20 odd years ago I bought 2 Ruger pistols and a Winchester 94A Trapper in 45 Long Colt because I wanted to start shooing Cowboy Action. After a couple of matches I figured out that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. So the pistols and rifle have lived in my safe for the most part. With the lose of my Father just a couple of months back and getting back to normal with farm stuff and being in the woods cutting firewood, I've started to feel not unsafe but kinda weirded out at times. I chalk this up mostly to being alone and memories of when we did this stuff together. On Thursday I started thinking about how I could carry a firearm with me in case of coyotes or snakes or whatnot. I've got quite a few autos and wheelguns and my mind settled on the Winchester in the safe. I have a leather saddle scabbard for it and could probably fab up a way to attach it to the tractor without much fuss.

I've got several boxes left of CAS loads but figured some rifle power ammo would work better. I don't reload for the 45LC and wouldn't be against the idea as I have a Dillion 650. What are some good factory loads that you all have used?

I started a 45lc reloading thread a few months ago for my trapper. I've just been making standard factory duplication loads based on Lee data for revolvers and they shoot very well.

Eventually I'd like to get a chrono to check performance but I'd think standard factory loads should work very well in your trapper for your purposes of shooting coyotes and ranch work.

Put that XL650 to good use

get some hard cast & coated bullets, and a medium speed pistol powder like universal, HS6, CFE-p and go for it

Factory 45LC is expensive.

I have a Winchester 20" model 92 short rifle flavored in 45 LC. It really likes 250gr RNFP Hi-Tek coated bullets and Alliant 2400 powder. In fact all of my pistol caliber lever guns like 2400 powder.

Surprisingly, the 45LC lever guns are pretty new to the seen compared to other calibers....

One of the reasons I never owned a 45LC lever gun was because of the lack of decent factory ammo. I started reloading again about 5 years ago and the first lever gun I bought was flavored in 45 LC...

When you have a few minutes, check out this little diddy

https://leverguns.com/articles/paco/45coltlevergun.htm

https://missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=246&category=5&secondary=14&keywords=

The 92 and 94 actions can handle loads uo to 454 casull pressures.   I handload a 300 grain xtp at close to 1700 fps, it is an absolute hammer with recoil on par with regular power 30-30.

I have been loading some 300gr powdercoated cast lead for my 45 needs and have been presently surprised how well they do

Corbon is your friend.

Snakes in the woods are easily avoided and coyotes, away from large cities, are truly scared shitless of people (I live in the middle of both). But if you just want something for either, any factory 45 Colt load will be more than enough. If you want something with some oomph, Buffalo Bore's Outdoorsman Loads always looked appealing to me.
I handload the 45 Colt and my working-in-the-pasture load is a 255-ish gr. cast SWC running 900-950 fps. If you decide to handload, any 250-255 gr. lead bullet over 8.5 gr. of Unique and you'll be fine.

Surprisingly your cowboy loads are plenty sufficient and suitable for your needs. Even mild heavy bullets loads carry a punch. Case in point I had some very mild 44Mag, much more like tame 44 special, that I used in a Rossi for a walking deer gun. I had pass through shots on Ohio big body deer at anything under 50 yards. In bright sun you could actually see the bullet flying. Like the old saying there is no replacement for displacement. What I’m saying is that there is no need to beat up your gun or your shoulder to get a good efficient shot.

Snakes in the woods are easily avoided and coyotes, away from large cities, are truly scared shitless of people .

THIS. No need to just kill things for existing.

There is no quicker way to cost-justify a press and conversion than loading .44Mag or .45Colt.  It isn't long Colt, it is .45 Colt, or .45 Schofield. I think this is the Mandela effect for ammo, or the hot water heater of reloading.

I also recommend using case lube for either of these, even with carbide dies.  

I kind of relate it to something like "22 short, 22 long" seeing how they made 45 short colt ammo and that's where 45 long colt came from.

No a 94 will not handle 454 pressures. Theres a reason there are no 1894-95 winchesters or 336 Marlins chambered for 454.

The 92 and its big brother 86 are stronger.

I found my dream lever action but it was 45colt rather than the 44mag I wanted and I have no other 45colt guns.  I got a couple boxes of the American eagle 250gr jacketed ammo and it shot great so I reload 250gr xtp to mid-range power and use it for everything including deer.  

I would avoid cowboy loads because the low velocity makes elevation errors a problem beyond very short ranges.  I would also avoid mega-power rounds because they’re just not necessary.  

Go with jacketed or plated bullets to avoid lead mess and a mid-speed or even magnum powder that works well at less than magnum pressures.  Even at today’s prices it’ll cost you under 40 cents/round rather than $1/rd for factory ammo.

This guy gets it , just about what I was coming here to say.

Like most all straight wall pistol cartridges 45 colt is easy peasy to reload.
With mid range loads as opposed to full house pushing the limits type of loads you will find it almost unnecessary to trim brass (trimming is what I find to be a PITA) , something to watch for but you won't be doing much of it and of course with the mid range loads brass is going to last more cycles .

A nice easy middle of the road 230-250 gr bullet will be a delight to shoot in the pistols that would handle coyotes and out of a rifle/carbine could handle deer or black bear.

Last time I checked out any store ammo for 45 Colt it was mostly cowboy stuff and expensive to boot.

If the OP has a 650 it is only going to take part of a afternoon to load all the ammo he could shoot for 3-4 years . Not a fault but a feature in that single action pistols and lever guns don't need huge heaps of ammo to work well.

This is why you never sell guns , toss them in the back of the safe for a couple of years and a good use will pop up for most anything.

Also remember your bullet is starting out at .45 (a size most expanding bullets in other calibers strive for) . Most any type of bullet will work well and kill stuff just fine (like it did 100 years ago) . Plated or coated bullets would be about as much hi-tech as I would go and cast lead is just fine (but slightly more dirty) .

I am totally please with this rifle's handload of 250 gr. XTP over 7.3 gr. of Unique. Brass is second or third loading Federal or Winchester and a heavy crimp via the Lee FCD. Winchester LP primer. Attached File
Velocity is from 960 to 990 (Average: 975) with a SD of just 11.7 fps.
Cases are "smoked" but I am ok with that using my Lyman Cyclone before carbine resizing.

edit: addressed by nhsport.

Too bad you're not closer, I have tons of .45 Colt I'll probably end up getting rid of at some point. Down to one .45 colt and one .454.

Guarantee the corbon .45 magnum colt stuff I have will work against a bear. [hell, I still have original Freedom Arms .454 ammo ]

So expensive to ship nowadays it's not even worth trying it. [unless you are a business getting business prices on shipping]

Wow, I'm surprised to see such a high velocity number on 7.3gr unique. The Lee book calls for 8.4gr to achieve 839 FPS with a 250gr lead bullet.

Edit - they also call for 7.8gr unique to achieve 840fps with a 250 grain XTP

Most reloading books assume .45 Colt is shot through a pistol and their velocities are based on 8-10" barrels, not a 16-20" one found in most carbines.

I have both a Uberti 19" '66 Yellowboy carbine and a 24" '73 rifle in 45 Colt and with higher loading of Unique (about 1/2 grain under max std pressure in respect of the action) I get 1,100+ fps in the carbine and 1,200 fps in the rifle using 255 grn plated bullets.

My plain lead loads clock a bit slower but I don't shoot many of them. I've also started loading 200 grn plated bullets more recently in both and, while I haven't chrono'd them yet, they reach out to 200 yds just great. As I have a good stock of them for my 1911, I'm set for a good while.

I like Hornady LeverRevolution in my Rossi 92, .45 LC/.454 Casull.  I normally fire 4 rounds a year.  3 to confirm my zero and one to kill my yearly deer.

That's a beauty!

[cat_meme]
I should shoot more .45 Colt
[ /cat_meme]

That's a good point I didn't consider. I'll be testing .45lc loads tomorrow in a 4.62" vaquero and 16" 1892 trapper. 250gr lead bullets. I'll post back with results if there's any interest.
The loads:
8.4gr unique
7.8gr unique
7.3gr unique
5.0gr titegroup

Buffalo Bore and Underwood both offer +P .45 Colt loads.

Would be interested to see your results.  I have been shooting 250gr RNFP over 7.5 Gr Unique but have no chronograph and would like to see what your getting with the different loads of Unique

The .45 Colt was designed specifically as a revolver cartridge for the Colt Single Action Army.  Colt wanted to pack as much powder behind a .45 caliber bullet while keeping cylinder diameter to a minimum.

The pistol class rifle cartridges of the day (.44-40, .38-40, .32-20 and .25-20) all had a slight bottle neck to help the case seal to the chamber wall faster  at comparatively low black power pressures to minimize gas coming back in the action of a lever action rifle, and a tapered case wall designed to ensure the entire case came out of contact with the chamber wall as soon as the case was extracted even a fraction of an inch.  This was in addition to a comparatively thick, wide, heavy rim.

Most of the larger black powder rifle cartridges incorporated one or both of those traits as well as a heavy rim.

The .45 colt was designed for the rod ejection of the Colt SAA so there was no need for the rim to do anything other than headspace the cartridge so it was only minimally larger than the base of the case.  Since Colt could use an ejector rod, they didn’t worry too much about black powder fouled chambers.  Consequently they gave it a parallel wall case and no bottle neck to maximize powder capacity without increasing diameter.

This meant the .45 Colt was never suitable for use in a lever action rifle during the black powder era.

Colt did hedge their bet a bit and put .007” of taper in the chamber wall to help ease extraction and that slight taper in the chamber persists today in the SAAMI specs for the .45 Colt chamber.  That tapered chamber is also why case life is poor at higher chamber pressures.

I posted the data in my 45lc thread in the reloading forum. Check it out

I have a Rossi 92 20” carbine in .45 Colt as well as an Armi Sport Model 1892 24” takedown rifle in .45 Colt.

As someone noted above the Winchester Model 94 action is not as strong as the Model 1892 action.  The latter is a scaled down version of the 1886 and the pair of locking lugs on each side of the comparatively short bolt is far stronger than the locking lug behind the longer bolt on the Model 94.

.45 Colt loads come in six basic ranges:

- Black powder only loads for first generation SAA revolvers.

- 14,000 psi SAAMI standard pressure loads for 2nd and 3rd generation SAA revolvers and modern S&W top break revolvers.

- 23,000 psi pressures equal to SAAMI .45 ACP +P pressure for modern SAA clones, Ruger new Vaquero and mid frame flat top Blackhawk’s, S&W 25 and 625 revolvers, and the 1860, 1866, and 1873 rifles (rifles using the weaker toggle link action).

- 32,000 psi “Ruger Only” loads for the new model BlackHawk and old Vaquero.

- 40,000 psi loads for the Winchester Model 1894AE, and Marlin 1894.***

-50,000 psi for the Modern 1892 clones. ***

*** despite published load data you might find on the internet I personally think anything over 32,000 psi in a .45 Colt case is I’ll advised.  Case life is already very short at 32,000 psi.


——

I have loaded .45 Colt to 30,000-32,000 psi Ruger Only pressures for both my Model 92s and my Ruger Blackhawks.  

A 250 gr bullet on top of a large charge of Win 296/H110 at Ruger Only velocities will deliver .44 Magnum level performance, but the recoil is abusive and the case life is short.  

That 30,000-32,000 psi load will give you around 1500 fps from a carbine and around 1200 fps in a BlackHawk.  Recoil is abusive in both a BlackHawk and in a Model 92 carbine.

My preference is to use 9 grains of Unique and a 255 gr LRN bullet at around 1200-1300 fps in a carbine or rifle.   A 100 yard zero leaves it with a max mid range trajectory of 3” high at 60 yards and about 3” low at 120 yards.  It still has 1050 fps and 620 ft pounds at 100 yards.  Between the lower velocity and a charge weight that is half that of a slower burning powder it’s much more pleasant to shoot.

Bump, I’m going to start reloading here for my 45 Colt both SAA and Henry

.45 Colt has a longer case than .45 Schoffield.

The following is just my opinion.

I think all modern Schoffield replicas are designed to handle .45 Colt whereas original Schoffields didn’t have cylinders long enough nor stout enough for.45 Colt.

When I bugger up a .45 Colt case I simply cut it down to the Schoffield case length and set it aside for my survivors to deal with.

DakotaFAL’s 9.0 gr of Unique is the Skelton load for .45 Colt. It will do 1,000 for from a 5-1/2i ch SAA or Ruger, and 1200-ish from a carbine or rifle. When I was shooting competitively I slowly lightened my loads, ending up at 7.5 gr of Unique or Universal with a 200 gr FN.

When I moved to the mountains one of my CAS vaqueros became my woods gun, and I returned to the 9.0 Universal under a 255 gr bullet, later a 270 SAA  SWC, and have been very happy with it.  The 92 can handle some hella stout loads and I’ve shot a few but the 270 hard cast SWC at 1,000 fps will go stem to stern in any creature in N America without excessive recoil. The extra couple hundred fps out of a carbine barrel is a bonus.

I cast my bullets and reload for CAS. I use Hornady LeverRevolution for deer hunting,

The Speer Deep Curl 250 grain bullets are magic in the 45 colt. Huge expansion at SAA pressures, but don't come apart at hotter loads through rifles.