Black hawk 45 colt

[hornady]

I am looking into buying a Ruger Black hawk 45 colt. I cast for 9MM, 38/357, 45ACP, and .308, But the Ruger 45 colt will be a new one. I am looking at the 4.5 or 5.5 inch barrel, and was thinking about the Lyman #454190 in 250 grain bullet to start with. For those of you that load this round what do you think of it, and is there a better choice. I have not ordered the gun yet, but would like to stay with the shorter barrel and a heavy bullet. This is just going to be another paper hole puncher, may use on close range whitetail, so what do you think. Thanks.

[kynardsj]

250 gr SWC or RNFP in a 45 LC pistol is a match made in heaven. JMHO. I shoot the RNFP's in my 4 5/8 Blackhawk.

[Castaway]

For both plinking and hunting, I have been happy with Lee's 255 RNFP  Wide meplat for tissue damage and stable at low and high end velocities.  Both my Black Hawk and Trapper love it as well.  As a plus, you can get it  in a 6 cavity mould for faster production

[Tom W.]

Might want to try the RCBS 45 - 270- SAA bullet.  Shoots great in mine..

[hornady]

Nothing against the Lee molds, unless you use a Lyman Lube / Seizer, I use all Lyman molds, but do have a Lee in .309 that works well enough in the Lyman.
How ever I thought I would try the Lee 452-252 SWC, this was not a good match with the Lyman lube die. The Lee bullet in this caliber can be lubed and sized, but its more trouble than it’s worth.
This Lee mold has a small base and two shallow lube grooves, I could not get them too lube correctly in the Lyman. The Lee mold went up for sale, and I have ordered the Lyman 452424 in 255 Grain bullets.
I picked up the Black Hawk, with the 4 5/8 barrel, the 252 Gr, Lees shot well enough,
Just too much playing around too get a good lube job with the Lyman.
I thought I would save a couple bucks with the Lee mold, this time it did not pay off.

[tacklebury]

I am looking into buying a Ruger Black hawk 45 colt. I cast for 9MM, 38/357, 45ACP, and .308, But the Ruger 45 colt will be a new one. I am looking at the 4.5 or 5.5 inch barrel, and was thinking about the Lyman #454190 in 250 grain bullet to start with. For those of you that load this round what do you think of it, and is there a better choice. I have not ordered the gun yet, but would like to stay with the shorter barrel and a heavy bullet. This is just going to be another paper hole puncher, may use on close range whitetail, so what do you think. Thanks.

I really like my 5.5" convertible.  If you are already loading for ACP, you can use that cylinder for target shooting/plinking and even defensive.  Then having the Colt allows you to bump up and get a little more power for hunting.  Might be a thought if you can find one as they are a little less commonly available.    Good balance and pretty accurate.

[hillbill]

im looking at some of the lee molds with the thin grooves in the bullets that are especially made for the alox lube. supposedly these dont need to be sized.im looking at handloads with reddot or unique shotgun powder prob running in the 800-900 fps range.does this sound like a decent combo?

[tacklebury]

My .45 colt plinking load is 6 gr. Unique under a 200 gr. RNFP lead.  I also shoot a bunch of 255 gr. LSWC with 9 gr. Unique.  Still easy on the hand, but bumps the trajectory a little flatter and gives a bit more thump for hunting.  I have also loaded quite a few 250 gr. XTP, 300 gr. XTP Mag's and used a good bit of H110, but not really enjoyable to shoot.  I figure if I ever in a more dangerous place or dealing with dangerous game, I'd probably carry the 300 gr. XTP Mags and use 21 gr. H110.  That load was still quite accurate and I could only shoot about 3 groups before my thumb muscles were spasming.  lol  The 250 XTP's haven't proven very tough and a few have even dejacketed on me. 

Basically, though, the 250 that you're questioning with 9 gr. is a great load and comfortable to shoot for me in my blackhawk fwiw. 

[Land_Owner]

+1 to tacklebury.

Here's Josh, my 9 y.o. (then) with 7.5" bbl Blackhawk Convertible, 9.5 gr. of Unique, and a 255 gr. SWC.  You should have seen the grin on that boy's face - after he depleted the revolver that is.

[Blackhawker]

I can keep about a five inch group at 50 yards (12 shot string) with my 7.5", iron sighted 45 Colt Blackhawk using 2400 or HS-6 powder (load not given here) under a 250 or 255 RNFP or SWC.  You can easily hunt deer with my loads but this year I found them to be quite successful on prairie dogs out to distances of 100 to even 150 yards.  Overkill, yes...but a lot of fun!  
As others have said, the 250's and 255's are a match made in heaven with this caliber Blackhawk.  You might even get yourself a Win 94 in 45 Colt or H&R CR-45 to go with your Blackhawk.  I shoot the same loads from both and they work great together.

[tacklebury]

+1 Blackhawker on the Carbine.    Mine will shoot very well with all of the same loads as my Blackhawk, now that I have one with a good chamber, I'm thrilled with it.  I also load some carbine only loads up with Reloader7 (slow rifle powder) and you get superior performance, although velocities are too high for plain leads and you need gas checks if still shooting leads with these loads.  Nice thing is that the performance is superior and you get a lot less kick than the H-110 power houses I had tried in the carbine. 

[Blackhawker]

+1 Blackhawker on the Carbine.    Mine will shoot very well with all of the same loads as my Blackhawk, now that I have one with a good chamber, I'm thrilled with it.  I also load some carbine only loads up with Reloader7 (slow rifle powder) and you get superior performance, although velocities are too high for plain leads and you need gas checks if still shooting leads with these loads.  Nice thing is that the performance is superior and you get a lot less kick than the H-110 power houses I had tried in the carbine. 

I always seem to accumulate some lead build up in the carbine too.  It usually starts showing up enough after about 200 rounds.  It's never bothered me though.  I never have a tough time getting it out.  I let the barrel soak for about an hour with Hoppes lead remover (don't know the exact name) and then brush it out with a wire brush.  I usually count 50 strokes through the barrel and most if not all of the lead is gone.  I never could figure out why so many people complain or are scared of leading.   
Despite having the leading, I still shoot plain based bullets and they're running roughly (by calculation only, no chronograph) at around 1650 to 1700 fps.