45 Colt hunting bullet

[Bartojc]

Thinking of a hunting load for 45 Colt in a rifle. I shoot and load 45 Colt for a Blackhawk and use Unique under an MBC 250gr RNFP Cowboy #1. I load around 8 gr Unique. Nice and comfortable. I plan to use the same round for plinking and such with the rifle, but would like a better hunting round for the rifle should I decide to use it for that.

Assuming deer out to 100 yards, standard pressures for 45 Colt, I'm looking at Hornady XTP 250GR JHP, and Sierra 240 GR JHC (#8820). Anyone use either or both of these for what I describe ? The rifle is a 20" barrel. Is there something else I should look at for a hunting bullet ?

-Jeff

 

[earlthegoat2]

I’d use soft lead flat points at standard pressure velocities. JHPs like a fair bit of velocity behind them and even though you would be firing them with a rifle, I would still like a bullet that would guarantee expansion at standard velocity.

I would definitely not use an XTP if it were me. I had bad luck with those expanding when it shot deer with them in sabots from an inline muzzleloader.

 

[Seedy Character]

I used 250 gr powder coated RNFP with L'il Gun, in rifles.

 

[Armored farmer]

I use 255gr cast lnfp over 9gr unique in my 7.5" Blackhawk. It is relatively easy shooting but hard hitting. Accurate too.

 

[mrawesome22-250]

Speer Deepcurl 250gr are dead soft and expand well even at standard pistol velocities.

Out of my 1894CB the 250gr XTP puts deer down with authority but I have them going ~1400fps from the Marlin. 800X and HS-6 have produced the best groups with both bullets.

With standard pressure rounds I was getting ~9" of drop out to 100yds. Bump the velocity up to around 1400fps and just hold right on from 0 to 100yds. Much simpler.

 

[AJC1]

The ftx would be my choice for hunting vise the hollowpoint. It would help as much as possible with trajectory and should be better tailored for hunting at those lower velocities

 

[Bartojc]

Loading between 8 and 9 gr Unique should get me close to 1050 in a rifle I believe. Anyone have real world verified numbers ? Hornady says the XTP works at velocities between 750 and 1500, not sure about the FTX, maybe the same ? Ballistically using Hornady calculator there is not much difference between the two so I’d opt for XTP at 250gr vs FTX at 225gr.

An assumption on my part is the Sierra and the Speer for that matter would be ballistically similar.

Maybe I’m overthinking it and just shoot lead at 8.5-9gr and be done with it. I guess proof would be in shooting them to see how they do.

Jeff

 

[LaneP]

Loading between 8 and 9 gr Unique should get me close to 1050 in a rifle I believe. Anyone have real world verified numbers ? Hornady says the XTP works at velocities between 750 and 1500, not sure about the FTX, maybe the same ? Ballistically using Hornady calculator there is not much difference between the two so I’d opt for XTP at 250gr vs FTX at 225gr.

An assumption on my part is the Sierra and the Speer for that matter would be ballistically similar.

Maybe I’m overthinking it and just shoot lead at 8.5-9gr and be done with it. I guess proof would be in shooting them to see how they do.

Jeff

Your guess is almost dead on. 8.3gr Unique under a 250gr cast LFP produced 1080 fps from my 16-inch bbl Win Trapper.

 

[AJC1]

Loading between 8 and 9 gr Unique should get me close to 1050 in a rifle I believe. Anyone have real world verified numbers ? Hornady says the XTP works at velocities between 750 and 1500, not sure about the FTX, maybe the same ? Ballistically using Hornady calculator there is not much difference between the two so I’d opt for XTP at 250gr vs FTX at 225gr.

An assumption on my part is the Sierra and the Speer for that matter would be ballistically similar.

Maybe I’m overthinking it and just shoot lead at 8.5-9gr and be done with it. I guess proof would be in shooting them to see how they do.

Jeff

At close range a bullet with a big meplat with enough weight to drive it home would definitely be cheaper and probably just as effective... if your goal is subsonic I would go as heavy as you can stableize.

 

[Walkalong]

Hard cast with a wide flat nose that will bore through and leave a good blood trail. You don't need expansion to kill critters with the .45 Colt.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Hard cast with a wide flat nose that will bore through and leave a good blood trail. You don't need expansion to kill critters with the .45 Colt.

Yup. This exactly. Drive a plug through the pump house and down they go.

 

[.38 Special]

Also yup.

.45 Colt bullets come out of the bore "pre-expanded". Something like a 280 WFN will make a big hole all the way through, and you can eat all the way up to it.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I too am a believer in the big wide nose hardcast in about the 300gr range.

I do wanna try some of the Swift A-Frames in 44M or 45C some day. I bet that would deliver quite a punch.

 

[black mamba]

The 280 gr Keith bullet is a great hunter. Even at standard pressures you can get over 1100 fps in a 20 in. barrel using HS-6, and with great accuracy, too.

 

[Griffen]

I have used the Sierra 240g over a nice load of Power Pistol and had excellent results. My favorite is a 250 gr lead RNFP cowboy bullet over 7.3gr of W231. The velocity is about 1050-1100 fps. In my Winchester ‘92 20” SRC, it is very accurate. With elbow on a table, I am able to hit a 3” steel plate repeatedly with a Marbles tang sight. This load is close to the original Colt 45 and is good for pistol or rifle. A deer at 100 yards will not stand a chance with either of these.

As with most pistol calibers, the performance drops off past 100 rather quickly.

I know a lot of folks like Unique and I have some of it, but I have never been able to get the metering to be nearly as stable in my loader as the ball powders, YMMV.

 

[FROGO207]

Hard cast with a wide flat nose that will bore through and leave a good blood trail. You don't need expansion to kill critters with the .45 Colt.

My thought exactly. I presently have a 250 grain SWC mold that I use in my Ruger revolvers and would not feel under prepared using that at less than 150 YDS in a rifle.

 

[BBarn]

Yep, a cast SWC at 900+ FPS is a great choice. Trajectory and range estimation will become crucial beyond 100 yds.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

With smokeless and good cases, you can run a 300gr. .45Colt in a good rifle right up to the point of a traditional (standard pressure) 300gr. .45-70. I wouldn't try anything heavier than 300gr in a self-loading action, like a lever or pump, but a single-shot with long leads should be fine up to the point of the ogive ten-thousandths from touching the rifling. Nor would I try to go past the published load pressure point for Tier 3 (so-called "Ruger Only" loads) without trustworthy, properly tested and documented pressure data; and even then I don't think I'd try any component substitutions.
The old Winchester 92 action is pretty darned strong, so is the Marlin 94, but neither is as strong as a Contender or Encore. I seriously would not try Tier 3 loads with an SB1 NEF/H&R though. Might work a few times but for how long? and what happens when the lockup fails?