Smokeless .45 Colt loads

[Slick13]

Have loaded a little bit of lead/bp substitute for my USFA Rodeo. Recently bought some Hornady 250 grain XTP bullets to try out. Loaded up one round last night with 8 grains of Unique. Boy it doesn't take up much room, and I'm not sure how well I like that. I see recipes with heavier charges of slower burning powders, like 2400, that I believe will fill the case up better. Any recommendations on what powder to go with, or should I stay with Unique/Universal?

Thanks,

~Michael

[Rocket6R]

That should be just fine to use (your current load). I use Unique with a 255 cast bullet. Detonation can occur with slowing moving powders like 2400 or H110 using small charges. Unfortunately, there is so much case volume in the .45 Colt it makes extreme spreads open up with small charges of fast moving powder like Unique.

Thanks, Rocket6R

[J Miller]

Slick13,

That load is fine. Pay attention as you charge your cases and you'll have no trouble at all with it. There is no danger of any kind from this alleged detonation theory. Won't happen with any normal pistol powder loaded to normal loads. The worst you might run into is some position sensitivity. And unless you are a target shooter you'll never notice it.

Unique, is probably one of the best for your purpose. Although I'm sure there are many others.

2400 will not burn clean or produce a good load when loaded down to the pressures your USFA is limited to. It requires pressure to burn good.

Joe

[Griff]

Accurate Powder's AA5744 is a bulky powder and can give good performance in the .45Colt. Email them and they'll send you some recommended loads.

A LOT of SASS folks swear by IMR Trail Boss. I feel it's on the expensive side and tend to stick with my RedDot.

[longhair1957]

Also Titegroup works well without detonation problems, Trail Boss is another good choice.

[JReed]

Slick dont be to concerned about filling the case with smokeless. I like 8.5-9grns Unique for my standard loads and they shoot just fine. I use 2400 for the heavy hitting loads in my ruggers but you dont really need to load that hot. Your load of Unique should do the job just fine.

[mac45]

I've had good luck with IMR 4227. It fills up the case pretty well.
Haven't tried Trail Boss yet

[Don McDowell]

If there's a better allround 45 colt load than 8 or 9 grs of unique with a 250-255 gr bullet I sure haven't foud it in nearly 40 years of messing with the thing.
J Millers load of 231 is pretty close tho.
Trailboss is alright for what it was intended for but it hasn't given anywhere near the accuracy in my guns that unique does.

[Old Ironsights]

Also Titegroup works well without detonation problems, Trail Boss is another good choice.

I like Titegroup.

I use 1gr to 1.5gr loads in my (.357) Subsonics.

Goes a looooooooooooong way that way.

[rimrock]

I've used Unique loads of 7.5-10.5 grains in my Ruger Vaquero. I've also tried #7, and I'm currently using #5. It's really all about satisfying yourself with your gun. Just experiment with powders until you're happy with the results while using reliable reloading data suitable for your gun.

[AmBraCol]

Have loaded a little bit of lead/bp substitute for my USFA Rodeo. Recently bought some Hornady 250 grain XTP bullets to try out. Loaded up one round last night with 8 grains of Unique. Boy it doesn't take up much room, and I'm not sure how well I like that. I see recipes with heavier charges of slower burning powders, like 2400, that I believe will fill the case up better. Any recommendations on what powder to go with, or should I stay with Unique/Universal?

For your gun you want to stay with lower pressure. Unique's a great powder in the 45 Colt. If you want more bulk, try Trail Boss. One thing you can do is make a powder check dowel. Throw your powder charges and then drop a dowel in that's been marked where it should be level at the mouth of the case when dropped on top of that load of powder. You can be positive there's no double charge that way. I've never worried about it, just keep a steady rhythm and work your way up the loading block in a set sequence, keep distractions out (no TV, Radio, Conversation, etc) and just work steady until you've got 'em all measured out - then check with your dowel rod.

Trail Boss powder bulks up pretty good in the old 45 Colt and is a low pressure powder. I was given a small bottle of it last year but didn't get to play with it much. In MY gun it produced much lower velocities and recoil than Unique does with the load I tried. Didn't have time or powder to load up any with a stiffer charge.

For your gun it's gonna be hard to come up with a better powder than Unique is my guess. There's been untold millions of rounds of 45 Colt loaded with Unique send down range over the decades. It's a good powder when proper care is taken.

[JerryB]

I started loading for my Colt .45 in 1960,the folks at the gunshop told me to use Unique. In 1963 I bought a Speer loading manual and it says that "Unique is the only powder that we recomend".I have never used another powder to load the .45Long Colt.

[Eric M.]

I picked up a Uberti Cattleman last Aug. and tried a few different powder with 200gr. Cast Bullets.
They all were fine, but I liked 5.5gr of Clays very well and Trail Boss is what I settled on.
It fills the case much better for more consistant firings, and like AmBraCol says, the pressures are less, but shooting at 25yds, I get a pretty good group for a cowboy gun.
With the 200gr Cast Bullets, I use 5.5gr of Trail Boss, which is at the low end of charging, but I really like my results down range, and the pistol is a joy to shoot.

Good Luck,

Eric

[marlinman93]

I love Unique in my .45 Colt, plus a lot of other calibers! It doesn't seem to be the least bit position sensitive, and gives very consistent velocites, even if it doesn't fill much of the case!
The only thing I ever worry about is going too light, and not gettting a good seal on the case mouth. Your load of Unique should seal the case just fine!