Handloading for Uberti Revolving Carbine in .45 Long Colt

pricedo

pricedo

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I'm purchasing a Uberti Revolving Carbine in .45 Long Colt (18" bbl.).

As you know the .45 Long Colt is the parent cartridge to the .454 Casull and has been around since the American wild west days.

Have any of you owned a Uberti Revolving Carbine in .45 Long Colt?

The .45 Long Colt factory loads are loaded rather mildly as the cartridge is used in some fairly old manufacture revolvers.

The Uberti Revolving Carbine is I presume made of modern high strength steel and I'm hoping to be able to handload some .45 Long Colt or shortened .454 Casull cases to .45 Long Colt +P (sub .454 Casull) velocities in order to make a short range deer rifle out of the carbine.

Anybody have any experience in this regard??
 
pricedo said:
I'm purchasing a Uberti Revolving Carbine in .45 Long Colt (18" bbl.).

As you know the .45 Long Colt is the parent cartridge to the .454 Casull and has been around since the American wild west days.

Have any of you owned a Uberti Revolving Carbine in .45 Long Colt?

The .45 Long Colt factory loads are loaded rather mildly as the cartridge is used in some fairly old manufacture revolvers.

The Uberti Revolving Carbine is I presume made of modern high strength steel and I'm hoping to be able to handload some .45 Long Colt or shortened .454 Casull cases to .45 Long Colt +P (sub .454 Casull) velocities in order to make a short range deer rifle out of the carbine.

Anybody have any experience in this regard??
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Under NO circumstances should you load your Uberti beyond standard 45 Colt pressure`s...Yes, they are made with modern materials, but that does not mean you can load them to higher "hunting" pressure`s....It will just wear the gun down faster, or even worse.....Uberti firearms are not made to handle those higher pressure`s...
 
Plus you're going to have your face awefull close to the cylinder should it decide to fail. Play safe, it's not a Casull or Ruger. I wouldn't take the chance.
 
Not to mention don't put your hand or fingers forward of the cylinder gap. There is a comfortable and safe way to shoot these guns and hand forward isn't one of them.
 
Airwolf said:
Under NO circumstances should you load your Uberti beyond standard 45 Colt pressure`s...Yes, they are made with modern materials, but that does not mean you can load them to higher "hunting" pressure`s....It will just wear the gun down faster, or even worse.....Uberti firearms are not made to handle those higher pressure`s...
Click to expand...

:D
The final velocity of the projectile issuing from a firearm is proportional to the area under the pressure/time curve (graph).

The barrel dwell time for the bullet which is the time spent in the barrel being subjected to the pressure from the deflagrating propellant is greater for a carbine with an 18" barrel than with a typical revolver with a barrel length of 5" to 6".

I think I'll experiment with loads made from slower burning propellants than one would normally use for the .45 Long Colt cartridge to maximize the area under the pressure/time curve for this particular firearm and take advantage of that extra foot of barrel length.

That would result in higher velocities and NO increase or even a decrease in peak pressure.

Peak pressure is the pressure that does the damage.

I developed similar loads for the .44 Magnum loads I fire in my Ruger lever action model 96 rifle with good success.

One advantage with the .45 Long Colt cartridge is the large case capacity that will allow for the use of some slower and bulkier powders that I'd like to try.

I might make a deer rifle out of that Uberti Revolving Carbine yet.
 
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Don't know about deflagelating powder or anything, just know that, if you want a more powerful .45 Colt for hunting, you've picked the wrong gun. They are rated for factory pressure levels only, and if you feel the weight of the cyls. and see the thickness of them you will see why.
 
ben hunchak said:
Don't know about deflagelating powder or anything, just know that, if you want a more powerful .45 Colt for hunting, you've picked the wrong gun. They are rated for factory pressure levels only, and if you feel the weight of the cyls. and see the thickness of them you will see why.
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:D
The word is deflagrating and it means the rapid chemical action by which modern smokeless gun powders generate the gas pressure to propel the bullet down the barrel.

Deflagration is different from detonation which is the relatively instantaneous conversion of an explosive into gas like in nitroglycerin based explosives.

The speed at which various powders deflagrate determines to a large extent the peak pressure that will be developed during discharge and the long barrel (increased bullet dwell time in barrel) of the Uberti and the large case capacity of the .45 Long Colt affords me the opportunity to use slower powders to keep the peak pressure minimized and maximize the muzzle velocity of the projectile.

I've used this technique with success in other rifles that were adapted to fire pistol cartridges. The larger the case capacity of the pistol cartridge the greater flexibility in increasing powder charges and the greater velocity increases observed on my chrony with no signs of increased chamber pressure.

I have an engineering degree and like tinkering with things.
 
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Pricedo, I was developing loads for long-barreled (16" and 12") carbines for 45ACP and then did the same thing with 9m Luger cartridge and 357SIG. Although I cannot measure CUP I am observant to pressure signs and I have chronied most of my loads. You are 100% right when it comes to pressures and burning curve, I am dancing with wolves all the time and I can say - choose powders most suitable for slightly bigger case and much heavier projectile. I usually start with low loads, load up some 3-4 cartriges and pack primed brass and press with me to the range. First loads are often total disaster - powder might be outside of its normal working pressure range and will not burn, will be some squibs (have brass rod handy). From then on you can gradually keep increasing the load until you achieve one of three things - pressure start shoving signs, gun takes too much pounding from recoil impulse or you simply cannot stuff anymore powder into the case and seat the bullet properly. If you do not have chrony I'd say get one before you do load development, some loads sound like pussy but push bullets alright. Have a good choice of bullets as well.

One last thing - I am just out of institution and am not responsible for anything I have ever said.
 
almost forgot - make a little hook or a twine and have a few wooden blocks or sand bags to make barricade. I am not kidding. I sometimes even ask people beside me to give me 5 minutes for one big bang - no one objected yet, like sheeps would drift away to a safe distance. Play it safe even if you are a lunatic.
 
Gunslinger said:
Plus you're going to have your face awefull close to the cylinder should it decide to fail. Play safe, it's not a Casull or Ruger. I wouldn't take the chance.
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He is right. By the time you see pressure indications on the primer & brass it will be too late, you will probably have a face full of shrapnel & powder by then. My wife & I own a dozen Ubertis and use them all the time but only with cowboy loads and have no problems but I have been around 4 that have failed. Two bulged the cylinder, one burst the cylinder and one 45lc burst the cylinder & blew the top strap off. Double charges or just hot loads I don't know but it's enough to warn me.

If you want to shoot hot 45lc loads do yourself a favor & at the very minimum spin a long barrel and add a stock to a Ruger Blackhawk or Old Model Vaquaro
 
When this revolver blows up please post pictures of the blown up revolver and the cuts to your face and hands so no one else ever over loads a Uberti... :D
 
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