45Colt, 230gr Lead, and Green Dot

[greenmtnguy]

Like many others, I've been finding it quite difficult to get my usual powders and primers in any of the usual places. This past weekend, I picked up a pound of Green Dot, as that was all they had left that was close to what I wanted (no Unique, no HP38, no W231, not even HS-6 and no 2400) and I'm trying to stretch my remaining supply of Unique and 2400 for other things for now.

In the meantime, I have about 500 cast 230gr plain base .452 bullets I plan to use for plinking and paper punching, and I am thinking of trying Green Dot out with them. I know a common, easy load for 255gr lead in a Ruger Blackhawk is 6.8 - 7.0 grains of Green Dot, but I have no published recipe for 230gr with Green Dot in any of my manuals. I am thinking somewhere in the 7 - 7.2gr range might be a good starting point, looking for 800-900 fps. Anyone using Green Dot in 45 Colt care to share their knowledge?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I've had good luck with 6 grains of Green Dot under 250-grain LRN bullets.

I do not "recommend" this load, merely offer it as an observation.

I am not a ballistician.

I am not an expert on reloading.

Close cover before striking.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

YMMV

JMHO

Internet advice is worth exactly what you pay for it.

Good luck.

 

[Rclark]

Green Dot is my go to load for .45 Colt. I use 7.0g under 250g RNFP. Should work fine under your lighter bullet. Have no experience with any bullet under 250g in .45 Colt. As with anything you might want to run a few tests with different loads to find the most accurate in 'your' gun.

[edited]
Note a rule of thumb that Lee Martin mentioned (and I have found true) is load 1.0g less Green Dot than you would for the same load in Unique.

 

[RUFFBIRD]

Might be worth a call to the Co. powder tech. Just a thought!

 

[Lee Martin]

I'll second 7.0 of Green Dot with a 250 grain cast. It's very accurate and very mild. Green Dot is my go-to powder for reduced revolver work. I find it burns a tad cleaner than Unique and takes 1.0 grain less to hit similar speeds.

 

[LAH]

There is a little something about Green Dot here.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020212162750/http://www.sixgunner.com/paco/pprofile5.htm

 

[Lee Martin]

Thanks for that link. Green Dot is definitely one of the more overlooked handgun powders out there. I shoot it in everything from 32 H&R up to 45 Colt. For light-to-medium work it's stellar.

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

Green Dot loads are in the current Alliant manual. You can download it from at their website. You can also use the online Reloading Guide. It has Green Dot 45 ACP loads.

The current Alliant manual shows Green Dot being half a grain below Unique. The only Green Dot load listed for 230 gr bullets is for a lead bullet. The load is 5.3 gr Green Dot giving 842 fps.

The 2004 manual has 4.3 gr Green Dot for 805 fps @ 13200 psi with a lead bullet. 240 gr JHP is 5.4 gr, 845 fps, 19500 psi. 240 gr FMC is 5.4 gr, 910 fps, 16200 psi.

I have the One Book/One Caliber for 45 ACP. That series is handy and also has some older and uncommon data. I am not sure what manual editions it comes from, but the Lyman stuff is before #49. That book has data from Alliant. The lead load is the same as the 2004 manual. The jacketed data is different. For the 230 gr FMC it's 5.4 gr, 920 fps @ 15800 psi. No 230 gr JHP data. The Lyman section has the 452374 225 gr RN bullet. The Green Dot loads are 4.8 gr, 725 fps, 11400 CUP Starting and 5.8 gr, 845 fps, 15100 CUP Max. The Speer section has a 230 gr LRN. Load range is 4.8 gr @ 772 fps to 5.3 gr @ 842 fps.

 

[greenmtnguy]

IronMike-I am looking for reloading info for 45 Colt, not 45 ACP. The only Green Dot load in the Alliant manual for 45 Colt is 8.3 grains with a 200 gr LSWC or GDHP.
I don't use bullets that tiny in the 45Colt.

LAH - thank you for the link - that is one that I hadn't found before!

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

Sorry, misread that.

ETA: Saw 45 and 230 gr and filled in the ACP.

So,I broke out the other 45 One Book/One Caliber. Got some Green Dot loads in there:

Sierra 240 gr JHC (SAA load), 6.9 gr @ 750 fps to 8.4 gr @ 900 fps
Sierra 240 gr JHC (Ruger/FA load), 7.9 gr @ 850 fps to 9.4 gr @ 1000 fps

Lyman has no 230 gr data. It does have 250 and 255 gr bullets.

Alliant 240-250 gr bullet (SAA load), 6.5 gr @ 729 fps to 7.5 gr @ 800 fps (this is 0.5 gr and 6.25% less than Unique. It's about 10 fps faster velocity than the Unique load)
No Green Dot data for 225-230 gr bullets. The Unique load for that bullet weight (also an SAA load) is 7.5 gr @ 759 fps to 8.5 gr @ 829 fps.

The Alliant 2004 manual only shows American Select for a 230 gr bullet. It shows an SAA load for a 250 gr lead bullet as 6.8 gr Green Dot for 855 fps @ 12300 psi.

 

[LAH]

Thanks guys but I had to ask someone where is was.

 

[greenmtnguy]

Thanks for the info, guys.

I dug through my bookcase and came up with a 1987 Speer #11 reloading manual with some more 45 Colt Green Dot loads, specifically:
Lead bullets:
.452" 200gr Speer SWC 7.3gr 844FPS 8.3gr 967FPS
.452" 250gr Speer SWC 7.1gr 798FPS 7.6gr 853FPS
Jacketed Hollow Point bullets:
.451" 200gr Speer JHP 7.8gr 871FPS 8.8gr 986FPS
.451" 225gr Speer JHP 7.4gr 831FPS 8.4gr 947FPS
.451" 260gr Speer JHP 7.2gr 808FPS 7.7gr 856FPS

So, I think that I will start my experimenting with these 230gr plinkers around 7.0 grains and go up and down a little from there in charge weight to see what give acceptable paper punching results in my Blackhawk.

 

[Capn27]

Thanks for this thread! While I don't have a .45 Colt, when I went to the LGS today, one of the few cans of powder on his shelf was Green Dot. I snapped it up at $20! Because of this thread, I knew it would work with several of my pistol calibers.

Can't have too much information when you have to grab and run!