.45 Colt rifle loads?

[Sharpie443]

So I was at the range with my two favorite calibers today. I had my .45-70 which preformed wonderfully as usual. Giving my AR-500 target a run for it's money at 100 yards open sight. I also had my new Rossie M92 24" barrel out for it's first trial run.

It was dead on accurate after a bit of sighting in and I had no problem hitting an 8" steel plate at 100 yards every shot with the buck horn sights.

Now I adore this rifle and .45 colt especially in revolvers but it has one heck of a drop at 100 yards. Great groups but a lot of drop. It was a good six inches of drop. I expect that with a pistol but i would have thought I would get better performance out of a 24" barrel.

It's easy to correct and a blast to shoot but i was wondering if I need to adjust my loads for a longer barrel. I've got a tang sight on order and I want to do some longer range shooting with it.

Here are the loads i was testing in it today in case anyone was wondering.

Bullets were 200 grain flat nosed cast bullets from Missouri bullet company.

(5gr and 5.5gr of 700x) -These were fine but didn't seem to preform as well as the other loads. The 5.5 grain load did slightly better. All were within 8" at 100 yards.

(6.5 Gr, 7.0gr and 8.0 gr of 800x.) This powder seemed to preform a lot better and kept everything within 6in at 100 yards with just a few flyers. The 7 grain load seemed to preform the best but i need to do some more shooting to really tell. I also forgot my calipers and tape measure so I wasn't able to get more exact round spacing.

There was almost no recoil out of these loads in the Rossie which makes for a very pleasant gun to shoot. I think the slower burning 800x preformed better in that 24" barrel because it was able to take advantage of the full lenght of the barrel.

Any help you guys can give fore getting a good load for this gun would be appreciated. I know some people here probably have more experience with .45colt out of a lever gun than me.

 

[dh1633pm]

I have been loading 200 grain copper and 250 grain lead with H110. I tired some other powders including No 5, Unique, Little Gun, and even Trail Boss. H110 seemed to work for me. I have a 20 inch version.

 

[styles]

I think you need to get closer to 6.0 gr of 700X with a 200 gr L Bullet to get consistency.

6.2 gr is the published max based on 14,000 PSI in a std pressure handgun.

You are still at starting min. for weight at 5.0. 5.1 gr is a common SASS load w/ L 225 grain, but I think for 200 gr that is low.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

 

[BigBore45]

A 92. Load it up to ruger only loads

 

[TommyD45]

You will see the best benefit in fps from the slower magnum powders such as 2400, H110, and Accurate No. 9.

With fast to medium powders like Unique and Universal, you may see a 150 fps increase with the the longer rifle barrel. The slower powders can give you 300 or more fps increase.

Tom

 

[gilgsn]

http://leverguns.com/articles/paco/45coltlevergun.htm

Gil

 

[TimSr]

Those are starting loads for standard pressure 45LC. If you want a flatter trajectory, you're going to have to speed it up. Just bumping up to max standard loads should help immensely, but your gun will handle Ruger loads.

 

[Sharpie443]

O that's a good link. I'll bump everything up to max standard loads and look into ruger only loads. Finding powder around here is not an easy thing to do but i'll keep my eyes open for those magnum powders.

 

[dh1633pm]

Sharpie443, I do both for my 45 Colt and my 45-70. I have close to max loads for hunting and other fun activities. Sometimes just for fun, I load them lower. They are easier on the shoulder and don't frighten novices or the wife as much.

 

[Sharpie443]

I've actually found that my .45-70 likes mid range loads with a heavy bullet. I load hotter for hunting but not so much for target shooting. I also load black powder loads and those are very accurate out of my H&R buffalo rifle. Might be different when i finally got my hands on a sharps or Remington rolling block.

 

[stoky]

I've actually found that my .45-70 likes mid range loads with a heavy bullet.

ditto
Long range is a relative term, but I think you'll find that the capabilities of your LC are going to fall way short of your .45-70.
I had to go to a shorter front sight post, with the tang cranked all the way up, to get to 100yds with my '92. What you gain in flatness with lighter bullets, you lose in ballistic coefficient at extended ranges. You will need yards of hold over to get to 200yds.
It's probably not the reason none of the original rifles were chambered in .45 Colt, but it would have been a good one.

 

[BigBore45]

ditto
Long range is a relative term, but I think you'll find that the capabilities of your LC are going to fall way short of your .45-70.
I had to go to a shorter front sight post, with the tang cranked all the way up, to get to 100yds with my '92. What you gain in flatness with lighter bullets, you lose in ballistic coefficient at extended ranges. You will need yards of hold over to get to 200yds.
It's probably not the reason none of the original rifles were chambered in .45 Colt, but it would have been a good one.

you can load that gun up to a 240 grain going at 2200FPS. 200 yards is easy with a tang sight.

 

[Sharpie443]

That is a very fast .45 colt. That would probably turn my Blackhawk inside out. I am going to try some much heavier loads in the M92 soon. My tang sight should be in this week.

 

[the Black Spot]

40 gr of 3f blackpowder is no slouch with a 200 grainer

 

[yugorpk]

My favorite higher pressure lever 45 Colt load is 24 grains of H110 with a 255 grain Hornady. 1750 FPS in the Rossi 16" Its capable of doing more but that lot gets the job done and lets me know its doing ti as much as I want to know.