Armory Sponsor
Posted: 9/22/2016 3:17:35 PM EDT
|
I have a 45 Colt Ruger with tight cylinder throats of about 0.451 inches. Will loading hard cast bullets measuring 0.452 or 0.454 cause a Kaboom with loads around 900 fps?
If I MUST have the throats reamed larger where does one get that done? Is refinishing the cylinder required? Thanks, Paladin |
|
Quoted:
I have a 45 Colt Ruger with tight cylinder throats of about 0.451 inches. Will loading hard cast bullets measuring 0.452 or 0.454 cause a Kaboom with loads around 900 fps? If I MUST have the throats reamed larger where does one get that done? Is refinishing the cylinder required? Thanks, Paladin I doubt it would cause a kaboom, but you might get some leading in the bore. Have you slugged the bore? If it measures the same as the cylinder throats, I wouldn't worry about it much, just load the .452 bullets and go shoot. And FWIW, you don't necessarily need hard cast bullets at 900 fps, you might find a softer alloy will shoot better. |
|
.454" Colt .45 bullets are designed for the original Colt SAA which are antiques now.
Virtually all modern .45 Colt chambers need a .451" jacketed bullet or a .452" lead bullet. Don't purchase .454" bullets for a modern .45 Colt. 900 fps is about maximum according to my feeble memory, 850 fps is a more reasonable working load with 255 grain lead semi-wadcutters. That big azz bullet doesn't have to go very fast to pack a punch. |
|
Go to some cowboy action shooting sites and see what they use. I think you'll be surprised at how light they load their .45's.
Ruger Blackhawks can handle abuse, genuine Colt .45 SAA's or their Italian copycats can't. Remember these firearm designs are a ghost from the black powder past and were never intended to be run with hot loads. If you already purchased hard cast .454" bullets and can't return them for a refund you can always size them down to .452". That means you'll have to buy the equipment needed to do it. |
|
I would say the vast majority of 45 Colt owners don't measure the throat (myself included).... since the majority of store bought cast bullets are 452, there would be an awful lot of Kabooms out there as I doubt you are the only person with a .451 throat.
Shoot em. 454? You can size them down. I doubt it would cause much of an issue.. Do this... load one and crimp it. Then pull the bullet. You will probably find that the brass itself sizes the 454 bullet down closer to 452 (unless it's really hard lead alloy). Try it and let use know. |
|
45 Colt is my favorite caliber and I own a lot of guns that take that round. Every time I get another I slug the throats and bore.
Most of them had smaller throats and bigger bores which leads to a lot of leading at the forcing cone. I bought a cylinder hone from Midway and opened them all up over the years and each new one I get I do the same. A hone looks like a bore brush with little round stones on the end of each bristle. You can chuck it in your drill or drill press on slow to medium speed. Use oil, go slow, keep it moving in and out and check often. Open up just the throats not the cylinders. Right at bore size or .0005'' over is where you want to be. |
|
Quoted:
45 Colt is my favorite caliber and I own a lot of guns that take that round. Every time I get another I slug the throats and bore. Most of them had smaller throats and bigger bores which leads to a lot of leading at the forcing cone. I bought a cylinder hone from Midway and opened them all up over the years and each new one I get I do the same. A hone looks like a bore brush with little round stones on the end of each bristle. You can chuck it in your drill or drill press on slow to medium speed. Use oil, go slow, keep it moving in and out and check often. Open up just the throats not the cylinders. Right at bore size or .0005'' over is where you want to be. why do manufacturers make the throats smaller? Edit: worth just using one of these reamers?: http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/barrel-tools/reamers/throating-reamers/revolver-cylinder-throating-reamer-prod7700.aspx |
|
I don't know why they do that but it's stupid.
DO NOT get a reamer !!! It will take off too much material. Reamers are for use after rough cutting to get close to finished size then they use a hone to smooth the surface and get it to proper size. A hone is cheap and is worth buying even if you only use it on one gun. The lead scrubbing alone makes it worth buying. |
|
I found out my cast bullets pass thru the 29/64, i.e. 0.4531 in. hole in a machinist plate with ease. So probably they are .452 as mentioned in a reply. I'm going to start at 7.0 grains of Unique, check the accuracy and chrony the load.
Thanks for the replies. Also, I found an article online by Brian Pearce @ handloader magazine where he worked with the Lipsey Flat-top Rugers like mine. Paladin |
|
I cast my 250gr .45's at .456, then size to .454. It's a custom bullet for shooting black powder cartridge in matches. I've been shooting them just fine through two NM Vaqueros since the guns were introduced. My lead mix is about 20:1 so they aren't real hard. The softer lead obturates in the bore better and helps shoot cleaner. If I was using a regular hard cast mix with smokeless powder I would size a different bullet to .452. I don't shoot any jacketed bullets through these guns, even hunting with them.
These bullets are shot through a Uberti '66 in .45 Colt also. They work fine. |
| I had the cylinder reamer on my Blackhawk and it made a world of difference. I can shoot super hot lead loads now with zero leading by using .454 diameter bullets. I had bad accuracy and it limited my bullet selection and cartridge overall length when the cylinder was tight. I forget who teamed my cylinder at the moment but I'll dig into it and post up the guys info. It was a simple ship it out and get it back finished a week later deal. Wasn't too expensive either. |
Armory Sponsor