Is it possible to roll your own .45 LC shot loads?

[volshooter]

I reload the .357, .44spc., and .44mag with shot since that makes up 75% of my working ammo. I've wanted a .45 LC like the Cabela's revolver but I need shot rounds. Can anyone inform me as to how/if the .45 LC can be loaded with shot? I really hate to carry $400+ pistols for everyday around the barn.
Rick

[John Traveler]

Yes, birdshot loads are available for the .45 Colt revolver.

The easiet route is to buy the CCI/Speer .45 Colt shot cartridges.  They come in 10-round packs.  Perfect for snakes and pesky rodents up close.  Good for the occasional pot shot at game up close.

Next easiest is to buy .45 shot capsules.  The CCI/Speer blue plastic ones that you fill with shot and loat over xx grains of pistol powder in primed .45 Colt cases.

Making your own .45 Colt shot loads is easy, but more work to get them to be any good.  You punch out cardboard wads to make a short overpowder wad, add shot, and use inverted .45 gas checks to hold the shot in place. Use a heavy roll crimp.  The trick here is to find a long enough (cylinder-length) case to make those shot loads worthwhile.  Some people use cut-down .410 shotshell cases.  I use .454 Casull cases necked down in a .44 Magnum sizing die.

For all of these loads, careful with the charge of pistol powder.  Avoid hot loads that "blow" your shot pattern.

HTH
John

[Mikey]

Hay John Traveler:  I don't have much experience these days with loading my own shot capsules - fooled around with it a buncha years ago but no for a long while.   I'm wondering about the benefits/utility/effectiveness of inverting a gas check to cover the shot charge.  I'm asking only because I've watched some artisans at crafts fairs use 'glue guns' with hot glue sticks to some pretty good effect and wonder if using the 'glue' approach might not be successfull with shot charges.  The 'glue' seems to hold together pretty well but I doubt it would hold up under the detonation of a powder charge, and might release the pellets in the shot charge appropriately, without the possibility of having one of those gas-checks get caught cock-eyed in the barrel.  

So, if you seated a cardboard wad over the powder charge and added a drop of glue to help hold the shot, added your shot, then added another drop of glue over the shot charge before crimping the case to hold it more firmly together, do you think that might work as an effective means to roll one's own shot shells?????  Thanks for your insights well in advance.  Mikey.

[Savage]

Intresting thought, Mikey, the glue thing----hummmmmmmm. I've loaded a bunch of the CCI shot capsules, they work about as well as any shot load in a rifiled barrel. In my experience, about 6-8 feet, pretty effective.
Stay Safe,
Savage

[volshooter]

I just found the Speer .45 LC shot capsules from Midway so nothing is stopping me now. I have been loading pistol round shot shells for as long as I can remember. In my SBH .44 mag I can kill running rats uo to 20 feet when I load up with #6 or #4 shot, few pellets but very effective. I've killed over 100 rats this year with them. Back when folks would let a man rabbit hunt, I've been known to kill running rabbits with a .44 mag stoked with shot shells. The best dangerous snake load is #12 shot if you can find some. At 6 feet this load will put a tiny pellet in every 1/8 inch. I only use these when someone has actually seen a bad snake in close. (yeah, I know they ain't gonna hurt us, and their more afraid of me than I am of them, but I won't put up with copperheads in my barn or woodpile) I guess my favoite load is #6 for rats. We raise fowl and often have problems with coons, skunks and rats so shot shells is the way to go. I shot a coon sow at over 15 feet last month and stopped her in her tracks with a head shot of #6's from a .44. I give the shot shells more credit than most, I've seen cat(s) killed better than 20 feet from .45 ACP shot shells. (lucky pellet perhaps, but still dead, several)
Rick

[myronman3]

i killed a rabbit at 30 feet through light brush this summer with a 45 auto shot load.   surprised me.   but he aint eating my asparagas no more.

[John Traveler]

Mikey and All:

There's not much to worry about a .45 gas check sticking in the barrel.  If your shot cartridge fires at all, it will blow out the muzzle.  If it really worries you (it did me when I first loaded them), you can use a .44 caliber gas check and crimp the case heavily.

As for using a hot-melt glue to hold the shot in place, I've not tried it, but it sounds like good idea.  Before hot-melt glues were available, I used isinglas (a brittle resin), and melted parafin.  The powder charge would break up the resin or parafin on firing.  I've also used gelatin capsules from the drug store to hold shot.  They come in various sizes, but an over- powder wad is still needed.

Whatever method you use, experiment for the best pattern and velocities.  The best patterns will be when using a smoothbored barrel, but that is a no-no with the BATF.

HTH
|JOhn

[Mikey]

John and all:  thanks.  Mikey.

[Savage]

The shot loads in the 45LC using the CCI shot capsules should be the most effective of the lot due to the payload of the larger LC case. The are also more effective in the shorter barrels, anyone got a 3' 45 LC?
Stay Safe,
Savage

[dakotashooter2]

I use cut down 410 wads capped with a gas check in my 41 mag. They are a very tight fit in the 41 and could probably be used in the 45. if you don't get a good seal a cardboard or fiber wad of appropriate size could be used under the 410 wad.  As long as loads are kept light pattern is decent out to 15 feet the only exception being the gas check seems to cause the middle of the pattern to blow out.

[daddywpb]

I've been loading 45 LC shot loads with two gas checks, and #9 shot for years. They're devastating on snakes out to about 20 feet, especially if the snakes happen to get hit with one of the gas checks.