? 4 handloaders 45LC loads for both SA & Lever gun

[JBMauser]

I have the lever gun and I am shopping for the handguns.  I have been collecting data on mild loads and some with light bullets which I have read are prefered for the hand guns to keep the muzzle rise to a minimum.  My question is this.  Do you guys shoot these same soft loads in your lever action rifles or do you load for each gun?  My trapper has a short barrel and I would think that pistol loads would shoot hotter or faster in the 16in. barrel but I don't know.  Thanks in advance.  JB

[Peddler Parsons]

Tho I shot black, I load the same for both; and yes, it will be a faster out of the rifle.  I hit about an inch high on the close (25) targets and about a inch low at long (75) targets this is out of my Cowboy Marlin  :-)  :cb2:

[Cheyenne Ranger]

Rifle and handguns are both 45 Colt but in revolvers shoot a 200 grain over 4.5 gr of Bullseye and rifle is 250 grain over 4.8 grain of BE.  I can mess up and get them backwards and they still go boom.  :grin:

I load the pistol in brass cases and rifle is nickle to tell the difference.

ÇR

[Prof. Fuller Bullspit]

I shoot the same load in both rifle and handgun. It took me a bit of experimenting to find a good compromise load that worked for me but it was worth it!

I started out with 7.5 grains of Unique and a 250 grain bullet. This load was very accurate in both rifle and Ruger Vaquero Birdshead and even shot point of aim in the Rugers. A little dirty but not bad. However this isn't a light load so the search continued.

Tried 6 and 7 grains of Unique and a 200 grain bullet. Worked great in the pistols but I didn't like the results in the rifle (Rossi 92). These rounds were too dirty.

Tried Clays. Hated it! Too much blowby in the rifle and the report in the pistols was too sharp. Recoil, even in a light load felt sharp, not the nice push of Unique (or even better, black powder).

Finally found a good load with 200 grain bullets that works great in both rifle and pistol. I am not going to publish this load as it is not in any load manual and you should always stick to the data provided in loading manuals.

I think it is a good idea to find a load that works well in both your rifle and pistols. It saves thinking and aggravation.

[HR2D2]

I cast my own 250 grain bullets using an old Ideal (Lyman) 454190 mold sized 452.  These are loaded over 8 grains of Alliant Unique.  This combination shoots to the sights in my two Navy Arms 7.5 inch Schofields and my Japanese made Winchester '92.

[Flint]

I used to load rifle and pistol loads, but it's not worth the extra effort, sorting them at the loading table.  Find a good handgun load that shoots to your point of aim, and the rifle will take care of itself.

[107ch]

I use a very light bullet, Lee's 160 gr. mold from Midway. I load this with 5 gr. of red dot and a very heavy crimp with a CCI magnum primer. hardly kicks at all, and with red dot it smokes enough that no one gives me a hard time about the light loads.
Myron Swaim SASS 49410

[Holiday]

In my opinion if you are gonna use two differant loads, use two differant calibers. Say, .45 for the rifle and .38 for the pistol. Otherwise you are going to mix up the loads at the loading table, guaranteed. You will be in a hurry and whatever you do to mark or seperate the load will go out with the summer breeze. And if ya stand there and take too long sorting and loading, they'll probably skip ya. At the ranges we shoot it is simple enough to use the same load. I do with BP and when I shoot smokeless. It may not be the most effecint loads but it is the simplest.  A word of advice, though. Work up a good load for the pistol first.  It is MUCH easier to adjust your rifle sites to the load than trying to compensate with a fixed sighted pistol.

[Camille Eonich]

I'm shooting a 160 gr. bullet with 4.2 grains of red dot.  Use the same thing in my rifle.

[Piney Woods]

For the pistol I load a 200gr RNFP over 5.6 gr of Green Dot. Gives me about 685 fps from a 5 1/2" Vaquero - very mild with very little muzzle flip. My rifle load is 6.6 gr of Green Dot behind a 250gr RNFP for 980 fps out of a 24" Marlin.

[Col. Nathan C. Riddles]

First of all, let me say this. I have 3 rifles & six pistols for CAS, all 45 Colt. I use a 250 gr RNFP bullet over 4.2 gr of Hogdon Clays. Muzzle velocity is 715 fps out of my 5.5" Colt SAAs.

Clays cleans up very easy unlike some other smokless powders and works very well in all my CAS guns. I also use it in all of my wife's .38 cal CAS guns. I have never seen or understood the need to load two different rounds for rifles and pistols when both are the same caliber. After all, you  don't have to be that accurate in our game, just hit the metal target.

[RPbump]

I use a load close to the maximum in my 45LC. 7.2gr WW 231 behind a 255gr LRNFP or 225gr LTC. Both are accurate and feed well in the rifle. The 225gr LTC with 4.9gr of Bullseye shoots and functions very well in my Kimber 45ACP. Rbump