Cowboy Action shooters - best 45 LC die advice

fingers284 said:
I can't answer "why" but I am probably the guy Old303 is referring too and can verify that T.B. is very position sensitive with lighter loads. I used light "cowboy" loads of TB in in my .45's for years with no trouble...then our range opened up a new bank of facades overlooking a deep ravine Where we were always shooting down hill. One of these new facades was an elevated palisade affair so the downhill gradient was even worse. This is where my problems became very evident. I had pistols & rifle go POOF instead of bang on a regular basis and totally lock up the pistols with unburnt powder. I continued to use TB on the flatter stages but for that palisade, I had to carry a few rounds of 7625 or titegroup powdered rounds.


Edited to add; I tried LR mag primers with still the same results.
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I miss shooting at that range! Watching people with really light loads was very instructive.
 
Rugerman said:
The only real difference is that the Cowboy dies come with 2 different expanders, one for lead loads and one for jacketed. No real reason to change from your present dies unless you are getting into CAS with light lead loads. They also have 2 seating plugs for different bullet configurations.
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Altho your explanation is relevant the real reason for two dia. expanders is that modern .45 colt guns are mostly reamed to use .452 dia slugs, the early originals still in wide use were reamed .454. With the .454 expander you can load larger slugs to accommodate the larger bore without shaving or crimping the bullet shank with the brass pressure.

Garrand, that rifle you use now has lots of "experience" with those poof rounds on that range LOL.
 
Howdy; my turn, Unique is very position sensitive, muzzle up then shoot or muzzle down then shoot.
Tightgroup works but snappy and barks.
Red Dot works, 200 grain can lessen the recoil a bit but a slow 250 can be more pleasant to shoot.
RCBS dies are my choice, the Lyman M flare die has a nice step, easy on brass. Not a fan of the Lee flare die. In some situations the Lyman crimp die has a better roll crimp.
Bullet nose shape is not a factor in revolver plinking, crimp grove shape and location would be of more interest to me.
 
tokguy said:
Good afternoon all.
Waiting for an 45 LC that is in the mail, Colt New Service. Obviously I'm not going to be getting a high round count on this piece... but I shoot my pistols... if you can't shoot it, why bother?
Did some wrangling for a few brass, but I'm going to have to get them 'rolled up' with something. All I have in the 45 caliber is a 4 die Lee set 45 ACP / AR... I've Lee 250 Grain LC mold that I used for 455 when I had that caliber. Mold isn't a true RN... but I'm not threading them into the loading gate of a thumb buster either.
I'm assuming that the folks who frequent this forum know their way around reloading 45 LC.
Not going to be hotrodding it... that would be silly... the gun is over 100 years new. And the beauty of 45 LC is it's allegedly a 'Hammer' in it's original configuration, why push it to punch paper? Not sure if I'll stay with BP for it or not... I do have the setup for it in that I've lots of BP / BP substitutes.
Any suggestions on this blustery day will be carefully weighed.
Regards
Tokguy
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In dealing with the exact same scenario I went for a BP velocity (950 fps) equivalent load via John Taffin:

255grain SWC 8.5-9gr Unique

5-1/2" Colt NS and Win M1873

VICIOUS said:
Howdy; my turn, Unique is very position sensitive, muzzle up then shoot or muzzle down then shoot.
Tightgroup works but snappy and barks.
Red Dot works, 200 grain can lessen the recoil a bit but a slow 250 can be more pleasant to shoot.
RCBS dies are my choice, the Lyman M flare die has a nice step, easy on brass. Not a fan of the Lee flare die. In some situations the Lyman crimp die has a better roll crimp.
Bullet nose shape is not a factor in revolver plinking, crimp grove shape and location would be of more interest to me.
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I also found Unique very position sensitive when I was loading 6.5 to 7 grains - 8.5 seems to have straightened that out.

One of the other things I found was a 10grain case weight variation between Win/Star and Federal cases.
I started segregating Fed cases to rifle only...
 
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Lee Enfield said:
In dealing with the exact same scenario I went for a BP velocity (950 fps) equivalent load via John Taffin:

255grain SWC 8.5-9gr Unique

5-1/2" Colt NS and Win M1873



I also found Unique very position sensitive when I was loading 6.5 to 7 grains - 8.5 seems to have straightened that out.

One of the other things I found was a 10grain case weight variation between Win/Star and Federal cases.
I started segregating Fed cases to rifle only...
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I rolled up a few already with 5.6 gr TB under a powder coated 255 gr PL pill. Short on Unique. I like it...despite it being a dirty powder. But these days...we sort of have to comb through the powders on hand and make do.
Thanks again all.
 
Have you slugged the bore and measured the forcing cones?
I'm going to try using a slightly larger diameter bullet and a tighter crimp to try for a cleaner burn with my loads.
I was using 5.5 Gr TB in my NMVs and cut back to 5.3 Gr.
 
fingers284 said:
That be the one, I unboxed that from new and installed the short-stroke and all the other goodies it has....sure hope it still works as flawlessly for you as it did for me.
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Well thank you sir! It is my "go to" carbine for all CAS matches now. You did an excellent job it does work flawlessly. There will be no "upgrading" ever required.
 
Actually it happened twice in the last month once in Tompkins and once in Granum. The side plate came loose. One of the springs just inside the right side plate shifted. Short Fingered Bill noticed it and I just swapped rifles and I thought I sorted out the problem when I got home. At the Granum match same thing happened. I went to Short Fingered Bill to look for advice and he noticed the problem right away. Rifle worked flawlessly rest of the match and at Tompkins last weekend, operator is another story.
 
First time I've ever heard of that happening that i can remember. Those are "Slick Springs" in that rifle and if the screw doesn't come completely out, at least the spring wont fall out and be lost. But those damn torsion bar "update" springs that Joe sells now, if the screw loosens even a bit that bar can slide out and fall out when the action is open. They are a snap to install and work excellent as long as the screw remains tight.
 
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