New to 45 colt

I bought a new model blackhawk in 45colt/45acp. I have five full boxes of Oregon Trails Laser cut 230 grn round nose lead in .452. Will these work in my NMBH in 45colt and does anyone have load info for a soft shooting load to target shoot using these bullets. I have loaded many 45acp on the Dillon using extreme 200 grn plated bullets and 4.2 grains of clays and they shoot great. I have never loaded lead and would like to use up these laser cast in the new hawk. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

When I started loading 45 Colt, everyone here suggested Unique powder. I tried it and found my 7 1/2 inch Blackhawk to be very accurate with this powder.

Your Oregon Trail bullets will just fine in your gun.
And yes,, you can easily load & shoot lead bullets in your Blackhawk. One thing many overlook is to match the size (diameter) of a cast bullet to the bore of your gun.
Go over to www.castboolits.com & study things. Too much info for me to type out here.

I own several 45 Colt SA handguns. Throats MAY,, MAY,,, need reaming. Again, it takes a bit of tinkering to determine it. Our own members here,, 2dogs, and DougGuy both offer excellent service, quick turnaround, and VERY reasonable pricing of doing the cylinder,, IF,, IF,, needed.

I second the use of Unique in your 45 Blackhawk for both cartridges. Been using that combo for over 20 years.

A Unique fan myself, but if you have or would like to try other powders, Hodgden loading data shows loads for a 230 grain round flat nose lead bullet that data could surely be used from. You want mild, so it's a win/win to start on the low side of powder charges. Mild & safe.

Unique is a great choice. HS-6 is a good powder for cast loads.

You bought yourself a winner! Lots of good powder choices for both of your cartridges & Unique is one of the best & one of the most popular among long time 45 shooters. You will want to use a roll crimp on your 45 Colt loads & a taper crimp on your 45 ACP loads. You will want to end up with a loaded measurement "about" .470" with your 45 ACP depending on the brand of brass. This is at the case mouth with a bullet seated.

Dick

I doubt that those 230 lead bullets have a crimp grove. If I'm right about that you can crimp over the driving band or possibly use some sort of taper crimp. In either event, do pay attention to case tension...meaning that you'll need quite a bit when fooling around with "soft shooting" 45LC loads.
In other words...that big ole .45LC case is not going to seal well with under pressure loads. Think lots of case blow by and poor powder burn here. In my experience, it takes close to 8 grains of Unique under a 250-ish bullet before the case starts to seal properly and 8.5 is much better...but...8.0-8.5 is purty-much a SAAMI-spec load which ain't all that "soft shooting".

Myself, if I had a .45ACP cylinder to work with, that's the cartridge I'd use for the type of load you have in mind.

DGW

I am in the midst of an experiment now with my new to me 45 Colt. My first 50 rounds were factory stuff but it was mostly to see if the gun functioned and for some brass. I have a few molds for 45 ACP bullets so I loaded some 225 gr. round nose (Lyman design) over starting loads of Trail boss and some with W231. Since the bullets have no crimp groove I seated the bullets to near max OAL and this put the ogive slightly below the case mouth and I used a light roll crimp (I'm using RCBS "cowboy" dies). I sized the bullets to fit the cylinder throats; .452"+ (mebbe .4525") and expect good results. Due too health reasons I haven't fired them yet, but will in the next week or two. With careful attention to load data and common sense about crimping non groove bullets, there is no reason why 45 ACP bullets shouldn't work in a 45 Colt gun...

If yer new to reloading lead, just make sure they fit your gun (cylinder throats) and flare the cases to prevent lead shaving during seating. For answers to just about any question regarding casting, loading, shooting cast bullets look here; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

Later; Double checked and remembered I bought a Lee collet crimp for subsequent reloads, 255 gr cast SWC over W231 and Trail Boss. Now all I gotta do is be able to walk far enough to set up/retrieve targets and chrony so I can go shootin'...

Those Oregon trail bullets like to be pushed closer to max load, or even ruger only, I couldn't get good accuracy out of them , especially with mild loadings, finally gave up on them and swith ed to acme bullet co. Their hi tek coated bullets have been very good for me , I also like titegroup powder , now if I could get rid of the Oregon trail bullets I have left over , maybe 200 or so , make an offer if interested, willing to let them go cheap , will count them if any interest, they are a 250 gn rnfp, maybe closer to 300 left from a 500 box

The powders that I like are, 1st choice is Unique,
Alliant Red Dot, Alliant Bullseye, American Select,
and Long Shot (for my Bear Load). Trail Boss (last place).

For Bullets I'm using Oregon Bullets Laser Cast.
They have been accurate in my 45Colt, 44Mag,
44Spl, and 357Mag. I usually run them about
850 fps (some where in that range).

My current 45 Colt reload is:
250gr RNFP round nose flat point Oregon Trail,
SWC semi wad cutter works also the same.
6.0 grs Alliant Red Dot.
CCI LP large pistol.
Medium roll crimp (what I think is medium).
Approx. 800fps. An accurate reload for me.
From Brian in Handloading Magazine.

For Lead free performance I Tumble Lube bullets with
Ben's Liquid Lube formula (Topic over on Castboolits).

There is a lot of good advise here, I would pay
attention to it. Good luck in your endeavors.

Thank you all. I plan to use up these OT before buying more as I have about 6 500 round boxes of them , which were given to me some time back.i have 230 dt round nose plated bullets from extreme for the 45 acp. The acp will be loaded on my Dillon square deal . I. Not new reloading , just new to using lead and to the 45 colt caliber. I thank you so much for the information and will post results in a couple weeks when I get the dies and load some up. Thanks again guys,
Bob

For "NEW YORKER'S" and "WASHINGTON D.C." , he is a BRAIN as you say especially for all of us here in the Heartland of America... He's a REAL Cowboy and so it seems his family are too. He does a lot of Leg Work for the rest of us. I hope he keeps writing.....

Look in "The Norsemen"s" post towards the end and you will see what I am talking about BRAIN in Handloading Magazine's remark towards the end

A few other powders I use with great results with .45 Colt are 2400, AA#9, and IMR4227.

I've been using Unique for the past 50 years and have recently switched to Trail Boss just because is seems a bit more gentle to me. They both are more than accurate for me (and I shoot whatever lead 45cal bullets, 200gr. and above, that I find).

.45 Colt. I don't shoot anything lighter than 250g bullets in mine. Most of my shooting is with 250g RNFP. Unique, Universal, BE-86 or 20/28 are always good choices, but I now shoot mostly 7.0g Green Dot under 250g RNFP for my general loads. I use 13.0g HS-6 under 255g SWC for my woods load. Good enough for me. I found several good loads with other powders too (True Blue, Longshot, CFE Pistol, IMR 4227 as examples). And you can always load up a case with Black Powder/Substitute for some smoky fun!

Thanks for the information. Dies cam in , now if I can get a little time this weekend I will try em out.

Have been using 8.3 grains of Unique with lead bullets in my 45 blackhawk for years/ decades with outstanding results. 230 and 250 grain bullets are dead on and never left a trace of lead in the barrel. Also they are a comfortable shooting load for the entire family.

250 grain Lee that drops at 262 grain over W231 in an Evil Roy.