These velocities were measured in a 10" Contender barrel. The authors of the major reloading manuals were aware that there are modern guns other than the Blackhawk and Contender that are chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge. The 45 Colt brass was up to the task. Colt, Ruger, and Cimarron revolvers have given excellent results with handloads. Measuring, or God forbid, measuring and trimming, is a colossal waste of time. I basically stay with the old reloading manual levels of pressure for the 45 long Colt in reloading the modern repo ‘73s. … But they do not speak well for the durability of .45 Colt brass compared to magnum brass. IMR 4227 is a medium-burn-rate, Magnum smokeless propellant produced by the Hodgdon Powder Company. Hunting Bullet Holders & Boxes. Winchester Super X .45 Colt 225-gr. Now it sells in boxes of 20 so you are best off reloading your own. Shop by Category. $11/box of 25 or $22/box of 50. They are designed to handle standard pressure .45 Colt loads ONLY. It made a heck of a bang, and sprayed my shooting hand with hot powder and bits of brass. "Some handloaders have assembled .45 Colt loads that exceed the pressures of the .44 Magnum! But remember this is from the 10" barrel of a closed breech Contender. This leaves .738" of room inside the .45 Colt case for powder if the case is trimmed to 1.275". Since there seems to be an ongoing interest in the subject, I have decided to address it in this article. If you need more power than this, buy a .44 Magnum or a .454 Casull!". Store: Tue-Sat 9:00a-12:00p (EST) 941-451-7357 2383 S Tamiami Trail, Venice FL, 34293 . The .45 Colt was designed as a self-defense cartridge, the .44 Magnum was designed as a high velocity hunting cartridge. Fortunately Capital Cartridge has a plentiful supply of 45 Long Colt once-fired brass you can buy at a substantial savings compared to buying new brass or factory ammunition to reload. "IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE. I suspect that all that saves some of these guys and their guns is that they don't actually shoot enough of their super powerful loads to reach that point. Casting & Reloading; Cast Boolits; Need 45 Colt load data for rifle, Cast or Jacketed; If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. Minimum propellant specifications range from 17.0 grains with a 200-grain jacketed bullet to 15.8 grains with a 260-grain jacketed bullet. The following quote from the section of the Speer Reloading Manual No. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and Russian area studies from the University of Georgia. ", High pressure handloads for the Blackhawk and Contender pistols. The Hornady Handbook, 3rd Edition, says only that the pressures of their loads for the Ruger and T/C "are slightly higher than the earlier Colt revolvers or their replicas can withstand." I can't recall ever reading any such caution regarding .357, .41, or .44 Magnum cases. share. So I accept that Speer's 25,000 cup is indeed a reasonable maximum pressure for high pressure .45 Colt loads intended for use only in the Blackhawk revolver and Contender pistol. Other brands of bullets, even if of the same weight, must not be used with these loads as the bearing surface and hardness of the bullet have a significant effect on pressure. High pressure loads in other brands or models of guns. They are not to be used in any other make or model of firearm! What if I hit a bump, which momentarily increases pressure? 13 gives more information than the other two about the actual pressure of their high pressure .45 Colt loads. Hunting Gun Bullet Molds. Prior to that, he spent 20 years as a newspaper editor, primarily for the NYT Regional Newspaper Group. For the purposes of this article, by "high pressure" I mean pressures above the industry accepted SAAMI maximum pressure limit. Make sure your hand-loading recipe matches the correct bullet type and weight for use with IMR 4227. The Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum is the top of the line and a little bit nicer gun than a standard Blackhawk, anyway. This load is NOT intended for handguns such as older Smith & Wesson, Colt Single Action Army, or the Colt clones imported single action revolvers. Marked "RN" for round nose I … If you're using an automatic powder trickler mounted on your reloading press, periodically check the load delivered to your cartridges by using a powder scale. But what if I had been loading SAAMI maximum pressure loads? The top Sierra load uses more powder but a lighter bullet, 25.0 grains of 296 behind a 240 grain bullet for 1250 fps. "We recommend that these loads be used in new or once-fired cases known to be of recent manufacture.". Hunting Gun Reloading Presses & Accessories. If your reloading press features a priming attachment, you can make use of it to speed the hand-loading process. 13 devoted to high pressure .45 Colt loads, and reinforces this point. Update your shipping location . The Colt shooters could easily use the shorter Smith & Wesson cartridge, so the quartermasters began referring to the Colt round as “45 Long Colt”. Another way to circumvent the entire issue would be to purchase a .44 Magnum revolver. Develop your initial batch of reloads based on the smallest propellant charge recommended for the cartridge. The Complete Reloading Manual For The 45 Colt … I can only conclude (as they did) that the loads for the 300 grain bullet were indeed the higher pressure loads. Charge the reprimed cartridges with your recipe's recommended load of IMR 4227. ", The Hornady Handbook, 3rd Edition prefaces their high pressure data with this simple statement: "The following data is to be used only in the T/C or the Ruger Blackhawk.". NEVER use any high pressure .45 Colt load in a S&W revolver. There is also a better selection of .429" bullets for the handloader. It should be since the .44 Magnum operates at about 2.5 times the maximum SAAMI pressure of the .45 Colt. Reloading, firearm, and environmental components vary, too. In fact, I just completed a long e-mail exchange with a correspondent interested in purchasing a .45 LC gun, the second this week. Close. "Speer Reloading Manual Number 14"; Osmark Industries Inc.; 2010. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. Jump to Latest Follow 1 - 20 of 22 Posts. For some reason the .44 Mag seems to be an exceptionally accurate cartridge. Bullseye is too fast, my 6 grain load for example, under the Keith 255/260 cast bullet (cast not jacketed) at 800 FPS from a 7.5 inch 45 long Colt revolver has a nasty ‘fast peak’ pressure, and only1000 fps from the 20 inch rifle barrels. I get e-mail questions on the subject of high pressure loads for the .45 Colt all the time. I cannot comment on Remington .45 Colt brass, as by happenstance I have never used enough of it to form an opinion. Flag this item for. My purpose is to present what I hope is a balanced and responsible view, not to promote or condemn the use of all such loads. At 25 yards, the Redhawk produced the best single five-shot group of 2.72" and an average of 3.06" with Hornady Critical Defense .45 Colt 185-gr. .44 Magnum brass is more widely available, cheaper (because it is discounted more due to higher sales volume), stronger, and lasts longer. You could probably get away with that, too, but is it wise? When cowboy action became popular, there was a long learning curve and eventually most competitors … New to … The world that we hunt and shoot in is not the same as the controlled environment of a ballistics laboratory, and our Blackhawk and Contender pistols are not manufactured to the same strength and tolerances as a pressure test gun. Well For the most of the 45 plus years of shooting the 45 colt i used the 454424 with 8,5 gr of Unique. EMBED (for wordpress.com hosted blogs and archive.org item tags) Want more? Further, I'd guess that the maximum pressure of that 300 grain bullet load was pretty close to the maximum pressure of the Hornady load for their 250 grain bullet or the Sierra load for their 240 grain bullet. The addition of the word Long irritates some shooters, but ammo companies use both names interchangeably. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. Insert new primers into your .45 Colt cartridges. Matt Foster has worked for more than 10 years as an online content producer, SEO consultant and Web development manager. Clearly, FOR BLACKHAWK AND CONTENDER ONLY means just that! In recent years a couple of the smaller ammunition companies have introduced high pressure .45 Colt factory loads intended only for use in extra strong, modern guns. Only use loads based on IMR 4227 in firearms manufactured since the end of World War II. Save this search. And this is a quote from the Speer Reloading Manual. It would have almost certainly taken even a Blackhawk apart. In any event, most amateur load developers don't know that their loads are actually safe, they only know that up to the last shot they fired nothing failed. BUT THEY CANNOT! Menu. Set of three, I don't reload so please look carefully to ensure this is a correctly assembled set. Posts 5,368. These include not only the Colt Single Action Army, Colt Cowboy, and the various replicas thereof, but the DA Colt Anaconda, Ruger Redhawk, aforementioned "N" frame S&W, and others. .45 Automatic Colt Pistol Reloading Case Prep. The Complete Reloading Manual For The 45 Colt Item Preview > remove-circle Share or Embed This Item . (There is a question/answer addressing this on my Handgun FAQ page.) Page 1 of 2 1 2 Last. I was testing what were intended to be mid-range loads in a .357 Mag. Hope you enjoy. Briefly, the Cor-Bon ".45 Colt Magnum +P" loads are as follows (Cor-Bon figures). For example, what if I get a can of powder that produces greater than normal pressure? 45 Colt New and Once Fired Brass (OFB) and 45 Long Colt Reloading Supplies for sale with free shipping. These safety warnings are not without reason. 4.5 {535 FPS} - 6.5 {835 FPS} And Ruger-T/C 6.5 {835 FPS} - 9.4 {1097 FPS} 05-27-2012, 04:25 PM #2. The first category contains loads within the 14,000 psi (or 15,900 cup) SAAMI maximum pressure limit. Powders include "This is NOT plinking ammo, this load should only be used in those guns that have the steel to handle the power. Make sure that the seating die is properly adjusted to press a slight crimp into the case mouth where it meets the cannelure of the jacketed bullet. The.45 Colt cartridge features an ample case rim, so you should have no problems with cartridges slipping in the shell holder. For the .45 Colt cartridge that is 14,000 psi as measured by the relatively new piezo-electric transducer method, or 15,900 cup as measured by the older copper crusher method. It began as a black-powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver, but is offered as a magnum-level, handgun hunting round in modern usage. I began shooting long before Cowboy Action Shooting became popular. These cases were used with standard pressure reloads only. For many years Smith & Wesson built a .45 Colt DA revolver on their large "N" frame that looked nearly identical to their .44 Magnum Model 29. It states that, "Loads for the 300 grain bullet were developed in a copper crusher test barrel; they operate at higher pressure than those for lighter bullets, up to 25,000 cup.". You can reload .45 Long Colt for approx. Then I could safely reload the thing to any pressure level from the normal .45 Colt level up to true magnum pressures with complete confidence. What type/brand of bullet, brass, powder do you recommend for target shooting/plinking. Actually those 2 powders would work best slightly compressed according to Mr. Linebaugh. reloading 45 Colt for Taurus Judge. The top Sierra loads drive a 240 grain JHP bullet to 1250 fps with either 16.9 grains of Blue Dot or 25.0 grains of Winchester 296 powder from the 7.5" barrel of a Ruger Blackhawk revolver. The .45 Colt [11.48x35R] cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. I read an article by Mr. Linebaugh in which he claimed that Federal makes the best .45 Colt brass. Maybe it would have stayed together, and maybe not. To use an analogy, I have been told by a friend who is very active in bicycle racing circles that bicycle tires are generally designed for 100% over-pressure. This is 45 Long Colt, also known as 45 Colt. I can tell you as an experienced reloader that I get much better case life from all .44 Magnum reloads than I do from standard pressure loads in .45 Colt brass. Then you’re good to go. The .45 Colt is sometimes called the .45 Long Colt, indicating the difference between it and the shorter Smith & Wesson Schofield case. My copy of the Sierra Handgun Reloading Manual makes this blunt statement in the first paragraph of their section devoted to high pressure .45 Colt loads. (No two chronographs seem to give identical results.). Complete the assembly of your hand loads by topping each cartridge with a copper-jacketed bullet and running it into the bullet seating die on your press. It is a tribute to the quality of modern .45 Colt brass that it has proven safe (in Blackhawk and Contender guns only) with maximum pressures about 57% greater than the SAAMI limit. Otherwise, use a hand priming tool to press new primers into place. The .44 Magnum and .454 Casull as alternatives to the .45 Colt. in all that time, i've only found one load that shot true point of aim, with any kind of accuracy. The closest Speer load with the same powder (Alliant 2400) gives their 260 grain bullet in front of 18.0 grains a MV of 1156 fps from the Blackhawk revolver. Marked "RN" for round nose I assume. Filters. Does the headstamp read .45 Auto? Adopted by the U.S. Army as its service handgun cartridge in 1873, the .45 Colt quickly became a favorite among civilian shooters. Have you ever had a revolver case fail? In my own chronograph testing, Remington 158 grain JSP .357 Magnum factory loads averaged 1580 fps from my 10" Contender and 1325 fps from my 6.5" Blackhawk revolver, so I suspect that most of the advantage shown by the Hornady load is due more to the test gun than the extra pressure provided by the additional 1.9 grains of powder. THIS IS NOT COWBOY AMMO! Hunting Gun Reloading Manuals & Instruction Materials. Eventually something is going to break. They got 10 fps greater velocity with the 300 grain bullet than with the 260 grain bullet, also the opposite of what one would expect. Federal is the only brand of .45 Colt case that I currently reload. The loads in the Hornady, Sierra, and Speer manuals have been used in thousands of Ruger Blackhawk revolvers for many years without a problem, so it seems reasonable to accept that they represent a safe and practical maximum for .45 Colt cartridges to be fired only in Blackhawk revolvers and Contender pistols. 13 devoted to high pressure .45 Colt loads for the Blackhawk and Contender addresses this point. Back; Once Fired Brass; Pistol. So while the .45 Colt can perhaps approach the .44 Mag. My last bit of advice is that if you have or get a .45 Colt caliber Blackhawk or Contender pistol with the intention of developing high pressure handloads follow the guidelines in the major reloading manuals exactly. A 57% overload is a lot, more than a proof load! I don't ride on a prepared track; I ride on city streets and bike paths. I would recommend that anyone loading high pressure loads for Blackhawk or Contender pistols limit them to 25,000 cup or, lacking pressure testing facilities, the maximum loads published in the Hornady, Sierra, and Speer manuals (depending on the bullet chosen). I have been asked specifically about this revolver in the past, as their owners sometimes conclude that if the Model 29 can withstand the 36,000 psi (43,500 cup) of a .44 Magnum cartridge, their revolvers should be able to withstand the same pressure. Free Shipping* on Orders over $25. Perhaps this final quote from the Speer Reloading Manual sums the whole issue up best. I disagree with most of Mr. Linebaugh's assertions about very high pressure .45 Colt loads and the strength of the .45 Colt case in general, but I do agree with him about the superiority of Federal .45 Colt brass. Because WW-296 and H-110 should be used with 90% or more of that space filled for best results, too much pressure and velocity can be created for our purposes. Friend recommended using "Mountain Gold" Bullets to prevent leading. So who has used it in 45 Colt and how did it work? The Sierra Handgun Reloading Manual gives no indication as to the actual pressure of their high pressure loads, merely stating that they are intended solely for the Blackhawk and Contender pistols, and that even in those guns the .45 Colt "must not be crowded to very high pressure." Then those hot powder loads might have been right around the yield point of my gun's cylinder. All I know is that he handed me his new gun to shoot a cylinder load of cartridges, and the 2nd cartridge I fired split from the mouth all the way down to the rim. "IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE. Graphic Violence ; Graphic Sexual Content ; texts. Keep in mind that we are supposed to be enjoying a recreational activity, not performing death defying stunts. I also accept that the AMOUNT of safety margin may vary with application, that from an engineering standpoint it need not be, and probably is not, identical from cartridge to cartridge. Trimming can be easily accomplished with a manual case trimmer, but being basically lazy, I used Hornady's new Lock-N-Load power case trimmer to whittle cases down to size. The following quote is again from the section of the Speer Reloading Manual devoted to high pressure .45 Colt loads for the Blackhawk and Contender. Ammo; Brass . This results in a significant increase in energy, yet the loads were safe in Speer's test firearms. Using bullets from . So what's not to like about the .44 Mag? This seems like a pretty stiff load to me; the difference in velocity is probably more attributable to differences between chronographs than pressure. Such Cor-Bon ammunition boxes are clearly marked ".45 Colt Magnum +P." "Although it has internal capacity comparable to that of the .44 Magnum, the thickness and strength of the .45 Colt cartridge case is much less than that of the .44 Magnum, imposing a limiting factor upon the older cartridge which cannot be avoided.". The .45 Colt cartridge features an ample case rim, so you should have no problems with cartridges slipping in the shell holder. The second high pressure Cor-Bon load is uses a 300 grain Jacketed Soft Point bullet at a MV of 1300 fps and ME of 1126 ft. lbs. The size of the 45 Colt cartridge helps to make it an easy one to reload. At least I have never heard even the wildest .45 proponent claim that .45 Colt brass is more durable than .44 Mag. IMR 4227 generates chamber pressures considered excessive for safe use in vintage firearms. The following quote is from the section of the Speer Reloading Manual No. HORNADY XTP 20-PACK $ 21.54 Read more HSM BEAR AMMO .45 LONG COLT 325GR. But as for asking it to contain pressure far beyond that, NO THANKS! Register; Log in; Wishlist (0) Shopping cart (0) You have no items in your shopping cart. Also had a Colt 3 rd gen with 51/2 in that was a pleasure to shoot with that load. But no exception is made for any of these guns, not even the excellent Anaconda and Redhawk. But there was no lasting harm done to the gun or me. The maximum loads in the Speer Manual give MV's of 1343 fps with the Speer 225 grain bullet and 16.0 grains of Blue Dot powder, 1183 fps with the 260 grain bullet and 20.5 grains of W-296 powder, and 1193 with the 300 grain bullet and W-296 powder. The most common reloading recipes recommend the use of copper-jacketed bullets with IMR 4227. But what about other modern revolvers chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge? Ignore any load you read about on the Internet (or anyplace else) that is in excess of SAAMI guidelines. This is not hypothetical, as I have actually had it happen. I also have a shooting buddy who regularly shoots very high pressure loads in his Ruger Blackhawk Bisley Model, and we have discussed the wisdom of so doing on occasion. I was chronographing .357 loads with a new lot (but familiar brand) of powder that gave an average instrumental velocity of 1365 fps from what were supposed to be 1000 fps loads. This is based on buying all of the components rather than using your own brass in which case it would be about .21 cents per rnd cheaper. Also, the handloader has many component options to produce high quality ammunition at a cost much lower than purchasing factory new ammunition. Both of these pistols are of stronger construction than any of the other makes chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge.". If I remember correctly, it was an Italian-made Peacemaker replica, which did sour me on replicas, probably unfairly. Use the same brand of primer, brass, bullet, and powder; do everything just as they did. 7 S 0 P O N S O A R P A 7 E E D-1-1 U J-1 0 F J-1-1. For standard SAA type loads, it works very well. I had a 71/2 in Ruger that worked well. Rubber, tire pumps, tire gauges, inner tubes (which perform a sealing function much like cartridge cases), valve stems, rims, air temperature, bicycle weight, rider weight, gross vehicle weight, riding style, road surfaces, and so forth all vary. $40.33 Read more; GREAT LAKES AMMO .45 LONG COLT 250GR. (Not in my gun or with my loads, though!) In this visit, I revisit the topic of how to load .45 Colt black-powder cartridges for authentic wild-west cowboy shooting. Reloading The 45 Colt is a great choice for reloading. Glad you guys helped out. The point is, be satisfied with the high pressure loads listed in the Hornady, Sierra, and Speer manuals. It was in a friend's gun with supposedly normal pressure handloads using 255 grain cast lead bullets. Do not substitute components, or try to load higher than the data presented.". Killed Deer with it and would shoot some quit long ranges. First is a 265 grain Bonded-Core Hollow Point bullet at a muzzle velocity (MV) of 1350 fps and muzzle enerby (ME) of 1073 ft. lbs. My approximately 10 years of experience reloading the .45 Colt and 35 years of experience reloading the .357 and .44 Magnum cartridges (in both Colt and Ruger revolvers) leaves me with the definite impression that .45 Colt brass is indeed weaker than magnum brass. But the maximum load for the 300 grain bullet (23.0 grains) used 2.5 grains more powder than the maximum load they used behind the 260 grain bullet. However, Dick Casull started with the 45 Colt single action and the “weak” 45 Colt case to come up with his cartridge, which eventually became the 454 Casull. If I wanted a .45 Magnum I would buy a .454 Casull revolver. Some of these high pressure .45 Colt loads are way beyond the pressure of proof loads, and while a good gun can survive a cylinder load of proof loads, it was not built to withstand a continuous diet of such loads. The third load uses a 335 grain Hard Cast lead bullet at a MV of 1050 fps and ME of 820.3 ft. lbs. That seemingly large safety margin is there for a reason. All guns are different, and what is "safe" in one gun may be unsafe in another. But I don't ride my 90 psi tires at 141 psi (57% above rated pressure) just because they are probably good to 180 psi. I explain how to re-prime and prepare rimfire cases to be reloaded. IMR 4227 is recommended for use in defensive and hunting hand-load recipes for the .45 Colt. 454PB. At first I thought the gun had blown up. WFN GAS CHECK 50-PACK $ 59.00 $ 53.00 Read more Atomic 00444 Pistol 45 Colt (LC) 250 gr Bonded Match Hollow Point 50 Bx/ 10 Cs The Speer technicians used a Ruger Blackhawk revolver with a 7.5" barrel for velocity testing. These loads take the 250 grain Hornady JHP bullet to maximum muzzle velocities of 1300-1350 fps, depending on the kind of powder used. Cor-Bon offers three high pressure loads in .45 Colt Caliber. The "New Model" Vaquero, introduced at the end of 2004 primarily for cowboy action shooters (who use only low pressure loads), is built on a smaller frame--much like a Colt SAA--and is not recommended for high pressure loads. These loads are safe in all modern .45 Long Colt revolvers in good operating condition. The reloading manuals that list these restricted loads are pretty coy about the actual pressures involved in such loads. A little simple arithmetic shows that a 25,000 cup load is slightly more than 57% above the 15,900 cup SAAMI maximum pressure for the .45 Colt cartridge. I will refer to all loads within the SAAMI limit as "standard pressure" loads. These happened to be hand measured test loads, and the unexpected velocity was consistent, not caused by an inadvertent double charge or something like that. Insert new primers into your.45 Colt cartridges. This is the exact reverse of what would normally be expected. The propellant generates higher chamber pressures and heat that may produce extra fouling when used in target loads based on lead or lead-alloy bullets. Good shooting! In rifle reloading and with some handgun magnum calibers and applications, you measure cases. Elmer Keith’s custom Colt single action was used to develop his heavy 44 Special loads in the late 1920s, and for a long time the 45 Colt cartridge was accused of being weak. (The Hornady 250 grain bullet has a reputation as a relatively soft bullet.) The original model Ruger Vaquero is a fixed sight variation of the Blackhawk and falls under the "Blackhawk" classification, as is the Ruger Bisley version of the Blackhawk. "The data on the following pages were developed for use in the Ruger Blackhawk and the Thompson/Center Contender pistol in .45 Colt caliber. Guns in .45 Colt that are built on heavy duty frames, such as the Ruger, Freedom Arms, Colt Anaconda, and Thompson-Center Contender will handle this load with authority. in performance (with very hot over-pressure loads), the .44 can do the same thing at standard pressure with standard factory loads--which has got to be an advantage in anyone's book. The following is a direct quote from the Sierra Reloading Manual. and that was a commercial round: winchester's 250 … EMBED. No_Favorite. can be loaded to "X" amount of pressure with an adequate safety margin, so can the .45 Colt. The Speer Reloading Manual No. Perhaps it can be done, but to me it seems analogous to driving a sports car at 150 miles per hour on bald tires. The strength of .45 Long Colt cases. There is no question that a .44 Magnum can handle high pressure loads, as that is what it was designed for. The recoil from that shot felt like a high pressure load. All rights reserved. Common sense needs to prevail! reloading the 45 Colt (aka Long Colt) with Trail Boss powder I've owned and shot a Ruger Vaquero in 45 Colt for about 6 years.