A question on my 45 Colt Ruger

[S Mac]

While I'm waiting on my .454 sizing die thought I would finger lube a few H&G 78's to try as cast. These drop .455-.456. They start into the case well enough and chamber easily. I noticed in an old Speer load manual I have they cautioned against sizing cast over .452 for a New Model Blackhawk. Do you think .456 is over a overly large, dangerous?

 

[RBHarter]

The 1 I load for isn't a good example really as the Colts chambers are .454 to the .452 groove . I have run 45-200s in the ACP chambers at .454 with .452 throats and a few 452-255s at .454 with no suggestions of excessive pressures .

Ruger thread choke is more an issue in the Blackhawks than over running the cylinders .

I believe that in a BlackHawk chassis you can use the USPS method , " if it fits it ships" . After all factory ammo has to slip fit a .480 chamber and .450 throat all the way up to .486 and .458 . The chassis is designed for for 44 mag and the cylinders are forged to a minimum management of 25kpsi as a steady diet of +P hard jacketed 45ACP . I believe the Colts is pressure rated at 16 kpsi so you have a little wiggle room.
There could be accuracy issues with major cylinder sizing for example if the sizing leaves a base ring then bbl whiskers .

 

[Brad]

Size to fit the cylinder throats. If a .452 bullet is a snug slip fit that is the size you want.

Rick is gonna say that cylinder throats aren't bullet sizers. They do size bullets but good things don't usually happen when they do.

A .456 bullet will be safe with a sane load but isn't likely to give the results you want. Not a safety issue near as mch an accuracy issue.

 

[Paden]

+1 to the above. So far, all my New Model Blackhawk throats measure .452 from the factory, and they prefer bullets sized to the throats.

 

[gman]

My 45 Bisley has .455 throats. I size to that. No problems and very good accuracy. Ruger loads are no problem. I tend to favor 4227 in the 45 Colt and HS6 next. Drop me a pm if you need to try bullets sized .455

 

[S Mac]

Size to fit the cylinder throats. If a .452 bullet is a snug slip fit that is the size you want.

Rick is gonna say that cylinder throats aren't bullet sizers. They do size bullets but good things don't usually happen when they do.

A .456 bullet will be safe with a sane load but isn't likely to give the results you want. Not a safety issue near as mch an accuracy issue.

That is kinda what I was thinking, my cyl throats are .454-.455 so I have a sizing die on it's way, just wanting to shoot some before it arrives. Just wanted opinions of the safety aspect.

 

[Ian]

It'll be safe as long as you don't crowd the max end with fast-burning powder.

 

[S Mac]

Well, I tried a few, don't know if it was the oversize bullets, the powder selection, or the shooter but they were't accurate at all. I saw no lead shaving evidence to speak of but maybe it fell out on it's own.

 

[gman]

How hard are those bullets? My Rugers tend to like 50/50 alloy.

 

[9.3X62AL]

I have a BisHawk in 45 Colt x 7.5". No discernable thread choke, but I had to hone the throats from .448"-.449" to work with the .452" grooves. Throats are now .453", and I run bullets sized @ .454" with good accuracy and no leading. Favorite load tends to be Lyman #454424 atop 10.0 grains of Unique for about 1025 FPS. This might be a bit warmish for Ubertis and Colts, but Rugers won't even blink. I have largely quit shooting wrist-wrenchers. 92/6/2 alloy is the usual metal.

 

[Pistolero]

With those throat diameters, you shouldn't have caused much problem with those as far
as diameter is concerned. Not familiar with H&G 78, will have to look it up.
OK, looks similar to the Lyman 452460. I would expect that to do best in .45 ACP cylinder, but it is normally an
accurate design (452460) at moderate velocities in .45 ACP, never tried it in .45 Colt.

I have had excellent results with Lyman 454424 (Keith 250 SWC) over 9 gr of Unique in my .45
BH convertible.

Bill