45 Colt Ruger loads?

[wvfarrier]

I read Paco's article on "full house" 45 colt loadings for rifles. Are those comparable to the Ruger/TC loads or more powerful? I noticed most of the Ruger/TC loads are in the 28,000# pressure range.

[3leggedturtle]

Paco's loads are above Ruger loads. I shot a few in a Puma 16" 45 Colt that weighed 5lbs. Steel butt plate was not enjoyable. Put a recoil pad on and were ok to shoot about 30 or so rounds off the bench. If you have the black plastic checkered grip they will feel a cheese grater after a few.

[wvfarrier]

Ok, thats kinda what I figured.

[Scott Tschirhart]

When Paco wrote about those loads, I think he was also shooting a Freedom Arms .454 Casull which would of course take those loads in stride.

[JimT]

When Paco wrote about those loads, I think he was also shooting a Freedom Arms .454 Casull which would of course take those loads in stride.

Scott .. he also had a 7 1/2" Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt that pre-dated his 454. He used it as well as his FA when we were shooting and hunting together in the 1980's. I was content with 300 gr. bullets at a bit over 1100 fps in my Blackhawk .45 Colt but we both pushed the 454 close to its limits.

[Old Savage]

Tutt gave me some 360 gr loads that do about 1100 from a pistol and 1350 from my Rossi 20” 92.

[JimT]

Tutt gave me some 360 gr loads that do about 1100 from a pistol and 1350 from my Rossi 20” 92.

Those would be Thumpers!

[Old Savage]

Certainly not something you would shoot a lot of but manageable for some needed purpose would be my outlook. Accuracy was good in the rifle.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Scott .. he also had a 7 1/2" Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt that pre-dated his 454. He used it as well as his FA when we were shooting and hunting together in the 1980's. I was content with 300 gr. bullets at a bit over 1100 fps in my Blackhawk .45 Colt but we both pushed the 454 close to its limits.

Yes, I remember reading about your experiments. My hands hurt to even think about it!

[wvfarrier]

That sounds painful

[piller]

I have loaded some 300 grain bullets for my Blackhawk up to 1050 fps. They are accurate. Not fun to practice with, but accurate as I can possibly shoot. For practice, I switch cylinders and use .45 ACP that comes out around 850 fps with 230 grain hardball loads. I have been having some issues in my right hand, so I have switched to shooting handguns Left handed. Accuracy is the same or a little better. Issues are related to TIAs instead of damage from shooting.
I have some 325 grain flat nose lead .452 bullets. I run them about 850 to 900 fps. Great accuracy. Kick is a good firm push. I do not want to find out what the receiving end feels like.

[BigSky56]

In my ruger I run a 255 rnfp pushed by 19.5grs of AA 5744 I get 1000 fps + and it generates 14k psi, the data is from the AA manual. If you need more bang you can load up to 28grs for 1400 fps and 30k psi. danny

[CowboyTutt]

Tutt gave me some 360 gr loads that do about 1100 from a pistol and 1350 from my Rossi 20” 92.

Those would be Thumpers!

Yes Jim, in a 5 1/2 inch Ruger, they kicked pretty darn hard. Old Savage could shoot it better than me back then. Funny thing, it was only a starting load out of the Hodgdon manual and as of last year (2021), its still listed. Hoping to get my game back with it some day soon, just need to adjust some meds I hope. Have better glasses now already.
Regards,
-Tutt

Actually, they were more like 1150 fps. Still have the data I believe.

[wvfarrier]

I did a bunch of testing this week. I settled on 19 grains of Lil Gun (Ruger, T/C) load, seated at 1.575". The max load is 21 grains seated at 1.65" but I didnt care for the recoil on those. I can shoot these all day long out of my 24" Winchester Deluxe. The are exactly 1" at 50 yards, using the 300 grain xtp. I havent chrono'd these as its been raining ice and snowing almost all week but they are definitely a "step up" from factory loads. No pressure signs at all, not on the brass or during extraction.

[piller]

We have had some ice and snow here. Getting out to do anything other than necessary chores is not fun.