.45 Colt Bear Bullet

[Mike S.]

Hello, Planning a black bear hunt in MN next month....wondering what would be a good bullet/load for a Win. 94 .45 Colt? I had been planning on using my 38-55 but am kinda wanting to try hunting with the 45. I have a month or so to play around with some loads before I go.

Thanks, Mike

[adirondakjack]

318gr LEE (300 nominal, they drop heavier) GC wide meplat bullet cast hard as woodpecker lips and 21.5 grains of H110 would be my load for bear with a .45 Colt levergun. 1500 fps and SLAMS hard.

[J Miller]

Mike,

The bullet on the right of the pic below is the one A-jack is talking about:

Lee 255 and 300 RF.JPG

I don't know where to buy them pre-made but they should get the job done.

Personally I like this bullet pushed at around 1100fps to 1200fps:

Joes Keiths.jpg

~BUT~ I've never hunted bears so I'm just speaking from personal opinions.

Joe

[BigSky56]

if you use a 300@1500 you have in fact a 45-90 which pushed a 300@1500. any of the bullet casting outfits carry 300 wfn w/without GC. there is a outfit that casts lee 255& 300 I dont have it but you can do a web search. WFN is accurate to 100 yds pistol or rifle after that you should use a LFN. danny

[86er]

We've used the 300 grain Cast Performance WFNGC up around 1650 fps (from a rifle) and the same company's 325 grain hardcast with good results - 4 bears, 2 pass throughs and 2 recovered bullets and 4 dead bears. The most instantaneous results have come from the Nosler PP Partition 260 grain in the 1700 fps range. Bang-Flop 4 shots, 4 bears. 300 grain Swift A-Frames have been excellent on 2 different bears with ample penetration and expansion. Hawk 260 gr (or maybe its 265) and Hornady 300 gr were used on one bear each and did not perform nearly as good as the others, however I cannot attest to what the velocities were that they were used at. Personally, from a rifle I'd choose the 300 gr A-Frame and load it to 1500 +, wherever the most accuracy was.

[adirondakjack]

FWIW that same recipe I posted runs 1300 fps out of a 7.5" Ruger BH, (1275 from a 5.5" Vaquero) and I'd not be afraid to touch one off at Mr. bear and await the results instead of running away. If the shooter does his part, it's over for a black bear. PS, if you choose to run that load out of a BH or Vaquero (NOT NEW VAQUERO) wear gloves, as it will take skin off the middle finger with the trigger guard and rotate the muzzle a firm 90 degrees. For that matter, even yer cute Marlin CB-L with a tang-mounted peep sight becomes a mean little critter (I scratched my brand new glasses with the peep sight) but it's a tack driving load.

[Mike S.]

I was just reviewing this thread and realized I never thanked you all for the replies...so thanks! I have ordered some Cast Performance 300 gr. bullets, that should be here soon, but just realized I ordered the LFNGC, instead of the WFN. Would these still be recommended?
Thanks,

Mike

[O.S.O.K.]

I will only add that if you prefer jacketed bullets, then 300 Hornady XTP's are a good one.

But I too favor wide flat nose cast boolits.

[Hobie]

I was just reviewing this thread and realized I never thanked you all for the replies...so thanks! I have ordered some Cast Performance 300 gr. bullets, that should be here soon, but just realized I ordered the LFNGC, instead of the WFN. Would these still be recommended?
Thanks,

Mike

They will do just fine.

I have a .45 Colt carbine and have loaded those same bullets AND the 300 gr. Hornady XTP Mag and Sierra FP over 23 gr. of H110/W296 (safe in MY rifle) for about 1550 fps to run with the .45-90 BP loads.

[3leggedturtle]

Mike were the guy in Cabela's buying some Reloader7 the other day in Owatonna? Todd

[86er]

That bullet you got is the right one - that is the only 300 gr hard cast .452 that Cast Performance makes.

[Mike S.]

OK thanx everyone!! 3legged turtle...YA THAT WAS ME!! Small world huh?? Nice talking to ya....not very often you can strike up a levergun conversation in the check out aisle!! Getting the 38-55 loads ready....but if i can get these bullets by the weekend, I'll load them up too.

Mike

[DixieBoy]

Not to hijack the thread, but Hey Joe, that's a nice looking Keith Bullet you've got in your pic there. What mould is that from ? - DixieBoy

[J Miller]

Not to hijack the thread, but Hey Joe, that's a nice looking Keith Bullet you've got in your pic there. What mould is that from ? - DixieBoy

DixieBoy,

They are from a mid 1970s Lyman 454424 mold. The last batch was cast for me by forum member SteveB in Indiana. I'm not set up to cast here.

Joe

[DixieBoy]

Thanks Joe. I've heard that Lyman has changed that particular mould over the years. I'd like to get in to casting for my .45 Colt Blackhawk in the near future, and I'm pretty much in love with the Keith bullets.

When I do begin casting I'll be looking for REAL Keith designs, meaning a true beveled crimp groove (as opposed to the ditch which masquerades as a crimp groove on some I've seen), a nice deep and close to square lube groove, and the front driving band as close to .100 as possible (along with the other bands being the same).

The RCBS 270 SAA seems to a good modern design, and I've shot a bunch of them, but there are a few of the Keiths I've bought from casters that have shot even better from my Blackhawk. And that's what I'm after.

Thanks again. This has been a very informative thread. - DixieBoy

[J Miller]

DixieBoy,

I understand about wanting a "true" Keith bullet. I bought this bullet before I knew much about Keith bullets and I will say that in the 35 years I've been shooting bullets from it I have no complaints about accuracy.
The few differences found in this mold; driving bands and rounded grease grove, have no effect on accuracy.
And this mold produces bullets with a dead flat nose. Others I've bought that are supposed to be "true" Keith bullets have a slight convex nose that just irritates me to pieces. It probably makes no difference in accuracy or performance either.
Lyman has also changed it from the 454424 to a 452424 to more closely reflect the smaller bores of modern guns. Ignoring the fact that it's the chamber throats that you need to match the bullet to.

Joe