Hog Hunting with 45 Colt

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

The 45 Colt is the foundation of many debates occurring daily on the internet and in gun shops around the world. The top 3 debates seem to start with the name or proper nomenclature 45 Colt or .45 Long Colt, 45 Colt is better than 44 Magnum especially if reloading and last but not least, should 45 Colt be used for hunting. These debates are much like religious debates of which I prefer to avoid, though this is the start of me documenting my journey of hunting with the 45 Colt. I have decided after many hours of reading that the venerable 45 Colt in the right hands with the right loads are capable of meeting my needs. For those looking for same information, Brian Pearce's article on the 45 Colt in Handloader Magazine #246, John Linebaugh's -- Gun Notes: The .45 Colt - Dissolving the Myth, Discovering the Legend and Paco Kelly's 45 Colt in Lever Action Rifles are all great reads and may be a good start.

A Rossi 45 Colt Lever Action will be accompanying me on this hunt for hogs. I intend to limit myself to shots 75yards and under, at this distance 255gr cast lead or heavier traveling at 1200fps should get the job done humanely. There are many boutique shops out there like Corbon, Double Tap, Buffalo Boar, Georgia Arms and many others that will produce fine ammunition for this task. Being a reloader for more than 2 decades drives me to roll my own. I intend to load in the low 45+P range or often seen in the reloading manuals as Ruger/TC Contender only loads. I will be shooting these loads across the chronograph and also utilizing the quickload software to tweak my loads to keep them under 20,000psi which will be a breeze for the Rossi 92 action.

Stay tuned for updates! Dayattherange.com

For the situation I have described what would be your choice of bullet, I plan to also try and get my hands on some Hornady 250gr XTP’s. I am leaning to the cast lead to alleviate any questions about penetration.

 

[T. O'Heir]

There is no .45 Colt vs. .45 Long Colt. They're the same thing.
Isn't a ".45 Colt is better than 44 Magnum" debate either. Totally different things. The Colt is big stuff going slow. The Mag is big stuff going fast.
"...should .45 Colt be used for hunting..." Hunting what?
Mind you, I haven't seen any of these "many debates ". Lotta debates about the .45 ACP as a hunting cartridge though. Usually at least one glib post that says something like, "Well, it's good enough for men, it's good enough for deer." Saw the same post about the .223 before there were deer suitable bullets.
"...leaning to the cast lead to alleviate any questions about penetration..." Knew a guy, years ago, who was going to PA for a hog hunt. He wanted to use HP's in a .41 Mag revolver. Was told he could not and no cast bullets either. They do not penetrate enough to go through the porker's armoured neck/shoulders. Worked out for me. I got to buy the HP's for my .41AE. .410" bullets were and still are kind of scarce up here.
Mind you, a revolver isn't a lever action. Velocities out of your Rossi will be considerably higher than any revolver.

 

[mete]

Speer used to have two fine bullets in 44. A JSWCSP and a JSWCHP. The HP had a very hard core so I only one failed to exit .That one went through bone and about 36" of meat to stop against the hide at the butt !
A hardcast , a Swift A-frame , or a Barnes all copper would also be excellent choices.
There is too much desire for HPs when you have a .45 .Not needed !

 

[Wyosmith]

For hogs you are far better off using a hard cast gas-checked bullet like one of the LBT design.

 

[Dufus]

A buddy of mine is an avid hog hunter. He hunts with dogs, without dogs, and he used to go out with just a knife and his pooches. Always took a needle and some thread to patch the pooches when they got slashed.

He bought a guide gun (don't remember the particulars) chambered for 45 Colt.

He then gave me the task of developing a load that would not fully ventilate a pig in order to not shoot a dog on the other side.

We finally got a load with a cast 255 gr (Lyman 452424) that would fill the bill for him. The bullet was not hard being at BHN 9 and never failed him. Nearly all the pigs died with one shot and the range was less than 20 ft. He never killed a dog with it either.

My hunting load will enter and exit since I don't use dogs.

 

[GeauxTide]

What Wyosmith Said

I loaded a 275gr Hunters Supply LFN under 10gr of Unique for my son's hog hunt in his 7.5" Ruger Blackhawk, yielding 1050fps. He shot a 150# hog at about 20 yards. Hit just below the left eye socket and came out the right ham for about 3 feet of penetration. Bullet never recovered and hog just quivered till still. In testing that load, I measured between 4 and 5 feet into mud banks. After reading Pearce's writings on the 280gr SAA, I recently acquired some from Matt's Bullets, www.mattsbullets.com. I was so impressed with them, that I got some 255gr for my 44 Special. Haven't shot them yet, but they don't have the weight fluctuations of the 275s. Either bullet should be around 1200fps with that 10gr load in your rifle. I've also used the 275gr load in my Bisley 45, with excellent results, too. You can also use Power Pistol for a cleaner burn.

 

[HiBC]

Ross Seifred did some work with heavy (300 gr +) bullets in the Ruger Bisley SBH.They were 1300 fps loads.(I'm not suggesting anyone load to that level)
Then he took it to Africa and shot Cape Buffalo.
Note,Some handguns can take more pressure than the lever rifles can.

That was pointed out to me in the Lasercast Handloading booklet.

Particularly when the rifle is a vintage 92Win.The bbls are slim and fairly soft steel.
They also had sight dovetails,etc.

 

[Jim Watson]

Anecdote Alert:
A local legend in his own mind - got his name in the newspaper as the area "handloading consultant" - was in the habit of loading his .44 Specials and .45 LC UP and his .44 Magnum DOWN relative to factory practice. That was what experts DID.

This was back when boar hunting was a sporting event, not pest eradication.
He signed up for a guided hunt and was told that only Magnums were acceptable for handgun hunting. They were not impressed by his claimed expertise in overloading standard calibers. So, rather than stoop to factory loads or hurredly loading something up to the mark, he carried his downloaded .44 Magnums which did not impress the swine. He had to have backup from the guide.

 

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

So what are you saying Jim, it is not up to the task?

 

[Jim Watson]

No, I am saying that you need a substantial full power handgun for hunting, not some weird fantasy of specialty loading.

 

[979Texas]

I am aware of the debates on the .45 Colt. I would never hesitate to use it for hog hunting with the proper bullet. I don't hog hunt as often as I used to since July, only because I live in a huge city and at the most get 3 days a month off of work. But for most of my life up until last July I have been an extremely active hog hunter since I was 7 years old. But I would feel very confident in the .45 Colts ability to reek havoc on pigs. I myself have wondered for a long time why it hasn't become a more common caliber amongst pig hunters. But around here a majority of hog hunting is done with AR's, then bolt actions, then knives.

But my Glock 20 in 10mm drops hogs dead in their tracks most of the time even when they are at a dead run 65 yards off. I only hunt with 200 grain hornady xtp's from Underwood Ammo, so they tend to shoot pretty hot.
And with the luck that I have had with my 10mm, I would have no reservations about using a .45 colt with proper bullet and ballistics for pigs.

 

[Chainsaw.]

That 255 keithstyle bullet doing 1200 will dunk an pig. Period, end of story.

 

[Fuzzymaster]

I shot a deer today with 45 colt, 9.5 gr unique and 265gr Cast Performance bullet. No problem on a hog that I could imagine.

 

[jackmoser65]

No, I am saying that you need a substantial full power handgun for hunting, not some weird fantasy of specialty loading.

Do you even know what you're talking about? Do you do any handgun hunting?

 

[shootbrownelk]

Mr. Revolver guy, if you don't reload get your hands on some Cor-Bon heavy loads for .45 Colt. Barnes Vortex loads are OK too. My Ruger SRH has accounted for 3 cow elk so far and they never moved more than 10 yds after putting one through the lungs. I always use .45 Colts in my Ruger even though it's chambered for .454 Casull. I do reload. Hornady Casull loads hurt.

 

[Longshot4]

I believe the 45 Colt is fine loaded up with a good bullet. I would stay away from some thing that would loose weight like a hollow point. The Barnes would be my preference. I have herd that head on shots are not the preferred shot. But If one was coming at me I would try to drill em. I have shot through a Deer at 100 paces with a 44M 180gr Speer. I don't see why the Colt would have a problem with the right bullet. Although I would go with a carbine over a pistol just for the ability for me to be faster to get the second... shot off with accuracy. That's my two cents.

 

[GeauxTide]

Do you even know what you're talking about? Do you do any handgun hunting?

Jim Watson is a long time member and very much knows what he's talking about. I used to believe that I needed the hottest 44 Mag I could load until I started shooting heavy cast bullets in 45 Colt between 1000 and 1100fps.

 

[jackmoser65]

Then he took it to Africa and shot Cape Buffalo.

That was a custom Seville built by John Linebaugh with an oversized 6 shot cylinder. The loads were 360gr at 1500fps.

Jim Watson is a long time member and very much knows what he's talking about.

His post would seem to indicate otherwise.

I used to believe that I needed the hottest 44 Mag I could load until I started shooting heavy cast bullets in 45 Colt between 1000 and 1100fps.

In terms of terminal ballistics, the two cartridges are all but interchangeable.

 

[Hunter Customs]

I'll be the first to say I have no hog hunting experience period.
However I took a Lee 300gr 45 Colt mold machined it to throw 270gr WFN bullets, loaded these bullets on top of 12grs of HS-6, they are moving 1100fps from my 5.5 inch revolver, I would have no concern what so ever going up against any hog in the country with this set up.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

 

[HiBC]

JackMoser


I'm pretty sure Ross Seifred may have written more than one article about the 45 Colt.
I can look some more.I think maybe there was one about a Ruger Bisley and a Cape Buffalo.
I did find this one.He does mention the Ruger.
You have come off rather snarky."Do you even hunt" Was that necessary?
I am open minded enough to consider Seifred may well have had a handgun built by Linebaugh.You might be right.
But who cares? Does it make you feel bigger? In the attached article,Ross says he killed the buffalo with a handgun built by Hamilton Bowen,not Linebaugh.So what?.He may well have done it again with a Linebaugh,AND with a stock Ruger Bisley. Why not? He's having fun.

The OP asked if a 45 Colt was adequate for hog.I answered him by saying Ross killed a cape buffalo with one.
http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/article.cfm?tocid=321&magid=24