45Colt newbie

[sousana]

J LeeCZ - Welcome!

There is a wealth of info here and on other forums from truly knowledgeable folks. First, though, congratulations on your upcoming purchase of a truly great firearm: The Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt. Darn good choice.

I don't know what you've got for loading books, but I personally prefer the Hornady book, at least for pistol reloading. There are also several ongoing threads right now regarding loading for the .45 Colt here on this section of the forum. Good info.

You might not know this (and forgive me if you already do) but there are slight differences between Ruger's "New Vaqueros" and their newer Flattop Blackhawks. In short, the older "New Model Blackhawk," still available from Ruger, is capable of handling a bit more powerful loads than the NM Vaquero, and the new Flattop Blackhawks. Might not matter to you, but worth being aware of.

As far a buying factory ammo for your Blackhawk ... :roll: ... well, let's just say it's a good thing you're getting more into reloading. Factory ammo for the .45 Colt is prohibitively expensive.

Many guys will buy some plain jane Winchester ammo in .45 Colt when their brass is getting older and has been through many reloadings, just to fire it up and have some good, clean, once-fired brass. You can also order brand new brass from Starline (highly recommended).

Loads go from very mild to quite wild. Your handgun and you will determine what lights your fire. I hope you get some more responses here. There's no shortage of guys here who just love the .45 Colt and the Ruger Blackhawk. - DixieBoy

Can you expand more on the difference between the new vaquero and the fk
Lattop 45 colt?

I just picked up a pair of gloss sts 4.62" new vaqueros, and just ordered a lipseys 45 colt/45acp sts with a 5.5"bbl. Interestingly enough, at last weekends gunshow, I picked up a new sbh in 44mag with a 4.62" bbl

 

[Rclark]

Can you expand more on the difference between the new vaquero and the {flattop} 45 colt?

Nothing different other than the fixed sight vs adjustable. Both on the medium frame.

Here you go for more 'expanding'....

http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-Lipseys45Flattop.htm
http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-NewVaquero.htm
http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-NewVaquero2.htm

 

[edlmann]

I've done the same thing with bullets, bought them in quantities of 500 to save money just to find out shooting the first 50 or so aint very accurate in my gun and now I'm stuck with bullets I don't even want to load, but can't justified buying more till I use these up, makes me not even want to go shooting when I have loads I don't want to shoot.

What I used to do was buy another gun to work with the bullets.

 

[J LeeCZ]

Spent some time searching for factory ammo. Except for Buffalo Bore and some Win cowboy loads, not much available out there for .45Colt. Once I secure a Blackhawk, I'll order dies for my Dillon. Will probably get the Dillon carbide unless there is a better option for the .45C caliber. I'll get the 700X to work for a lighter load and have the Unigue which will definitely be saved for for .45C to push it up a bit when I want.

Picked up some more Fed large pistol primers yesterday along with Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Ed. Lot of good info to have as this will be my first venture with cast bullets.

 

[jeffnles1]

Pilgrim you already made your first mistake buying 16lbs of powder for a cartridge you have never even reloaded yet, and a gun you haven't even bought yet, what if the powder don't work well for that round or future gun? then your stuck with it all 16lbs, you really need to test and experiment with different powders and see what works best for your gun before you buy a whole wagon load of one powder.

I know. It was stupid. Live and learn.

Not stupid. We all do impulse stuff. Heck, half the guns I've sold over years were either an impulse buy or to fund another impulse buy

I don't load 700X and looks like there are about 3 pages of advice, snarky comments and the like.

Just be safe, stick with stuff you can find published from reputable sources and take it slow. Don't go super maximum flame thrower loads all at once (or ever for that matter).

I load Unique and Universal Clays in my 45 Colt. Mainly plinking and target load. 7.5 - 8.0gr Unique 250gr bullet. fun, cheap, easy.

 

[TOC]

700X is a fairly versatile powder. Don’t sweat it and you can always
do a little trading.

If you don’t have one, get The Second Edition of
Modern Reloading by Richard Lee. It has loads for the
45 colt and in different weights and types using 700X.
Although it is not my favorite powder for the 45C it certainly
works.

Be Safe.
Happy reloading and good luck

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

700X is one of those powders which might not be "the best" for many calibers, but CAN be used in most all the standards, as well as being a favorite fuel for 12 ga. target load shotshells. If I had to guess, it might be the second most used powder ever for that use (right behind Alliant's Red Dot?)

Second the advice to look at a copy of Mr. Lee's "Modern Reloading" (2nd Ed. if possible), not only for recipes, but there are some interesting and useful theories behind how he has the recipes listed.

As for warming up the .45 Colt ammo, I'd wait until getting the gun before making that decision. Any .45 Colt on the market today will handle SAAMI level loads, but when you go above them, it's wise to do some homework as to whether you should feed which loads to what guns!

Rick C