Hard hitting .45 Colt Loads

I cast my own 325 grain bullets (some hollow pointed, some solids) Loaded over 13 grains of HS-6 I get 1100 fps in my Bisley, Loaded over 23 grains of H-110 I get around 1300 fps.

Here is the terminal performance. (the solids were 96% lead, 3% antimony and 1% tin, and were water quenched) The hollow points were air cooled.

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Love this hunting gun/bullet combo.
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8.5 grains of Unique under a 255 grain SWC at around 12 Brinell will handle almost any general work

10.5 grains of Unique under a 270 grain SWC at 18 Brinell with blow through most big game like a breath of hot air

21.5 grains of H110 combined with a gas checked 300 grain SWC will break bones or blast through any hog's gristle plate and leave a hole daylight will shine through.
 
H-110/W-296 is great until you get into seriously cold weather, then it becomes hard to light.

One of my working loads, I'm still playing with is a 330gr cast GC bullet and 24grs of H-110. It 's a little uncomfortable to shoot so I'm going to back it off a grain or so. Accuracy seems to be pretty much the same from start to max.

I also have a load that I settled on for colder weather with the same 330gr bullet and 21gr of Lil' Gun.

These are RUGER ONLY loads in Starline or Winchester cases being shot from a Redhawk.
 
My three pet loads for 4 5/8" Blackhawk 45 Colt using Hodgdon Lil' Gun and three different Cast Performance bullets.

Pardon the three pics.

The top pic would be on the left and is the firearm, chambering, bullet.
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Center in the center and is the powder/my load, start load, max load, primer.
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Bottom on the right and is COAL, note, velocity, TKO.
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My favorite is the 335 gr bullet with 19 gr. of Lil'Gun at 1189 avg fps. Highest TKO (if you put any stock in TKO) without pushing to max.

You probably know this but you should reduce these loads to the listed start load and work up to them. Velocities were recorded on a Shooting Chrony Alpha Master 10' from the bbl.

Sorry, I cropped for just the 45 Colt loads (above) an don't know how to get rid of the pics that include 454 Casull data (below). Do not use the 454 Casull data below!

Cross reference all data gleaned from the Internet... Use at your own risk.
 

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Like stevelyn I too have had trouble lighting H-110 between about 0df and +25dF.

I personally sold my magnum and bought a Redhawk in .45Colt so I cold fool with a bunch of powders other than H-110.

I like all three of Universal Clays, HS-6 and TiteGroup from shirtsleeve weather down to -30dF.

The 270 SAA ought to be a terrific bullet against anything on two or four legs likely to be encountered in the lower 48, cast at about BHN 12-15 and driven to about 900fps with any of the three powders above.

I fooled a little bit with a 315gr cast Keith style SWC over the weekend. Hodgdon was expecting about 850 fps out of their test barrel with a smallish pinch of TiteGroup, so likely 650-700fps muzzle out of my 4" Redhawk. Pretty stout without over working the primers.

I am still looking for my bear load, but the nice thing about a capacious case like the .45Colt is it can get a lot of work done without having to lean on H110/Win296/H4227.
 
The question was hard hitting 45 colt loads.
You can down load 45colt or a 44mag.
I probably have 550 44mags loaded with 6grs of Titegroup with a 240gr. cast.
And 450 45colts loaded with 5.5grs. of Titegroup with 255grs.
 
The 270 SAA ought to be a terrific bullet against anything on two or four legs likely to be encountered in the lower 48, cast at about BHN 12-15 and driven to about 900fps with any of the three powders above.
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I'm also thinking it'd be a good bullet for GP up in the interior too. I'm laying in supplies and equipment now for casting after studying under the expert tootledge of one of my buds who casts. The RCBS .45-270-SAA and the Lyman 255gr Thompson design are the two I've settled on for now.

For my purposes out here on the AKPEN, I'm still going to stick with the 330gr Stoners.
 
When I buy all the components my go to load for most all big game is the Leadhead Keith style SWC at 270 grains sitting on top of 10.5 grains of Unique in a Starline case. I get right at 1100 fps and great accuracy out of my 4 5/8 Ruger Blackhawk. Very good terminal bullet performance from a purchased cast bullet.
 
wooly booger said:
I like H110 for bullets weighing more than 250gr..one of my pet loads was 22gr under a 300gr hard cast flat nose....you should expect about 1200 fps. This is a mazimum load and very hot.

296 is a good powder for lighter bullets in the 225 range. try about 26 grains, which will give you about 1450 fps ...also a handfull
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Don't you find those two powdres work equally well the other way around as well? ;)
 
It's very easy to accomplish hard hitting

Any heavier than standard bullet at 900-1000 fps will whack the bejeesus out of just about anything on the other end. A great bullet is the 270 grain SAA from RCBS. It drops a bit heavier than stated weight and will do it all without excess powder, recoil or wear on your gun.
With a better bullet design even standard weights and velocities will hit harder than most handgun bullets.
 
stevelyn said:
I'm also thinking it'd be a good bullet for GP up in the interior too. I'm laying in supplies and equipment now for casting after studying under the expert tootledge of one of my buds who casts. The RCBS .45-270-SAA and the Lyman 255gr Thompson design are the two I've settled on for now.

For my purposes out here on the AKPEN, I'm still going to stick with the 330gr Stoners.
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I don't disagree. I tried a bunch of bullets, and added a Vaquero to my stable lately. I am loading a 230gr Truncated Cone to 750fps for steel target matches, the 270SAA to about 900fps for general duty including camping in interior Alaska, and still looking for a heavier bullet to take into the mountains if I go north into white bear country or south into salmon fed bear country.

I really like the 255gr Keith style SWC, but I can do so much more with the 270SAA (eg 9month CCW in town only versus year round CCW in town and open carry sidearm in the out of town); I can't justify loading and stocking both.

Best of luck to you.
 
Brian Pearce has an excellent article in the latest Handloader on loading the new Lipseys 45 Colt on the 357 frame. Keeping loads to 23,000, he developed loads around the 280 RCBS Keith style, BH of 15 for a velocity of 1048. His son shot a treed Blackie 6x at 40 yards. The bear was dead at the third shot and all bullets blew right through the chest with a couple of 3" exits.

I've got a large frame Bisley, but 275's @ 1057 are plenty for me. Unique and Power Pistol in 9-11 grains are all that's needed. If I want more oomph, I pick up my 44 SBH.
 
If you want that kind of pressure from a 45 Colt why don't you just use a gun designed for it like the 454 Casull?:confused:

It seems foolish to push the round beyond its safety margin.
 
Nanuk said:
If you want that kind of pressure from a 45 Colt why don't you just use a gun designed for it like the 454 Casull?:confused:

It seems foolish to push the round beyond its safety margin.
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That kind of pressure is well within the safety margins if you use a Ruger Blackhawk or FA 97. The "Ruger only" loads are still well below 454 pressure.

45 colt (Ruger,FA,TC only load) Max load - cast performance 360 gr and 21 gr of H110 is 28,300 CUP

454 using the same bullet and a max load -
24 gr of H110 is 43,400 CUP

Pretty significant difference
Using the same logic one could ask, why drive a bullet from the 454 at those pressures when you could get a 460 S&W? Same thing, 460 S&W pushes with more pressure. Plus the 45 colt in Blackhawk and FA can be had in a smaller frame than the 454, which can be had in a smaller frame than the 460 S&W. It's all about compromise.

Super Redhawk 454 with 7.5" barrel weighs 53 oz
Blackhawk 45 Colt with 7.5" barrel weighs 42 oz

That is nearly 3/4 pound difference, also significant.
My 4 5/8" Blackhawk weighs 36 oz and is more powerful than my 2.5" barrel Super Redhawk 454 that weighs in at 44 oz. Guess which one I'd rather pack around the mountains?

Finally, the question was not "Why shouldn't I load the 45 Colt to its full potential and what should I get instead?".
 
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If you want a fullhouse round, try buffalo bore's 300 grn. jacketed soft point. That'll wake you up in the morning. I shot a gun load of em and decided to let my friends shoot the rest of the box with an old model vaquaro. More power than I need.
 
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