Black powder loads for the 45LC

[timothy]

Alright I'd like to try this but have some questions. Do you measure the powder with a regular scale or do you have to go by volume? Which kind of powder would be ideal and can you use different grades? Do you crimp the bullet the same way as smokeless? Will the 40gr charge be safe in replicas if it fits? Thanks I'm looking forward to this and if it works for me I may not look back. I'd appreciate all possible information from someone who has done this before.

[WD45]

Timothy,
1st , you measure Black by volume
2f or 3 f can be used. This is usually by prefference and what shoots best out of your gun.
You probably wont fit a full 40 grains in a modern 45LC case but if you can, modern guns should handle full house BP loads.
Yes you should crimp.
There is a boat load of info down in the black powder cartridge forum.
Do a search on 45 colt and you should get all the info you need and if not those guys will be more than happy to load your boat full.

[jd45]

This is the spot where I stick my 2 cents in. May I suggest you try Hodgdon's Triple-7 substitute? It gives you the smoke WITHOUT the corrosive aspects of black & 10%-15% more velocity than black. In .45 Colt, Hodgdon's charge for a 255gr bullet is 30grs BY VOLUME. Their charge for a 200gr bullet is 35grs, again, BY VOLUME. Low pressure, too...9500psi for the 255 load. JD45

[Redhawk1]

This is the spot where I stick my 2 cents in. May I suggest you try Hodgdon's Triple-7 substitute? It gives you the smoke WITHOUT the corrosive aspects of black & 10%-15% more velocity than black. In .45 Colt, Hodgdon's charge for a 255gr bullet is 30grs BY VOLUME. Their charge for a 200gr bullet is 35grs, again, BY VOLUME. Low pressure, too...9500psi for the 255 load. JD45

I have to agree with jd45. I have shot several of the load he mentioned with great success. And you get all the smoke.  

[Greeenriver]

I've been using American Pionier Powder (Formarly Cleanshot) for several years now and shoot up a couple casses of it a year. It's a Black Powder sub and one of the better ones on the marked. 777 is very good also and provides about 15% more power for the same load if you need it.  I love using the BP loads and have about quit using smokeless in most of my pistols for nearly everything, other than my CCW guns and loads.


Feel fre to E-mail me for any information I can provide you at:

Greeenriver@hotmail.com,  Black Powder in the subject line.

Greeenriver(Just something about the smoke I love, smells like History)

[BillinOregon]

Timothy:
No offense meant to these other fine gentlemen, but the .45 Colt was our first seriously powerful handgun cartridge and for decades it was loaded with BLACK powder. All those cowboys, all those cavalrymen, all those homesteaders, prospecters, gamblers, teamsters, pioneers and other folks who made the American West come alive used this cartridge loaded with BLACK powder. It is an honor and a privilege to do so today. Do yourself a favor and pick a 250-260-grain soft lead bullet with a proper BP lube and load it over a drop-tubed case full of BLACK powder and give it a good crimp and then go shoot these loads. They have a bang and a boom and a buck that is a sacred and historic AMERICAN experience. Yes, you'll have some sooty cases and a gun that smells like eggs left out in the sun, but by God, you'll know what it felt like to shoot a .45 dang Colt like your great grandfather did, and you'll appreciate the maintenance chores they took for granted.
And I think you wil find it will do for whatever you need done, and it's accurate, too, even with BLACK powder.
Read Keith on this matter.
God bless you

[cwlongshot]

Try the hodgdon pistol pellets!!  
 They are just like the ones for your black powder rifle, only designed for pistol cartridges!!
 Drop one in the case and seat a bullet. VERY SIMPLE and shoots quite well.
 They are labeled 44 cal and each pellet has 30grs volume.

I don't shoot them allot but they are fun for something different!!

 Give them a try, bet you like them!!

CW

[jd45]

Bill, when I got my first Colt SAA clone, I used to obsess about what it'd be like to shoot it stoking the 45 cases with "coal", as Uncle Elmer described it, so that's what I did. I thought that's how they did it in the 1870's. Then someone pointed out that the soot had a way of creeping into the remotest crevice internally........doing its devilish work of corrosion & pitting, requiring one to take the gun apart down to the last screw & scrub every part to protect it from just that, as well as the cases.  Then came the non-sulphur subs. All the bang, boom , smoke & recoil without needing to do the above after EVERY shooting session, as with black. I, for one, am grateful to Hodgdon, JD45

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I'm afraid that if you boys are reading the "no sulfur" label and thinking that means it is "noncorrosive" you may be in for a surprise.

I haven't seen a "noncorrosive" label on 777.  The sulfur is not what causes the rust and pitting.  It doesn't turn into sulfuric acid.  What causes the pitting is chlorides.  Chlorides are not part of the formula for Blackpowder, instead they are introduced as impurities.

If you want a black that is nearly noncorrosive try Swiss.  Because it has fewer impurities it is top quality.  The fouling will draw in moisture and cause some rust, so I do clean up afterwards, but I don't feel any great rush to do it that evening.  Sometime that week will suffice.

Pyrodex has lots of chlorides and the fouling is very corrosive.  I've never tried 777, just read the label.

As for cleaning a revolver, you do NOT have to disassemble it to the last screw!  simply remove the wooden grip plates and immerse the gun in hot soapy water.  Swish it around good, run a patch through the bore and cylinder.  Maybe scrub what you can with toothbrush.  Rinse with hot water.  Set in sun to dry, or in a warm oven, or blow it with pressurized air.  Oil it.  Put panels back on.

[jd45]

Jaque, I appreciate your post, but, for our peace of mind, let me ask this question...........when I'm assembling my revolver, I will put oil on the threads..........will this oil protect them from rust, following the procedure in your last post? I'll defer to your wisdom, & Thanx, JD45

[timothy]

I am VERY sorry but I'm not going to drop my sixgun in a bucket of soap and hot water. I'll stick with smokeless.

[jd45]

Jaque, I noticed a full-page ad in the October Handloader. Goex is offering a blackpowder substitute called Pinnacle that's non-corrosive. I'd call that progress, JD45

[Will52100]

I'll have to agree with BillinOregon, I shoot almost all black powder and for the most part stick with Graf's and Goex for everyday shootin and use Swiss in my 45-70.  Swiss is a lot hotter than regular black and burns cleaner and leaves softer fouling than regular black.  If I had a choice between 777 and Swiss I'd use the Swiss.  Also I've found max load black powder loads tend to out perform smokless loads that are safe to use in replica guns.  Black powders recoil impulse is spread over a slightly longer period of time from what I understand.

One thing on cleaning, I use a bath of Ballistol lube mixed with water and have never had a rusting problem and about twice a year break the guns down to every last screw.  That includes the cap and ball revolvers and they are extreamly bad about fouling getting into the action.  The flame from the nipple follows the hammer directly into the action. The nice thing about Ballistol lube is that when the water evaporates it leaves a thin film of oil.  As a mater of fact I work 14 days on and 14 off offshore and while I'm in the guns only get cleaned the day befor I head out.  I might run a bore snake through the bore between shoots, but that's it.

One thing I do do is to tear the gun down to every last screw when new and clean with acetone and give everything a coating of Wonder lube 1000.  While there are a few exceptions, general rul of thumb is to stay away from petrolium oil and black powder, it generialy turns it into asphalt and makes clean-up a chore.

[jd45]

I, agree, Will, Ballistol is a great product......use it myself, JD45