Probably an old question from a newbie. 45 colt with 300 A-F

[44hunter45]

I bet this is an old question.

I've always used H110/W296 for my heavy 300 grain jacketed stuff in my SBH Hunter in 45 Colt. My throats are Manson reamed to .452. I have not done any barrel lapping or forcing cone work.

I recently picked up some Swift A-Frame 300's. I've been reading about Enforcer getting me the same results with less volume.
Has anyone been there, done that?

I was reading Swift's new loading manual in Cabela's last Monday. No data for 45 Colt. Wow.

I've re-cannelured a lot of different bullets for this gun to get more capacity, it just seems wrong on such an expensive bullet with a turned crimp groove.

I've been threatening to get into casting but haven't yet.

[bushog]

Welcome to the Forum.

No experience with Enforcer.

What's the problem with the H110.W296 loads?

[44hunter45]

Thanks Bushhog!

I've been lurking for a while. I tend to stay with one caliber for a while at the loading bench and have been punching out a lot of .30 Carbine for my Blackhawk. I just came back around to the .45 Colt and will be obsessed with that until I get bored.

No problems with H110/W296 with most bullets. My standard load is 23.5 grains with a CCI350 primer. That is the max listed in the Speer manual, Hodgdon guide, etc.
It is about all the H110 I can get in a case without compression for most bullets. A 100% charge gives me easy extraction and no craters on my primers. When I start squeezing it, the pressure ramps up really fast.

I've used a lot of different brands of brass, but I'm pretty settled on Starline now. I trim my brass religiously to 1.275".

I've run these over my Chrony, but for some reason I didn't record them in my load data spreadsheet. Looks like a good excuse to go to the rock pit this weekend.

The cannelure placement on the A-Frame puts them deeper and really cuts down the capacity.

[cherokeetracker]

Welcome to the forum. I have experience with enforcer. The place that it shines is with the 357 mag and a mag primer. It is a ball powder and also is a medium burning powder. In the 357 maxmimum, it behaved OK but actually there are better powders for that caliber too. For the 45 Colt I would not suggest this powder. Especially when you are going with a 300 gr ( an jacketed on top of that) Nothing wrong with the Swift Bullet.
You stated a coupe of things that gets my attention. One is squeezing the H110 A 100% charge should do you plenty of good. Pressure spikes will happen. The other thing is the cannelure or it's placement I might say.
There are several things to consider here.
1 Go to a bigger caliber and or go to a heavier bullet. I have 330, 350 and 365 grain cast for my 45 Colt caliber using a Ruger Bisley w/ 5-1/2" barrel.
2. Stay with what the manuals are telling you for their formulas. Safety is first aspect and second some things when pushed or squeezed so to speak will deliver disappointing results.
3 Changing powders... LiL gun might be able to give you better results. But watch the gas cutting. It has happened with the 454s and yet I have not seen any kind of this thing going on with my 350 grain cast loads. I do not shoot loads and loads of this kind of round. these are for Hog Hunting and I keep them for that.
4 while I like jacketed bullets and agree that there are some out there that are good, I mostly use cast
5 This is going to get much more technical. You could get a cannelure tool from like C&H tool, and make your own cannelures. The thing to watch and be careful with is that you do not go too deep or else the jacket will separate at the place where the cannelure is. The other is to not worry or bother not even pay attention to a cannelure, and seat the bullet ate your desired depth. Then in a separate stage crimp the bullet. Some folks here swear that they can use a tapered crimp in the 45 Colt caliber, and are fine. ( No bullet jump ) I will not argue just offer info. Also you can go to a profile crimp. A custom die can be ordered or I am almost 100% sure that Redding makes them. It is a combo of a taper crimp and roll crimp. When set up correct it is great but if set up too tight it squeezes the bullet and can sort of give it the heeled bullet effect. Accuracy will then suffer.
6 Change bullets.. You now know that there is heavier cast, But also Hornady makes the 300gr magnum bullet But it has 1 cannelures, It has been more accurate than the other bullet that had 2 cannelures, is a 300 gr hollow point.

[bullseye]

I've been using Ramshot powders in various pistol loads for a few years now with excellent results. Here's the best $2.99 you'll ever spend on the subject www.westernpowders.com/reloading-guide-cat?product_id=161

[44hunter45]

May 31, 2017 20:35:07 GMT -5 cherokeetracker said:

Welcome to the forum. I have experience with enforcer. The place that it shines is with the 357 mag and a mag primer. It is a ball powder and also is a medium burning powder. In the 357 maxmimum, it behaved OK but actually there are better powders for that caliber too. For the 45 Colt I would not suggest this powder. Especially when you are going with a 300 gr ( an jacketed on top of that) Nothing wrong with the Swift Bullet.
You stated a coupe of things that gets my attention. One is squeezing the H110 A 100% charge should do you plenty of good. Pressure spikes will happen. The other thing is the cannelure or it's placement I might say.
There are several things to consider here.
1 Go to a bigger caliber and or go to a heavier bullet. I have 330, 350 and 365 grain cast for my 45 Colt caliber using a Ruger Bisley w/ 5-1/2" barrel.
2. Stay with what the manuals are telling you for their formulas. Safety is first aspect and second some things when pushed or squeezed so to speak will deliver disappointing results.
3 Changing powders... LiL gun might be able to give you better results. But watch the gas cutting. It has happened with the 454s and yet I have not seen any kind of this thing going on with my 350 grain cast loads. I do not shoot loads and loads of this kind of round. these are for Hog Hunting and I keep them for that.
4 while I like jacketed bullets and agree that there are some out there that are good, I mostly use cast
5 This is going to get much more technical. You could get a cannelure tool from like C&H tool, and make your own cannelures. The thing to watch and be careful with is that you do not go too deep or else the jacket will separate at the place where the cannelure is. The other is to not worry or bother not even pay attention to a cannelure, and seat the bullet ate your desired depth. Then in a separate stage crimp the bullet. Some folks here swear that they can use a tapered crimp in the 45 Colt caliber, and are fine. ( No bullet jump ) I will not argue just offer info. Also you can go to a profile crimp. A custom die can be ordered or I am almost 100% sure that Redding makes them. It is a combo of a taper crimp and roll crimp. When set up correct it is great but if set up too tight it squeezes the bullet and can sort of give it the heeled bullet effect. Accuracy will then suffer.
6 Change bullets.. You now know that there is heavier cast, But also Hornady makes the 300gr magnum bullet But it has 1 cannelures, It has been more accurate than the other bullet that had 2 cannelures, is a 300 gr hollow point.

Thanks Cherokee,

I like technical, but I have my own opinions and  like them. I am one of the most OCD loaders in the world.

Yes, I do need to get into casting, But I can't go in unless I go all in. I will do Pot, moulds and Luber-sizer all at once when the money and time are right. I have a pretty big collection of lead waiting for the day. Then I no doubt will be re-melting a lot of rejects until I get the rhythm.

As I said in my OP, I have a Corbin Cannelure tool now. I had a C&H once but I like the Corbin better. I just don't want to use it on the Swift.
I have used the both the XTP 300 and the XTP Magnum 300. Both have been erratic for me. Some come apart, some act like solids.  The only real virtue they have is that they are cheep. I did take a few deer using the "2 cannelure" XTPs with my 44 Mag RedHawk back in the day. Most went right down but I did have to track one. It was hit quartering away. It was a complete pass-thru. The XTP went through the diaphragm and the off-side lung and exited. I found the jacket in the lungs when I gutted out the deer, The core had left a <.44 caliber exit wound.
I've used the Sierra and Nosler 300s too.
For years my favorites were the 300 Speer Gold Dots now discontinued. Some don't like them because they are plated but I never had any issues with them.
I stopped seating and crimping in one step years ago. I run two Rock Chuckers side by side. one to seat, one to crimp. It seems to me that trying to force a taper crimp on a heavy jacketed bullet is just going to get you a buckled case.
I like the so called "neck-down" crimp I can do with newer RCBS dies. It is like a roll crimp but irons the case flat down into the cannelure. Is this the same as a "profile crimp"?
 
Now about Enforcer. On the burn rate chart it is right next to 2400. My 4 inch Security Six in 357 loves 2400, but I gave it up as too dirty and went to 296. In truth the faster powder makes more sense in this gun. So I am pretty interested to trying it there for sure.

Appreciated you input,
Thanks!

[cherokeetracker]

44hunter45 Enforcer is dirty too. Also it is much better with a mag primer if you decide to use it. It does not necessarily beat 2400, depends upon the bullet and load combo.

Cast: I have to agree with most folks that casting your own is the way to go. But I do not have any room for any more equipment. I cannot cast right now. But there is a few places you can buy bullets, that have been good.

Crimp: This very well might be the same I am not familiar with it.

Gold Dots: I feel the pain. I have seen Nosler and Speer both discontinue good bullets. And some Gold Dots are near impossible to find.

You sound like you are on the right track and doing a heck of a job in your research. I got so frustrated the first couple of years I almost quit the Handgun reloading. Especially with cast. It took me some time to find the right combinations for accuracy and performance. I will shoot you a PM with some info.

[44hunter45]

Haha, I found Speer DeepCurl 300 HP in stock yesterday at Vizards. They limited me to two boxes of 50.

[lah]

Welcome to the board.

[44hunter45]

I went a completely different direction with this. I broke down and ordered QuickLoad from NECO. As well as a long overdue Fire Lapping kit. I'm waiting for my pin gage set to arrive from E-Bay. QL pointed me to a good start load fo4r the 300 A-Frame. I ended up at a comfortable 1200 FPS and my empties fall right out of the cylinder.

Now on the the Speer 300 DeepCurls.....

The cylinder throats are reamed and the action slicked up. Now I want to do the fire lap. Then I will have no choice but to start running 325 Grn Boolits.

[cherokeetracker]

You going with Beartooth bullets fire lapping kit? Also do a search here because Fermin known as 2dogs has some good information on this. I have done at least 5 pistols (fire lapping) and it works.

[tradmark]

What 45 colt do u have. A sixshot ior a 5 shot conversion?