Red Dot vs Promo for Henry 45 Colt / 250 gr Berry's

[LiveLife]

A friend recently bought a Henry Big Boy lever action chambered for 45 Colt and we got to range test the initial loads today.

FWIW, an old timer (probably a bit older than rc even) once told me 6 gr of Red Dot under a 250gr L bullet was the standard load for 45 colt back when he was big into reloading. That would be over 40 yrs ago.

I had initially planned on starting my target load work up from 5.5 gr of Red Dot for Berry's 250 gr plated FN bullet sized at .452" but also loaded 6.0 gr Red Dot loads to test. Since I have happily used Promo for 9mm/45ACP lead target loads using Red Dot load data by weight, I also decided to load 5.5/6.0 gr Promo loads using new Starline brass and Winchester LP primers. OALs tested were 1.570"-1.575".

All the cases were resized on C-H single stage press and hand primed. Powder drops from Lee Perfect Powder Measure were verified to .1-.2 gr on Ohaus 10-10.

Range report:

5.5 gr Red Dot/Promo loads shot accurate with no visible smoke and light recoil. Report almost sounded like a deep "pop" or "poop". As GaryL and others posted, 6.0 gr Red Dot/Promo loads "felt" better but still with light recoil. The loads were fun to shoot and we are both hooked on 45 Colt!

I am looking forward to testing some lead MBC loads next using 250 gr RNFP (12 BHN Cowboy #1), 230 gr RN (12 BHN Bullseye #1) and 200 gr RNFP (12 BHN Cowboy #4).

 

[Walkalong]

Sounds like a fun day.

 

[john wall]

Red Dot and Promo have the same burn speed and use the same loading data.

Density is different between the two, only of interest if loading by volume and swapping powders.

Promo is cheaper, but is in high demand by clay target shooters for economical 12 ga loads.

The 45 Colt's does indeed rock!

 

[GaryL]

Thanks for the range report. Good to know about the Red Dot, since I recently acquired some. I've been using some old Unique powder for 45 Colt, and eventually that will run out.