.45 LC recipes needed!

M

Mercyloader

Inactive
Neither of my Sierra cookbooks show a recipe for the 250 gr FMJ .45LC.
Loading for the 1919 Army Colt DA New Service w/ 7.5"barrel requires I baby the load.
I also want a recipe for the Henry Big Boy in LC w/ the 250gr FMJ that gives me at least 1500 fps. I plan to use this load in the Blackhawk pistol as well as the Henry rifle. Any suggestions? I have an 8lb keg of H110 if I could incorporate that powder that would save me some cost. I know I could never use the H110 in my 1919 Army Service. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Any jacketed bullet data will do.
"...requires I baby the load..." Jacketed bullets tend not to be light loads. Use a lighter cast bullet.
"...in the Blackhawk pistol as well as the Henry rifle..." Wouldn't trust a Blackhawk load in any lever action, but there's H110 Ruger data on Hodgdon's site. Max loads run close to 1455 fps out of a 7.25" barrel. No .45 Colt rifle data on their site. There is on Reloader's Nest, but not with H110.
There's H110 data here too. No idea if it's rifle or handgun.
http://stevespages.com/page8a.htm
 
Here's the sad truth, H 110 is not a good powder for general use in the .45 Colt.

In fact, its only good in the heaviest (.44mag class and +) loads, the ones called "Ruger only" It is very inefficient at levels below that, in the .45 Colt case.

If you are looking for a powder you can use well in ALL those guns, look for something closer to a medium burn rate powder. I happen to love Unique for the .45 Colt, but there are others that do as well.

Sell or trade that keg of H110 to a magnum shooter, and get something better suited for your guns.

The Speer #10 manual (1979) and the #11 (1987) list the same 2 loads with H110 in .45 Colt Contender or Ruger ONLY section. One for their 250gr LSWC and one for their 260gr JHP. There are NO loads listed using H110 in the standard pressure section. Out of a 7.5" Blackhawk they maxed at 1245fps for the 250gr and 1151fps with the 260gr. Also these loads are NOT for the New Service (and a number of other guns).

Good Luck
 
Yup. Trade off the H-110. Unique is a great choice fo an all-around powder. If you want a slower burning magnum powder that has better flexibility than H-110, consider IMR-4227 or AA-9. But don't be surprised when you find out that IMR-4227 doesn't gain much velocity over Unique until you're burning at least twice the powder.
You have an old gun. Old guns are special and difficult to replace. Load all your ammo in deference to the weakest gun. If you must have some hot loads, consider having two kinds of brass: Nickle plated, and regular. You can order Nickle plated Starline brass suitable for higher pressure loads. Use lead bullets in regular brass for the old Colt and keep all ammo that looks like that at a safe pressure for the old gun.
 
I'd switch to unique also.
I don't know how many fmjs I'd run through that old colt, either.
It's been some time now since I've put together screaming 45 colt loads, but my Hornady manual doesn't show using h110, nor anything getting to 1500 fps. Maybe things have changed. I did used to load plenty of rounds a little over 1350 using 4227 for a Blackhawk I had.
I'd contact Henry and verify it will take these heavy loads before using them.
 
Wow!!! 1200-1500 fps with 45 Colt??? I'd never even *try* to load that hot for my SA Army. For me, guns like that are for fun, nostalgic plinking. Not guns to blow up charging grizzlies. I've used Unique, Power Pistol, and 2400, loading to middle charges in the books for each. I haven't chrono'd them because I don't care. I find them to be pretty consistent across powder types. My preference, for no real technical reason, is 2400 because a moderate load of 2400 takes up more space in the brass. I haven't tried it, but Trail Boss seems to be popular for low-power 45 Colt.

Cheers!
 
Wow!!! 1200-1500 fps with 45 Colt??? I'd never even *try* to load that hot for my SA Army.
Click to expand...

Nor should you! It's NOT SAFE!

Max pressure loads in the COLT SAA (and clones) top out in the 1,000-1100fps range (250gr bullet), depending on barrel length. The guns are simply not strong enough for anything heavier.

The Ruger New Model Blackhawk in .45 Colt is a bigger, stronger gun than the Colt SAA, and can take heavier max loads.
 
My experience with my 45 blackhawk and marlin 1894 leads me to recommend that the OP should take a long look at the above posts. Unique and 2400 are all I use in these firearms.

With the long barrel on the rifle you could reach close to your desired velocity, maybe. But why chase that muzzle velocity at all. I get close to that out of my levergun with a stout load of 2400 behind nosler jhps, but that's just where the accuracy node ended up, not because I was after velocity per se.

I must say that I actually called Marlin though, the 45C uses the same action as the 44mag in this case, and it may be similar with the Henry, since it is also offered in 44mag, but you need to call to find out. I'm not in any way suggesting that 44mag pressures are safe or sane in a 45colt, but a lot of interesting work has been done by more knowledgeable folks...like Linebaugh and Casull in realizing the potential of these type of stout, modern 45C arms.

My experience with h110 and w296 led me to the conclusion that they are much more useful with much heavier bullets, say 300gr or more.

I also would like to note that my stout loads are all built with a VERY HEFTY roll crimp. I'm not sure if your 250fmj has a cannlure to crimp into, but my advise is simple. If there is no cannelure on your bullets, please do not attempt anything beyond mild loads.

I also agree that you might consider using some method to insure that you never put one of these loads in your old colt revolver....like using nickel plated brass or something as suggested. Were I in your shoes I would consider retiring the old style weapon just to be sure.

Proceed with extreme caution as always.
 
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Go get info from manufacturer only don't trust a phyco to play a joke on you and blow your hands off all powder manufacturers have free recipe on website don't have stubs for arms because you trusted someone you don't know who is very sick in the head hope you understand
 
The Henry can handle stout Ruger only loads, but the OAL restriction of about 1.600 precludes the use of heavier bullets. I use one of Accurate Molds 280gr designs and have driven it at 1680 fps over my chronograph. No wierdness at all as in no sticky extraction, primer too flat, case expansion etc.

The load exceeds sammi so I'm not gonna tell you what it is. My personal guideline for the .45 Colt heavy loads is 80% of sammi .44 Mag pressure. YMMV.

I have also seen 1790 with 255's.

I do NOT use those loads for everyday plinking or target practice! They are for hunting in areas with a high bear population.

Why do you want to use fmj?

I don't use jacketed bullets at all in my .45 Colts, rifle or pistol, gas checked maybe.

My everyday load is 8.5 of Tin Star under 255's at about 1050, sweet accurate load.

Mucho be careful trying to go heavy in your Henry, your going to have to do a lot of homework!
 
His loads are approved !! It's a serious risk that has occurred navy many times with many people warning many others but in the end it is a personal choice it is your safety just don't shoot them at the range with others around if something ever did happen and a gun granaded next to another shooter lodging a part of the gun in his neck depending on the prosecutor you could be charged with a list off offenses and now you have stubs a blown up gun lawyer fee and a 15 year jail term !!!!! But I think you understand that this is only for a short period of time until the beginner understands the fundamentals of reloading and sees the errors in the mad man's recipe after the short period your able to Judge if it's safe to use with you own experience and common sense but a recipe from an author of a book for example applied ballistics should be safe to use !!!!! A person just needs to be careful Tull they get some understanding before they start trading recipes !!! Even such a thing as auto correct changing the numbers by error can be catastrophic it's a dangerous game we play we must know the rules! !!!!! We can't unexplode a firearm or Uninjure a bystander or loved one I wish for some of the people who lost loved ones by mistake because because they made a error with explosives I wish them mental piece because I couldn't live with it !!!!
 
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