200gr 45LC with CFE pistol

[brandon6976]

I suppose you contributed to the light load comments by not saying which gun you were shooting. Light loads would be appropriate for an antique but with a modern firearm you could use the hodgdon max as a starting point.

Fair point. If someone had said something like "if you're running an old gun or 1873 use a light load, otherwise go nuts" is completely different than suggesting flat out that I shouldn't bother because I'm knocking over bowling pins. Again I appreciate the community here so don't take it as me dumping on people but it sends a bad message when I'm be prescribed something with no context. Equally if I didn't give enough context it's fair to point it out and suggest that you can't answer my questions without knowing if it's a modern stout firearm vs an old or weak designed firearm.

 

[jethunter]

Fair point. If someone had said something like "if you're running an old gun or 1873 use a light load, otherwise go nuts" is completely different than suggesting flat out that I shouldn't bother because I'm knocking over bowling pins. Again I appreciate the community here so don't take it as me dumping on people but it sends a bad message when I'm be prescribed something with no context. Equally if I didn't give enough context it's fair to point it out and suggest that you can't answer my questions without knowing if it's a modern stout firearm vs an old or weak designed firearm.

If you're sensitive to stupid or pointless remarks you probably shouldn't be asking for advice on forums. And keep in mind there is no guarantee everyone who replies actually knows a dam thing. Some people are clueless but participating makes them feel good. WE need to know enough about the subject to recognise bad advice or we'll get into trouble using advice given on forums.

I suspect people were mislead to thinking the firearm you were loading for was an older or weaker action because you referenced loads with low pressure levels. The question was not presented well but you learned something and that's all that matters. Everything else is fluff and egos.

 

[brandon6976]

If you're sensitive to stupid or pointless remarks you probably shouldn't be asking for advice on forums. And keep in mind there is no guarantee everyone who replies actually knows a dam thing. Some people are clueless but participating makes them feel good. WE need to know enough about the subject to recognise bad advice or we'll get into trouble using advice given on forums.

I suspect people were mislead to thinking the firearm you were loading for was an older or weaker action because you referenced loads with low pressure levels. The question was not presented well but you learned something and that's all that matters. Everything else is fluff and egos.

Don't disagree, the point of the forum in my view is to let the idea's flow and I have to take them with a grain of salt. I'm not overly sensitive, I made a crack about fudd's, some people replied citing I didn't give enough information. My advice to people who cared enough to reply is that if they're saying I didn't give enough information that's a fair point but if they want to contribute in a meaningful way they should ask for that information. Otherwise it becomes noise and someone I view as a fudd

 

[jethunter]

Don't disagree, the point of the forum in my view is to let the idea's flow and I have to take them with a grain of salt. I'm not overly sensitive, I made a crack about fudd's, some people replied citing I didn't give enough information. My advice to people who cared enough to reply is that if they're saying I didn't give enough information that's a fair point but if they want to contribute in a meaningful way they should ask for that information. Otherwise it becomes noise and someone I view as a fudd

yeah, fudds did this to you, no question. LOL

 

[fingers284]

Not all 45 colt chambered firearms have fragile workings. The Ruger comes to mind, and several others. But that's not the point.

45 colt is one of those cartridges that is loaded to different pressure levels depending on which firearm is the intended recipient. My point was that people who start a thread looking for 45 colt load data should understand why it's important to say what firearm they are loading for.

I agree with that statement 100% but your statement in the post I answered to did not differentiate between the two "with a modern firearm" might make a novice think that the world's the limit.

 

[jethunter]

I agree with that statement 100% but your statement in the post I answered to did not differentiate between the two "with a modern firearm" might make a novice think that the world's the limit.

Sure if it makes you feel better. But in my books a newly made version of a 140 year old design isn't a "modern" firearm.

If we are making arguments just for the fun of it - then reading your post a novice could assume all 45 colt chambered firearms have weak components. You assumed a reader would be clever enough to understand what you meant, so we made the same mistake if that's what you think it is.

But the big thing here is that loading advice was being sought and given by people who didn't even consider what the firearm was. That wouldn't matter for some cartridges but with 45 Colt it's huge.

 

[Greenjoytj]

Hello all. I picked up some DRG 200gr hard cast bullets. I have a bunch of CFE pistol I like to use for a bunch of my calibers. I'm wondering if anyone has any loads using CFE pistol for the 200gr 45LC round? I looked at the hodgdon site. They don't have a 200gr load. They have the following for CFE pistol and cast lead rounds

180gr
Starting load 8.5gr -- 996 ft/s -- 9,000 PSI
Maximum Load 10.2 -- 1,200 ft/s -- 13,700 PSI

215gr
Starting load 8.2gr -- 919 ft/s -- 10,100 PSI
Maximum Load 9.5gr --1,037 ft/s -- 12,400 PSI

I like to load stuff a little warm. not looking to go over recommendations or make any type of "ruger" load but I usually load to the higher end of the hodgdon recommendations. Just looking at the max loads of the 180gr and 215gr I'm thinking loading the 200gr with CFE pistol around 9.8 should be good? Curious if anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated as I'm relatively new to reloading.

I load 45 Colt with 9.0 grs of Hodgdon’s CFE-Pistol with cast LEE 452-255-RF bullets. These drop from my mold at 260 grs average with 20:1 lead:tin alloy. Lubing adds a grain another grain of weight to be ~261 at launch.
Starline brass, Federal 155 Magnum primer (to tighten ES). From my 5.5” barrel Ruger New Vaquero. My shooting Chrony shows average velocity recorded at 10” from the muzzle of 969.7fps , ES 29.82 fps, SD 10.48 fps with the powder over the flash hole.
With the powder tiled forward to be at the back of the bullet velocity was 884.47 fps that’s an 85.23 fps spread due the powder orientation so normal average MV would likely be between these two velocity measurements.

This powder seems to prefer to operate best at the higher pressure max load end of the load range. So I will probably up the charge weight to maximum particularly when I start loading it for my rifle. Considering Hodgdon stops at 13,000 psi I see that as a little wiggle room for improvement. I liked CFE-P larger powder quantity/volume in the case which made it noticeable if a double charge was thrown.

Mostly I load 35 grs of 2fg GOEX BP and CCI 350 Mag primers in the 45 Colt for 817 fps because I like the booommm over the bang.