Cowboy crossover loads

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ilikeoldguns

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So, I'm the reloader in my family and my dad, having his restricted, jut picked up a Ruger Peacemaker in .45C to go with his Winchester Carbine, also in .45C.

I'm had some great progress reloading for the carbine, but naturally, now that he has a matching revolver, we want to do a cross over load that works well, or well-enough in both.

Currently, I am using 6.9gr of Green dot in Winchester cases pushing a 250gr LRNFP with CCI lg pistol primers.

Any suggestions?
 
Very difficult to find a load that will shoot well out of both a rifle and a handgun. Best to work up the load for the handgun then see what it does out of the rifle. Same load will produce slightly higher velocities out of the rifle.
You using that load out of both? Or wanting to? It might be a bit hot for the revolver(980 fps is on the high end. Bullseye gives 879 fps), but not terribly so. Alliant shows a few loads that are hotter on their pistol/revolver page. None of 'em will bother a rifle.
You may want to look at their Cowboy Action handgun page though. Only list a 230 though.
 
If you are looking to start and shoot Cowboy Action, first you need 2 handguns and the max muzzle velocity is 1,000 fps for a handgun. Your guns need to meet a minimum power factor of 60, if you are looking in that direction.
 
If your Dad is shooting CAS at SASS/CAS distances, almost any load that will work for one will work for the other.
I'm using 5.5 grains of Trail Boss under a 250 grain lead bullet in both my New Model Vaqueros and my Uberti 1866 Yellow Boy clone and they seem adequate for CAS work on steel plates.
That may be a touch on the heavy side for some, but it's within tolerances and I don't like mouse phart loads.
 
Garand said:
If you are looking to start and shoot Cowboy Action, first you need 2 handguns and the max muzzle velocity is 1,000 fps for a handgun. Your guns need to meet a minimum power factor of 60, if you are looking in that direction.
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I think he just wants to shoot right now.

But we're both really history buffs and Dad loves the whole same-ammo western thing.
 
The Cold Lake Kid said:
If your Dad is shooting CAS at SASS/CAS distances, almost any load that will work for one will work for the other.
I'm using 5.5 grains of Trail Boss under a 250 grain lead bullet in both my New Model Vaqueros and my Uberti 1866 Yellow Boy clone and they seem adequate for CAS work on steel plates.
That may be a touch on the heavy side for some, but it's within tolerances and I don't like mouse phart loads.
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What safety concerns am I looking at?
 
Using the load mentioned, done with the proper attention to detail; I can't think of any other than the normal reloading concerns.
You certainly won't get a squib load and 5.5 grains of Trail Boss is under max loading.
Trail Boss is very bulky and you'd have to work at it to produce a double charge.
Shooting on steel with any load requires safety glasses and care in target placement and angle.
The SASS rule book and guidelines give good info on target distances rifle and handgun.
Have fun.
 
fredfiset: Where were you today? We had a six stage with the Wild Turkey Posse, all based on The Wild Bunch. The 1911's and the '97's all got a work out.
 
Just a heads up on the use of Trail Boss. I've used lots of it and it is very "position sensitive". Shooting down hill (such as from an elevated palisade scenario) with all the powder migrated to the front of the cartridge will give very erratic ignition. I have had instances where enough powder was unburned that it became almost a "squib load".

Not trying to scare you away from Trail Boss as I use it almost exclusively in my .45. The exception to "exclusively" is the few rounds loaded with Titegroup that I always carry to use in any elevated shooting positions.
 
I haven't had any position sensitive issues but, that said, I'm using it on flat land here in Ontario.
In my .45-70's, I have used 15.5 grains of TB, topped with some Dacron to hold it in place, under a 350 grain lead bullet.
I didn't experience any issues doing that.
 
I have no complaint on flat ground as well, used it in 1000's of rounds.

Downhill can be a very different thing. I've had rifle rounds go pssstpoof ( and suffer thu the T/O giggle as he watches the bullet ground bounce up to the target) at times and have had pistols with so much unburned powder in them after a stage that they couldn't be operated without a lot of force... and my pistols don't ordinarily require a lot of thumb pressure to make them work...LOL..

The Dacron would absolutely alleviate the problem especially in the 45-70 but would sure slow up the loading process in the .45 LC in a progressive.
 
Another point to consider is the bulky nature of Trail Boss. Even in a large case like the .45-70, my favourite load of 15.5 grains fills it rather nicely and is still under maximum pressure for my single shot rifles.
5.5 grains of Trail Boss in a .45 Colt case will also fill it pretty well; once the bullet is seated there is very little space left.
 
I suppose it depends on your location.
I have picked it up at Benny's Pro Shop at the Stittsville Range on Fernbank Road here in Ottawa and I've seen it listed on the Higginson's website.
 
ilikeoldguns said:
So, I'm the reloader in my family and my dad, having his restricted, jut picked up a Ruger Peacemaker in .45C to go with his Winchester Carbine, also in .45C.

I'm had some great progress reloading for the carbine, but naturally, now that he has a matching revolver, we want to do a cross over load that works well, or well-enough in both.

Currently, I am using 6.9gr of Green dot in Winchester cases pushing a 250gr LRNFP with CCI lg pistol primers.

Any suggestions?
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You don't need to use Trail Boss. If you are trying to develop a load that will work in the pistol and the rifle, the pistol is the limiting factor. I don't know where you got your 6.9 grain load data from, but it doesn't show on the current Alliant website. If you have that load from a reliable source, and it chronographs around 800-850 fps, you are probably good to go for using that load in the pistol and the same in the rifle.
However, you said it was a Ruger Peacekeeper, which doesn't exist as far as I know. If it is a New Vaquero, then you need to keep your loads within the loading manual limits for .45 Colt (and not for the much stronger Ruger Blackhawk).
In my Ruger New Vaquero I find that 6 grain Red Dot with 250 grain bullet is sufficient. A better load for CAS is a 200 grain bullet with 5 grains of Bullseye. Green Dot will work, but I have no experience or load data for it.
Nothing complicated.
 
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