Load for 45 Colt, 300 LFN from SPEER reloading manual needed

O

Onty

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Looking for reloading data for 45 Colt, 300 LFN, about 1100 fps, from SPEER reloading manual. Since that load was mentioned in the post from 2009, I am assuming it should be in their manual from that year, or earlier ones.

Unfortunately, original website where I found about this load is now down, but here is the text written by Terry Murbach:

"...I DO KNOW I CAN RUN 300gr BULLETS AT 1100FPS FROM ALL MY 45COLT SIXGUNS INCLUDING THE COLT AND S&W M25-5 GUNS OF VARIOUS BARREL LENGTHS WITH LOADS THAT ARE STRAIGHT OUT OF THE LAST FEW SPEER MANUALS.
A 45 CALIBER 300gr LFN BULLET AT 1100 WILL COMPLETELY PENETRATE ANY ANIMAL IN NORTH AMERICA AND YOU NEED NOTHING ELSE. MORE SPEED MAY FLATTEN THE TRAJECTORY A BIT-- darned LITTLE TOO AS A MATTER OF FACT-- BUT ALL YOU ARE DOING AT 1100 OR 1300 IS POKING A 45 CALIBER HOLE IN AND A 45 CALIBER HOLE OUT..."

A scan of that page would be great.

Thanks
 
And from Hodgdon data center (Ruger, Freedom Arms and Contender Only) - https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate 11FP COL 1.566" Start 19.4 gr (1146 fps) - Max 22.8 gr (1353 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Ramshot Enforcer COL 1.566" Start 17.9 gr (1105 fps) - Max 21 gr (1322 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate 4100 COL 1.566" Start 17.9 gr (1105 fps) - Max 20.8 gr (1307 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate No. 9 COL 1.566" Start 16 gr (1127 fps) - Max 18.8 gr (1281 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate TCM COL 1.566" Start 15.6 gr (1093 fps) - Max 18.4 gr (1277 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate 5744 COL 1.566" Start 19.4 gr (1021 fps) - Max 22.8 gr (1182 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate No. 7 COL 1.566" Start 12.1 gr (1007 fps) - Max 14.3 gr (1164 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate No. 5 COL 1.566" Start 10.1 gr (999 fps) - Max 11.8 gr (1141 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Ramshot True Blue COL 1.566" Start 9.4 gr (992 fps) - Max 11.1 gr (1120 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Ramshot Silhouette COL 1.566" Start 9.4 gr (965 fps) - Max 11 gr (1111 fps)
 
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That sounds a lot like the Propellant Profiles wordage. The articles are divided by powder so if you know which I'll read that section and look for you.
 
@LiveLife, thanks for links. Although, Speer 300 grain is jacketed, JSP, not lead LFN, it gives me a ball park.

The bullet mold I have is MP-Molds 45-503-SWC. This is modified cal. 44 cast H&G #503, enlarged on .454", https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?116922-45-503-SWC-in-4-cavity-brass-mould

Kuw1Pfb.jpg


Actually, the weight of this bullet is 290 grains, but since nobody lists charges for that weight, the next best option are loading data for lead 300 grains. Yeah, I had seen loads on Hodgdon website, but I was hoping to get load data for other powders.
 
LiveLife said:
And from Hodgdon data center (Ruger, Freedom Arms and Contender Only) - https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate 11FP COL 1.566" Start 19.4 gr (1146 fps) - Max 22.8 gr (1353 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Ramshot Enforcer COL 1.566" Start 17.9 gr (1105 fps) - Max 21 gr (1322 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate 4100 COL 1.566" Start 17.9 gr (1105 fps) - Max 20.8 gr (1307 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate No. 9 COL 1.566" Start 16 gr (1127 fps) - Max 18.8 gr (1281 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate TCM COL 1.566" Start 15.6 gr (1093 fps) - Max 18.4 gr (1277 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate 5744 COL 1.566" Start 19.4 gr (1021 fps) - Max 22.8 gr (1182 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate No. 7 COL 1.566" Start 12.1 gr (1007 fps) - Max 14.3 gr (1164 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Accurate No. 5 COL 1.566" Start 10.1 gr (999 fps) - Max 11.8 gr (1141 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Ramshot True Blue COL 1.566" Start 9.4 gr (992 fps) - Max 11.1 gr (1120 fps)
  • .45 Colt 300 gr Lead FP Ramshot Silhouette COL 1.566" Start 9.4 gr (965 fps) - Max 11 gr (1111 fps)
Click to expand...
Typo: No.11FS, not 11FP.

Accurate No.9 is the reigning champion of all things .45Colt in my Rugers and Contender. If you really want, “stop a charging ‘68 Cadillac,” performance, that’s your powder. IMO.
 
@Anchorite, thank you also for links. Linebaugh knew about 45 Colt probably more than anybody else. I especially like his moderate approach. When solution is more than enough, and recoil is still manageable, for some of us the load is right.
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
Typo: No.11FS, not 11FP.

Accurate No.9 is the reigning champion of all things .45Colt in my Rugers and Contender. If you really want, “stop a charging ‘68 Cadillac,” performance, that’s your powder. IMO.
Click to expand...
If your getting good performance out of #9 you must be approaching 30-35kpsi. That's the no man's land between 45c a 454. I'm very interested in the 20kpsi range and 10.0 unique under a 250 rnfp worked very well. Dad had some 20 grain 296 loads under that bullet, no idea the pressure. Lyman says 8.6 of #5 is best under 452-270-ssa and 6.5 true blue is best under Redding #454 a 300. Both of those are max. Just for calculations the 300 goes down to 7.5 of #5 as max.
 
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AJC1 said:
If your getting good performance out of #9 you must be approaching 30-35kpsi. That's the no man's land between 45c a 454. I'm very interested in the 20kpsi range and 10.0 unique under a 250 rnfp worked very well. Dad had some 20 grain 296 loads under that bullet, no idea the pressure. Lyman says 8.6 of #5 is best under 452-270-ssa and 6.5 true blue is best under Redding #454 a 300. Both of those are max. Just for calculations the 300 goes down to 7.5 of #5 as max.
Click to expand...
Nowadays I load Cast Performance, which is an LBT mold, and Hunters Supply, which I’m not sure about. It might be an NOE mold.
I gave up casting in ‘88 and decided it was a better use of my time to be in the blind with loaded guns waiting for the dumbest buck in the herd to find my feeder. 😁👍

FWIW, I’m down to my last .45Colt - sold the Colt, all the Ubertis and Piettas, and my 10” Contender barrel - and it’s a 4-5/8” Birds Head made for speed at close range, but it will hunt for me.
Early Vaquero built on the heavy Blackhawk frame.
A Couple More Rugers .jpeg
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
Nowadays I load Cast Performance, which is an LBT mold, and Hunters Supply, which I’m not sure about. It might be an NOE mold.
I gave up casting in ‘88 and decided it was a better use of my time to be in the blind with loaded guns waiting for the dumbest buck in the herd to find my feeder. 😁👍

FWIW, I’m down to my last .45Colt - sold the Colt, all the Ubertis and Piettas, and my 10” Contender barrel - and it’s a 4-5/8” Birds Head made for speed at close range, but it will hunt for me.
Early Vaquero built on the heavy Blackhawk frame.
View attachment 1180469
Click to expand...
Well then you'll not be interested in that 429 Lyman 44 cal mold I found in dad's stuff... got a bag three to 4x as much as I sent you of 44 cases and no gun. I passed on a Marlin 44 lever last week, still questioning that decision. They have a 35rem this week they want to much for the condition, and then the brass problem. I'll just keep looking for that 41mag.
 
AJC1 said:
If your getting good performance out of #9 you must be approaching 30-35kpsi. That's the no man's land between 45c a 454. I'm very interested in the 20kpsi range and 10.0 unique under a 250 rnfp worked very well. Dad had some 20 grain 296 loads under that bullet, no idea the pressure. Lyman says 8.6 of #5 is best under 452-270-ssa and 6.5 true blue is best under Redding #454 a 300. Both of those are max. Just for calculations the 300 goes down to 7.5 of #5 as max.
Click to expand...
I have loaded 9.2gr of Unique under the HS 255gr LSWC for the short barrel. I haven’t shot anything heavier than a 5gr load of Red Dot in some time, though. It puts pretty round holes in paper. 👍
 
There is no such thing as 1100 fps standard pressure 300gr 45 Colt loads suitable for Colts and S&W Model 25s in a Speer manual (or any other), per the quote in the OP. All the pressure tested data I've seen is under 900 fps.

There is a scattering of 45 Colt 300gr cast bullet Ruger and T/C Only loads at 1100 fps or more using several Hodgdon, Accurate, and Ramshot powders.
 
A quick reminder to y’all about those “Ruger Only” loads: that means the New Model Blackhawk and Redhawk, Super Blackhawk and Super Redhawk frames, not the medium frame New Model Vaquero and Flattop models.

From what I’ve read and observed, the .45 Colt medium frame New Vaquero and the .45 Colt/.45ACP flattop BH can handle a steady diet of a bit more than the 14Kpsi pressures described by SAAMI and probably the so-called Tier 2 loads (20K psi) as defined by Brian Pearce but NOT 30Kpsi+ “Ruger, T/C, FA Only” loads.

My favorite gunsmith showed me a couple of New Vaqueros with bulged cylinders from shooting “Ruger Only Alaskan Bear” loads - he said Ruger was replacing them but not for free. Nobody got hurt thank goodness but the damage was more than just buffing out the cylinders.
 
I threw you a couple of links via PM that I hope you can use.

FWIW, I load several bullets in the 265 - 290'ish grain range for my Redhawk. I'm using the Linebaugh load with HS-6 for all of them. Three or four of them are from the MP molds and the other is an Accurate mold.

They all shoot really well and are moving plenty fast enough for me.
 
Onty said:
Looking for reloading data for 45 Colt, 300 LFN, about 1100 fps, from SPEER reloading manual. Since that load was mentioned in the post from 2009, I am assuming it should be in their manual from that year, or earlier ones.

Unfortunately, original website where I found about this load is now down, but here is the text written by Terry Murbach:

"...I DO KNOW I CAN RUN 300gr BULLETS AT 1100FPS FROM ALL MY 45COLT SIXGUNS INCLUDING THE COLT AND S&W M25-5 GUNS OF VARIOUS BARREL LENGTHS WITH LOADS THAT ARE STRAIGHT OUT OF THE LAST FEW SPEER MANUALS.
A 45 CALIBER 300gr LFN BULLET AT 1100 WILL COMPLETELY PENETRATE ANY ANIMAL IN NORTH AMERICA AND YOU NEED NOTHING ELSE. MORE SPEED MAY FLATTEN THE TRAJECTORY A BIT-- darned LITTLE TOO AS A MATTER OF FACT-- BUT ALL YOU ARE DOING AT 1100 OR 1300 IS POKING A 45 CALIBER HOLE IN AND A 45 CALIBER HOLE OUT..."

A scan of that page would be great.

Thanks
Click to expand...
A 300 grain bullet @ 1100 fps is a RUGER ONLY load per the Speer #12 manual. Do not persue this terrible idea that this load can be fired out of any 45 colt chambered firearm. Your info is flat wrong.

Thank you for coming here first,

murf
 
CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

@murf thank you for advise and pointing this issue. Personally, I will use such load and similar ones, with pressures above standard SAAMI for 45 Colt, in large frame NMBH only.

However, from I could see, noted loads are intended not just for large frame NMBH, but also for other modern SAA revolvers, capable of taking loads up to 22000-23000 psi. In that respect, I would like to point Terry Murbach's statement "FROM ALL MY 45COLT SIXGUNS INCLUDING THE COLT AND S&W M25-5 GUNS". Further to that, in article A New Source for Hollow Point Bullet Moulds, http://www.lasc.us/FryxellMpMolds.htm , Glen E. Fryxell wrote :

Back when I was working up loads with the 284 grain Scovill bullet (the RCBS 45-270-SAA SWC), the best load I found in my guns was 13.0 grains of HS-6, which gave 1050-1150 fps, depending on barrel length, and excellent accuracy. According to the pressure data in the Hodgdon manual, this load generates roughly 22,000 CUP (again, not suitable for older, or weaker sixguns). So, naturally, I tried that load with the 280 grain (25-1 alloy) Miha Prevec HP. Once again, I got very good accuracy and velocities averaged 1162 fps. I like HS-6, it is a very useful revolver powder.

For many years, my “go to” load for .45 Colt SWC's in the 250-280 grain range was 14.0 grains of HS-7. Sadly, HS-7 is no longer available, so I needed something to replace this load. I have had very good results using 13.0 grains of Accurate Arms #7 underneath 300 grain cast bullets in the .45 Colt, so I decided to try this powder out with Miha’s HP. 14.0 grains of Acc. Arms #7 delivered very good accuracy, no leading and 1102 fps. According to the pressure data in the Accurate Arms loading manual, this combination should generate roughly 19,000 CUP. This would make an excellent hunting load.

Also, here is the extract/copy from Handloader magazine about various levels loads for 45 Colt https://i.imgur.com/KuhcxYo.jpg .

In that respect, anybody loading for 45 Colt should know what kind of revolver is the load, and should make sure that revolver is capable of shooting it safely.

On the end, talking about bullet 45-503-SWC I proposed back in 2011, (see post #8 here), I stumbled upon article:

DIY heavy hitters for your .45 Colt​

Hot lead makes for hotter loads

G0421-Think-Tank-3.jpg

The line-up, below, from left to right — .45 Marlin Carbine, 503 45, 45 270
SAA, 310 “K” in solid and HP, and lastly, the .45 Ruger Only slug.

503 .45​

This is simply a .44 slug in the same style of Elmer’s famous .44 slug, as made by Hensley & Gibbs, but in .45 caliber dimensions. The larger caliber drops these slugs at a hefty 290 grains of Elmer perfection. A good shooter, 20 grains of 2400 or 22 grains of H110 will easily go over 1,200 FPS in most handguns and provide all the accuracy you can hold.

From "GUNS" magazine, April 2017 issue https://gunsmagazine.com/our-experts/diy-heavy-hitters-for-your-45-colt/
 
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GeoDudeFlorida said:
A quick reminder to y’all about those “Ruger Only” loads: that means the New Model Blackhawk and Redhawk, Super Blackhawk and Super Redhawk frames, not the medium frame New Model Vaquero and Flattop models.

From what I’ve read and observed, the .45 Colt medium frame New Vaquero and the .45 Colt/.45ACP flattop BH can handle a steady diet of a bit more than the 14Kpsi pressures described by SAAMI and probably the so-called Tier 2 loads (20K psi) as defined by Brian Pearce but NOT 30Kpsi+ “Ruger, T/C, FA Only” loads.

My favorite gunsmith showed me a couple of New Vaqueros with bulged cylinders from shooting “Ruger Only Alaskan Bear” loads - he said Ruger was replacing them but not for free. Nobody got hurt thank goodness but the damage was more than just buffing out the cylinders.
Click to expand...
Have you seen 20kpsi tier 2 loads collected anywhere? One might hope Lyman might break them out but I'm not holding my breath...
 
CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

Just found SPEER No. 12 load data on internet https://www.scribd.com/document/679773759/speer-reloading-manual-12th-edition-1995 , extract about load for 300 grains in 45 Colt https://i.imgur.com/l0SzyUJ.jpg .

Maxim pressure is 25000 CUP for the top load of W296 powder (23.0 grains), however, starting load (20.7 grains) develops 1084 fps, quite close to 1100 fps Murbach is talking about. Further to that, going down for 2.3 grains from top load, should reduce pressure from 25000 CUP. If Murbach was using lead bullet instead of jacketed one as listed, pressure could be close to 22000 CUP or even less.

However, when going to Hodgdon website for loads in 45 Colt (FOR RUGER, FREEDOM ARMS AND T/C CONTENDER ONLY), and finding there loads for 300 Speer bullet, using H110 powder (loads for W296 not listed) https://i.imgur.com/F9c6fP3.jpg , something quite different emerges. Top load of H110 is 22.2 grains and listed pressure is 30100 CUP. Compare that with SPEER load of 23.5 grains that suppose to make 25000 CUP.

To be frank, I was thinking about removing all I posted here. However, I decided to leave everything as is, so others could see what is (was) going on, and make sure to take everything in magazines and internet with grain of salt.

The bottom line, IMHO, old manuals should go on the top of the shelf, just as nice memorabilia, and only latest loading data should be used. And as I mentioned before, my point is; for anything hotter than standard 45 Colt load, Ruger large frame NMBH and similar revolvers only. Although this might sound as overkill for some, keep in mind that 290-300 grains bullet at 1100 fps is quite snappy load, with recoil that goes with it. In that case, a heavier, large frame NMBH, especially Bisley, is much easier on hand than lighter 1873 style revolvers, read that; more recoil, more time for next shots.

Please correct me if I omitted something.
 
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