Lee Loader

Here are some comparison charts for my 45 Colt, 454 Casull, and 480 Ruger. All three are 20" round barrel rifles setup with Weaver K4 Classic Scout scopes. Recoil is brutal with the 45 Colt but hopefully I'm on the road to fixing that as I just purchased a used stock from a 454 Casull. That gets me away from the curved metal plate into a straight butt with a recoil pad. I also bought one for my 44 Mag.

Both the 45 Colt and 480 are being pushed to the potential I feel. The 454 Casull has some room to grow but it now comes down to bullet alloy, what kind of pressures it needs to survive. Even with the better stock, the 454 Casull is approaching a handful. I had to send the lever off to have the loop made larger as I thought it was going to eventually break the knuckle on my third finger.

You can see the muzzle velocities for each cartridge on the header of the graph. These comparisons are generated by my TMT software. If there is any interest in my loads, I would be happy to post them.

I would like to play with the 45 Colt load, the data would be much appreciated.

Steve wrote:I would like to play with the 45 Colt load, the data would be much appreciated.

The load data...


The ballistic table...


The terminal numbers...


This is what I expect for a five shot group at 100 yards.


The bullet, my TLC454-290-RF sized at .452".


This is a link for a Group Buy on the bullet design through NOE. Honestly it has gone real, real, slow: http://noebulletmolds.com/smf/index.php/topic,97.0.html

I really don't think that buy will ever close so if I was looking for a hunting bullet, I would just go with the Lee C452-300-RF.

And now the fun begins. Thanks a lot RD. I really enjoy working on new loads.

Steve wrote:And now the fun begins. Thanks a lot RD. I really enjoy working on new loads.

You're welcome!

I guess I didn't give any thought the 480 being so closely matched to the Colts . I need a better powder choice for the Colts .....

RBHarter wrote:I guess I didn't give any thought the 480 being so closely matched to the Colts . I need a better powder choice for the Colts .....

I'm personally sold on H110 with the heavy Lee bullet that Ranch mentioned. My 92 has taken a liking to it and the Blackhawk is unhappy either, although I use about 4.5 grain less powder for the BH .

Make smoke,