45 Colt

[aussie]

Have a question regarding 45 Colt for hunting. I would like to use cast projectiles and am not sure about the desired shape/configuration for this purpose. I have been told that the cast bullets will not expand very much on soft skinned game such as deer. I will be using 250gn projectiles. My question is, which shape? Is the RNFP any good for this purpose? I will be using a Winchester 94 Legacy. I do relise that if shot placement is correct then the shape will be of little consequence. Just wondering what the rest of you use.

cheers
aussie.

[Cliff]

What bullet shape? I would think something like Keith's design or the LBT design, soft alloy. Unless you go with a hollow pointed cast bullet with soft alloy you would want something that will feed well and still have some pentatration. The wide meplat is better in my opinion. If you are using some of the commercially castbullets you probably are getting a hard alloy. I think you can find a commercial caster, Mt.Baldy I think, who will alloy you bullets with a softer alloy. If the RNFP design is still needed, I would get them softer and hollow point a few of them which isn't too hard to do and you only need enough for sighting and hunting. You can hollow point what you need when you need some. Hope this is some help. Good Luck.

[Andrew]

If the question is ".45 Colt", then the answer is always "Yes".

I don't hunt, but I see that the RNFP's are used alot and the SWC's of what ever fashion and of couse the Keith bullets.

[Ysabel Kid]

Aussie -

How hard (fast) to you intend on pushing this bullet? How far will most of your hunting shots be?

As Cliff noted, the wide metplate of the .45 Colt using a Keith or other SWC or RNFP projectile does a great job on deer-sized (and other) critters. Lots of advocates of that type of loading here on the forum. Like Andrew, I don't hunt now, though I will probably take it up again shortly with my son. Lots of comments in the past though, and based on those and what I've read elsewhere, it would be hard to go wrong with a .45 Colt at reasonable distances using the above load.

Good luck!

[aussie]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I will only be pushing it out around 800 to 900fps and most shots will be taken out to a max of around 100 yards.

cheers
aussie.

[Ysabel Kid]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I will only be pushing it out around 800 to 900fps and most shots will be taken out to a max of around 100 yards.

cheers
aussie.

You're set then. Softer lead Keith-style bullet will work great and at that speed/pressure you won't be needlessly leading up your barrel.

Good luck!

[Hobie]

I like the LBT type over the Keith style because it feeds better in my Rossi/EMF .45 Colt carbine.

[AJMD429]

I don't think it really needs to 'expand' - it will make a large hole through the thorax, and hopefully, the heart.

[AmBraCol]

Stay away from the "original profile" bullets. That pointy round nose will slip through with minimal damage. Go with a Keith or LBT style with a wide meplat. I'd not worry about expansion, but that's me. I know folks who use JHP ammo for light, thin skinned game and that may be something to look at instead of a cast projectile.

[O.S.O.K.]

traditional "real" Keith style semiwadcutter of 250 or 270 grains is great - so long as your rifle cycles and feeds them. LBT is excellent as well. The RNFP will work too - but the other wider nosed styles give more shock to the game.

You are probably getting more like 1000 fps from your rifle - if you pistol is giving 800 fps.

My old cowboy action load of 7 grains of W231 under an Oregon Trail 250 RNFP goes 1000 fps on the nose from my Marlin 94 cowboy with good accuracy. Best accuracy is obtained with hot loaded heavy bullets though.

That velocity will do fine - will give you through-through at those ranges. As said, don't be concerned with expansion.

Expect the game to run up to 100 yards after the shot - heart/lung.

[William]

Many times the shape of the bullet is dictated by how it cycles in your rifle. The SWC design just won't feed and cycle reliably in certain lever actions, thus the popularity of the RNFP design. My suggestion is for a hard cast with a wide meplat, no expansion needed for deer sized game; a .45 caliber hole in and out will work great, and I've used my Marlin .45 LC to take deer and hogs in years past, most are DRT after being hit.

[jd45]

aussie, if your muzzle fps will be max 900.....I seriously doubt you'd have enough energy at max range of 100yds to do the job. If some with more experience can correct me, so be it. Be that as it may, good on ya! jd45

[O.S.O.K.]

aussie, if your muzzle fps will be max 900.....I seriously doubt you'd have enough energy at max range of 100yds to do the job. If some with more experience can correct me, so be it. Be that as it may, good on ya! jd45

He will be fine - this is not an expaning bullet - it will completely penetrate a whitetail sized animal. Don't know what he's shooting, but that's a reference.

[Travis Morgan]

Nothing wrong with running them arond 1200 fps. I shoot 'em out of my Vaqueros with no problem. I have, in fact, shot 'em faster, but it was more than I thought was reasonable for a handgun load when I own rifles.

[Comal Forge]

I will readily concede the Keith style is better but the old lead RNFP is not a bad bullet simply because no matter how you slice the tomato, it's still .452 diameter and will only get bigger with impact on something solid like bone. As stated above, the Keith style and SWC sometimes will not feed in rifles but the RN will typically work just fine.

[aussie]

Thanks fellas. After all the info, I think I will go with the RNFP mainly for ease of feeding into a leveraction. I guess I was a little preoccupied with expansion, hadn't thought about the starting size of the slug being .452". Guess that will make a big enough wound channel. Thanks for all the information, much appreciated.

cheers,
aussie.

[TedH]

I did quite a bit of unscientific testing a few years ago with my Winchester Trails End 45 Colt and settled on a bullet from the LEE 300 gr. mold. It has a HUGE meplat and plenty of weight. Shot into wet phone books, it left an unbelievable channel of uniform diameter very deep. Lots more damage than several jacketed bullets I tested. It would be my choice for a hunting bullet. But if you don't cast yourself, there are places to buy similar bullets. Get as wide a meplat as will reliably feed in your rifle.

[.45]

I did quite a bit of unscientific testing a few years ago with my Winchester Trails End 45 Colt and settled on a bullet from the LEE 300 gr. mold. It has a HUGE meplat and plenty of weight. Shot into wet phone books, it left an unbelievable channel of uniform diameter very deep. Lots more damage than several jacketed bullets I tested. It would be my choice for a hunting bullet. But if you don't cast yourself, there are places to buy similar bullets. Get as wide a meplat as will reliably feed in your rifle.

+1
I have shot hogs and deer with the 300gr lee and it gets the job done.

[J Miller]

aussie,

Most folks here have Marlins and Rossis and seem to forget the Winchester 94 has an extra long action. Your Winchester 94 Legacy will feed the full length Keith bullets just fine. My 94AE Trapper will feed Keith shaped bullets up to 1.75" in length. The only thing is; I must remember not to short stroke the lever.

I don't know what powders you have that are equivalent to Unique, but 9.0 grains of Unique will give you a real good, upper end standard load that will shoot very well from your Legacy.
Give the Keith bullets a try. And if you do use the RNFPs try to get one with as flat a nose as you can.
I'd also suggest sizing the bullets, or getting them sized to .454". This diameter seems to work better in all of my .45 Colt caliber rifles.

Oh, the RNFP as used by the cowboy shooters is basically a copy of the original 38WCF and 44WCF bullets. That shaped bullet has killed many a game animal for a very long time.

Joe

[JReed]

Aussie
What are you shooting it out of? If a rifle they will be scooting a bit faster then 900fps. Most of loads are intended for a 7 1/2" revolver you can expect a bit more pep from the rifle somewhere around the 1100fps mark easy.

[2ndovc]

Joe's got a good point.

I have to shoot .454 bullets in my Winchester Trails End 94/ 45 Colt also.
My Marlin will shoot anything.

jb

[KCSO]

I did somme testing for another forum on the 45 Colt vrs the 35-55 for deer hunting. The whole article ran 3 or 4 pages and had photo's of loads and results of expansion testing. Suffice to say a stoutly loaded 45 Colt with a rnfp bullet is every bit the equall of a 38-55 for deer inside 100 yards. A rnfp bullet cast of w/w will go up to 1500 fps in a rifle and will shoot into under 3" at the 100 yard mark. The bullet will expand to 3/4".

[Travis Morgan]

Aussie
What are you shooting it out of? If a rifle they will be scooting a bit faster then 900fps. Most of loads are intended for a 7 1/2" revolver you can expect a bit more pep from the rifle somewhere around the 1100fps mark easy.

Good point; when I bought my .357 Blackhawk, I intended to also get a model '92 in the same chambering because of the MASSIVE gain in velocity from even a short carbine. I forget how much velocity was gaied, but it wa around 50%, if memory serves.

[w30wcf]

aussie,
Oh, the RNFP as used by the cowboy shooters is basically a copy of the original 38WCF and 44WCF bullets. That shaped bullet has killed many a game animal for a very long time.
Joe

Joe, great point and very true!

w30wcf

[1886]

Hope this helps. I shot a big meat doe some time back with a .44 Special handloaded with a Mt.Baldy 265gr Keith design gas check bullet moving 950fps at the muzzle. The doe was standing broad side at 40yrds when she was hit. The damage and her reaction had to be seen to be believed. The blood/gore spray covered a patch of snow 5'x3'. The deer walked in a small half circle for 2 to 3 seconds and her front legs did a 180 degree split while she did a nose dive. The Keith bullet in the .45 Colt is a killer. Read Paco's article about the .45. 1886.

[Travis Morgan]

If anyone wants to try the Keith bullet in .45 Colt, PM me; I can send you a sample batch for a nominal fee. The molds are hard to come by, and expensive when you do.

[J Miller]

If anyone wants to try the Keith bullet in .45 Colt, PM me; I can send you a sample batch for a nominal fee. The molds are hard to come by, and expensive when you do.

Travis,
Just curious, why do you say the molds are hard to come by? There are quite a few on the market right now. Some closer to Keith's original design than others, but still they are out there.
What mold are you using?

Joe

[Travis Morgan]

Because most people that cast are doing it partly because we're all tighter than baby ducks' butts. Paying over $50 for a new single cavity mold is more than most of us will tolerate, so we have to look around forever for a used one that's not selling for new price. Also, they're a darn sight harder to find in .45 than .44.

I'd LOVE to find some 4 or 6 cavity Keith molds in .357 and .45 Colt for a good price.

[Griff]

At $18-20 for a 2-cavity, I sometimes buy a cheap, er... inexpensive, Lee mold of a design I'm sorta interested in, and if I like it; I buy a similar (sometimes exact copy) in a Lyman or Saeco 4-cavity mold for production purposes... Although I have a couple of Lee 6-cavity molds, I just can't seem to get them to work.

Oh yea, I then give the 2-cavity Lee to someone that asks about casting that style. Even had a friend or two return the favor by giving me a mold I've expressed an interest in... Gotta love your friends.

[Camp Cook]

My choice is WLNGC's or WFNGC's made by Cast Performance and Beartooth for hunting or animal defense with handgun bullets.

I load up to 345gr WLNGC's in my s/s 5 1/2" Ruger Bisley Vaquero 45 Colts and all of these loads also work/feed extremely well in my LSI Puma M92 454 Casull rifle.

Please for the animals sake do not use the old style RNFP's the meplate is not wide enough it has been proven that these bullets zip thru animals without the creating a wound cavity that disrupts/creates enough damage only use Kieth or better yet the newer LBT style of bullets with the widest meplate that you can find.

Check out Cast Performance, Beartooth or Jai Bok Young for the best bullets on the market.