Effectiveness/efficiency of a 45 Colt out of a rifle

[Lee Robinson]

For whitetail...When shot out of a rifle, I am curious about the efficiency/effectiveness of the 45 Colt both a regular pistol load levels and at Thompson/Ruger load levels. Bullets will be either 250 gr Hrndy XTP or 270 Keith.

The rifle these loads will be shot out of (assuming they are accurate/consistent) is a Marlin 45 Colt with a 20" barrel.

[cwlongshot]

The factory level of loads for the 45 colt IMHO are on the light side for big game hunting. Of coarse they will work from the practiced hunter, but they are not ideal. I once loaded up 10Gr's of Unique and a 250HP for my little sisters first deer rifle. She never did seal the deal and shoot one with that load. Its an old Keith load, supposedly safe in Colts.......

Ruger/Contender loads on the other hand, work very well with in the range limitations of say 125 or so yards. The bullets just loose steam fast and ballistically are not built for longer ranges.

If I had to choose a favorite, I'd choose the 300Gr Speer SP, (Your 270 Keith, hard cast would qualify) in front of a stiff load of H110/W296 and a CCI 350 primer. Using this load I have seen two different deer shot thru end to end. One running away, aka Texas heart shot and the other facing. That bullet and load has also accounted for some two doz or so others. A couple bang flops, all recovered in short distances.

 At one time this was my favorite for NE deer hunting. It's still a second choice, now my 357Maxi is #1 choice. I have a number of small plots of private land in well populated areas to hunt. I just don't feel right shooting "big guns" (358, 30-30, 375Win) there. Dont get me wrong, I'm talking 30+ acre pieces for the smallest. But people are with in earshot and the lower noise levers keep me on speaking terms.

Find a heavy .45 bullet and load your gun likes, put the bullets where you know you should and don't worry, the Ole' colt will not let you down.

CW

[Graybeard]

Very effective and very efficient. BUT from a rifle use the 240 XTP Mag not the 250 XTP as it is designed to work at the much slower velocity of a handgun at normal SAAMI pressure levels. The 240 is designed for the .454 Casull and that's the velocity level you'll be getting from a rifle. The cast should be an excellent choice. Don't over look the 300 XTP either.

[dpe.ahoy]

They both told ya the truth.  Follow what they said and you will get the same results CW talked about.  I've used it myself and works great.  DP

[Hank08]

No one ever questioned the old 45/90 as to wheather it would kill Deer or Elk.  It fired a 300 gr. bullet at around 1550 fps from a long barrel, The .45C will do that from a 16"
modern lever gun and even better from a  20" or 24 ".  The same load that chronos
1250 from your Ruger Blackhawk will be going 1650 to 1700 from 20" barrel.
H08

[Lloyd Smale]

like was mentioned a 45 colt rifel using ruger level loads is everything that a 4570 using factory loads is and ive yet to here anyone claim that the 4570 isnt enought for any game animal in the US. '

[pastorp]

For deer, the 10gr of unique load behind a 270gr keith SWC will shoot through the biggest deer with a behind the shoulder shot. I used that load for years in a Colt SAA with 5&1/2" barrel.

I've also used it in several winchester trapper length carbines. For deer yor don't need anymore. Once you shoot through them you've done all the damage that bullet will do. Regards, Byron

[deernhog]

265 grain hollow point Cor Bon out of a 20" EMF Hartford two bucks for two years thru n thru both times. One behind the shoulder exited other side between the last two ribs. The other thru both shoulders. Found the jacket of both bullets on the exit sides. I have 255 grn lead handloaded over Unique would not hesitate for a moment to hunt with them at the ranges I shoot 75 yards give or take a little. I also use 325 grn gc lead loaded over h110 that let you know you pulled the trigger. These I would rate up there close with my .45-70 but not quite.

[TommyD]

The Hornady 300 gr XTP mag is a great choice in .45 Colt with either H110 or Lil'Gun. The last 3 deer I harvested went down within 5 to 10 seconds. One with a revolver in .45 Colt at 45 yards and two with a muzzleloader at 100+ yards. All three went clean through the boiler room and kept on going.

I just bought the Marlin 1894 in 45 Colt. Only had it out once to the range so far. Preliminary testing shows 2 to 3 inch groups at 100 yards with the 300 grain Hornady bullets. Not what I would expect from a .30-06, but certainly adequate for deer. Some tweaking of loads may be in order.

Chrono data with my Puma M92 lever gun in 45 colt shows a gain of about 300 fps over revolver velocities when using slow powders like H110 and Lil'Gun. An 1150 fps load in my Super Redhawk will go about 1450 out of my M92.

Faster powders like 231 also show some benefit from the longer rifle barrel, but only half as much. I believe they reach their peak pressure too fast to take full advantage of the longer rifle barrel.

A 300 grain XTP bullet out of revolver at 1150 feet per second is more than adequate for whitetail. And that isn't even a max load. You don't need the belchfire magnums for deer.   Add 300 fps more from a rifle barrel and you will have a very effective package with a comfortable recoil level. As long as your particular rifle shoots it accurately, you will be in good shape. Shot placement is still the most important factor.

Tom