Rossi .45 Colt whitetail load

[Hawkeye2]

I just got a Rossi 92 in .454 and looked around for a .45 load since I couldn't find any .454 brass in time to finish the season. The 47th. edition of Lyman's "Reloading Handbook" had a load listed for a 250 gr. JHP and 2400 powder. I had a box of Hornady 250 gr. XTP bulets and I had used 2400 in the past so I bought a pound and loaded up 50 rounds using once fired Remington-Peters brass and Winchester large pistol primers. The maximum powder charge was 22.0 grains and this was a load for the TC Contender which gives 1410 feet per second from a 10" barrel. Using Lyman's data from the same manual the final velocity from a 20" barrel should be about 100 FPS faster giving a muzzle energy of 1266 ft.-lbs. For comparison my hunting load for my .32 Special model 94 is a 170 gr. soft nose at 2159 FPS for 1759 ft.-lbs. I found a couple of minutes to spare this afternoon so I went out and fired a few rounds. I started with a couple of my cowboy loads (4.2 gr. Clays, 250 gr. bullet) which have almost no recoil and went on to fire 4 of the hunting loads. I was looking for possible signs of high presure since the Lyman book doesn't list pressures for the loads but found absolutly no signs of excessive pressure. I would describe the recoil of this load as mild. You would have no problems spending an afternoon at the range which came as a mild supprise. I had anticipated more recoil since a favorite load for my .41 magnum S&W was 20 gr. of 2400 with a 210 gr. Speer JHP and it let you (and everyone else) know when it went off. I remember seeing a load for the 250 gr. JHP .45 Colt using 23.3 gr. of 2400 in a Contender but couldn't locate it anywhere to verify the loading or I might have tried it.

[Camp Cook]

I use H110 in my top 45 Colt loads.

A safe H110 load for your Puma M92 and Ruger SRH/250gr XTP's would be 24grs H110 I have shot many of these in my Puma M92/SRH's.

When you compare that I load 38grs H110 in my 240gr XTP-Mag 454 Casull loads the Puma M92 will handle these loads with ease...

edited because I didn't have my morning coffee before I posted and I should have had it before I posted my response...

[Hawkeye2]

Camp Cook,

H110 was my first choice but there wasn't any avliable anywhere near here and the reloading supply dealer was completely out of powder till last week. I was lucky to get the 2400. I tried the gun yesterday and the rounds fed flawlessly. I can't comment on groups as I was shooting off a tripod at 25 yards. I was hoping to sight it in close enough to hunt with. I was shooting into the sun with a temperature of 30 and a 10-15 mph cross breeze so I gave up (my fingers did) after 15 or so rounds. It was necessary to completely remove the sight elevator to even come close with the elevation.

[Camp Cook]

You should find your loads are very accurate and safe I have never had an inaccurate load in my rifle.

Do you have the stock fiber optic sights on your rifle?

I hated the rear fiber optic sight on mine it was the worst piece of cr*p I had ever used so I removed it and installed the rear sight off of my Marlin 1895GS which fit perfectly.

Here is a 3 shot 100 yard group that I shot last week (the squares are 1") with my 20" Puma M92 the load was 38grs H110 with 240 XTP-Mag's, Rem 7.5 primers and crimped with a Lee factory crimp die 1 1/4 turn adjustment muzzle velocity averaged 2350fps to 2400fps.

[O.S.O.K.]

That'll certainly do for whitetail and hogs.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I cast my own BUT I use 2400 in both my Rossi's with a 265 gr bullet (Lee round flat nose 50/50 WW & lead) . A 240 XPT should do as well penetrating and disrupting tissue. I found 19/20 grains very accurate. I cannot imagine any whitetail under 350 pounds walking far after taking one of those through both lungs/heart. Nice mild load that does not uproot any trees when fired.
All my hunting is in river bottoms so a 70 yard shot is as far as I will see a 4 legged corn muncher. Farthest deer I have ever shot was at 33 yards. We do not have any tough hide critters about... If there were I would just up my charge to about 22 grains and fire for effect. If I need more power I get out the 45-70.
Hunters used the 44-40 (Black Powder) with 200 grain (+ -) bullets for 50 years on all sorts of criters and had few problems with chest shots. And last Buck I stuck with an arrow still did not have any kevlar on. He was troting up the creek at a whole 7 yards away. It does not take a whole lot to penetrate a white tail unless you are in the habit of shooting then "through the rear engine covers". I personally just try to get closer and have not needed 2 shots on any gun shot deer except one that I hit through the spine so I terminated the affair with a head shot about a minute later. It took me that long to reload my 58 muzzle loader & close to 10 yards.