Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Welcome to the Leverguns.Com Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here ... politely.

Moderators: AmBraCol, Hobie

Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.

Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
hightime
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1002
Joined: Sun May 01, 2011 9:22 am
Location: Duluth, MN

Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by hightime »

I'd like to try this, but would like advice. I shot a couple with just primers. Is there a little powder that will work? I suppose not black right, or can I just push the wax all the way down to the powder? Thanks

Owen
firefuzz
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1351
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:17 am
Location: Central Oklahoma

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by firefuzz »

The primer will be plenty for wax bullets. You may have problems with the primers backing out of the cases and binding up the gun with wax bullets unless you enlarge the touch hole. If you do this don't ever load those cases with powder again....bad things will happen.

I make the length of my wax bullets about 1.5 times the diameter of the case and just seat them to the case mouth. Melt the wax in a cookie sheet to the desired depth and just use the case mouth as a cookie cutter to make and load the bullets. Plenty good accuracy out to about 30 or so feet.

Rob
Proud to be Christian American and not ashamed of being white.

May your rifle always shoot straight, your mag never run dry, you always have one more round than you have adversaries, and your good mate always be there to watch your back.

Because I can!

Never grow a wishbone where a backbone ought to be.
w30wcf
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1358
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:23 pm
Location: Erie, PA

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by w30wcf »

Owen,
I would not push the wax bullets down into the bottom of the case since that would reduce the wax bullet dia since the case is tapered toward the bottom.

It's been awhile since I shot wax bullets in the .45 Colt. Magnum pistol primers worked pretty well. In a revolver to keep the primers from backing out and making the cylinder hard to turn, I drilled the primer pockets out to 1/8" as I recall.

I did convert some .45 Colt cases to use a shotgun primer...definitely an increase in performance.

I never tried loading any smokeless or b.p. behind the wax bullets but a very low charge of bullseye might work....

Speer makes plastic bullets for the .45.....
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/361904 ... uctFinding

Rubber bullets
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/489581 ... uctFinding

w30wcf
aka John Kort
aka Jack Christian SASS 11993 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
aka w44wcf (black powder)
NRA Life member
.22 WCF, .30 WCF, .44 WCF Cartridge Historian
User avatar
hightime
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1002
Joined: Sun May 01, 2011 9:22 am
Location: Duluth, MN

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by hightime »

That explains a lot. I did have the primers back out on the few I did try. I'll try to dedicate some brass it this and drill out the primer holes. I think I could use my Roosevelt brass, they has a nickel plating and can be spotted easy.

Thanks again, Owen
Chuck 100 yd
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 6972
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:52 pm
Location: Ridgefield WA. USA

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by Chuck 100 yd »

Yes, oversize the flash holes and use magnum primers. Have fun!! :D
User avatar
Griff
Posting leader...
Posts: 20803
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 4:56 pm
Location: OH MY GAWD they installed a STOP light!!!

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by Griff »

As noted in another thread, a good way to segregate and quickly identify modified brass is to notch the case rim. Since you're not using it a rifle, there's no worry about the extractor lining up with that notch.
Griff,
SASS/CMSA #93
NRA Patron
GUSA #93

There is a fine line between hobby & obsession!
AND... I'm over it!!
No I ain't ready, but let's do it anyway!
User avatar
AJMD429
Posting leader...
Posts: 31939
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:03 am
Location: Hoosierland
Contact:

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by AJMD429 »

hightime wrote:That explains a lot. I did have the primers back out on the few I did try. I'll try to dedicate some brass it this and drill out the primer holes. I think I could use my Roosevelt brass, they has a nickel plating and can be spotted easy.
This would be a case (no pun intended) where filing 'grooves' in the rim would be something I'd do, even though the cases are different finish, just to make doubly sure if they fall into anyone else's hands that they are obviously 'different' vs. just being nickel plated.
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws
"first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.


Want REAL change? . . . . . "Boortz/Nugent in 2012 . . . ! "
User avatar
markinalpine
Levergunner 2.0
Posts: 454
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:53 pm
Location: West Texas

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by markinalpine »

....bad things will happen.
I have used Winchester Leadsafe ­™ cartridges in .45 ACP. The flash hole is massive, as large as the flash hole in .45 Colt blank cartridges I've bought. The Speer .45 ACP cartridges I've picked up at the range are also very large, and PMC .45 ACP brass has both large and ragged flash holes.
What bad things will happen?

Mark :?:

EDIT: I went back to the Winchester website, and couldn't find what I read before. And it is WinClean, not LeadSafe. :oops:

A few years ago, this topic came up at another forum about the extra large flash holes on some of the Winchester stuff, as to whether it was safe to use for reloading, and at that time, there was a FAQ entry at the Winchester site stating that it was. I read it! Really.
Anyway, it ain't there no mo' :shock: , so I can only guess the Winchester lawyers had it erased.

I had bought some WinClean ™ stuff because it was the only thing available one time, and then, during the "Great Ammo Drought" of 2009, I bought and fired the PMC ammo. It all worked fine. I have reloaded and fired the WinClean ™ and Speer brass with no ill effect. I never reused the PMC brass because it seemed soft.

I have heard the claim that oversize flash holes are bad, but no one has ever quantified this that I know of, so if you have a source to cite, please edumacate me.
Thanks,
Mark :?:
Any way you sell it,
No matter how you spell it,
When you start to smell it,
BO stinks.
User avatar
hightime
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1002
Joined: Sun May 01, 2011 9:22 am
Location: Duluth, MN

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by hightime »

I had thought about a notch, and yes, I'll do that as well as using the nickel plated cases. All good ideas.
wm
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1379
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:03 pm

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by wm »

w30wcf wrote:Owen,
I I did convert some .45 Colt cases to use a shotgun primer...definitely an increase in performance.

w30wcf
That's a great idea! How did you do it? Drill press?
User avatar
Ysabel Kid
Moderator
Posts: 27790
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:10 pm
Location: South Carolina, USA
Contact:

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by Ysabel Kid »

Griff wrote:As noted in another thread, a good way to segregate and quickly identify modified brass is to notch the case rim. Since you're not using it a rifle, there's no worry about the extractor lining up with that notch.
+1 That is how I have marked cases meant for wax bullets. Very easy to see and feel the difference.
Image
Chuck 100 yd
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 6972
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:52 pm
Location: Ridgefield WA. USA

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by Chuck 100 yd »

markinalpine , I also load lots of .45 ACP and have loaded lots of NT brass with large flash holes using standard loads. I have not found they cause any problems at all. I have NOT however tested them from a Ransom rest to see if the grouping is effected. Uniform flash holes is very important in precision shooting but as far as pistol ammo goes, I cant tell any difference. :?
User avatar
J Miller
Member Emeritus
Posts: 14880
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:46 pm
Location: Not in IL no more ... :)

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by J Miller »

Long long ago, far far away ~or~ Many many summers ago, way back in Phoenix when I was but a child .... :roll: .... a friend and I were exploring our neighborhood. We found an open garage. It was mostly empty but the back wall was covered with a huge carpet hung from the ceiling.
This carpet was covered with hundreds of wax lumps stuck to it. We stood there wondering what in the world caused that.

Sometime later we found out the owner was practicing fast draw with wax bullets in the garage.

Looked like fun to us then, I'll bet it still would be.

Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts ;) .***
User avatar
Malamute
Member Emeritus
Posts: 3766
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:56 am
Location: Rocky Mts

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by Malamute »

I've heard it wasn't good to use enlarged flash hole cases for regular loads also, but don t know exactly what would happen. It may only be with magnum level loads that it would matter.

I knew a guy that had a large commercial reloading outfit. He said when the Win-clean cases started showing up in their brass supply he was concerned and called Winchester. They told him they were fine to use, so he did, and had no troubles with them.

The wax bullets look like a lot of fun. They would be good for shooting mice and other small critters around the place where a regular load may not be practical. It's been a bad year for mice here, they've been getting in everything, including many peoples vehicles. I've had a chance to shoot many of them, but they weren't in places I couldnt shoot.
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." -Theodore Roosevelt-

Isnt it amazing how many people post without reading the thread?
Chuck 100 yd
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 6972
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:52 pm
Location: Ridgefield WA. USA

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by Chuck 100 yd »

Malamute Once I shot a mouse in my dads house as it ran across the fireplace hearth. I was using wax bullets in a Ruger Blackwawk .357 mag. at about 15 ft. it cut that mouse right in half. My SIL saw it and almost threw up. I should have known better. :shock:
User avatar
markinalpine
Levergunner 2.0
Posts: 454
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:53 pm
Location: West Texas

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by markinalpine »

Here's an article from the NRA: How to Make and Reload Wax Bullets
http://www.americanrifleman.org/article ... =27&sub=29

It includes a wax recipe, and tips for reloading various revolver calibers. It mentions that oversize flash holes could cause overpressure problems.

Mark :)
Any way you sell it,
No matter how you spell it,
When you start to smell it,
BO stinks.
User avatar
hightime
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1002
Joined: Sun May 01, 2011 9:22 am
Location: Duluth, MN

Re: Wax bullets in a 45 Colt?

Post by hightime »

I'm learning a lot here. I think this is going to be fun. Now if I can catch up with work, so I can play.

Owen
Post Reply