John Linebaugh’s 45 Colt loads.

[Skip]

Anyone ever read this article?
Anyone ever loaded any of these loads?

Writings | linebaughsixguns

www.johnlinebaughcustomsixguns.com

 

[Mgderf]

Didn't read the entire article, but the premise is sound.
I've shot many a "hot" .45Colt loads in my .454 Casull.
It's a step down from the .454, but the company that loaded these hot .45Colt loads claim they come close to reaching .44mag speeds with a 300gr bullet.
I know they can drop a deer in short order if placed properly.

 

[Mongo59]

Didn't read the entire article, but the premise is sound.
I've shot many a "hot" .45Colt loads in my .454 Casull.
It's a step down from the .454, but the company that loaded these hot .45Colt loads claim they come close to reaching .44mag speeds with a 300gr bullet.
I know they can drop a deer in short order if placed properly.

...graveyard dead!

 

[Mongo59]

Anyone ever read this article?
Anyone ever loaded any of these loads?

Writings | linebaughsixguns

www.johnlinebaughcustomsixguns.com

Interesting read, and some think we grunts can't read...

 

[Tactically Fat]

Interesting read, and some think we grunts can't read...

to be fair... Plenty people can't.

 

[Leadeye]

Lyman makes a good 325 grain bullet for 45 Colt that I have used in a variety of power levels. As was posted above it does the job on deer.

 

[Skip]

These are the molds I have for 45 Colt.

MP 45-270SAA HP 4 cavity

Best moulds for casting lead bullets. Hollow point, hollow base or solid bullets. Molds are Brass or aluminum.

www.mp-molds.com

MP 454-640 HP PB 4 cavity mold

Best moulds for casting lead bullets. Hollow point, hollow base or solid bullets. Molds are Brass or aluminum.

www.mp-molds.com

 

[DadSmith]

to be fair... Plenty people can't.

Really I have never met an adult that can't read.
Now reading comprehension that's a different story.

 

[Skip]

Really I have never met an adult that can't read.
Now reading comprehension that's a different story.

I’ve met two. One was a deacon in a church in Mississippi. He realized it would be hard to "read" his Bible so, he bought an audio Bible. One of the smartest men I’ve ever met. Common sense galore and wisdom beyond his years.

 

[Nazgul]

Really I have never met an adult that can't read.
Now reading comprehension that's a different story.

I volunteered for a couple years at a local library as a literacy teacher for adults who could not read. One sticks out, he was a truck driver. He understood numbers well. Had his wife write out log book entrees and he would copy them onto his paperwork, he could recognize some letter combinations. He could understand street signs and numbers enough to get by.

They are out there. Many need some basic teaching to put together the association between letter combinations and words. I was surprised at their ability to memorize and repeat things to accommodate the actual inability not read. Now something they had not seen before was a real issue.

Overall it was a fulfilling experience.

Don

P.S. - This was before we left California. One of our teachers was actually a banker who handled Clint Eastwood's account. Interacted with him a lot and said he was really a cool guy.

 

[Slow Hand]

I’ve read that article many times, not recently though, thanks for the reminder. John was a huge boon to modern sixgunners. We are less with his passing. He definitely knew what he was talking about!

 

[ECS686]

I read somewhere that a couple manuals had 3 levels of 45 Cokt. The standard ones for older and newer Cokt SAA the 2nd was substantially hotter and was for the Ruger Blackhawk and RedHawks etc and the 3rd was really really hot for stuff like Linebaugh and maybe Freedom Arms stuff.

This was like 30 years ago so I could have forgotten a couple details!

 

[92FSTech]

I've read that article before, but re-read it again just now. I like the detail he goes into about his process and finding, and my favorite quote is the following :

"I want to see you shoot them first. I'm going to stand over behind the barn and when the parts and pieces quit falling I'll come out and see what's left of you and the gun. I've never seen a man blown up before, this will be fun."

I am a big fan of the .45 Colt, and have dabbled in "Ruger Only" loads for my Blackhawk a bit. I don't give it a steady diet of those as it's simply not necessary for my needs, but it's nice to know that the capability is there. It was my go-to load for a backpacking trip in Wyoming a few years back when I lugged along my Blackhawk as a trail gun. That role has since been filled by a 2.75" S&W Model 69, not because it's more capable but because it's double-action, smaller, and easier to carry.

My only complaint about the cartridge is that there are so few options in a compact DA revolver out there, and what does exist is out of production and ruinously expensive. My "grail" hiking gun for bear country would be a 3" 5-shot S&W Scandium L-Frame with a steel cylinder chambered in .45 Colt. Lightweight, easy to carry, less recoil, less pressure, yet hits just as hard as a comparable gun in .44 Mag.

 

[Skip]

Here is something I have hanging on my wall in my reloading room. I USED TO HAVE, man that hurts to say that, a non-fluted S&W M25 in 45 Colt that I ran these Linebaugh loads in. He seemed to pick that model to suggest loads for. They developed the advertised velocity in that barrel.

 

[Slow Hand]

I've read that article before, but re-read it again just now. I like the detail he goes into about his process and finding, and my favorite quote is the following :

"I want to see you shoot them first. I'm going to stand over behind the barn and when the parts and pieces quit falling I'll come out and see what's left of you and the gun. I've never seen a man blown up before, this will be fun."

I am a big fan of the .45 Colt, and have dabbled in "Ruger Only" loads for my Blackhawk a bit. I don't give it a steady diet of those as it's simply not necessary for my needs, but it's nice to know that the capability is there. It was my go-to load for a backpacking trip in Wyoming a few years back when I lugged along my Blackhawk as a trail gun. That role has since been filled by a 2.75" S&W Model 69, not because it's more capable but because it's double-action, smaller, and easier to carry.

My only complaint about the cartridge is that there are so few options in a compact DA revolver out there, and what does exist is out of production and ruinously expensive. My "grail" hiking gun for bear country would be a 3" 5-shot S&W Scandium L-Frame with a steel cylinder chambered in .45 Colt. Lightweight, easy to carry, less recoil, less pressure, yet hits just as hard as a comparable gun in .44 Mag.

I wouldn’t call it a grail gun, but I really felt that Taurus (I know, I know…) missed the boat when they made their short, ported 5 shot 45’s. One of those with a 3” non-ported barrel would have been great to have. Even in .45 acp, I can load it up to about equal factory 45 colt loads with a better bullet design.

 

[Skip]

I wouldn’t call it a grail gun, but I really felt that Taurus (I know, I know…) missed the boat when they made their short, ported 5 shot 45’s. One of those with a 3” non-ported barrel would have been great to have. Even in .45 acp, I can load it up to about equal factory 45 colt loads with a better bullet design.

I have a M625-8 Performance Center revolver. I have a 240gr LSWC that I cast and load in AutoRim cases that develops 1,000fps from that gun. I can’t remember if they are loads I got out of Handloader Magazine or Speer #8 or Load Data dot com. The May be Elmer’s loads too. Can’t remember right now….
They are some real thumpers

 

[92FSTech]

I wouldn’t call it a grail gun, but I really felt that Taurus (I know, I know…) missed the boat when they made their short, ported 5 shot 45’s. One of those with a 3” non-ported barrel would have been great to have. Even in .45 acp, I can load it up to about equal factory 45 colt loads with a better bullet design.

I came very close to bidding on a 450 Titanium a couple of weeks ago on gunbroker, but I've had so many bad experiences with Taurus in the past I just couldn't do it. Plus, when I started researching it in depth, there were a lot of complaints about the trigger, and examining the differences between the design of the Taurus rebound assembly compared to the Smith, I just wasn't sure if I could do anything with it, plus money was kinda tight around Christmas, so I passed.

I agree, a 3" barrel without the stupid porting would be a much better configuration. I may still end up with a 450 yet, if the right deal ever comes along when I have money to burn...but I'd really prefer if Smith would make what I want.

 

[Slow Hand]

I have a M625-8 Performance Center revolver. I have a 240gr LSWC that I cast and load in AutoRim cases that develops 1,000fps from that gun. I can’t remember if they are loads I got out of Handloader Magazine or Speer #8 or Load Data dot com. The May be Elmer’s loads too. Can’t remember right now….
They are some real thumpers

I also have a 625-8, not a PC gun but it’s a shooter. I got the load of 7.0 of unique under a 454424 from John Taffin. I think it’s in his new Book of the .45. I’m not sure it hits 1000fps but it’s got some punch and shoot very well!

 

[Slow Hand]

I came very close to bidding on a 450 Titanium a couple of weeks ago on gunbroker, but I've had so many bad experiences with Taurus in the past I just couldn't do it. Plus, when I started researching it in depth, there were a lot of complaints about the trigger, and examining the differences between the design of the Taurus rebound assembly compared to the Smith, I just wasn't sure if I could do anything with it, plus money was kinda tight around Christmas, so I passed.

I agree, a 3" barrel without the stupid porting would be a much better configuration. I may still end up with a 450 yet, if the right deal ever comes along when I have money to burn...but I'd really prefer if Smith would make what I want.

I thought really hard about getting one of the Smith 69’s when they first came out, but I’ve been a 45 guy son+ day one and although I’ve had a few 44 specials ove the years, I just never could get into them. No good reason!and honestly these days I shoot more .45 S&W handloads which basically duplicate the 44 special, and aren’t too far off of 45 colt. They use a little less powder and shoot just as good so they are find for paper and steel!

 

[92FSTech]

I have a M625-8 Performance Center revolver. I have a 240gr LSWC that I cast and load in AutoRim cases that develops 1,000fps from that gun. I can’t remember if they are loads I got out of Handloader Magazine or Speer #8 or Load Data dot com. The May be Elmer’s loads too. Can’t remember right now….
They are some real thumpers

Now that's interesting. I've been going down a rabbit trail lately trying to do some penetration testing with hard cast .45 ACP +P compared to .44 Magnum out of a short barrel. I'm curious just how much performance I could get out of my P220 Compact as a woods gun compared to my snubby Model 69. I know the short barrel has to be hurting the performance of the .44...I'm curious just how much difference there is between that and a heavy hard-cast .45 ACP +P at the target.