Whats your favoirte loads for 45 Colt and 357

[runnin n gunnin]

I am interested to see what other hand loaders are doing with the 45 Colt and 357.

I am partial to Hornady XTP and Sierra, but want to know bullet types/weights and powder that others have dialed in and prefer.

[Mistered]

No .45 Colts but loaded .357 all my shooting life.
I can't say I have a 'favorite' load for any caliber just always loaded for accuracy, comfort and economy to some degree.
I will say however one of my 'go to' loads for .357 had long been 16 grains of WW 296 and 158 grain XTP bullets.
I only shot this in my rifles however as it is way to much for a 4" Mod 66 S & W.
Due to the uncertainty of 'current events' of a few years ago I bulked up on loading supplies and one day an 8 lb jug of Unique showed up at my LGS and I bought it immediately as shelves were already pretty thin as it was and I knew i could use Unique for about 75% of the calibers I load for. Because of the characteristics of Unique I had to develop new loads and the seven grains with the 158 grain bullet works well in my Henry and I can also shoot it out of my S & W.

[RanchRoper]

45 Colt...7 grains of Universal with a 200 gr LRNFP bullet is a real nice all day shooting load for me.

[runnin n gunnin]

No .45 Colts but loaded .357 all my shooting life.
I can't say I have a 'favorite' load for any caliber just always loaded for accuracy, comfort and economy to some degree.
I will say however one of my 'go to' loads for .357 had long been 16 grains of WW 296 and 158 grain XTP bullets.
I only shot this in my rifles however as it is way to much for a 4" Mod 66 S & W.
Due to the uncertainty of 'current events' of a few years ago I bulked up on loading supplies and one day an 8 lb jug of Unique showed up at my LGS and I bought it immediately as shelves were already pretty thin as it was and I knew i could use Unique for about 75% of the calibers I load for. Because of the characteristics of Unique I had to develop new loads and the seven grains with the 158 grain bullet works well in my Henry and I can also shoot it out of my S & W.

Thanks for you input Mistered, much appreciated. Been through La Pine Wikiup junction more than once, nice country.

[runnin n gunnin]

45 Colt...7 grains of Universal with a 200 gr LRNFP bullet is a real nice all day shooting load for me.

Much appreciated Ranch Roper. I'm cataloging two separate data sheets, one for the Henry, the other for the pistol.

[BigAl52]

One of my loads for 45 Colt is 6.5 grains of Red Dot and a 250gr lead cast. 14.5 grains of 2400 and a Hornady xtpfp is one for 357. Ive also used 231 and Unique in 357 but dont remember the charges at the moment.

[GaHenryFan]

7.5 grains of Universal under a 255gr cast bullet is my 45 colt plinking load.

Universal is my main powder for 357 too. 6 grains works well with a 158gr cast bullet. For 158gr XTPs I like 16 grains of Hodgdon h110.

[runnin n gunnin]

7.5 grains of Universal under a 255gr cast bullet is my 45 colt plinking load.

Universal is my main powder for 357 too. 6 grains works well with a 158gr cast bullet. For 158gr XTPs I like 16 grains of Hodgdon h110.

Roger that GaHenryFan, I appreciate the info and have both H110 and Universal.

[runnin n gunnin]

One of my loads for 45 Colt is 6.5 grains of Red Dot and a 250gr lead cast. 14.5 grains of 2400 and a Hornady xtpfp is one for 357. Ive also used 231 and Unique in 357 but dont remember the charges at the moment.

Your right BigAl52, Im an old guy, and I know something, I just cant remember what it is!
Appreciate the info.

[Mags]

.
Yup someday I'll look back and not remember any of it!

One of my loads for 45 Colt is 6.5 grains of Red Dot and a 250gr lead cast. 14.5 grains of 2400 and a Hornady xtpfp is one for 357. Ive also used 231 and Unique in 357 but dont remember the charges at the moment.

Your right BigAl52, Im an old guy, and I know something, I just cant remember what it is!
Appreciate the info.

[Rifletom]

Nice to have you around runnin n gunnin. .357 is 13.0gr 2400 with 158gr coated RNFP bullets from Missouri Bullets.
.45 Colt is 8.0-8.5gr Unique using coated 250gr RNFP from Missouri also. 8.5 gr Unique with 200gr RNFP/Missouri.
These are my everyday loads for my two Henry's.

[CT_Shooter]

My preference is for a light load since my only shooting is at paper. I wanted a single load that would work well in both, my .357 BBB and my SAA revolver. After a bit of experimenting, I settled on 13.9 grains of H110 under ZERO 158 grain JSP/JHP bullets. It's at the lower end of the start/max range for the revolver and in the middle for the rifle.

Box of 357 Reloads.jpg (71.69 KiB) Viewed 2871 times

Box of 357 Brass.jpg (61.94 KiB) Viewed 2871 times

[Vaquero]

I load 9.5-10.0 of Unique over either a 250, or 255 gr cast for my Marlin Cowboy and the Rugers.
My 357 load is 9.4 hrs Blue dot over a 180 gr fn cast, very accurate at 100 yes out of my long barreled Rossi.

I know either round will sure swing the 8" gong pretty good at 50 yds. Especially the 45

RP

[Rifletom]

CT, I sure like that packaging you have there. You make that yourself? Nice and neat.

[bdbrown66]

I just started working on 45 Colt this year, looking for a good deer load out to about 125 yards. Based on my calculations, I needed about 1600 fps with a 75-yd zero to get the trajectory I wanted.

I ended up with 23.0 gr Accurate #9 and the 250 gr Hornady XTP. It does 1710 fps from my Henry. Accuracy is good, pressure is good, and it seems to hit hard. I used it to take a doe, coyote, and nice buck this past weekend. There's a post in the Big Game Hunting forum on it.

Going to work up a similar load using Ramshot Enforcer and the 250 gr Nosler bullet. Hopefully it will be a good one, as well.

[CT_Shooter]

Thanks, Tom.

I print the labels myself just to keep myself organized. I only reload .357s (and occasionally .38s) and currently have twenty-five boxes of primed .357 brass in 50 round boxes marked with the number of times each box has been fired. I prime the brass as part of my cleaning/prep process so that reloading goes very quickly on my single-stage press; just add powder, a bullet, and crimp. Once a box is reloaded, I print a label, in the form of a cigar ring, identifying the powder charge and the bullet used. I bought the white boxes from Midway USA when I first started reloading.

CT, I sure like that packaging you have there. You make that yourself? Nice and neat.

[runnin n gunnin]

Nice to have you around runnin n gunnin. .357 is 13.0gr 2400 with 158gr coated RNFP bullets from Missouri Bullets.
.45 Colt is 8.0-8.5gr Unique using coated 250gr RNFP from Missouri also. 8.5 gr Unique with 200gr RNFP/Missouri.
These are my everyday loads for my two Henry's.

Appreciate the info Rifletom. I started a list and I am going to try each one. Should keep me busy over the holidays !

[runnin n gunnin]

My preference is for a light load since my only shooting is at paper. I wanted a single load that would work well in both, my .357 BBB and my SAA revolver. After a bit of experimenting, I settled on 13.9 grains of H110 under ZERO 158 grain JSP/JHP bullets. It's at the lower end of the start/max range for the revolver and in the middle for the rifle.

Box of 357 Reloads.jpg
Box of 357 Brass.jpg

Thanks CT, looks like what I am after, specific loads for rifle vs pistol. I like your ammo boxes and packaging, looks outstanding !

[fortyshooter]

For std. Colt .45 loads I like 8-9 gr. of Unique with a MB coated 250 gr. SWC. For my Alaskan revolver it can be 11 gr. of Unique or 20 gr. of Alliant 2400 with the 250 gr. XTP bullet. For some smokey fun 26.5 gr. of Black MZ with a 250 gr. MB bullet works very well !

For my mild .357 loads a 125 gr. XTP with 8.5 Unique works well.

[runnin n gunnin]

For std. Colt .45 loads I like 8-9 gr. of Unique with a MB coated 250 gr. SWC. For my Alaskan revolver it can be 11 gr. of Unique or 20 gr. of Alliant 2400 with the 250 gr. XTP bullet. For some smokey fun 26.5 gr. of Black MZ with a 250 gr. MB bullet works very well !

For my mild .357 loads a 125 gr. XTP with 8.5 Unique works well.

Thanks Fortshoter, I appreciate the info and will be trying them out. Have never played with Black Powder.