that heavy of a bullet at all?? )

My personal experience with 250s is that the right bullet and load does everything I could ask it to do, and extra heavy bullets aren't useful other than a few very, very specialized applications.

Not everyone gets one, but for me, and the .45 Colt, there came a point in my life where loads that rival or exceed .44 Mag and extra heavy bullets were something I asked my self, "why am I bothering with this?

And I didn't have a good answer. So, for the last 30 some years I've been shooting just one load in .45 Colt, a 250gr swc over 10gr Unique. This clocks just a whisker under 1100fps from my favorite 7.5" Blackhawk, and I know exactly where the bullet will hit at ranges from 0 to 200yds.

Nothing I've shot with it has ever complained about the bullet being too light, or too slow....:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I have also used Lyman 452454 255 grain from Montana. They also weigh heavier at 267 grains cast .454...why this is so as the 270g SAA 270s weigh almost 290 grains is a mystery.

I know for sure it's not my scale. Maybe how Montana casts their bullets. The 452454 has also shown excellent accuracy in my Ruger ...Elmer Keith in his book "Sixguns" wrote that this bullet and 7.5 grains of Unique was a good all around game load. But this was probably considering only. Colt SAs, etc considering.
 
John Linebaugh of Linebaugh Custom Sixguns wrote in the article ..."The 45 Colt, "Dissolving the Myth, Discovering the Potential"... That a 260 grain Keith cast at 900 fps will shoot lengthwise through a Mule Deer or Antelope at 100 yards. This is based on actual field experience.

That article is a very extensive expose on the 45 Colt cartridge that can be found on his website in the Writings section. He experiments including blowing up six-guns to test pressure limits, etc of the 45 colt and a lot of data based on experience...JJ
 
The composition of your casting alloy affects the actual weight of the bullets. The closer you are to pure lead, the heavier your bullets will be. Add more tin and the bullets will be harder and weigh less. That's the short story, but there are some other factors..... Got linotype?
 
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