Cam pro 45 Colt 250gr RNFP Loads for unique?

[Cliff1993]

I’ve got a 5.5” ruger and a 20” 1873. I‘m trying work up a load for Unique but I also have W 231. I’ve got a 1000 45 Colt Campro 250gr RNFP on hand for projectiles. I’d prefer use unique because I have 3lbs of it. I‘d like to load it so I can use the rifle for deer this fall. Does anyone have any recommendations for loads? How do you find these powders?

 

[hatman1793]

Close but not exact X 2.
The Alliant 2020 powder guide shows a 250 grain Speer DCHP with 7.8 grains of Unique.

The 2019 Hodgdon reloading manual lists a 250 grain Hornady XTP bullet using 6.5 - 7.3 grains of WW231.

 

[bamboo633]

If you go to the web page for your particular bullet on the Campro website they have a downloadable loading guide sheet. The sheet for the 250gr RNFP lists both unique and W231 loads.

 

[Cliff1993]

I don’t like their data because it’s lifted from the powder manufactures website and doesn’t list velocity. I bought a chrono so I’ll just work something up.

If you go to the web page for your particular bullet on the Campro website they have a downloadable loading guide sheet. The sheet for the 250gr RNFP lists both unique and W231 loads.

 

[fingers284]

Define "deer hunting round" for your 73 rifle. You need to work within the parameters of that "toggle action" 1873 era action. You first have to set a "ceiling" fps within the rifles strength, not within a "traditional hunting energy" of other rifles. I would very much warn you against exceeding the 1873 black powder era velocity of 1000 fps with a 250 gr slug. The .45 colt case is very much capable of exceeding this threshold...but your rifle isn't. I have a box full of broken or bent toggles & toggle pins in my shop from other folks not heeding the shortfalls of toggle actions.

Ohh... and 1000 fps is very adequate to kill a deer under a 100 yrds, I have done it a dozen or more times with BP equivalent rounds. albeit with a 45-70 with heavier slugs but would be very confident with a .45 colt in the same circumstance.

 

[Cliff1993]

That’s exactly what I’m going for. I want to get to around the black powder velocities without black powder. I’m not fond of the light CAS loads. I’ve read that the original BP loads in balloon head cases reached 1000 FPS out of a 7.5” SAA. Can you suggest a good powder for this?

Define "deer hunting round" for your 73 rifle. You need to work within the parameters of that "toggle action" 1873 era action. You first have to set a "ceiling" fps within the rifles strength, not within a "traditional hunting energy" of other rifles. I would very much warn you against exceeding the 1873 black powder era velocity of 1000 fps with a 250 gr slug. The .45 colt case is very much capable of exceeding this threshold...but your rifle isn't. I have a box full of broken or bent toggles & toggle pins in my shop from other folks not heeding the shortfalls of toggle actions.

Ohh... and 1000 fps is very adequate to kill a deer under a 100 yrds, I have done it a dozen or more times with BP equivalent rounds. albeit with a 45-70 with heavier slugs but would be very confident with a .45 colt in the same circumstance.

 

[QueensHorseman]

I have used Unique for years and its one of my favourite powders. Today it is called messy by many and while I'm sure there are many other good powders, Unique still works well in a wide variety of situations. My Unique is older and so are my manuals however 8.0-8.5 grains under a 250-260 grain cast bullet were very standard loads for years, with heavier loads still being within the recommended specs of the day, even in Colt SAAs, etc. **Check current manuals with the current powder lots as your experience may vary.**. The same powder charge also works well in the .44-40 with a 200 grain cast bullet so I often have a powder measure set up to through that charge for either case.

I'm starting to think that especially in 1873, .44-40 rifles, nothing beats real black powder but Unique can be a good substitute when you don't want the black. The .45 Colt case is much stronger which is normally a good thing but with black powder or lower pressure smokeless loads it generally doesn't seal the chamber as well as the .44-40. Your .45 cases may get some soot on them but that's really no big deal. A 250 grain, .45 cast bullet with a reasonable flat point is a formidable round that will perform beyond what modern ballistics says it should. Concentrate on finding a good load for the 1873 as your Ruger will shoot anything. Your ability to place the bullet with iron sights will then be the limiting factor. My last suggestion is take time to sharpen your hunting knife between practice sessions as once you place one of those rounds behind the shoulder of a deer, you will need the knife! Heck the .45 is ALMOST as good a round as the .44-40!

 

[old303]

I have an older manual (Lyman 47th) that says 45 Colt with a 250gr lead RNFP starts at 6.0 grains Unique up to 9.0 max, although another similar bullet maxes out at 8.5. I like my face and arms too much to get heroic with maximum charges, but eight grains seems to work nicely.

Various of the powders changed ownership over the years (Unique wasn't always Alliant) so I'm not 100% trusting of good-old-days data in case the product got "improved" at some point, or just inadvertently changed as different people started making it on different equipment or such. Compare data and stay within the consensus range.