where to go w/45 Colt in Rifle

[.45Coltguy]

Tallinar, you sure are right about that Red Dot load in .45 Colt.

 

[BigBoomD]

This is a good recent thread so I will tag on, I am also trying to work up a load for my Rossi r92, 20”. Am using clays universal which seems to pretty much match unique for the load amounts. Using home cast Lee 255 RNFP. 8.0 grains matches velocity of my factory LAX ammo also 255 grains. 1000 FPS. Accuracy of my loads is really not great with group sizes about 2 to 3 times bigger than the lax ammo. But, it is pretty close to both the magtec and the atomic in terms of accuracy. I am chasing the LAX ammo accuracy. It is the only plated bullet. I am thinking that the plated bullet survives the jump to the lands better than cast. Because in my rifle with normal cartridge lengths, that is about .070”. I will be loading some overly long cartridges (I don’t shoot these in any other fun where this would be an issue) to test this theory. I am hoping to get something accurate in the 1000 FPS range, but the Rossi can handle hot loads. Have seen with universal loads mentioned all the way up to 12 grains. I have gone to 11.6 with no signs of over pressure. 1300 FPS or so. Also suffering from accuracy issues. When chasing this faster load, I am now supersonic. Am I supersonic enough to not get instability as the bullet slows and goes transonic? Wonder if I might be chasing my tail at this faster load if this ends up being the problem.
Questions I mull:
Is it my bullet style? The magtec, atomic and mine are all the traditional RNFP while the lax is a truncated cone.
Is it my powder choice?
Is it a plated bullet vs cast issue?
Should I just be content with a subsonic load and not chase a faster load? I was hoping that my heavier loading would get me closer or over 1400 and therefore not have to worry about the transition to subsonic at the shorter distances I will shoot. But maybe 1300 is enough? How far away from the speed of sound does one need to be to be stable in flight?
Thanks for any insights on my ramblings.

 

[.45Coltguy]

This is a good recent thread so I will tag on, I am also trying to work up a load for my Rossi r92, 20”. Am using clays universal which seems to pretty much match unique for the load amounts. Using home cast Lee 255 RNFP. 8.0 grains matches velocity of my factory LAX ammo also 255 grains. 1000 FPS. Accuracy of my loads is really not great with group sizes about 2 to 3 times bigger than the lax ammo. But, it is pretty close to both the magtec and the atomic in terms of accuracy. I am chasing the LAX ammo accuracy. It is the only plated bullet. I am thinking that the plated bullet survives the jump to the lands better than cast. Because in my rifle with normal cartridge lengths, that is about .070”. I will be loading some overly long cartridges (I don’t shoot these in any other fun where this would be an issue) to test this theory. I am hoping to get something accurate in the 1000 FPS range, but the Rossi can handle hot loads. Have seen with universal loads mentioned all the way up to 12 grains. I have gone to 11.6 with no signs of over pressure. 1300 FPS or so. Also suffering from accuracy issues. When chasing this faster load, I am now supersonic. Am I supersonic enough to not get instability as the bullet slows and goes transonic? Wonder if I might be chasing my tail at this faster load if this ends up being the problem.
Questions I mull:
Is it my bullet style? The magtec, atomic and mine are all the traditional RNFP while the lax is a truncated cone.
Is it my powder choice?
Is it a plated bullet vs cast issue?
Should I just be content with a subsonic load and not chase a faster load? I was hoping that my heavier loading would get me closer or over 1400 and therefore not have to worry about the transition to subsonic at the shorter distances I will shoot. But maybe 1300 is enough? How far away from the speed of sound does one need to be to be stable in flight?
Thanks for any insights on my ramblings.

I've had pretty good luck with 7.2gr Universal/250gr rnfp bullet in my three .45 Colt's; one being a Henry with 20" barrel, other two are 5.5" barreled revolvers.

 

[Rule3]

Np mention of the brass being used?? Mixed brass or all the same headstamp??

 

[25-20 WCF]

When shooting from bags I rest the forearm on the front bag back as close to the receiver as I can. My offhand is squeezing the bag under the stock for any minor adjustments that are needed. My technique could be flawed, but I've shot plenty of rifles this way with satisfactory results. I cannot ever remember shooting a lever gun from a bench though…

Not sure if the OP will visit his thread again, but IME his free-recoil technique is flawed and is likely a contributor to his accuracy problem. Whenever I tried to shoot my M94 in .45LC by just resting the forend on the bags it shot terrible groups. Why? Because the light carbine combined with a long barrel time (low velocity) allows the rifle to move quite a bit in recoil before the bullet exits the muzzle. Unless this movement is controlled, the muzzle will be in a different place for each shot - ruining accuracy. Rifles with higher velocities don’t exhibit this problem as much and free recoiling works for them. Too, POI is often different depending on how the lever action rifle is held.

My best results were achieved by gripping the forend and resting that hand on the bags. With the buttstock on the rear bag I could shoot much better groups than with free recoil. This helps to explain why the OP had better results holding the rifle offhand than he did off the bench.

BTW, when hunting or plinking you are gripping the forend, right?




.

 

[Obturation]

Just goes that way sometimes. My 357 carbine won't shoot my revolver load at all- 158 swc over 14gr or 2400, great load for every revolver I've shot. That was disappointing, I've only found jacketed loads that work well but I'm still trying some cast bullets in it hoping I can find a cast load a revolver & carbine can agree on.

 

[Bartojc]

My best results were achieved by gripping the forend and resting that hand on the bags. With the buttstock on the rear bag I could shoot much better groups than with free recoil. This helps to explain why the OP had better results holding the rifle offhand than he did off the bench.

That is an interesting perspective. I had not thought that much about it. I have not made it back out with that rifle but when I do in the next few weeks I am going to try some different methods. I have to admit until this rifle I had never shot a lever off of bags that I can remember. I’ll report back what I discover.

Jeff

 

[Riomouse911]

My only addition would be to try jacketed bullets like the XTP to the mix and see if that changes anything. A couple of my rifles (44 mag Win 1894, Marlin 1895CB .45/70) do like the jacketed bullets over any lead load I seem to try.

Stay safe.

 

[.45Coltguy]

My only addition would be to try jacketed bullets like the XTP to the mix and see if that changes anything. A couple of my rifles (44 mag Win 1894, Marlin 1895CB .45/70) do like the jacketed bullets over any lead load I seem to try.

Stay safe.

Agreed.^^^ My Mod 94 30-30 seems to prefer jacketed Hornady 150's or 170's over lead.

 

[Charlie98]

That is an interesting perspective. I had not thought that much about it. I have not made it back out with that rifle but when I do in the next few weeks I am going to try some different methods. I have to admit until this rifle I had never shot a lever off of bags that I can remember. I’ll report back what I discover.

Jeff

I never really thought much of it, either, until I picked up a H&R Classic Hunter in .45 Colt. Indeed... where you rest the forearm dictates a lot on it's performance at the target... I'd never seen that before.

 

[Ovendoctor]

had the same issue with my mod 25 S&W I bumped up the cast SWC from .452 to .454 and the group tightened right up
like it was all ready said slug the boar
also scrub the boar with JB compound it could be a bit on the rough side

Mike