Mares leg 45 colt who knows best?

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Who knows what the best ammo is for the 45 colt? I want a big defence round for my mares leg for big animals. I know that the best may be reloads but I want to know what would be best for factory ammo for a the 45 colt. Anyone have any suggestions on the mares leg at all either or comments?
 
most factory ammo is loaded well below maximum capacity for the older straight walled cartridges, so you are right when you say reloading is best.

however, you may be able to find some .45 LC +P ammunition. it would be expensive.
 
The Mares Leg is just a toy. I have one and I can't hit the broad side of a barn with the thing, others have shot it with the same results. I haven't spent a lot of time trying to adjust the sights though. As far as the .45 Colt round you can load it hotter I guess. The case is 1/2 empty of powder. This has been tried before and that is why there is the .44 Mag cartridge. The brass can't handle the over loads after a point. One option is buy some .454 Casull brass and cut them down, they could handle the over load easily. I bought the Mares Leg and holster so I could carry it in the woods without issues like restricted hand guns have.
 
Sellior and Bellot sell a .45 LC Hollow Point 230 grain that gives you around 1250 fps out of the ranch hand. Its the best factory load I have found so far. I hand load 250gr XTP over 26 grains of H110 which gives about 1550 fps. You do need to invest in a higher foresight to get the right POI for any of them. Accuracy is very good but I haven't tried over 100 metres. regards Trav
 
The best thing to do with the mare's leg if you intend it for protection in the woods is fit it with a full shoulder stock. I'm not saying that a person can't shoot those things. But good luck finding the sight picture in a flash when a bear is starting to run you down. A shoulder stock makes getting the sight picture a whole lot faster and more automatic.

If you do find decent power factory ammo you're likely not going to like the price. I've seen it listed at over a buck a round more often than I've seen it listed for under. Owning a .45Colt or .44Mag rifle is a great reason to dive into reloading if you shoot more than a couple of boxes of ammo a year.
 
So far, I think everyone is mentioning "power" as in speed, but what about an appropriate bullet for "large animals". XTP's are expanding bullets, no? Would not a flat nose FMJ or hard cast be the first requirement? With large animal, I would think penetration would be the second most important attribute, after bullet placement.
 
So far, I think everyone is mentioning "power" as in speed, but what about an appropriate bullet for "large animals". XTP's are expanding bullets, no? Would not a flat nose FMJ or hard cast be the first requirement? With large animal, I would think penetration would be the second most important attribute, after bullet placement.

This plus the longer stock.

Bob
 
I think buffalo bore makes 45 colt, but check with Rossi to make sure it's strong enough. There are 2 sets of loads for 45 colt. One that is good for single action army types, and another that is rated for Ruger Blackhawk and TC contenders, which is almost double the pressure of the SAAMI max. This is in 44 mag territory, so in theory the mare's leg should be ok
 
The Rossi '92 is chambered in 454 so it surely will take anything Buffalo bore loads. The action is certainly strong enough. I have the 44Mag carbine and to the OP if you do put a regular butt-stock on the gun get your gunsmith to install a recoil pad on the gun. I can tell you I did with my 44 mag. the carbine was absolutely hurtful with the curved butt-stock.

Take Care

Bob
 
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