Ruger Flattop .45 colt and Rossi 92

Good Day,
Picked up a used Rossi Stainless Hartford model 92 thinking companion for Flattop .45

I would like to use same ammo and considering taking out for whitetails.

I have Lee carbide dies and some .45 hard cast 255 bullets that I have been shooting {not much }out of Flattop using 8.5 grains of Unique. Have not shot rifle yet, only cleaned dirty barrel so far.

Really somewhat new to reloading .45 colts so have only used the one load so far.

Any factory cartridge suggestions or recipes for using same loads in these two weapons are greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot,
Smiley

The Rossi could possibly withstand more chamber pressure than the Flat Top so loads will need to be tailored pressure wise to the Ruger.
The Ruger will handle just about any bullet nose shape, but the Rossi will not. So bullet choice will largely depend on the Rossi.
A balancing act maybe, but not that hard to do & the outcome can be very rewarding.
My experience with similar combo's has been that the rifle will produce about 30% more velocity than the revolver with the same load.
Have fun, be safe.

From the FWIW Dept:

My own Rossi .45LC levergun handles 250-255 SWC, flat-nose and round nose ammo equally well...which is to also say that neither design has presented a single problem.
As for developing a different/special load...no, I use the same 8.0-8.5 Unique load in it that I've used in Colt-sized 6-guns for decades. About the only thing there to be aware of is that you will get better results at that power-level by using a relatively soft bullet as opposed to the much more common "hard cast" variety.
Pistol primers work fine in the rifle. Myself, I'm real fond of Winchester's WLP.

I've yet to put a good hit on anything using that load which didn't go down and stay down. In my experience, it has a lot more power than it's paper-ballistics suggest. No further hot-rodding needed. Leastways, not for our Southeast Texas pigs and white tails. Heck, most of the time the bullet goes clean-through the deer as it is, so...

DGW

BTW look at the Hornady FTX "lever revolution" 220 grain bullets. they have a pointed nose that polymer so they will work in tube magazines. they go 1150fps! There is also a lower performance Hornady load with lower performance. I've not used them but a friend has a 45-70 and when he switched to them he said that it added a good 50 yards to the rifle.

Hornady 10 edition and the Lyman 50th are available on Kindle so almost any device. Western and Hogdon both have good online sights and printed manuals.

Thanks a lot. Appreciate the info. Yes, I was thinking that loads would need to be tailored to Flattop, meaning no Ruger only loads appropriate in larger frame Blackhawks.
As far as soft cast bullets, any suggestions where to buy them sized, lubed and ready to load"?
I have a bunch of lead ingots marked Lyman but have no idea as to hardness. I have cast round balls for .62 fowler and .54 flintlocks but understand that hardness may be more of an issue in rifles and pistols as far as leading goes.

I would spring for a new bullet mould if I could be certain my lead would be appropriate for bullet casting but being a newbie of sorts, find that a little daunting right now.

Basically lining up some hobbies for approaching retirement in a year. This stuff looks like fun.

Smiley

Thanks a lot. Appreciate the info. Yes, I was thinking that loads would need to be tailored to Flattop, meaning no Ruger only loads appropriate in larger frame Blackhawks.
As far as soft cast bullets, any suggestions where to buy them sized, lubed and ready to load"?
I have a bunch of lead ingots marked Lyman but have no idea as to hardness. I have cast round balls for .62 fowler and .54 flintlocks but understand that hardness may be more of an issue in rifles and pistols as far as leading goes.

I would spring for a new bullet mould if I could be certain my lead would be appropriate for bullet casting but being a newbie of sorts, find that a little daunting right now.

Basically lining up some hobbies for approaching retirement in a year. This stuff looks like fun.

Smiley

You can do 'ballpark' hardness tests on your lead ingots, such as seeing if you can scratch it with a thumbnail, or dropping an ingot onto a concrete floor to discern the noise. Yeah, not at all scientific. Or, you can buy a relatively inexpensive Lee hardness tester. If you anticipate taking up bullet casting, or even shooting many store-bought cast bullets, I strongly recommend that you join the Cast Boolits Forum: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php

Checkout this thread in this forum

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=112310

The Blackhawk is probably stronger than your Rossi by a Good bit. The longer barrel is why different loads.

grobin said:

Checkout this thread in this forum

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=112310

The Blackhawk is probably stronger than your Rossi by a Good bit. The longer barrel is why different loads.

Click to expand...

We are discussing a "FLATTOP" 45 BH here, which is on the smaller frame...… not as strong as the regular BH.

The Rossi that in this case is chambered in 45 Colt, but is available on the same platform chambered in 44 Magnum, & 454 Casull. Indicating very good strength capabilities.

With that info..... there is a very good chance that the Ruger is not stronger than the Rossi 92 & was what I based my statement on.

That being the case they are likely equal. With cast loads real hot loads are seldom a good idea so it likely doesn't matter much. A load that will produce the best results in the Rossi is unlikely to perform as well in the fla r too due to the difference in barrel length.

grobin said:

That being the case they are likely equal. With cast loads real hot loads are seldom a good idea so it likely doesn't matter much. A load that will produce the best results in the Rossi is unlikely to perform as well in the fla r too due to the difference in barrel length.

Click to expand...

My actual experience says different.
My actual experience says that the load I mentioned in my first response works real-well out of both.

DGW

My Interarms 92 handles both rnfp and swc profiles 250-260 grains equally well. The 280 swc has to be single fed through the top. The Speer 200 grain jhp and 250 GDHP also feed well through the tube magazine.

I've been loading 250's with 7.0 grains W231 and it shoots well in both the Rossi and a Ruger Montado.

DGW,
Are you casting your own or are they store botten? I would like to buy some softer lead bullets for use in both since I keep hearing hard cast not as good. I would also like to try black powder as it is my true love.
If you buy them, can you let me know the brand and I will track them down. I like the idea of mild loads and have no real reason to soup them up.
Thanks again,
Smiley

I've used both the LEE 252 SWC and 255 RNFP molds with good success.
Back when I was participating in CAS competition, I bought all of my soft-cast bullets from an outfit in Florida called "Blackjack Bullets" because it was the only commercial casting firm I could find that used my preferred lube (Alox).
I'm certain there's other places that also make soft-cast bullets but I've got so many on still on hand, I really haven't looked in a long time.

At any rate...soft cast, flat base, Alox lube...that's the ticket.

DGW

One bullet you want to look at,, Hornady XTP. In 240 or 250 gr. I use these in my 77/50's for deer hunting. .45 Colt works great with several powders.

DGW1949 said:

grobin said:

That being the case they are likely equal. With cast loads real hot loads are seldom a good idea so it likely doesn't matter much. A load that will produce the best results in the Rossi is unlikely to perform as well in the fla r too due to the difference in barrel length.

Click to expand...

My actual experience says different.
My actual experience says that the load I mentioned in my first response works real-well out of both.

DGW

Click to expand...

My experience says the same thing...you can take this to the bank, Unique at 45 Colt levels