Rugers and .45 Slammers........

[Mus408]

Got out today to test Missouri Bullets .45 Colt 325 gr. Slammers through my Alaskan and Bisley Blackhawk.
The coated bullets shot very well with speeds right close to what I wanted.
Best of all they shot clean in both guns with no leading in the Alaskan. I will bump up the load .5 to 1 gr. more and test again.
https://youtu.be/xYCQQu8TCX4

 

[Luckyducker]

Mus, what powder and charge are you shooting with those heavy bullets? I tried some 335 grain GC bullets in my 45 Bisley Vaquero several years ago and the only way I could get them to hold crimp was to trim 454C brass to 45LC length. It worked really good and I was getting 1193 ft/sec but I changed out the Bisley hammer for a standard Blackhawk hammer and I started getting a lot of light primer strikes with the small rifle primers and quit shooting that heavy bullet. These bullets loaded in 45 brass would jump crimp so bad it would lock up the cylinder.

 

[SweetWilliam]

Did your bullets weight 325grs.? Just asking because Missouri says they are 315grs.
And you have a nice shooting range.
And I just want to say that I have loaded 1000’s of full power 45 colt from 225gr. Speer to 360gr. Cast and never had a bullet jump crimp. You gotta put a heavy crimp on them.

 

[Mus408]

Mus, what powder and charge are you shooting with those heavy bullets? I tried some 335 grain GC bullets in my 45 Bisley Vaquero several years ago and the only way I could get them to hold crimp was to trim 454C brass to 45LC length. It worked really good and I was getting 1193 ft/sec but I changed out the Bisley hammer for a standard Blackhawk hammer and I started getting a lot of light primer strikes with the small rifle primers and quit shooting that heavy bullet. These bullets loaded in 45 brass would jump crimp so bad it would lock up the cylinder.

As mentioned in the video I started with 16 gr. of Alliant 2400 and after looking in some of my loading manuals the FPS were right where they should be at that load in the 5.5 inch Bisley BH.
Measured the 6th round out of both revolvers and bullet was still in the 1.660 range where they were seated. Used Starline cases and WLP primers.

 

[veeman]

Did your bullets weight 325grs.? Just asking because Missouri says they are 315grs.
And you have a nice shooting range.
And I just want to say that I have loaded 1000’s of full power 45 colt from 225gr. Speer to 360gr. Cast and never had a bullet jump crimp. You gotta put a heavy crimp on them.

I got some of the Slammers too, package says 325 grn, didn't weigh them tho. I've loaded them in 5 different powders, but haven't shot them yet. I'm torn with trying them in my OM Blackhawk. Got a NM I'm not worried about, will shoot a few in that one 1st, see how the go. I'd hate to over do it in a OM 45.

 

[Mus408]

Did your bullets weight 325grs.? Just asking because Missouri says they are 315grs.
And you have a nice shooting range.
And I just want to say that I have loaded 1000’s of full power 45 colt from 225gr. Speer to 360gr. Cast and never had a bullet jump crimp. You gotta put a heavy crimp on them.

Yes those bullets weigh 315 gr. but have been advertised and was stated on my package as 325 gr.
Wonder where the other 10 gr. went? I also have the .44 Mag "Smashers" which are and weigh 300 gr.

These rounds were comfortable to shoot and I might bump the load up to 17 gr. for use in the Alaskan.
900-1000 FPS is all you need with those block busters!

 

[Mus408]

Did your bullets weight 325grs.? Just asking because Missouri says they are 315grs.
And you have a nice shooting range.
And I just want to say that I have loaded 1000’s of full power 45 colt from 225gr. Speer to 360gr. Cast and never had a bullet jump crimp. You gotta put a heavy crimp on them.

I got some of the Slammers too, package says 325 grn, didn't weigh them tho. I've loaded them in 5 different powders, but haven't shot them yet. I'm torn with trying them in my OM Blackhawk. Got a NM I'm not worried about, will shoot a few in that one 1st, see how the go. I'd hate to over do it in a OM 45.

Yes... great idea to start with the stronger revolver with a new load that is in "Ruger" range and see what the speeds might be. That's why I shot the beefy as an anvil Alaskan first!

 

[SweetWilliam]

I always liked Missouri’s 300gr silhouette bullet for 44mag and 45 colt. They are accurate bullets. A lot of other companies make the same silhouette bullet too.
I want to say I was using 16grs of 2400 in the 44 and 18grs of 2400 in the 45.

 

[daveg.inkc]

These 300 Mo. Cast shoot good in my 77/50, with sabot. 90 gr of 777

 

[mohavesam]

Subsonic cast solids make a lot of sense in a handgun likely to be shot "in the moment", lots of folks overlook the fact...

 

[Mus408]

Cleaned up my Bisley BH after shooting the coated bullets and really liked how clean the bore looked before cleaning. Just took a light spray of Ballistol and a run thru with patch wrapped around nylon brush. Like those coated bullets!

 

[veeman]

Well I just weighed about 20 of my Slammer's, and the closest to 325 grs was 315. The majority were in the 311 range.

 

[Mus408]

Well I just weighed about 20 of my Slammer's, and the closest to 325 grs was 315. The majority were in the 311 range.

Yep that's about what mine were too. My .44 Hammers are 296-298 gr.

 

[DougGuy]

Let me quote my post from another forum about the type of crimp used for big bore heavies:

I really like the uncataloged Lee FC collet type die the best. For J word boolits, they wouldn't really need to be modified but for cast where it is critical that the driving band of the boolit remain as sized by the sizing die, I modify mine for a narrower crimp band and I also shorten it so it brings the crimp band down on the case. Let me see if I can get some photos to post.

Stock unmodified collet from the FC die:



Stock unmodified collet showing placement of the crimp band on a .45 Colt brass:



Modified collet showing the narrower crimp band by shortening the top of the collet:





Modified collet showing crimp band lowered onto the case mouth by shortening bottom of collet:



Beartooth 340gr and 325gr GC boolits after using the modified crimp:



Lee 452-300 GC mold 320gr boolits after using the modified crimp:



300gr Speer "Deep Curl" on left, Buffalo Bore "Deer Grenade" on right, notice how the crimp band swages into the cast boolit a little smoother than the more sharper band on the Speer boolit that is crimped into the cannelure. The Deep Curl on the left was done with the modified crimp die.

(EDIT: The Buffalo Bore "Deer Grenade" on the right is a factory loaded round from Buffalo Bore, as you can see they use the same collet crimp but I think theirs is likely unmodified):



Last pic, Hornady 300gr XTP-MAG on left, Speer "Deep Curl" on right, after using the modified crimp die:



Sorry for writing an essay but I saw that using the collet style die as manufactured by Lee was great for jacketed bullets, but needed a little adjusting to work at it's best on cast. So far the results have been very consistent, I am sure this crimp shortens the life of the brass but it out performs a roll crimp by a long shot. In a heavy recoiling gun like the .454, this crimp wins hands down. I shoot the boolits shown with heavy loads of H110 in my old Vaquero and I cannot see any movement at all of the loaded boolits in adjacent chambers. In addition to this crimp, it is very important to have good case neck tension. Of all the crimp styles to choose from, this is the only style of crimp that only squeezes from the sides of the case mouth and does not press down or in on the seated boolit. I hope this information is of some use, it is working like a champ for me!

 

[45guy]

Let me quote my post from another forum about the type of crimp used for big bore heavies:

I really like the uncataloged Lee FC collet type die the best. For J word boolits, they wouldn't really need to be modified but for cast where it is critical that the driving band of the boolit remain as sized by the sizing die, I modify mine for a narrower crimp band and I also shorten it so it brings the crimp band down on the case. Let me see if I can get some photos to post.

Stock unmodified collet from the FC die:



Stock unmodified collet showing placement of the crimp band on a .45 Colt brass:



Modified collet showing the narrower crimp band by shortening the top of the collet:





Modified collet showing crimp band lowered onto the case mouth by shortening bottom of collet:



Beartooth 340gr and 325gr GC boolits after using the modified crimp:



Lee 452-300 GC mold 320gr boolits after using the modified crimp:



300gr Speer "Deep Curl" on left, Buffalo Bore "Deer Grenade" on right, notice how the crimp band swages into the cast boolit a little smoother than the more sharper band on the Speer boolit that is crimped into the cannelure. The Deep Curl on the left was done with the modified crimp die.

(EDIT: The Buffalo Bore "Deer Grenade" on the right is a factory loaded round from Buffalo Bore, as you can see they use the same collet crimp but I think theirs is likely unmodified):



Last pic, Hornady 300gr XTP-MAG on left, Speer "Deep Curl" on right, after using the modified crimp die:



Sorry for writing an essay but I saw that using the collet style die as manufactured by Lee was great for jacketed bullets, but needed a little adjusting to work at it's best on cast. So far the results have been very consistent, I am sure this crimp shortens the life of the brass but it out performs a roll crimp by a long shot. In a heavy recoiling gun like the .454, this crimp wins hands down. I shoot the boolits shown with heavy loads of H110 in my old Vaquero and I cannot see any movement at all of the loaded boolits in adjacent chambers. In addition to this crimp, it is very important to have good case neck tension. Of all the crimp styles to choose from, this is the only style of crimp that only squeezes from the sides of the case mouth and does not press down or in on the seated boolit. I hope this information is of some use, it is working like a champ for me!

Very good idea. I would like to try this. How did you shorten the Lee FC die? Bruce