single action shooters...???'s about .45LC loads

[kmrcstintn]

I have just got an Uberti Cattleman Millenium for a nostaligc & range gun...looks like this one:

http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=66081144

off track a bit: I have several .357 magnum revolvers that will be used for hunting, scouting, hiking, and while working around the hunting camp; I was thinking of mixing in the single action to spice things up a bit; I would only be using the Uberti as a defensive gun while in camp...

with the understanding that this single action handgun is a Colt SAA replica and not meant to shoot hotter commercial or handloads, what loads would you use for:

1) a good hollowpoint for 2 legged critters

2) a good solid for penetration (bears, coyotes. etc?)

remember, this is for camp defense and not for outright hunting purposes...

thanks

 

[mavracer]

buffalo bore has standard pressure loads that are hot. 200 speer gold dot at 1100 fps and 255 swc at 1000 fps should fill the bill . they're a little expensive though. also speer has 250 gold dots that run 900 fps may work for both

 

[bakert]

Don't know what kind of bears you have but for most purposes a 255 to 260 gr hard cast bullet at about 850 or a bit more will handle most things encountered.

 

[Jim March]

The "classic answer" in defensive JHPs for the 45LC has been a 200gr doing about 1,100ish. Cor-Bon has such a critter, BuffBore now as well, several others I believe.

Speer re-wrote the book with their 250 - it looks like a super-sized version of the 135gr slug that has gotten such attention as a 38+P. BIG fat hollowpoint. It's a round I would not under any circumstances want to be hit with.

For a "woods load" a 255gr hardcast doing 1,000ish is about as good as it gets in that class gun.

The neat thing about the Speer 250 is that it's basically the same weight as the better woods loads. Which means it's likely to print to about the same elevation more or less. A 200 is less likely to go to the same place on a fixed-sight gun so in that application the 250 is a breakthough.

 

[Sistema1927]

250 or 255 hard cast at ~900 will put down both man or beast at reasonable handgun ranges and won't stress either your gun or your hands.

 

[Majic]

A good 250~255 grain cast bullet with a wide flat nose pushed to around 850~900 fps will handle most things encountered.

 

[Dirty Bob]

Lee makes a mould for a flat-point .45 bullet, weighing in at about 255 grains IIRC. That might be an inexpensive starting point, if you reload (and you should, with .45 Colt). John Ross wrote a very good essay once on loading .44 Mag. A lot of the principles should apply to the .45 Colt.

Regards,
Dirty Bob

 

[Hanzerik]

I just picked up the 357 model of the Millenium. Like it so much that I'm also going to get the .45 when I save up enough cash.

I have been shooting .38 Specials out of it, but it'll handle modern factory .357 loads. A bit more meat was left on the cylinder and barrel walls then on the .45.

I still love the versatility of the 45 so I am going to grab one and give the 357 to the wife. I'll probably get into reloading so hopefully it’ll save me some money.

 

[MCgunner]

The Speer 200 grain gold dot would be my choice, basically the same ballistics as the .45ACP 200 grain +P. Any 255 grain cast flat point at 900 to 1000 fps would be about all you could ask for and all you should shoot in your gun for outdoor use. Don't do ANY .45 colt that has a +P rating for Ruger strength only revolvers.

 

[crebralfix]

I shoot rounds so light out of a Ruger Vaquero, you could practically fling them out of the barrel faster. These rounds are just 200 grain lead bullets on top of a minimum charge of powder. These are only good for competition

 

[kmrcstintn]

thanks all who replied; please consider this topic closed; I took the gun to a shop to get a holster for it and I had my Steven 200 in toe to shop for a new scope for it (the older Redfield that was handed down to me has a few nicks in the surface of the eyepiece that show up really bad when in bright light outside)

long story short, after a lengthy discussion, the shop owner 'needed' the gun more than I did and I 'needed' a scope a lot more than he did (a regular customer won a Sightron SI 3-9 x 40 in a raffle and didn't need it and had it consigned at the regular price the shop sells them new for), so we did a swap and I got a great scope (he did the mounting and balancing for free since there was a long wait); I also got a box of .38's for practice with one of the revos and a new Remington pocket knife for carrying in the woods at no additional charge

in this case, I should have waited until all my necessities were addressed before buying stuff for fun...