45colt hunting loads

[noway]

I've been building my 2006-07 season 45colt pistol loads and narrow down the following for my use. Here's some stats on stuff I handload and tested a few days ago. All from a 7.5 RH 45colt all looks great for hunting also.



avg temp 89deg
10ft fro muzzle


BTB 280gr WFN/GC 22.7grain H110 starline magnum primer

shot 1 1298
shot 2 1323
shot 3 1326
shot 4 1327
shot 5 1326
avg 1320
fpe = 1083


MtBaldy 360grain Keithstyle-PB 22BHN 18.0gr Lil'Gun winchester brass CCI300
shot 1 1087
shot 2 1092
shot 3 1088
shot 4 1091
shot 5 1086
avg 1088
fpe = 947

Mtbaldy 360grain Keithstyle-PB 16BHN 18.0gr Lil'Gun win brass CCI300
shot 1 1092
shot 2 1093
shot 3 1096
shot 4 1091
shot 5 1090
avg = 1092
fpe = 953

MtBaldy 310grain Keithstyle-PB 22BHN 18.0gr Lil'Gun winchester brass CCI300
shot 1 1237
shot 2 1232
shot 3 1248
shot 4 1231
shot 5 1262
avg 1242
fpe = 1061


CPB 335gr WLN/GC 20gr Lil'Gun starline brass CCI300 primer

shot1 1207
shot2 1213
shot3 1223
shot4 1211
shot5 1224
avg = 1215
fpe = 1032

250xtp JHP 11.0 grain Longshot winchester brass CCI300
shot 1 1015
shot 2 1054
shot 3 1040
shot 4 1032
shot 5 1027
avg 1033
fpe = 592

All of the above are mild loads that are easy to control and would be more than enough for a typical deer or hog. Looking forward with use the Mt.badly and CastPeromanceBullets in my attempts of flaying out some deer or hog with my ruger.

http://www.castperformance.com
http://www.mtbaldybullets.com
http://www.beartoothbullets.com

All of the lead bullets show no leading and produces between 1.5-3" groups off a rest.

[WIG19]

Lots of good chrono data - thanks! :thumbsup:

Seems lots of folks are shifting their thinking over to furry critters and ways to get 'em.

:patriot:

[Wet Dog]

Thanks for posting! It's great to compare notes. Those are some impressive 45 Colt loads.

Which one will be in your Ruger this fall when it counts?

[noway]

{Which one will be in your Ruger this fall when it counts?}

man that's a hard question to answer I like all of them ;)


Most likely I will start the season with the 335gr CPB because I haven't yet use this one.I will sooner or later carry all of the above at some point and time. I have a backup container that stays in one of my three vehicles and since I'm dedicated 45colt for pistols needs. I stashed the backup container in the vehicle to make sure I always have some lead pills available if a an animal needs killing on a hunt.

Worst thing you can do is leave the casa with no bullets ;)

[Wet Dog]

Originally posted by noway
{Which one will be in your Ruger this fall when it counts?}

man that's a hard question to answer I like all of them ;)


Most likely I will start the season with the 335gr CPB because I haven't yet use this one.

That ought to be enough for pert near anything. :thumbsup:

I'm looking forward to the field report!

My biggest problem with 45 Colt ammo is it gets shot as fast as I can load it. With you, Wig and Canyon Man posting good loads, data and results makes me realize I've just scratched the surface of the 45 colt's potential.

[noway]

{My biggest problem with 45 Colt ammo is it gets shot as fast as I can load it. With you, Wig and Canyon Man posting good loads, data and results makes me realize I've just scratched the surface of the 45 colt's potential.}

I hear you ;)

I just pulled my receipts for last year and just what I spent this year so far and man I was a :shocked:

Still have about 4K unloaded bullets and have few hundreds enroute. Man I need to stop. This is more addictive than cigarettes and more pricey at that.
;)

[SDGlock23]

I just got in some 280gr WFN from BearTooth bullets and aslo some 335gr one, can't wait to try them from my Blackhawk.

[WIG19]

Originally posted by SDGlock23
I just got in some 280gr WFN from BearTooth bullets and aslo some 335gr one, can't wait to try them from my Blackhawk. Finally got the chrono on my 280gr load this weekend. The H-S 275gr WFN that all weigh at least 280gr atop 18.5gr of 2400. Average 1047fps out of my 5.5" barrels. However, bottom had dropped out of the thermometer up here since loading, so will likely still up that load a tad. I could see 18.5gr for middle of the year, and something else a bit warmer TBD for late fall/winter.

Accuracy is nice very nice though; managed to intimidate a silhouette placed at 250, but the fellow out by the 300yd steel never felt the need to duck. :embarassed:

But it's fun; can't wait till the new front sight from David Clements gets here.

:patriot:

[noway]

{I just got in some 280gr WFN from BearTooth bullets and aslo some 335gr one, can't wait to try them from my Blackhawk.}

how long was your weight on this order? BTB has always been slow for me with 2-4 weeks backorder. My last 300 bullets shipped like in 16 days or so.


Also if you plan on hunting with these bullets can I make a suggestion of annealing the front half of the bullet. You can get a tray of water and fill the based up and with a butane or propane torch you slowly heat the bullet face up. BTB technical book also mentions this also. I had some testers test their bullets in their college science lab and they reported a avg of over 26 BHN for the 5 samples I gave them. It was quite hard from what they reported.

My experience with the hammer beat down test and actually usage shows this bullet is extremely to hard to probably way hard for most hunting in the lower 48states. Hence the bullet drives a hole straight thru what ever you shoot it at and with out any defromation. This would be great for a cape buffalo or elephant but some slight deformation would probable goes good in hunting our thinner bodies animals whch are more common on this side of the world.

I heard storys from various people that have said hings such as 4 cows place side by side and this bullet would have no problems going thru all 4 cows. Not sure if you know how wide a short horn cow can get but at their thickest part of the mid-section they can easily be 4-5ft or more wide ;)

true redneck test, I found some railroad ties in a back corner of a place that I hunt at. I had a hunch let me see if I could shoot thru them with this BTB bullet. I laid said ties up on the railroad crossing gate, check my backstop ( which was an wide open cow field ) and fired off a shot 7 yard away. The BTB bullet drove a nice hole thru what ever material that track bedding tie was made of. So I stack two side by side, missed the center with the 1st shot but the 2nd shot hit almost dead center and went thru both ties with no problem. No bullet particles where found and other than the lube peeling off and the gascheck stuck in the hole that was about.

Quite impressive if you ask me. It was also cool to see the blue lube in the hole also ;)


Second alternative would be to look at a custom caster that can adjust his alloy for a softer alloy. I found such person that offers a 325 grain bullet with gascheck and casts to 15BHN. Once these babies are loaded up they should be a great white-tail harvester if they shoot worth a damm.

This next weekend I plan on providing data on leadheads and some drycreek keith-style bullets. Stay tune.

[WIG19]

Originally posted by noway
true redneck test...:animlol:
Well done! The scientific method is alive & well! Love it. :thumbsup:

FWIW, I seem to recall that those 280gr I shoot from HS aren't quite that hard, 16 or so if I recall. If blessed enough to put some venison in the freezer I'll do a full 'post-mortem' right there in the field, as I tend to be pretty finicky about how my deer are dressed and that's the best time to do it.

BHN notwithstanding, I'd still not be bothered putting a stout Beartooth bullet through a whitetail. (Holy cow, I've had plenty of times these past many years when I'd have put a .458 solid through one if it would've got me an exit wound... even though it would've sent me to the chiro.)

But you're so right, a good chunk of lead and moderate velocity is all that's needed for deer, even if you have to range it through the animal at an angle. There's a reason the 30-30 is still a real good thing to have around. I tried some Nosler Ballistic Tips once in my 7mm-08 and went back to Hornady's plain old spire point, basically same bullet that used to be the old Western 139gr pointed soft point. With BH in hand, all I want is what any bowhunter wants around here: exit wound & blood trail, with resultant rapid loss of blood pressure and O2.

Good stuff, keep sharin'!

:patriot:

Edit: to correct BHN of my HS bullets

[SDGlock23]

Originally posted by noway how long was your weight on this order? BTB has always been slow for me with 2-4 weeks backorder. My last 300 bullets shipped like in 16 days or so.

It took around 4-6 weeks, which is okay for me. I ordered once before and it was several months...ouch!! They're great bullets, however.