Light loads in 45 Colt

[bibbyman]

I've got 45 Colt cases, 200 grain Oregon Trail bullets,  and Unique powder.  What I don't have is specific loading data for a low velocity load. None of my many 20 year old manuals list this weight bullet.  I've looked on line but not found a good match. 

My best interpolation of the data I fell 6 grains may be about as low as I should go.  I would like to go even lower if I could get a good burn.

Any suggestions?

 

[subsonic]

Try it in .5gr increments.

Watch for squibs or pressure signs. If you have a chronograph, use it and stay above 700fps.

6gr seems pretty light to me, but I don't have a load book in front of me.

[tullymars]

4th edition Lyman cast bullet handbook shows a starting load of 7.5 gr Unique. vel.858fps. As Subsonic suggested, reduce in .5 gr increments.

[bradshaw]

bibbyman.... a few of suggestions----not definitive data:
* seat bullet deep to lightly crimp on ogive----well above crimp groove.
* switch to faster powder in 231/HP-38 burn category.
* chronograph and target simultaneously, if possible.

Expect POI (Point of Impact) to be lower with light bullet.
David Bradshaw

[bibbyman]

The bullet has nearly nothing above the crimp grove so little would be gained by crimping above it. I have something more than 8 lb of Unique. I have about enough HP38 to pepper an egg and no 231. I don't have a chronograph.

I've loaded up a gazillion rounds of 8gr Unique topped by 255gr cast and a bunch of 10gr Unique/255 but I've never tried lighter and slower.

[bibbyman]

Well, I just loaded 5 and shot them through my old Cattlemen. They shot fine. The target was at 20 yards. Group maybe wasn't my best but plenty ok. The report and fell of the recoil was consistent. They shot at the same elevation. Pleasant to shoot compared to 8gr behind 255. And plum fun compared to a 10gr charge. I'm confident enough to load the 90 balance.

[webber]

Speer #14 goes as low as 700 fps with a 200 gr SWC.
You know there are more suited powders than Unique for this endeavor right?
Hodgdons list loads for 160, 180 and 200 gr cast with a multitude of powders.

[bibbyman]

I don't doubt that there is a better powder for most any load. Just that I have a lot of Unique and none of the others. And when I look at the web sites of the two distributors (MidwayUSA and Graff and Sons) within driving distance, I found most everything out of stock.

We all may be making our own black powder and using match heads to refill primers before this insanity is over!

[bibbyman]

Well, I shot my first SASS match this morning. I guess I shot it clean. I had one shotgun target that I hit on the edge and didn't go down but was allowed to pick it up. My 6 grain load of Unique shot well but I thought a few felt light. I didn't notice any unburnt powder when unloading. I'll up a half grain and see if that cures that problem. Recoil was nothing like 8/255 loads.

At least I didn't have any squib load stick in cylinder or barrel like one guy did. Some shot so puney a load it was hard to tell if they hit the target.

[bradshaw]

bibbyman.... your observant experience of load variation in the cowboy match communicates serious need to boost your charge of Unique, or to seat bullet deeper in case. Hell, sounds as though you can seat it until the nose is flush with the case mouth over your present load. Not easy to go for the slowest velocity and achieve consistency with your combination of 200 grain over Unique. The least you can do is gobble up some of that airspace.

Rather than to tell you what to do, that is what I would do.
David Bradshaw

[bibbyman]

I've used filler in cases like 45/70. Often a card wad with oatmeal or even a wad of tissue paper.

I take a vitamin C tablet every morning. One morning a 45 Colt case had ended up on my side table. There was a tablet. There was the case. The tablet would just slip fit into the case. It would take up about 1/4" of space. Humm, I thought. The vitamins bought 1, 000 at time were much cheaper than wads and at least twice as thick. I'm not sure what the base ingredients are in a tablet or if it would be abrasive to the bore.

That's so crazy, it just might work!

[alukban]

He!! just use the Vitamin C tablet as the projectile with only the primer while you're atit

[bibbyman]

I just may have to give that a try! It couldn't be much less than some of the loads some of the SASS guys were shooting today. Sometimes it was difficult to hear the bullet strike or the steel move. You had to watch for the bullet to strike and fall off. At least the tablet may hold together long enough to make a chalk mark.

[alukban]

For loads doing 700 fps or less with the Oregon Trail bullets, I always thought that the poor accuracy that I would generally get in Rugers is likely because they are too hard - about 15 BHN from my measurements. I plan on mixing pure lead and wheel weights 1:1 to get something more in the 10 BHN range and less. I'm sorta leaning towards maybe even trying to go towards 2:1 on the pure to WW ratio.

The Oregon Trail stuff seems to like to go 900 fps and faster in my humble experience. I don't know what the pressures related to the velocities ar ein my gun but it is nowhere near the "3 X 480" rule for obturation. I'm guessing that I need to go much softer for less than 700 fps and get the bullet to thus grab some grooves.

[bibbyman]

I found my 452460 Lyman mold. And will be getting my new Cattlemen 45s in a couple of weeks so I'll start all over again. I won't know if the guns will like 452 or 454. I'm not worried about getting MOA accuracy for SASS shooting.