Anyone reload for 4" 45 Colt RedHawk...?

[Stargazer]

I was planning on getting one of these and wondered if anyone had worked up some good safe loads in this revolver yet? With the 4" barrel would it not be a waste to try and use WW296 or H110 in this length of barrel? The muzzle flash would be tremendous with these powders. Perhaps Unique would be a better solution to obtain maximum velocity with minimum flash?

Anyone out there reload for one of these revolvers?

 

[GeauxTide]

I've used 8,9, and 10grs of Unique with 275 LFN in 4.75 Blackhawk and 5.5 Bisley with great results. Little smoke, no flash, and excellent accuracy. Brian Pearce's piece in Handloader 246 gives a ton of info on loads from lightest to heaviest.

 

[SwampYankee]

I've got one and I am currently using 9 grains of HS-6 behind a 250 grain RNL bullet. I love the gun but wish I also had a 5.5" barreled version.

At 11.0 grains, there is a lot of recoil. That's the max rated load. But since it is a Redhawk, I could push it harder if I wanted. I like 9 grains, its a nice target load.

As much as I like the gun, after owning it for 9 months, I am sending the cylinder out the be reamed. It's very tight and accuracy really suffers (0.451 and 0.450). This is a common problem with these guns but easily remedied for $30 and a week without your cylinder.

 

[Stargazer]

SwampYankee, where did you send your cylinder to? I knew the cylinders were cut odd back a few years ago when these were selling but I had hoped this new generation had that issue solved, I guess not. How old is your RH?

 

[Magnum Wheel Man]

my "Redhawk" is an Alaskan & a 454... but I load for a pair of Montados with sane loads, & for a 10" Contender with +P loads...

my hunting load in the Contender uses H-110 & Hornady XTP's... my sane loads in the 4 & 5/8" Montados has been with Unique & speer lead bullets

 

[AlaskaMike]

Regardless of barrel length you will always get best velocity with the slow burners. You'll certainly get more flash and blast than with a longer barrel, but you'll never get better velocity in a short barrel using faster powders like Unique.

Mike

 

[GeauxTide]

OK, 1200 instead of 1400.

 

[SwampYankee]

Sent mine out to cylindersmith.com. Got it back and it was a perfect 0.4525 in each throat. I guess he is closed for Thanksgiving but you should be able to send it to him now, send him an email, he responds quickly.

I bought mine in February, it came brand new from Ruger to a distributor to my dealer. So the throats are still be made tight.

 

[rogn]

One of the better allaround powders seems to be VV N-110. Published loads are hard to find, powder can be harder to find, and its a bit pricey, but I doubt is more than 3 or 4 c per round. The load thats been safe and acurate in my redhawk 5.5 is abt 20 gr behind a 270gr Keith type SWC. Muzzle flash is reasonable compared to most ball powders....doesnt blind me when shooting at dusk. As opposed to H110 in a 357 which seems a bit frightening. Accuracy is good and the 5.5 will shoot thru an elk broadside at 10 yd. Again the load is safe in my Redhawk, youd want to work up in yours.

 

[Pathfinder45]

My favorite powders for .45 Colt.....

......from faster burning target to slower burning magnum are: Titegroup to 840 fps, Unique to 1,000 fps, HS-7 to 1,100 fps, AA-9 for 1200 fps+, and fffg black powder for most fun. I also like IMR-4227 but I don't care for H-100/W-296. 2400 makes more muzzle flash than I want. My main bullet is hand-cast Lee 255 RNFP.

 

[bgdv1]

for my hunting loads out of my ruger blackhawk w/4 1/2 bbl, heavy dose of
H110 and a 250 gr jhp. makes a stout back up gun load.

 

[Stargazer]

I found some 300 grain bullet Cor-Bon rounds today, box said 1300 FPS. I do not think I will be getting that speed from my 4" RH though. I took one apart to see what charge and powder was in there. Looked just like WW296 or H110and weighed out at 21.5 grains. I was ****** as I thought these suckers might have a large amount of H110 in them so I could duplicate it. My rounds are already past that amount and in my 7.5" BH I did not get anywhere near 1300. Now maybe it is some other powder like 2400 or titegroup, I have not seen those powders to know if they look similar to H110 or not. I do not want a stupid load but I would like to get a 300 grain bullet up to 1200 out of it.

 

[Stargazer]

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.


I ran those Cor-Bon rounds over the PACT and got 1187 FPS and this spectacular muzzle blast caught on video.

Here is the video in slo-motion:

http://home.roadrunner.com/~ispyu2/SLORHMB.wmv

The best I have gotten from my handloads was 973 FPS. H110, 300 grain Speer JSP, 22.5 grains.

 

[zxcvbob]

OBLIGATORY WARNING: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

IMHO, Herco is the sweet spot for that barrel length with 250 or 255 grain cast bullets. It's the slowest burning powder that will give you 100% burn in a short barrel. 11.5 grains of Herco (I use 12 grains in my Blackhawk) should get you about 1100 fps. You can approach 1200 fps by using H110 or 296, but it takes twice as much powder to get there.

Power Pistol looks pretty good too on paper; I haven't tried it yet.

I do not want a stupid load but I would like to get a 300 grain bullet up to 1200 out of it.

You won't safely get there unless you can load the cartridges extra long. But you can get close using Lil'Gun.