I have a question for 45 Colt shooters

[Buffalo Douglas]

I got a steal on some 45 LC bullets. 2000 180gr lead RNFP. The manuals I have (hornady, lyman cast, and the one from accurate powders) have loads for 160gr, and 200gr and up but nothing for the 180's. I have had excellent luck with light No.5 loads for my 357's, as well as for my standard 9mm loads, and would like to use it for the 45LC as well. Accurate has limited information posted in their manual for the 45 colt.

 

If any of you have load data for 180gr LC's I would appreciate a PM. The pistol powders I have available to me are Accurate No.5 & 7, Unique, and H110. I would prefer to use No. 5 as I have around 8#'s of that. These will be shot from an 1873 clone, so standard pressure loads only, no TC/Ruger loads.

 

If you've got any other powders that have worked well for you, let me know. I'm not interested in trailboss data. I don't have any and no one stock's it locally. I don't want to buy powder online if I can help it.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Sparky Nelson]

I use Red Dot with 200 gr RNFP bullets. A little sooty but shoots well in both revolvers and my '92 clone. The recipe came from the Lee reloading manual. I don't have it nearby but I'll check it when I get home and see if they have a load for your bullets.

[Ya Big Tree]

Try MD Smiths reloading pages

 

http://www.reloadammo.com/45cload.htm

[Buffalo Douglas]

Try MD Smiths reloading pages

 

http://www.reloadammo.com/45cload.htm

That had a few options, thanks for that one. Hopefully someone has some information with No.5. I don't really want to buy another powder for one batch of bullets. But at least that site gives me an idea of what to buy if I do have to buy a pound.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

FIrst off, use mid-range load data (or less) in your cowboy loads.

 

This gets us out of the dangerous part of the data chart (max loads).

 

Take the middle-of-the-range 200 grain load powder weight, add to the middle-of-the-range 160 grain powder weight, and divide by 2. There's a good powder weight for your 180 grain slug, at about middle of the range load level.

 

Accurate 5 will be pretty slow for light 45 Colt cowboy loads, regardless of what the bullet weight is.

 

Much better powders for .45 Colt and a 180 grain bullet would be:

 

Winchester WST

Ramshot Competition

IMR 700-X

Clays (or Clay Dot)

American Select

Accurate 2

Red Dot or Promo

 

Good luck, GJ

[Buffalo Douglas]

FIrst off, use mid-range load data (or less) in your cowboy loads.

 

This gets us out of the dangerous part of the data chart (max loads).

 

For target loads in any caliber I stick to mid to mid-low range. Only exception is hot .357's and +p 9mm so far.

 

Take the middle-of-the-range 200 grain load powder weight, add to the middle-of-the-range 160 grain powder weight, and divide by 2. There's a good powder weight for your 180 grain slug, at about middle of the range load level.

 

I was thinking I could do that but wasn't sure. I've been loading shotgun for a good 15 years but only started with metallic in the last 2. Haven't deviated from the manuals before now.

 

Accurate 5 will be pretty slow for light 45 Colt cowboy loads, regardless of what the bullet weight is.

 

Much better powders for .45 Colt and a 180 grain bullet would be:

 

Winchester WST

Ramshot Competition

IMR 700-X

Clays (or Clay Dot)

American Select

Accurate 2

Red Dot or Promo

 

I've been wanting to pick up a pound of some of these to try out. Selection is very limited in town here. I'll have to wait until the next time I'm at a Scheel's. They usually have a little bit bigger powder selection than what I find at the SWH here. Until then, I'm limited to what I have on hand. Hence wanting advice on No.5.

 

I shoot BP at matches, this is just for practice at the range since smokeless is cheaper to reload at higher volumes.

 

Good luck, GJ

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Shotshell data - the manuals themselves will state: Load to the recipe - no substitution.

 

Shotguns are made to run pressures close to their failure limits. Shotgun components are not very standard and affect pressures. Primers vary (Fed 209A are hot). Wads vary, thus pressures in fired rounds vary when you start jumping "off books"

 

Cartridges - especially when loading low pressure lead bullet rounds, are not running at the pressure limits of most of our guns. If you can get bracketed between a light weight and a heavy weight bullet that a published load data source has tested as being safe, it's almost a certainty that a middle-weight bullet with the powder amount interpolated between the two "comparable" loads is going to be safe.

 

But, there is no substitute for common sense and the ability to read pressure indications, sticky cases, firing pin extruding the primer, etc. If you don't know, it's wise to ask, even with cowboy loads.

 

Good luck and good loading, GJ

[Shooting Bull]

I do believe Trail Boss was invented specifically for .45 Colt and the low velocities we run. It's much fluffier which gives a better load density in that big case and also helps prevent double charges. I had great success with it when I shot .45s Their website has data for your 180 grain pills.

 

http://www.imrpowder.com/data/handgun/trailboss.php

[Irish Pat]

Flip through your book and find loading data for 180 grain bullets 44 hulls the same should work n 45s just keep them light

[Lead Monger]

I found when I tried 180s in the colt my revolvers shoot very low. Had to use a respectable charge to get the bullets on the sights. I have less felt recoil with a 200g bullet that shoots to point of aim.

Lyman manual mid range load of Red Dot for a 200g bullet would be a good place to start your work up.

[Captain Clark]

700x works very well with 180 gr bullets, The Hodgdon load data suggested starting load is clean, accurate and consistent in my rifles!

[Sparky Nelson]

Looking at my Lee manual, I find loads for your 180 grain RNFP bullets using these powders:

 

VihtaVuori N350, N340, N330, and N320

Universal

IMR 800X, 700X, PB

HP38

Win 231

SR4756, SR7625

Titegroup

Clays

Trail Boss

 

They show a load using Accurate #5 for a 185 grain jacketed bullet, but that probably doesn't do you much good.

[Buffalo Douglas]

I found when I tried 180s in the colt my revolvers shoot very low. Had to use a respectable charge to get the bullets on the sights. I have less felt recoil with a 200g bullet that shoots to point of aim.

Lyman manual mid range load of Red Dot for a 200g bullet would be a good place to start your work up.

I have no idea how these will shoot. I picked them up cheap (about .08 ea). The load I've tried and liked was a 200gr. For the price I couldn't say no to these.

 

I haven't tried red dot in anything other than my 12 ga trap load.

[Buffalo Douglas]

Looking at my Lee manual, I find loads for your 180 grain RNFP bullets using these powders:

VihtaVuori N350, N340, N330, and N320

Universal

IMR 800X, 700X, PB

HP38

Win 231

SR4756, SR7625

Titegroup

Clays

Trail Boss

 

They show a load using Accurate #5 for a 185 grain jacketed bullet, but that probably doesn't do you much good.

I've been wanting to add a lee manual to my arsenal as well. Seeing as how they have a few loads I don't I might have to add it sooner rather than later. 700x is one I've wanted to try for a few other loads. I might have to pick some up.

[Buffalo Douglas]

700x works very well with 180 gr bullets, The Hodgdon load data suggested starting load is clean, accurate and consistent in my rifles!

Thanks, I might pick some of this up as I know they are stocked locally. First I'll try the averaged load for No.5.

 

Thanks everyone for all the help. I appreciate it

[Sparky Nelson]

Thanks, I might pick some of this up as I know they are stocked locally. First I'll try the averaged load for No.5.

 

Thanks everyone for all the help. I appreciate it

 

Good luck. Let us know how it works out!

[Blackey Cole]

For 45 colt no better powder for sass loads than trailboss.