Author Topic: Anyone shooting the 45 Long Colt - How do you like it???? (Read 1522 times)

TopperT · « **on:** January 18, 2009, 06:40:23 AM »

I'm considering getting the 45 Long Colt to round out my little H&R Black Powder Cartridge rifle group

and the 45 Long Colt is of some interest but I know nothing about it. Any thoughts? Thanks, Jim.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #1 on:** January 18, 2009, 09:59:44 AM »

Jim,
The long colt is my next fav to the 357MAXI!! I have a couple of them in rifles and pistols, GREAT cartridge!!

I load most of mine to the Ruger/Contender levels for hunting with excellent results. I had a good supply of old WW630 powder and had a wonderful cowboy load for it. but allass its gone as are my days shooting cowboy stuff. Not because of resent debilitation's, I got away from it years ago and different priorities guide me now.

Shooting it with BLK powder has not been something I have done.

Good luck with this great cartridge!!

CW

dpe.ahoy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 18, 2009, 12:01:15 PM »

I don't shoot the Great Black in the 45, but it is my favorite pistol cartridge. Like CW I load mine up there as the weakest gun I shoot them in is a 94 Win Trapper. I'm trying to learn that I don't need that much power, but I LIKE it!

Anyway, get one and you won't be sad. I had to do a little work on the extractor to get the cases to come out, mine must have been one of the first chambered cause it's on the big side. I burn all my Black in traditional sidelocks, patched round ball. DP

Saloon slug · « **Reply #3 on:** January 18, 2009, 01:49:31 PM »

.45colt is my all time favorite. I load it from wimpy using a .454 round ball all the way up to holy smokes with 300gr slugs. This is an awesome round in a rifle or a strong revolver. Get it and you wont be unhappy.

JamesIII · « **Reply #4 on:** January 18, 2009, 02:02:11 PM »

I don't shoot black powder either, but the 45 colt is a ton of fun with cowboy loads. I ordered a set of dies so by this coming weekend I can take it up a notch. I would love to hunt deer with it but, I am in a shotgun only area. Maybe they will see their way to allow primitive rounds during muzzleloader season some time. JamesIII

zoner · « **Reply #5 on:** January 19, 2009, 03:06:05 AM »

I have also been thinking about getting a handi in 45 Colt for a couple reasons...one is that i already own a 45 LC Blackhawk and already have dies etc for it,you can (if you reload) make the 45 colt do anything a 44 mag will do(and according to load data the 45 colt will do it at lower pressure),it's versatile,everything from cowboy loads to full bore hunting loads will work good. the only thing that concerns me would be i'm wondering about extaction and/or ejection problems based on the size of the rim diameter compared to case diameter,there is not as much rim to work with...i would like to hear if anyone else is having issues with this...this handi thing is maddening...got up this morning..had coffee,turned on the computer,started writing this and now i'm thinking about ordering a new barrel,then i'll need a new scope and rings, I gotta get out of here.....

zoner · « **Reply #6 on:** January 19, 2009, 03:15:34 AM »

one more thing that crossed my mind is that if you follow the logic H+R uses matching up 357 and 44 mag chamberings to the newer sbi frames it should mean that the same frame will handle the 45 colt as long as you keep your loads sane........

cwlongshot · « **Reply #7 on:** January 19, 2009, 03:19:31 AM »

Quote from: zoner on January 19, 2009, 03:15:34 AM

one more thing that crossed my mind is that if you follow the logic H+R uses matching up 357 and 44 mag chamberings to the newer SB1 frames it should mean that the same frame will handle the 45 colt as long as you keep your loads sane........

Tim had a post addressing this.

IIRC, H&R will NOT put the 45LC on a SB1 for the reason of all the hotter loadings and the availability of the 454 and 460S&W re-chambers people could do.

CW

Westbound · « **Reply #8 on:** January 19, 2009, 03:34:34 AM »

I don't have a 45LC handi, but I do shoot this cartidge from an Uberti Single Action.
It is a blast to shoot. I've shot some factory BP loads just for fun. Most of the guys are already looking when I pull out a colt copy, but when I touch off a BP rounds, it gets the conversations started. With this gun, i'm tied to using mild loads, but its still a hoot, and i don't feel undergunned with a 250gr roundnose moving at 850fps. I carry it as a sidearm while hunting. I'm not having to deal with bear or anything else that might eat me, so its sufficient.

A handi barrel in 45LC is on the list, but like everyone else, that list is long

zoner · « **Reply #9 on:** January 19, 2009, 03:54:10 AM »

i realize that H+R won't put the LC on the sbi, i was just pointing out that if you stay with 44 mag data,a frame that can handle 44mag could surely handle the 45LC

PHATINJUN · « **Reply #10 on:** January 19, 2009, 04:29:06 AM »

I love to shoot mine and for now it's my favorite. Haven't worked with any light bullets yet but will when the weather get better. I'm shootin a 360gr cast right now that will blow just about anything up at 50yrds.Kurt

Gohon · « **Reply #11 on:** January 19, 2009, 05:30:49 AM »

I've got a Marlin 45 Colt Lever and a H&R Buffalo Classic in 45 Colt. Have put several hundred rounds through each and never had any kind of extraction problem. The 45 Colt is a real blast to shoot all the way up from cowboy loads to full power house loads. Trust me, some of the full power loads without even going close to maximum loads will give you all the recoil your body can stand at the shooting bench. Only down side to the Handi and I would hesitate to even call it that, is the cartridge is extracted instead of ejected and that makes it a little slow for a quick reload when hunting. On the other side of the coin I don't like the cartridge ejected when plinking or at the bench so I guess it is one of those push pull things. Another thing to watch for is if you use a scope, there is a lot of muzzle flip when that big slug comes out of the barrel, which makes eye relief very critical. It's got me a few times at the shooting bench.

On the subject of a scope......... for those like myself who have to use a scope because of aging eyes, Simmons has or had a 2.5x20 Shotgun/Black Powder scope that is only 7.5 inches long with a 5.5 inch eye relief. Though Simmons still lists the scope their new listing is for a scope a little longer and for some reason has a belled front lens although still advertised a 20MM. Anyway, the old design is being phased out from my understand, however CDNN has them in stock and has dropped the price $20 to clear out inventory. Normally I wouldn't put much stock in low end priced scope but these particular scopes are well made, bright and clear and well suited for the range limitations of something like the 45 Colt and they simply just look good on these rifles, plus with that extra long eye relief they can be mounted far enough foreard and a hammer spur is not needed. I bought three of them, mounting one on each of my rifles. After about 300 rounds through the Marlin the scope has held up without a hitch. I like them so much I'll be ordering two more this morning just have them available before they are all gone.

PHATINJUN, got a question for you. Noticed you said you were shooting 360 grain cast. I haven't gone that heavy yet but I am loading 314 grain cast RNFP from a Lee mould. I've discovered COL is critical with this design and if I try to load out to anything near some of the maximum recommended COL the nose of the bullet is pushed up into the lands. Result is I'm having to seat a little deeper than I would like and I don't know if it is the bullet design or the gun itself. Have you run into this situation. Apologize for getting a bit off topic here.

WILD_WEASEL · « **Reply #12 on:** January 19, 2009, 05:42:18 AM »

I was not interested in Handi’s until the 45 Colt Carbine came out. I really like the looks of the walnut furniture and case hardened receiver. Mine shoots great with Standard and Cowboy loads, but hotter loads have a hard time extracting over the lip of the extractor. My first trip to the range with it I discovered a problem with the hammer transfer bar that required it to be returned to H&R. Since it was going back for warranty repair H&R Customer Service agreed to install 12GA and .357 Magnum barrels for just the cost of the barrels, no fitting or return shipping charges. Right now I’m 50/50 on shooting 45 Colt and 357 Magnum. I also have Ruger Blackhawks in both 45 Colt and 357 Mag which makes for a couple really nice rifle/revolver combos. Now if H&R/Remington would only come out with a 303 British and or 7.62x54r…

quickdtoo · « **Reply #13 on:** January 19, 2009, 05:59:52 AM »

There have been several reports of the left side of the extractor claw dragging on the extracted case making manual removal difficult once the extractor does its job, but a touch of a file or dremel will fix it promptly. Other than that, I've had no problems with extraction as a 45 Colt or as a 460S&W.

Zoner, H&R won't fit the 45LC barrel to any pre-'99 SB2 frame, let alone an SB1.

Tim

PHATINJUN · « **Reply #14 on:** January 19, 2009, 06:18:57 AM »

Gohon the cast that I have loaded are Oregon Trail Silver alloy True shot
WNFP GC .452 I have them 1.7 OAL which I believe is just a little less than most .454 Casull loads IIRC they ended up at 1475-1500 fps with 21gr Lilgun I was really just looking for about a max75yrd deer load but these are still under 2" at 100. Don't know yet if I am going to try and find any more of these yet but when I briefly looked for them they were pretty pricey the 50 I got were from Gander Mnt I found them on the shelf no price and no one there could find a price or anywhere in there computer that they ever had any so I offerd them like $15 I think, and they took it later I thought I found them in a cat. for considerable more .Some thing I may try this spring is I got a couple of hundred 385 gr No Excuses ML bullets in .451 and see what I can make them do. Hell my 20ga slugs are only 385gr and loaded down to about 1200fps.Kurt

Gohon · « **Reply #15 on:** January 19, 2009, 06:36:15 AM »

The 314 grain cast RNFP cast I'm loading (home cast) are also GC. Right now my chrony shows them leaving the barrel at 1535 fps/1643 fpe and at 100 yards that almost half inch slug is still delivering 1182 fpe. Anything that runs into that is gonna have a very bad day.

Blackhawker · « **Reply #16 on:** January 19, 2009, 06:43:01 AM »

I bought a CR-45LC with the antique finish and checkered stock a few weeks after Christmas but I haven't shot it yet (believe it or not).

The 45 LC has to be my favorite round to load and shoot. As many have mentioned, it's very versatile. One can load it light for some great plinking fun and it can be loaded heavy for some serious hunting applications and it is quite an accurate round in both applications as well. I have a few Ruger single actions chambered in the caliber and they are a ton of fun to shoot. I picked up a 94 Trapper in 1994 to go with them and it too is loads of fun to shoot. The Trapper is my main reason for buying the CR-45LC however. Over the years I've broken many extractors, ejectors and a firing pin on my 45 Colt Trapper while my 30-30 of the same year and having approximately the same number of rounds fired from it has never had any incidents as of yet. Obviously, the Trapper cannot take the heavier 45 Colt loads I've been putting through it and I figured the H&R CR-45 will do a good job with the heavy stuff. I went with the CR model just because it's "cowboy-ish" and goes well with the Blackhawk and Vaquero models. Even though I haven't fired mine yet, I'm sure it will be loads of fun to play with.

If you like cowboy looking guns etc, you might spend the extra $100 for the nicer stock and antique finish of the CR over the Handi. Even though the metal finish on the CR isn't near as nice as my Wesson and Harrington BC, it still looks cool.

Good luck and if you decide to buy one, have fun!

zoner · « **Reply #17 on:** January 19, 2009, 07:02:19 AM »

thanks for the info Tim and everyone else

lostarrow · « **Reply #18 on:** January 19, 2009, 03:32:49 PM »

I got a BC 45 LC for my birthday to use during MS " primative weapon " season. I fell in love with the size, look & appearence of the gun. I ended up using it all season long. I harvested 2 nice deer with it & it performed perfectly .

Dinny · « **Reply #19 on:** February 08, 2009, 05:41:59 PM »

Much like PHATINJUN, I am also using the 360 gr Cast Performance hard cast bullet in my .45LC Handi rifle. It has been the most accurate bullet I have ever shot out of my Handi. It is very effective on big game. Just this last year, I laid the smack down on a big buck. I have it loaded with H Lil Gun to somewhere around 1350fps. It is now my favorite deer rifle(for IN) to hunt with. It has much less recoil than a slug gun and more fun than a muzzleloader. It seems to have a nice balance to it that makes it quick to point. Currently it's getting a coat of ACU Deep Gray Green DuraCoat to ensure it's finish durability. It's definitely a keeper!