45 Colt load question

[Malamute]

I have some loads I made up a while back, I was going to use them as rifle loads in a Miroku 92. It's a 225 gr Speer hollow point over 22 grs 2400 powder in Winchester cases. Does anyone know what the approximate velocity is out of a 20" or 24" barrel?

[AJMD429]

Since nobody piped in yet, I'll offer that [edit] in a 44 Mag a Speer 240 grain with 21 grains of 2400 gets me around 1875 fps from a 20" Marlin.

[Malamute]

In 45 Colt? I didnt know speer made a 240 gr.

I was guessing something in that range or a bit less, but dont really have much to go on. I hope to chrono them at some point, but it will be using someone elses chrono. My gun is 24", but I'm wanting to trim it back to 20".

Should kill skunks in any event. The one I shot with the 30-30 last nite was pretty well turned inside out. Not much regret, my dog got seriously skunked a month or so ago.

[JerryB]

Glad you brought this up. About a year ago a friend gave me a box of blems that he got from Midway when he ordered a bunch of bullets, he thought I could use them. They are 240 grain .452 and look like the XTP HP. I finally found a load for Ruger and Contender in .45 colt for that bullet. I loaded it over 9.5 grains of Unique to use in my Hartford 92 .45, but I have not got a chance to shoot them yet. What do you reckon they will run in fps?
I have a friend that has a chronograph but he is working off right now.

[BigSky56]

22 gr of 2400 ought to push a 225 fast probably 2000+ in a 20" bbl I run 255's with 22 of 2400 and it barks havent put them thru the crony for my 24" 92 yet. danny

[Malamute]

Dang, I hadn't figured that fast, I was thinking 1700-1800 fps range.

One local guy used that bullet run fast with H-110 in a pistol for his game shooting and thought it was a good game bullet. I haven't shot any game with it. Buck Elliot knows who I mean, Bob Edgar.

I've had a late 92 in slow motion as a prioject, I finally got it functional after switching to Browning 92 hammer, trigger and related parts. I'm starting to fool with loads a little, and see what will feed and shoot well. It might take some tuning to feed the heavier stuff. It may get a tang sight. I'm not a huge tang sight fan, but it covers the tang safety slot nicely, and I dont want to put a receiver sight on it (I know, rare for me).

[BigSky56]

Nice looking 92, Ive giving serious thought to whacking 4 " off my 24" bbl and trimming the mag tube back to a half mag I detest the front sight on the barrel band and the gun is to long for dark timber work. danny

[Malamute]

Thanks, I'm pretty happy to have it. A friend needed money right away to buy a garage door and made me a good deal. How could I not help a friend?

I've trimmed several rifles, and dont regret any of them. I cut an 86 Browing rifle from 26" to 22", cut the 86 carbine from 22" to 20" and love it, cut a 20" 94 to 16 1/2" (nice to carry and get in and out of vehicles with but a bit loud to shoot), and plan to cut the 92 Browning to about 17". Chopping the 92 rifle to 20" would be a good carry length, and still keep some rifle character. Plan to trim the 71 to 22" at some point also.

Danny you mentioned how heavy the 71 is to carry. I did a 5 1/2 hr hike at 9500 ft recently with mine, it was getting a bit heavy. The 92 with some decent heavy loads should do OK for a carry gun in griz country.

[Buck Elliott]

Bob Edgar did wonderful work with the 225-grain JSP over a seriously-stout charge of H-110, but over the long haul, that load had a tendency to stretch frames a bit.. Fortunately, the bullet did not offer sufficient resistence to allow pressures to spike as they may have, with either heavier bullets or larger, throat filling bullet diameter.. Night firing with that load revealed huge fireballs, from incomplete consumption..

Bob and I traded information and adventures for years, and shot together often in the mountains and deserts around Cody.. His marksmanship was uncanny, giving lie to the supposed inacurracy of the old .45...

After some serious experimenting of my own, I finally worked up to a combination of H-4198 under the LaserCast 250-grain slug, sized .454" diameter, for most of my .45 Colt work.. The result gives me ~1300 fps from a 7 1/2" revolver, and ~1600+ fps from a 24" Uberti 73, which is what the load was tailored for...

[Malamute]

Thanks for joining in, I figured you'd be along at some point, and thanks for the comments about Bob. I didnt know him as well as you did, and only shot with him a few times. He was an amazing shot with a Colt. He's sorely missed.

[BigSky56]

For a hike a 20" 94 or 92 would be handy & work fine a 255 or 300 moving at 1800 would knock the stuffing out of a bear moose or whatever most of my shooting is done up close anyway and I do prefer peep sights. when I was chasing elk in the absarokees with all the bears crawling around the old 88 burn area we had a encounter that I wont elaborate on. danny

[Malamute]

I'm just hoping the tight crescent doesnt bother my bum shoulder with heavy loads. Wish I had a nice matching shotgun butt that fit this 92. Have some partial torn stuff in the right shoulder from a fall last winter.

[AJMD429]

In 45 Colt? I didnt know speer made a 240 gr.

Oops, I meant to specify 44 Mag - that's why I specified that "since nobody else has piped up" - I figured the similar sized case would be sort of in the ballpark +/- 200 fps...

[Terry Murbach]

WHERE DID THE ORIGINAL LOADING DATA COME FROM ? I DO NOT RE-CALL SEEING ANY MODERN 45COLT DATA ANYWHERE NEAR THAT HIGH SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF KEITHS 1930's LOADING DATA BOOK FOR PISTOL CARTRIDGES.
DID YOU WORK UP TO THAT FROM RIGHT AROUND EIGHTEEN GRAINS OR SO?
IN MY OPINION YOU HAVE YOUR FANNY HANGING RIGHT OVER THE CLIFF WITH THAT DATA AND YOU MIGHT GET A NASTY SURPRISE ONE OF THESE DAYS. I WOULD HATE TO HEAR OF IT.

[Old Savage]

That's about what I was wondering.

[Old Savage]

Here is an interesting article.

http://leverguns.com/articles/paco/45coltlevergun.htm

[Terry Murbach]

Here is an interesting article.

http://leverguns.com/articles/paco/45coltlevergun.htm

YEP !!! VERY INTERESTING !! FOR PACO THAT IS FINE, BECAUSE HE PROBABLY WORKED UP TO THAT OVER A YEAR OF TESTING AT 1/10 GRAIN AT A TIME. HE KNOWS HIS PUNKINS !!!! AND HIS DATA IS FOR THAT RIFLE/CARBINE HE IS TESTING AND NO OTHER. ARE YOU AS CAREFUL AND KNOWLEDGABLE ?? PACO AND I HAVE TALKED AT LENGTH ABOUT THIS; EVERY MAN MUST KNOW HIS LIMITATIONS. I TEND TO BE IMPETUOUS AND WANT TO KNOW NOW, A BAD---BAD!!!---WAY TO DO IT. DO AS I TELL YOU NOT AS I WANT TO DO.....I DID CHANGE ONCE I SAW THE RESULTS IN THE BALLISTICS LAB...IT IS NOT PRETTY...AND THE STEEL RIPS APART AS SHARP AS BROKEN GLASS, WHICH IS SORTA WHAT HAPPENS, AND IT SLICES DEEP AND CLEAN PAINLESSLY....UNTIL YOU LOOK AND REALIZE WHAT JUST HAPPENED TOO LATE....I YI YI YI YI..

[Malamute]

WHERE DID THE ORIGINAL LOADING DATA COME FROM ?...

I think I got my original info from the Lyman manual No 46. It shows 22 grs 2400 with a 250 gr jacketed bullet in the Ruger/Contender 45 Colt section. The 225 should produce lower pressure yet, being lighter and having less bearing surface. It doesnt show any extreme pressure signs shot in Ruger 45's or the 92. And yes, I worked up to it from several grains under.

I will likely use H-110 for heavier loads after this batch is shot up. Mr Linebaugh has some good data for loads with H-110.

[Don McDowell]

I haven't chrono'ld that exact load from a rifle, but from the numbers I got from my Ruger I'ld guess that velocity to be right around 1600 fps.
What I found chronographing loads from both the 7.5 inch Ruger and the Winchester trapper, you could expect about 220-250 fps more from the rifle with 2400 loads, with H110 the loads jumped closer to 300 fps difference.