Best Powder for 45 colt

[Rooster59]

If you use Winchester large pistol primers you will be fine with normal or magnum loads. Discovered that yesterday. If using other brands of primers you may need magnum designated primers for the heavy loads with H110 or W296.

I have used all Starline brass, for moderate loads and heavy ones. Mine still appear good and some have had 5x heavy loads through them. Since I don't load up mega quantities at once I have the time to look them over closely. Once fired they get dumped into the tumbler. After tumbling they get deprimed, primer pockets cleaned, and looked over once more.

I haven't had the nerve to use my chronograph with a handgun yet if that's your intention. For rifles, just follow the manufacturer's instructions. Mine is usually placed about 10-12' from the muzzle. Depending on light conditions you may have to try with and without the diffusers to get a good read. You will know if the sun is messing with you. My first attempt to use the chrono I got readings for my heavy Colt loads from 1200fps to 2100fps. Our range has a huge pavilion over the benches and the sun angle had the roof shadow falling between the front and rear diffusers.

[Archer]

I'm sort of curious since ages ago I used Winchester Magnum Large Pistol Primers for my .44 loads and Winchester Standard Large Pistol Primers for .45 ACP what or how they were different from the current 'Large Pistol Primers for Standard and Magnum Loads' that Winchester now markets.

[Rooster59]

I have no idea. Winchester now claims their large pistol primers are good for standard and magnum loads. Not sure how theirs are different than others or their older offerings. Mine all say for standard or magnum....

[Archer]

Yeah,
I think most if not all of my current stocks are the new style labeling.
I MIGHT have a thousand Magnums left with the Winchester label on them.

I think I've loaded about 1400-1500 of them and have 500-600 that I've primed cases with that are waiting to be loaded.

[Rooster59]

Now that is a bunch of brass my friend!

[Archer]

The 500-600 I have primed currently are on something like their 4th loading cycle.
I've probably got that many cases that haven't been loaded yet and a passel of factory rounds I picked up when I was working too hard to get around to reloading back before prices doubled.
I need to get my bench set back up and run off a few. My lever actions and my revolvers need some range time.

[DennisH]

I have just a single stage Lee Press and everything is done with no automatic equipment. So 50 rounds is all I can do at one setting. I have almost went thru my first 1000 primers. I have 500 brass with only 100 reloaded so far. I've got to get busy because soon the weather will change and I can get back out.
I inspect each one carefully since I don't want to make any mistakes. It seems very slow but I like to be safe since I'm still new to this with only one year experience at it.
I'm starting to understand the different burn rates of powders and finer details, There really is a lot to learn to make really good ammo .

[Archer]

I used to run a hundred or two on the single stage at the time.
That was a royal pain with only a loading block or two.
I had cases sitting on the coffee table and would shift them as I processed them through the press from one side of the table to the other. The press and the powder measure were mounted to a 2x6 or 2x8 C clamped to the arms of a 1960s or 1970s office chair with heavy steel tube structure. Having another three or four loading blocks makes that a LOT easier.

Running .44s through the Dillon SDB made loading 200 at a time an hour job instead of a 3-4 hour job.

[mr surveyor]

................Running .44s through the Dillon SDB made loading 200 at a time an hour job instead of a 3-4 hour job.

well, I look at reloading a bit like I see golf and bowling. In golf, why would you want to pay for 18 holes and only hit the ball 70-75 times when you can do as I (used to) do and hit it 90-100 times. More bang for the buck. And bowling, why would you only want to roll the ball 12-15 times when you can get at least 20 rolls per game if you do it right ......


jd

[lbaize3]

I was having difficulty shooting my Taurus Thunderbolts in 45 Colt. The Starline brass that I like to use is pretty tough and would not expand with my regular 250 grain boolits and max load of Trail Boss. I found that if I used 7.5 grains of Universal Clays that the Thunderbolts would shoot the 250 grain RF cast boolits very well and no carbon blew back in to the action to cause jams. In fact the cases came out much cleaner than any other loads I used. I can also shoot the same load in my pistols, my Winchester 1873 clones and my Circuit Judge without problem. That load will take most anything I see in the SE Texas woods and I use it frequently.