45 LC and 200gr. bullets

[zacharoo]

I am from Louisiana . The marsh deer here are 100lb. for a good sized deer. I am wondering. Have any of you ever used the Oregon trail 200 gr. .452 dia. 200 gr. bullet for deer in the 45 LC. I would like a little help on this. I figure a hard cat bullet of this weight and dia. at about 1100 or 1200 at most would at least break a shoulder??????????? Need a little advise on powder and loads. I have on hand Bullseye, Herco, Blue Dot,2400, HS6 and HS7 powder.

Zacharoo

 

[sixshot]

Zach, deer aren't hard to kill, most times the shooter has too much velocity........recoil, makes a bad hit & blames the gun. If your loads are doing 1000-1100 fps you will never lose a deer with good hits, ever.
I was just talking with a forum member today about this very thing, those people who haven't taken game with a handgun expect to hit one around the edges & knock it to the ground like a 300 Weatherby, if you want rifle results....use a rifle! Put a good handgun bullet in a good place & good things happen, everytime. Use that 45 colt with great confidence, its a proven game getter.
After you've taken 10 deer with that bullet & never recovered one, & you won't, ask yourself if you need more bullet or more power.

Dick

 

[zacharoo]

I have been using the blackhawk for a wile now. I was just wondering about a lighter bullet.With less recoil My wife or daughter might get interested in my other blackhawk to go with me some times. Anything to get them in a deer stand!!!
Zacharoo

 

[slippingaway]

I like HS6 for my 45lc loads, 13 gr should propel that 200gr bullet with more than enough power to get a deer.

 

[rugerbh73]

zacharoo, how are you, I'm from Louisiana too. I load 270gr. SWC with 13 gr HS6 for between 1000fps and 1100fps (pretty mild recoil from 51/2" bisley). I got the load from John Linebaugh's website. He's got some great articles on 45colt performance and hand loads.

I also read a John Taffin article somewhere where he stated that he would not hesitate to hunt deer with a 200gr SWC at 1000fps from a 45auto rim. Lot's of good info on his website also.

I really can't say how they will perform on game since all but one of the deer I've killed with a revolver have been with factory Winchester 44mag 240sjsp. The other one was with 315gr Garrett load. That was a little overkill.

If you have a convertable BH, then you can safely load 45acp with 200-250gr bullets up to 950-1000fps. They will only be safe in a good strong revolver, not an auto. There's a good article on Taffin's website about that subject.

My oldest daughters are 12 years old. They love to shoot my Taurus judge with 410's in moderation (especially at floating targets in a drain ditch). I think my 270gr 45colt load with 13gr HS6/bisley BH is equal to or less recoil than the 410's in the Judge. When and if my girls get ready to transition from rifle to revolver for deer hunting, I will probably load up some 44-45 caliber 240-250gr cast swc or LBT bullets at around 950-1000fps for them.

Good luck,
Rugerbh73

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!
Sixshot is absolutely correct. The 45 Colt is certainly enough gun to take down whitetail deer in your area. However,,, since you are working towards getting your wife or daughter in the stand,, I too would suggest a milder shooting rifle as their first deer gun. It's easier & more accurate at longer ranges to shoot,, and in a caliber such as a 243, 7mm-08, or 308 it's PLENTY for deer.
But if they must have the 45 Colt,, then a 200 grn cast lead bullet in that velocity range WILL get the job done,,, IF & only IF the bullet placement is correct. As sixshot says,, don't expect "edge" hits to anchor a deer.
Just yesterday I was out at my range with a few of my centerfire revolvers. I had 2 of my 45 Colts, a 44 Spl, & a 44 mag. With a rest at 100 yds,, I was keeping all my shots in 6-8" groups on different types of targets. I checked a few loads at 25 yds,, and one of my 44 mag loads shot a 1-1/2" group a few times. Then at 100 yds,, it was hitting plastic soda bottles almost every time I settled the sights correctly for the range. If I missed, it was usually either a little low,, or just to one side or the other. Still,, very accurate at 100 yds. My 45 Colt Bisley was chewing up a clump of grass at 100 as well. My spotter was commenting on how easy I made it look.

 

[Bucks Owin]

I have been using the blackhawk for a wile now. I was just wondering about a lighter bullet.With less recoil My wife or daughter might get interested in my other blackhawk to go with me some times. Anything to get them in a deer stand!!!
Zacharoo

My 12 yr old, 70 pound son has no problem accurately shooting WW 45 Colt 225 gr Silvertips stiffarmed off the bench (where he gets a little more "felt" recoil than offhand) They chrono at 824 from our 7.5" BH and would flatten a deer in short order I'm sure. I'm not sure if WW still makes that fine (and accurate!) load, this was some old stock we bought up at a gun shop a few years ago, but there are equivelent loads out there. Heck, low velocity "cowboy action loads" oughta work for 100 lb deer plunked in the ribcage. My skinny teenage daughter loves shooting the .45 Colt more than her M-19 S&W. I reckon your wimmenfolk could get used to standard .45 loads in fairly short order unless they've done very little previous shooting...Let 'em try a few rounds and make sure they use hearing protection. The "bark" is sometimes worse than the "bite".....savvy? :wink: Best of luck... (BTW, I'm not a fan of 180/200 gr bullets in the .45 Colt. I guess they're OK for CAS but I've never seen the accuracy/uniformity from them that I get from heavier slugs. To me 225 gr is about minimum and 300/325 is about optimum. Remember, you don't HAVE to try to push the heavyweights to 1300 fps in regard to recoil... 8)