45 colt hunting load for both 94AE and SAA clone

[fordwannabe]

I did not want to totally hijack Griff's thread, so I am posting this. I am looking for one load for hunting up to deer size game, that will work in both a Winchester 94AE and a Uberti SAA clone. I would like something that uses a cast bullet in the 250 WFN design. Thanks Guys.

[vancelw]

The 94AE will take a lot more than the Uberti, but I use 17.0 gr of 5744 with a 255 gr cast bullet. (published load in Accurate Arms #2)
Have killed whitetail with it in my Colt .45 and I'm sure it would work just fine in my 1892 as well as your Model 94AE

[J Miller]

9.0 grs Unique under a 255-265 gr Keith SWC.
or
18.5 grs 2400 under the same bullet.

Joe

[Chuck 100 yd]

Loads in the range that those guys said will get the job done in fine fashion without causing undue stress on your SAA clone. Have fun!!

[Griff]

I had to go back and look at my old Lyman's 45th, but Joe's 9.0 grains of Unique struck a bell... Before I started cowboy action shooting I used to use a LOT of Unique, and I thought that 9 grains was a little less than I used in my Colt... I was loading 9.3 grains of Unique... It seemed accurate enough for me... and was a full grain under the max load listed. They list 8.0 grains as the accuracy load, with 7.5 as the factory duplication load... I believe I started off at 8 grains and went up till I could definitely tell accuracy had fallen off in my Colt SAA. 4-¾". That happened around 9.5 an I backed off a couple of 10ths. I've never chrono'd this load, but Lee's Reduced Load calculator guesstimates this to be 950 fps.

[fordwannabe]

AWESOME! THANKS GUYS. Now I have something to keep me busy this winter....after maintenance of the 4 wheeler,brakes on the dodge, trees that need to become firewood,a grand Marqui, fix the car trailer

[jdt]

A timely topic for sure.

My go to load had always been a 250 gr cast over 17 gr of 2400 (giving me 900 fps out of my Blackhawk, not sure out of my '94 or '92).
So this Christmas I gave one of my leverguns to one of my sons (I parted with Rossi with 16" bbl in 45, which after some work had a nice action and would take anything you fed it ammo wise). As part of the gift I loaded him up some ammo but used up the last of my 2400. Since it has now been 2 years since I have seen any 2400 for sale, I finally gave up and bought some Unique. I just spent several hours pouring over my manuals and on the net trying to find the best starting point. Putting all this together, guess what I came up with...9 gr

There is some real wisdom and a wealth of experience on (some of) these boards. Guess I should have looked here first. It would have saved me a few hours for sure.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

[piller]

I have a Ruger in .45 Colt, and have always loaded it a little warmer than that. Just from what little I can tell, a good 250 grain LBT style bullet at around 900 fps will make a very long and straight wound channel, and that is not above Colt handgun level at all. Pushing it about 200 fps more is more than I would use in a Colt or Colt clone. I like to run a 300 grain JSP about 1050 out of my Ruger. I have a .480 Ruger caliber pistol and rifle and find the LBT style bullets to feed better than the Keith style in the rifle. The pistol doesn't care one way or the other. You can get WFN in the LBT style and they are good on game from my perspective. If I had both a pistol and a rifle in .45 Colt, the Wide Flat Nose LBT style is what I would try first. This is based on my experience with the .480 Ruger caliber in the rifle. They feed well in my rifle as long as I pay attention to OAL, but the 250 grain range of bullets should not be too long. I run into trouble when I get up above 410 grains in the .480, and that is 85 grains above factory standard of 325. A little extrapolation would put a Very Unscientific guess at 300 grains where it might be betting long enough to start to cause feeding issues in a rifle for the .45 Colt caliber. Again, that is a Very Unscientific guess.

[BigSky56]

I have been running a hdy 255 cowboy 1-20 lead(.454) pushed with 19.5 grs of aa5744 for 1000 fps this load is on their website and rated at 14K psi would be ok for colt and clones should get you 1300 fps out of you rifle, those bullets come with a dry lube but I coat them up to the crimp ring with Lee's alox lube no leading so far, just start with a lead free barrel. I use to run them at 900 fps with the same powder and have shot thru & thru a mulie buck figured I'd bump the fps. just a note: theres a outfit called Sages outdoor that makes slip on gas checks for plain base bullets that would let you not worry about leading if you are pushing them fast. danny
http://www.sagesoutdoors.com/index.php? ... roller=cms

[JohndeFresno]

... it has now been 2 years since I have seen any 2400 for sale, I finally gave up....

Try Lohmanarms.com

JdeF

[.45colt]

Elmer Keith's load of 18.5 grains of 2400 is and will always be My standard load. seems lately a lot of people are shaking in their boots about it. most shooters just load cute little cowboy action loads. The .45 Long Colt was a 900fps load with black powder.

[Grizz]

Danny

I preserved that info, in case I ever get enrolled into the Colt 45 academy.

It sounds like the perfect 45 ACP load, unless it's too hot in the shorter case.

Somehow 1000fps works out the be a very good working load from any big-bore.

[JohndeFresno]

Given the fact that the great old.44-40 was a huge hit with law enforcement AND hunters "back in the day" with its 200 grainer travelling right at 1,000 fps, I would guess that the big .45 255 grain messenger moving at around 900 fps - and faster from a rifle - should do the trick for deer sjzed game or even a bit larger at reasonable ranges.

[J Miller]

Considering hunting loads, I once loaded some 230gr FMC bullets in .45 Colt cases over an obscene amount of Unique (I honestly don't remember how much, and wouldn't post it anyway) and shot them out of my Win 94AE Trapper.
They were POTENT. The target was an abandoned car. I aimed for a spot on the car that hadn't been shot up yet and let fly. The bullets passed completely through the car diagonally from the area below the right front pillar to the rear quarter panel.
If one would substitute a JHP for the FMC that would have been a smokin good hunting load.

And the Unique load did come out of a loading manual. Don't remember which one though. Maybe the Hodgdons #26.
This load was definitely not suited for any Colt power lever firearm.

Joe

[jdt]

JdeF,
Thanks for the tip.
I'll give Lohmans a call tomorrow (website didn't specify what was in stock).
Maybe the powder Gods will smile on me for once.

[JohndeFresno]

JdeF...website didn't specify what was in stock)...

PM sent to jdt - complete url is http://www.lohmanarms.com/product_p/hc24001.htm

Also apparently now available in various sizes at Midway -
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/218412 ... ess-powder

Probably now at several other sites - use Google:
2400 powder for sale
...as search basis. I would also call to see if this is a delayed order. It is now post-Christmas rush.