45 colt for whitetail

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Anyone got a good stout load for whitetail in 45 colt? Gonna be shooting from a NEW MODEL vaquero, so none of the real hot "ruger only" loads.

I have Red Dot and 200gr RNFP cast bullets. Most of the Alliant product line is available to me but I'd like to stick with what I've got if I can. Got a nice accurate load with 6.6gr already, would that be sufficient?

4 5/8" barrel by the way.
 
You will want something more along the lines of Unique, or maybe even slower, for a good hunting load in .45 Colt.

The caliber will more than get the job done, if there is any question there.

Oh, and I would recommend heavier bullets.
 
You won't get there with Red Dot. (I love Red Dot in .45 Colt for target loads)

You might try 255 grain cast bullets with 15 grains of Blue Dot. That's about a 18000 psi load, which exceeds SAAMI specs by about 25%, but I would trust it in a Ruger. Or a case full of blackpowder or 777.
 
Can you get your hands on some 250 - 260gr SWC bullets? I believe they would work better than 200gr bullets for hunting. Load them over Unique, Universal, or HS-6, etc working your way up to something less than or equal to published max normal loads.
 
I`d go with a good LSWC of 250-300 gr over H110, 2400, or 4227.
Your vaquero is every bit as strong as the SuperBlack hawk and will handle the same loads. If you are a bit shy of the loads for the "Ruger & TC" in the manuals, drop back a bit and use the starting or mid range loads listed.
 
IMO HS-6 under a 255gr LSWC bullet will do the trick. It's a very accurate and clean powder and it works well with lead bullets. It will deliver good velocity and keep the pressures within safe limits.

One question, are you sure a Vaquero with it's fixed sights is the best revolver to use for hunting? Usually a revolver with adjustable sights is a better choice for hunting. With the guessing you have to do with fixed sights you might injure and animal and not finish it off. No hunter what's that to happen...
 
THe vaquero will be for really close shots and/or the coups de gras if the shotgun doesn't do it's job straight away; that and if it'll take down a deer, most anything else I run into shouldn't be much problem either (I'm in the outskirts of bear country believe it or not). In all honesty I am intrigues with the idea though of taking a deer with my vaquero.

I'd love to have a blackhawk with adjustable sights, but I already have the vaquero and don't need 2 45 colts...unless one of them has a lever!

Anyone in Va wanna swap a vaquero for a blackhawk? :D
 
Try the Vaquero with the 250-260gr SWC bullets at "normal" velocities as suggested and see if they don't hit pretty close to POA (point of aim) at 25 yards. I believe you'll find the fixed sights regulated for that combo. 200gr bullets may hit low due to their higher velocity and lower recoil.

Start at the published minimum load. Increase powder charge to bring the POI (point of impact) down. If they all hit low, try a heavier bullet. If they're all high a lighter bullet may help get POI to match POA.
 
I'd try the old standard .45 Colt load of a 250 grain Keith SWC and 8.5 to 9.0 grains Unique for around 900 FPS. It is safe in any Colt SAA or clone, and way safe in the New Vaquaro.
It should shoot to the sights.

That load will shoot clear through two deer standing side by side, leaving a full caliber hole in its wake.

It's all you need for your intended use, and is mild enough to be able to shoot it really well.

rc
 
I and a friend have had excellent success with the Lee 255gr RFN over 8.2gr of Universal. This roughly duplicates both the Keith "Unique" load, and the full case of FFFg black powder at 35-40gr in the original blackpowder load.

It produces ~1,000fps from my 5.5"bbl RedHawk and his BlackHawk and is acceptable for use in your NEW mod Vaquero.

It runs to 1,200fps from my 24" bbl Winchester M94 Legacy, and likewise from friends Taurus "Thunderer" pump. Also, is the lightest load that has enough case obturation to keep from getting blow-back from the recievers on the rifle.

We've gotten complete penetration on angling chest, and cross chest shots on deer, and copius blood trails, when deer weren't DRT.

Remember, these cartridge/loads were developed to take a horse out from under a rider in the 1800's......
No need for more bullet weight or velocity. And, it'll likely shoot to POA/POI from your Vaquero, as is.... This is of course the most important consideration.
 
So the 200 grainers I have now wouldn't work if I loaded them with around 8.6 grains of Universal Clays for around 1,000fps?
 
Not to say they wouldn't work, but a Keith style SWC or other large FP style should work better.

The flat point is what does the killing, and a RN-FP in general will not produce as much tissue damage because the FP is usually smaller.

They are also less likely to deflect off a heavy bone.

rc
 
Quote:
Your vaquero is every bit as strong as the SuperBlack hawk and will handle the same loads.

No it's not.
Click to expand...

My error, I meant the Blackhawk, should have left the "Super: off.....
 
The old model Vaqueros were as strong as the Black- and Red- hawks, but I don't believe the New Model Vaqueros are as robust. Everything I've seen leads me to believe you should avoid "Ruger Only" loads in this Ruger.
 
Lets not get confused about the original and New Vaquero. The original Vaquero was built on the heavier Blackhawk frame and can safely fire those "Ruger Only" loads all day long. The New Vaquero is built on the original older and smaller Blackhawk frame to answer the requests of Cowboy Action shooters who wanted a smaller revolver more to the size of the Colt SAA. (which it now is) The New Vaquero will safely fire any ammo that is within SAAMI limits but should NOT be shot with "Ruger Only" loads that could be fired in the Original Vaquero. (I own both)
 
The new Vaq is stronger than the old blackpowder Colts. It's not a 32k psi gun the way the large frame Blackhawks are, but it's easily a 20k psi gun. Check out the Accurate Arms data, which has a number of "Ruger Only" loads that top out at about 20k psi. The 255 and 265 data would both work great. If you like LBT designs, the 255 data could also be used to make a load with something like the gas checked 250 grain WFN from Montana Bullet Works.

http://www.accuratepowder.com/reloading.htm

http://www.montanabulletworks.com/
 
Thanks for all the info guys. I know for a fact that the New model vaquero isn't as strong as the old one, but thanks for the heavy load suggestions.

Gonna try out a 250 grain with 8.8 grains of Universal, which should get me around 900fps. Adequate?
 
Will do on the range report. The local (40 miles away) shop had primers in stock so I spent my gun-lowance on those, but once I order up some of the bigguns I'll let ya'll know how it goes. Switched my powder choice (if I can find it) to v-N340. Looks to be about the fastest FPS on the list and has the best case fill. I did the math on max charge case fill percentages for 10 different powders for 45 colt if anyone is interested in more extraneous information. I like math.
 
I'm worried about your comment about case fill, and any calculations you did where N340 ended up on top. (A case 80% full for example of N340 is going to blow up your gun) What exactly did you do? If you want to use an exotic powder, look at N105.
 
If you want case fill get a bottle of Trail Boss. Your gun can handle just about anything short of a compressed load. Otherwise it's hard to beat Unique or Universal for non-nuclear .45C loads. In your shoes, I'd stick with the Universal load you mentioned earlier.
 
To get my numbers, I took the VMD (weight in cc's) of one grain of each powder, then multiplied it by the charge weight in grains, which in turn gives me the volume of that charge in cc's. I compared that to the useful case capacity listed in Lee's Modern Reloading 2nd edition.

If I am incorrect please let me know where I went wrong. Not using this in place of any kind of published loads, BTW, just wanted to try and find the best powder for my application without buying and trying each one. Like I said, I like math. :D

The way I figgered it, v-N340 gave me, at max charge, 1.20 cc's. The useful case capacity of 45 colt is 1.92 cc's if memory serves me. That was the highest one on the list. It was followed closely by v-N320 (1.10), SR4756 (1.10), and 800x (1.00). The lowest was titegroup coming in at .65. All measurements are in cc's, NOT grains; works with the perfect powder measure from Lee.
 
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