Walther22lr
New member
Brought back memories with that statement! That is exactly how I started with my Colt .45 back in 1978!
Save your brass, and you can reload them many, many times!
Starline is a good source of brass and I have used them a lot!
Please educate me - 45 Long Colt
- Thread starter Ron7624
- Start date
Save your brass, and you can reload them many, many times!
Starline is a good source of brass and I have used them a lot!
I finally made it to the range with the new Uberti and several different loads of bullets. I tried shooting the cowboy loads first with a 250gr lead rn, with my little finger under the grip.... ouch. Then I shot the the standard loads with a 250gr JHP bullet. I bought the jhp in case I wanted to use them for self defense. Those shot good and the little finger stayed wrapped around the grip, the recoil wasn't that bad so no pain. (I had read where Skeeter Skelton had a grip with his pinky under the grip for support shooting off hand is why I tried that out.)
Lastly I had some Hornady 185gr. They shot great as well. I was a bit concerned about recoil but no longer am. I did shoot a 44mag Ruger Blackhawk in silhouette competition years ago and guess I was remembering that bear. Anyway after putting about 120 rounds through the gun I had a great afternoon shooting and learning the gun. I am posting a couple of pix of the afternoon just because the target is kinda humorous. I make my own paper targets and put a very dim happy face in the middle.
Now, I've got brass to reload as well.
This one target was off hand at about 10 yards. I'm happy with the group of 4 a little left, the two flyers - I wish I could take credit for, but no just flyers.
Lastly I had some Hornady 185gr. They shot great as well. I was a bit concerned about recoil but no longer am. I did shoot a 44mag Ruger Blackhawk in silhouette competition years ago and guess I was remembering that bear. Anyway after putting about 120 rounds through the gun I had a great afternoon shooting and learning the gun. I am posting a couple of pix of the afternoon just because the target is kinda humorous. I make my own paper targets and put a very dim happy face in the middle.
Now, I've got brass to reload as well.
This one target was off hand at about 10 yards. I'm happy with the group of 4 a little left, the two flyers - I wish I could take credit for, but no just flyers.
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Driftwood Johnson
New member
Howdy Again
For what it's worth, I always shoot a single action revolver with my pinky under the grip. Always.
Here is something you may not be aware of. If you have average sized hands, and try to cram your entire hand onto the grip, the knuckle of your middle finger will be directly behind the trigger guard. Fire a round with much recoil and the trigger guard will most likely whack your knuckle in recoil. Not very pleasant. By only wrapping two fingers around the grip, and curling my knuckle under the grip, this automatically adds about 1/4" of space between the knuckle of my middle finger and the rear of the trigger guard. Try it and you will see.
I shoot nothing but full house Black Powder loads in my one Uberti Cattleman and a couple of Colt 2nd Gen SAAs. These loads deliver a pretty stout recoil. I do not hold the gun with a death grip, in fact I hold it pretty lightly. When it fires, the grip rotates a bit in my hand, my pinky stops the rotation, and the gun then lifts my entire forearm a bit. I find it is very pleasant to shoot this way. My knuckle never gets whacked, and my pinky does not suffer either.
Try it, you may like it.
For what it's worth, I always shoot a single action revolver with my pinky under the grip. Always.
Here is something you may not be aware of. If you have average sized hands, and try to cram your entire hand onto the grip, the knuckle of your middle finger will be directly behind the trigger guard. Fire a round with much recoil and the trigger guard will most likely whack your knuckle in recoil. Not very pleasant. By only wrapping two fingers around the grip, and curling my knuckle under the grip, this automatically adds about 1/4" of space between the knuckle of my middle finger and the rear of the trigger guard. Try it and you will see.
I shoot nothing but full house Black Powder loads in my one Uberti Cattleman and a couple of Colt 2nd Gen SAAs. These loads deliver a pretty stout recoil. I do not hold the gun with a death grip, in fact I hold it pretty lightly. When it fires, the grip rotates a bit in my hand, my pinky stops the rotation, and the gun then lifts my entire forearm a bit. I find it is very pleasant to shoot this way. My knuckle never gets whacked, and my pinky does not suffer either.
Try it, you may like it.
Bishop Creek
New member
Yup, Driftwood, that's the way I do it too. Never experienced a whacked knuckle that way.
I've got smallish hands. I'm 5'8 and the pinky under bit me, but the full wrap around on all fingers works great for me. There was no knuckle bustin' on either grip. Everyone uses what works best for them.
Interestingly, with the SAA Uberti 45, I shot it well one handed. When I tried to shoot using a modern stance as I do with my semi auto's, my groups didn't even look like groups. I had heard that about shooting the cowboy guns but didn't believe it till I tried myself.
Having fun with my new addition. I cant wait for my holster to come in. Since open carry for cc holders will be legal Jan 1, 2016, I may OC that one, but I doubt it. The element of a BG not knowing you are carrying is pretty high on my list of common sense items.
Interestingly, with the SAA Uberti 45, I shot it well one handed. When I tried to shoot using a modern stance as I do with my semi auto's, my groups didn't even look like groups. I had heard that about shooting the cowboy guns but didn't believe it till I tried myself.
Having fun with my new addition. I cant wait for my holster to come in. Since open carry for cc holders will be legal Jan 1, 2016, I may OC that one, but I doubt it. The element of a BG not knowing you are carrying is pretty high on my list of common sense items.
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OP hasn't mentioned this .....
...And possibly a red herring but...
In an early load of .45LC I loaded Triple Seven FFFg. I did this not knowing that specific powder is not intended for cartridge loading.
Full load is defined as enough powder in the case to get about a tenth inch compression with the bullet properly seated (Proper COAL) and no air gap.
It was definitely a hot load pushing to about 900 to 950 fps.
When I mentioned it to the folks on the forum I got a mixed bag of responses which fell essentially into two categories.
On the one side were folks who said it was a dangerous load because of the difference in burn speed of FFFg when compared with FFg.
The other side said the load was safe.
No surprise that Hodgdon tech support recommended not shooting the rounds. They were not able to state why the load was dangerous. Some canisters of the powder (I think earlier versions) were marked with the caution that the powder is not intended for BP cartridges. This info came from some folks on the forum and the Hodgdon tech who "seemed to remember" that marking. My container had no such warning. The Hodgdon site warns against FFFg in cartridges in numerous places. The site structure requires the visitor to certify that he has read the precautions before being permitted to go to the load data page.
In the interest of caution, I downloaded the rounds.
...And possibly a red herring but...
In an early load of .45LC I loaded Triple Seven FFFg. I did this not knowing that specific powder is not intended for cartridge loading.
Full load is defined as enough powder in the case to get about a tenth inch compression with the bullet properly seated (Proper COAL) and no air gap.
It was definitely a hot load pushing to about 900 to 950 fps.
When I mentioned it to the folks on the forum I got a mixed bag of responses which fell essentially into two categories.
On the one side were folks who said it was a dangerous load because of the difference in burn speed of FFFg when compared with FFg.
The other side said the load was safe.
No surprise that Hodgdon tech support recommended not shooting the rounds. They were not able to state why the load was dangerous. Some canisters of the powder (I think earlier versions) were marked with the caution that the powder is not intended for BP cartridges. This info came from some folks on the forum and the Hodgdon tech who "seemed to remember" that marking. My container had no such warning. The Hodgdon site warns against FFFg in cartridges in numerous places. The site structure requires the visitor to certify that he has read the precautions before being permitted to go to the load data page.
In the interest of caution, I downloaded the rounds.
I do too.....
.....But I don't have enough experience to back that up or enough data to raise my confidence.
I have been unable to find any load data for .45LC for Triple Seven FFFg. The Hodgdon website shows only FFg data. The performance I experienced using 3F is very similar to the Hodgdon Data for 2F.
I was unable to find the length of the test barrel for .45LC. But in my revolvers I can't remember much difference in velocity betwen a 7.5 and a 5.5 inch barrel.
I do remember the barrel getting hot fairly quickly and that includes in the .45LC rifles I have. There was no apparent damage to the primers from over pressure.
So the Hodgdon website does seem to be missing some information. The tech support people are not well informed on Pyrodex or on triple Seven.
There are some questions left in my mind but in the end it is academic since I don't ever plan to load FFFg in cartridges.
.....But I don't have enough experience to back that up or enough data to raise my confidence.
I have been unable to find any load data for .45LC for Triple Seven FFFg. The Hodgdon website shows only FFg data. The performance I experienced using 3F is very similar to the Hodgdon Data for 2F.
I was unable to find the length of the test barrel for .45LC. But in my revolvers I can't remember much difference in velocity betwen a 7.5 and a 5.5 inch barrel.
I do remember the barrel getting hot fairly quickly and that includes in the .45LC rifles I have. There was no apparent damage to the primers from over pressure.
So the Hodgdon website does seem to be missing some information. The tech support people are not well informed on Pyrodex or on triple Seven.
There are some questions left in my mind but in the end it is academic since I don't ever plan to load FFFg in cartridges.