Been meaning to get over and post up on this thread but family matters and work have kept me hopping.
I shot a BUNCH of mixed alloy out of my Ruger Redhawk in 45 Colt a year or three back. Seems time is passing at warp speed nowadays. That said, I tried soft, I tried hard, an I tried in the middle. The problem I had was that all shot so darned well I really found no huge differences between the mixes to be overly concerned.
As mentioned above by several, fit will be your primary and lube should be your secondary cause of concern. For most "modern" production handguns chambered in 45 Colt a .452" diameter should be just right. Note I said most. Some will possibly be as big as .454" simply due to variations in production and the companies who made them. I would however start with something in a .452" flavor if your firearm was produced in the past 50yrs or so.
For sizing and lube, it is hard to beat the ease of the Lee system. Simply drizzle a little on a bowl of bullets, roll them around until coated an shove them through the sizing die. Once sized repeat the lube. You do want something on the bullets as they pass through the die simply to give some lubrication. The Alox that comes in the kit can be thinned around 50/50 with unscented mineral spirits and still to a great job. You only want enough on them to see that there is actually something there or that the lead has a wet shiny look. If they are brown looking you probably used a bit much. Not an issue in reality but they will smoke a bit more.
If you want to pan lube, I highly suggest looking into the White Label Lubes Carnuba Blue. In reports the bullets shove right out after it cools with little effort and all lube grooves have been reported to be full.
If your using a sizer like the Lyman 4500 or similar then White Label has a wide assortment to choose from. Going from real soft to real hard where lube is concerned. I have used the Carnuba Red for quite a while with no issues what so ever, but you will need a heater or will have to wram the sizer up with a light for about a half hour before starting. It is a hard lube but it works great. I just filled up one of my sizers with the Carnuba Blue and went through a couple hundred assorted 45 caliber bullets, but haven't shot any yet. If your using it in a Lyman 4500 you won't need a heater unless your temps are below around 65.
As for expansion, well it helps in some cases but if you simply look for a bullet with a wide flat meplat, in a weight running from around .250 up to around 280-300grs, you will not have any issues putting a deer or feral hog down with a proper shot. With the velocities your going to get from a handgun or rifle even in the 45 Colt, expansion isn't really going to do much for you except limit penetration. What you have to remember is that the bullet is already starting off as big as most others expand too, so if you get anything or nothing your still doing good. Too much expansion though is only going to slow or even can stop the bullet from penetrating through to an offside shoulder or punching through to give two bleeder holes. With a deer, expansion isn't needed at all with a shot through the vitals, on a hog the vitals are up front right behind the leg bone and as such expansion can even keep the bullet from reaching them sufficiently. A good flat nose will deliver a solid punch, drive through the leg bone and/or cartilage and still make for plenty of damage in the internals, even if it exits.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your hunting loads. Try Universal, Unique, AA-5,or 7, and HS-6 depending on what model gun you have. These have all worked good for me with loads from mild to wild. (just bear in mind I am running a Redhawk).
One last thing, look up the PDF by Brian Pierce on loading the 45-270 SAA. He listed three different load tier levels depending on what variation firearm you might have.
