What's your favorite .45 Colt load?

[Ysabel Kid]

Okay, "loaded" question (pun intended). And I know we've covered this before in various fashions. I'm going to narrow the range (another pun, intended - I must be getting my Blaine on!) too. What is your favorite .45 Colt load, in smokeless powder, for a 250-255 grain cast lead bullet, that roughly duplicates the original 750-850 fps that the first loads for this round produced when loaded with black powder? Here are the "favorites":

Most accurate?
Most economical?
Best overall?

Yes, I know results always vary! And yes, Griff, I will be loading up plenty of rounds using black powder too!

Let the fun begin!

[missionary5155]

Good morning
With a properly sized lead bullet 8 grains Unique. So far this load is accurate in all my caliber 45 Colts but must be the correct diameter. Not all chambers are the same.
Works very nicely in a lever gun too.
With BP I will take a case of 3F anyday.

Mike in Peru

[arjunky]

7.5 grains WW231.
Byron

[Malamute]

I don't believe the original 40 gr black powder loads were quite that low of velocity (750 fps) unless they were the shorter Schofield loads (less powder and perhaps lighter bullet also?). I think they were in the 850-900 fps range for the original military loads and the normal commercial loads.

The older manuals showed 8.5 grs Unique as a factory equivalent load, so that's what I loaded as a low end load. When I had a chance to chrono them later, they run 925 fps in my 4 5/8" Vaquero. I also go 10 grs Unique as a field load, which is still very pleasant to shoot, and much heavier loads for bear country.

I've used various bullets, but prefer the original Lyman/Keith bullet (454424?) which weighs in around 255-260 gr. Some guns like certain loads, but most have shot pretty well with most loads I've used. The "cowboy" bullets of recent vintage, the rnfp style made common recently seem to shoot ok, though I only buy them for plinking use. RN bullets are not very impressive on game of any size, unless not wanting to tear up grouse or similar small game.

This was a pretty stock Blackhawk with the Lyman bullet and a load of Herco (was a free pound of powder) at about 1000 fps. I was trying to duplicate the 10 gr Unique load with the Herco, but I don't recall the exact load.

[vancelw]

I use 17.0 gr of 5744 and a Lyman 255 gr bullet.
My Ruger Vaquero shot 5 or 6 inch groups at 25 meters.
My Colt Arizona Territory Commemorative shoots 2 inch groups at 25 meters.
The Ruger was sold immediately after the above became evident.

[Griff]

None of my favorites are in that 250-255 gr loadings. I typically use bullet from 160-225 grains. One of my favorite powders in the .45 Colt is Red Dot. With loads between 6.5 & 7.5 grains using those 160-225 gr. pills I've covered everything from cowboy action to self def.

And with 2F, 3F or "Cartridge" grades of Goex, in loads from 25-35 grains with those same bullet weights, I can duplicate those same smokeless loads!

Between 8 guns in 45 Colt, I ain't got any complaints! Two of the rifles will easily handle those "Ruger" level loads. The 20" Rossi "Short Rifle" with its stout octagon barrel absorbs recoil like you were shootin' cowboy loads. And the Browning 1885, although lighter with its 24" ½-octagon/round barrel is just as easy on the shoulder. I guess I should put my various loads on paper... but since they all seem to ding steel with uncanny regularity from 3-100 yards, even standing offhand, I've been loathe to disappoint myself by shooting off the bench at paper!

I size or buy all my 45 bullets at .452 with no ill effects. My usual alloy is 6 parts WW to 1 part linotype; smokeless bullets are lubed with Lyman's black alox and BP bound bullets get SPG lube. The store-boughts are all :hard-cast and register ~18Bhn on my LBT scale, and ar lubed w/paraffin based blue lube. Besides the SPG lube all the BP loads have a ½" "wad" punched from old waxed paper milk cartons. The wife has standing orders to only buy her milk & "½ & ½" in these old-school cartons!

Maybe, between when I get home Tues. and Fri. when I leave, I'll shoot a coupla paper targets... maybe...

[shooter]

I guess my favorite load for .45 Colt is 9.5 gr Unique. I don't really know that it's my "favorite" per se, but it is the load I use most often. Most often, as in 90% of the time. This is mainly for economical reasons, though. I also like it because it has enough punch to get done most of what needs done but is still very pleasant to shoot. I really like hotter loads and enjoy shooting them, maybe even a little more than the Unique load, but it costs quite a bit more to drop 15-20 grains of another type of powder in a case than it does to use Unique.

[J Miller]

7.1grs of Win 231 under a 250-255gr CFN bullet ( Remington or Lyman 454190 cast soft) is a perfect factory duplicate load. It is my favorite and the one I shoot the most.

9.0grs Unique under the same wt bullet pretty much duplicates 40grs BP.

Joe

[JReed]

I use 6gr of titegroup.

[ollogger]

9gr unique most of the time in revolvers, like blue dot but seems dried up for now
I shoot a lee 255 gr. right out of the mold @ 454 dia. if I size to 452 it leads bad?



ollogger

[JerryB]

I started loading for my Colt in 1960, the men that ran the shop where I traded told me to start out with Unique around 8 grains with a 255 grain cast bullet. I have loaded 9 and 10 grains of unique but mostly I still load 8 grains, it serves me well for my old 5 1/2 inch SAA. I have went through some Unique in that time.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I have shot all of the loads mentioned above and find they all are very good loads.
I shoot CAS and that is my main use for the.45 Colt ( the most rounds fired) and for that I shoot RCBS 230 CA cast bullets over 6 gr. Trail Boss I use Red Dot,700 X and 800X more than I do Unique due to the quantities I had on hand when I stopped trap shooting.

[.45colt]

I long ago adopted Keith's load for the .45. shoots very well in the Ruger see no reason to change.

[Buck Elliott]

My "favorite" load for most serious purposes consists of enough H-4198 to propel a 250-grain hardcast bullet at ~ 1300 fps from a 7 1/2" revolver, and about 350 fps faster from a short rifle..

My Really Serious revolver load throws 325 grain cast slugs at about 1150 fps, fueled with H-110... This load will not cycle thru my Uberti '73...

[oneyeopn]

through my 24" Rossi for deer/hog hunting I use a 250gr XTP with Lil Gun, because of the barrel length/powder I get more velocity than you asked about but I do have a load using a hard cast 250gr bullet with 8.4gr Unique that my rifle loves for banging gongs.

p.s. a 45Colt pistol is really on my want list but not in the budget for a couple of years. Please keep in mind because they originally did not design the cartridge for rifles trying to imitate pistol velocities with a longer barrel is tough to do.

[rogn]

I use the Lee 255gr SWC unsized and tumble lubed with about 11 gr of AL 7. Don't know the velocity, but it shoots well in the Redhawk and Smith. The puma shoots it OK but leads too much for my taste.