The wimpy 45LC no more

[wingnut]

I’ve been reloading 45LC at Ruger pressures for over 4 decades. First with a couple of Blackhawks then added a T/C Contender single shot pistol with a 10 inch barrel. Loads with the 10 incher could near equal the legendary 45-60 (300 grain bullet @ 1390 fps), a cousin of the 45-70.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45-60_Winchester

When I heard Henry was to come out with a steel 45LC with a 1:16 twist and rated for Ruger pressures, I reached nirvana (and for my checkbook). Even the carbine can easily surpass the 45-60 and approach the 45-70 with 300 grain and above bullets. Shooting anything of less weight was for plinking and not for serious work. Sierra and Speer make outstanding jacketed flatpoint/softpoint 300 grainers suited to go thru bears and/or cut down trees. Oregon Trail (Lazercast), Cast Performance, Hunter Supply and others have hardcast 300-395 grainers with and without gas checks. Loading data is usually available from the makers.

Now, the BBS (and other BB’s) have a cartridge length limitation of about 1.600” from the factory. This impacts the heavier bullet’s powder space greatly. However, a little DYI or a trip to the g’smith can cure this handicap. There is a “fence” at the back of the lifter that stops the cartridge as it springs out of the feeding tube. This fence also limits the cartridge length. File, sand, machine .060-.070” off the foreword vertical face of the fence and you are set to load to 1.645-1.650”.

So, if you are a hunter and have a BB? in 45LC, I encourage you to forego using those wimpy light “pistol” bullets.

Sample data:
Loaded to 1.645" COAL
Speer 300g JSP, 22g 296/H110, large pistol primer
Standard warnings apply!

See reviews:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/55747 ... -box-of-50

Part 1

[Rifletom]

Curious. If you mill that "fence" to take a longer OAL, doesn't that void your warranty, should you need to use it?
Not stirring anything up here, simply curious. Thanks.

[North Country Gal]

Have shot such loads in a Contender. Definitely not grandpa's 45 Colt. Recoil is not for the faint of heart.

[wingnut]

Curious. If you mill that "fence" to take a longer OAL, doesn't that void your warranty, should you need to use it?
Not stirring anything up here, simply curious. Thanks.

Maybe. I would play with the rifle for a year first to workout any bugs then consider it if wanted. The jacketed and hardcast 300g bullets don't need the enhancement. Get to the 360+ and might want it.

[Rifletom]

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I would be staying with the 250-255gr cast bullets for desert use. No hunting with it.

[wingnut]

Have shot such loads in a Contender. Definitely not grandpa's 45 Colt. Recoil is not for the faint of heart.

Ahhh, the bench strong-hand 3 round palsy, I know it well. The same loads in the BB will barely get your attention.

[North Country Gal]

Yeah, that was back in the day when I was a recoil junkie. I'm reformed, now. I don't shoot that stuff, anymore. Nope, I've been cured. Well, okay, mostly. Now and then, I get crazy, like the old days. Just bought a 30-06 pistol barrel for the Encore. Whoo Hoo!

[BigAl52]

Henrys are warrantied for life. I would not do anything like this to mine as I wouldnt take the chance of messing with the warranty. Why not just get a 45-70 if you want more lead. Aint nothin whimpy about the 70.

[Mags]

.
Aren't the spring trimming and trigger pull modifications seen in other topics also messing with the warranty?

Henrys are warrantied for life. I would not do anything like this to mine as I wouldnt take the chance of messing with the warranty. Why not just get a 45-70 if you want more lead. Aint nothin whimpy about the 70.

[wingnut]

Henrys are warrantied for life. I would not do anything like this to mine as I wouldnt take the chance of messing with the warranty. Why not just get a 45-70 if you want more lead. Aint nothin whimpy about the 70.

Come now, you know the answer ... Because.

I'm sure a spare untouched lifter could be standing by as a replacement.
And, its an entirely different caliber.
And, all the starving g'smiths in Africa.
And, if I wanted to get top performance out my 45-70, someone would come along and say I should've gotten a 45-90, a 45-110, a 458 Winmag.

In jest.

[wingnut]

Part 2

So, you want to reload and hunt with subsonic ammo good for big game out to 75 yards & maybe a little more. Here is how I did it and it near doubles the muzzle energy of the latest 30 cal fad round.

Get your BB to your favorite g’smith for the frontend work and fence work as needed. The barrel can be very tight and Henry says there are no pins nor glue (I found none). Meanwhile get the reloading items:

A box of 250 Oregon Trail Laser-Cast 405g 45-70 bullets.
A Lee bullet lubricating and sizing kit .452”
A pound or 2 of Lil’gun powder
Your choice of primer and brass

Work:
Size each bullet thru the lub & size die. The bullet will become longer, keep as much lub as possible as was.

Reload:
Deprime, size, re-prime, bell the cases.
About 12.9g of Lil’gun. Exact amount will need to be adjusted for speed depending on your barrel length, the elevation and the temp.
COAL – 1.645”
Apply a good roll crimp.

Test. A speed of about 1010 fps will give you over 900 foot-pounds.

FYI- The heaviest .452 Cast Performance bullets are not stable past about 25 yards at this speed. I think the big flat nose just catches too much air.

All cautions apply.

Good luck

[fortyshooter]

I don't think a 240-255 gr. .45 Colt bullet is exactly wimpy at speeds over 1000 FPS. They have killed many large critters over the years.
I do load up the 300 gr. bullets for my Ruger SBH and Alaskan though.

Now with the .45-70 load up some 500 gr. bullets and shoot them thru a 1885 High Wall rifle...now you have something!
Here is one of my 500 gr 45-70 bullets pictured next to a complete .45 ACP round!!

[BigAl52]

.
Aren't the spring trimming and trigger pull modifications seen in other topics also messing with the warranty?

Henrys are warrantied for life. I would not do anything like this to mine as I wouldnt take the chance of messing with the warranty. Why not just get a 45-70 if you want more lead. Aint nothin whimpy about the 70.

Mags
Im not sure if you trimmed a spring it would void a warranty. I wouldnt do it unless I had another spring to replace it with when sending it back. But I have read where when sending one back and if they replace internal components if you have changed anything you will not get it back. They will return it to the way it left the factory originally.

[RanchRoper]

Have to agree with fortyshooter, I routinely shred the 50 yd wooden target board at the range with 250 gr LFN 45 Colt rounds. Better than a wood chipper...

[fortyshooter]

One of my hot 300 gr. .45 Colt loads for my Alaskan. It moves along at a mild 1100 FPS out the 2.5 inch barrel.


Bullets were 325 gr. FP cast that I faced off in lathe to 300 gr. weight and giving a nice sharp cornered .400 diameter flat.

[wingnut]

H45LCa.JPG (84.16 KiB) Viewed 3092 times

My BBS45 (not a carbine) with Leu'd 1-4x and a Cast Performance 45/360g gas checked load.
Sorry about the BIG.

[fortyshooter]

Very nice...just like my .44 Mag version! I have some .44 Mag loads using the Missouri Bullets 300 gr. bullet but don't think the 1.700 length would feed in the stock action. I shoot them in my Ruger SBH though.

.44 Mag Smasher 1.700 COL.

[Hidden Mortimer]

Hey Wingnut,
Have you hunted deer with those Speer soft points? How did they perform and what velocity did they need to be at to have good expansion? I have a box of those sp’s and another box of deep curls for 454 Casull that also feed well in my Henry if I crimp them closer to the top of the cannelure.

[wingnut]

Hunted deer with them, yes, Success, no. Please see the reviews at the MidwayUSA link at the bottom of the first post in this thread. You can get the Speer 300g SP over 1650 fps with Bludot and slower powders in a 20 inch barrel (Ruger pressures).

[Hidden Mortimer]

Awesome, did you recover any of those bullets. I have some lil’gun and longshot for my reloads. I don’t know how slow or fast those powders are but I’ve heard they work well on the 45 colt for Ruger pressures. Can’t wait to go to the range tomorrow and try them out.