Normal Price For >45 Colt Ammo?

J

Joe_Pike

New member
I just traded for a Cimarron Model P in .45 Colt and don't have any ammo. Yes, I know that the .45 Colt cartridge is more of a reloader's cartridge, but I haven't started reloading yet. I do have some of the equipment, but haven't got around to learning the process (plus I need to get some .45 Colt dies).

Anyway, as everyone knows, ammo is kind of difficult to get. Around here, even .45 Colt is scarce. I have never bought any, so, I'm not quite sure of what the price was for a box of 50 during normal times. I did see some Winchester Super X cowboy loads at Bass Pro for $41, but don't know if that is close to a normal price or not. So, what kind of prices should I be looking at?
 
I don't really remember a "normal" dollar figure (and how far back is "normal", it wasn't that long ago that a box of 100 WWB 9mm was around $10 but it has been a few years), but it has always seemed to be a little more expensive than .44mag. Of course, if you haven't really followed .44mag prices, that won't help much either.
 
Pre panic, the cowboy loads that I found were $32-36/50 rounds. Don't remember how much the JHPs that I have were. Haven't bought any in a while, prolly going to finish learning to reload before I have a chance to go shooting again... Good luck to you. I have a Cimarron Model P that I absolutely love. I am sure you will enjoy it.
 
$32 / 50rnd Magtech cowboy loads. $50 / 50rnd Remington lrn non-cowboy load. The Remingtons are considerably hotter than the cowboy loads. I enjoy reloading for this caliber probably more than any other.
 
Okay, found some ammo at Georgia Arms. It is the "Canned Heat". What would be a better load, the 200gr Lead Round Nose Flat Point or the 250gr Lead Round Nose Flat Point to shoot through a Cimarron Model P?
 
Doesn't that gun have fixed sights? Get both and see where your gun shoots them. Heavier bullets will hit higher than lighter ones.
 
I'd like to commend the Fleet Farm stores in MN for NOT price gouging. In March I bought American Eagle 45 Colt 225 grain jacketed soft points 50 rounds for $25.

They had quite a bit of it then but last week they were sold out of it. They did have some 45 Colt premium self defense but it was over a buck a round.
 
Fairbanks is not a cheap place to shop, but in general I was seeing $35 or so for a box of 50 cowboy loads and $45-50 for a box of 50 tier I loads with cast bullets, summer 2012.

You probably want to stick with tier I loads (14,000psi max) in your Cimarron. Tier II is 20k psi, ruger new vaquero, some of the SWs and similar. Tier III, 32k psi, Redhawk, Blackhawk, Contender and similar.

FWIW I can buy 100 pieces of brass for $40, 1 pound of powder for $25 (enough for 1000 loads), 1000 primers for $35 and 1000 bullets 200-230-250 grain for about $125, so 1000 tier I rounds for $225 plus my time.

$50 for a box of 50 (20 boxes) that same 1000 rounds would be "about" $1000. The difference ($1000 -$225 = $775) would pay for a very nice entry level reloading setup, your actual break-even point would be somewhere around 800-900 rounds.
 
Lee Classic loader

I was in the same boat a couple months ago but was unable to find any colt ammo at all to feed my new gun. I was lucky enough to find reloading components locally and was able to make 600rds using a lee classic loader from midway. If you can find the components this is a great way to get started. Lately I have had luck getting brass and bullets at midway. I should have 500 bullets and 200 colt brass waiting for me when I get home today :) . 45 Schofield brass works for light loads as well.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/647702/lee-classic-loader-45-colt-long-colt
http://http://www.midwayusa.com/find?sortby=1&itemsperpage=24&newcategorydimensionid=5816
http://http://www.midwayusa.com/find?sortby=1&itemsperpage=24&newcategorydimensionid=5820
 
Okay, found some ammo at Georgia Arms. It is the "Canned Heat". What would be a better load, the 200gr Lead Round Nose Flat Point or the 250gr Lead Round Nose Flat Point to shoot through a Cimarron Model P?

Most likely it will be the 250 grain bullets. Those were the standards of the day. That is what I shoot in my 5 1/2" artillery model Cimarron. I reload all my 45 colt. Never bought a factory round.
 
I buy brass direct from Starline and bullets from Crown Bullets.
Primers....well that seems to be the rub lately :cool:
 
Okay, found some ammo at Georgia Arms. It is the "Canned Heat". What would be a better load, the 200gr Lead Round Nose Flat Point or the 250gr Lead Round Nose Flat Point to shoot through a Cimarron Model P?
Click to expand...

Depends on how fast they are. The original load was 250gr at about 900fps give or take. I've also found that to be a comfortable load.
 
If your hogleg is like my Blackhawk, you might want to size and expand the 45 Colt with 45 ACP dies. My 45 Colt dies left cases too big for .451 & .452 bullets.
 
I had refused to ever go above $.50 per round.
The last stuff I bought was local reloads, very good looking and very good shooting quality, $190 out the door for 500, includes hefty California sales tax.
dc
 
45 Colt Prices

I made two bulk purchases in recent years-1,000 rounds each time-and some years back I paid Georgia Arms $22.50/50 rds and just before the great ammo famine I paid Ammoman $35/50 rds of Winchester-Georgia Arms charges shipping which is pretty expensive because I live two UPS zones away from them-Ammoman price was OTD-no shipping charge.I try to use local commercial reloaders but they are out of components nowadays.Fortunately one doesn't burn through a lot of ammo in single action sessions.
 
Joe_Pike said:
I just traded for a Cimarron Model P in .45 Colt and don't have any ammo. Yes, I know that the .45 Colt cartridge is more of a reloader's cartridge, but I haven't started reloading yet. I do have some of the equipment, but haven't got around to learning the process (plus I need to get some .45 Colt dies).

Anyway, as everyone knows, ammo is kind of difficult to get. Around here, even .45 Colt is scarce. I have never bought any, so, I'm not quite sure of what the price was for a box of 50 during normal times. I did see some Winchester Super X cowboy loads at Bass Pro for $41, but don't know if that is close to a normal price or not. So, what kind of prices should I be looking at?
Click to expand...

I recently saw this ammo going for $72/box online! Simply obscene.

What I would do is concentrate on rounding up everything thing you need to handload this round.
 
Canned Heat are pretty much GA Arms regular loaded centerfire ammo. Their cowboy loads are pretty whimpy. They are what they are basically. GA Arms is where I would be buying personally and then keep your eyes open elsewhere for "bargains". Walmart will occasionally stock 45 Colt (Winchester white box).

The price of factory ammo is what has always kept me from buying a 45 Colt revolver. It would be another caliber to stock for me and I just decided it wasn't for me. Bought a nice S&W M25 with the intention of feeding it, then decided to sell it a number of years ago.

Seems like any ammo that is priced about $1/round becomes "a reloaders" caliber. That includes my beloved 41 mags.
 
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