I just picked up a winchester 94 In .45 Colt. I'm thinking of shooting the 250gr Hornady XTP at
whitetails. Im looking for some data for a rifle, preferably using 2400 or uneque. What jacketed
hollow points do yall like? How far would you trust this load? I was out shooting some
winchester cowboy loads, and shot consistant inch groups at 50 meters.
your thoughts please?

Thomas,
First, use a slower powder... 296 or 2400 would be places to start, if you want good vel out of a long gun. (dang it, I want one of these, but I have to sell some of my toys first)
Second, any load you use (just about) will be OVER saami.

third, most reloading books have hothot loads for thompson and ruger. Take a look at those.

On the accuracy? that's going to be the gun and you mostly, I hate to say.

Even being the bigbore fan I am, I would not feel in the least bit under gunned (in texas) with my vaquero and a 45lc rifle.

jeffe

I don't have a .45 Colt rifle, yet. Are ya listening, Santa? Hint, hint.
But I like the Hornady 300 grain Hp-XTP in my Raging Bull revolver.

In the 45colt, rifle or revolver, I like the hard cast 300+ lead flat points in the LBT style. 16.5gr of 2400 gets right @ 1000fps in my 4 5/8" Ruger SSBH. It is comfortable to shoot & breally pentrates. The same load w/ the 250gr Hornady JHP gets just under 1000fps.

Hornady's XTP bullets really penetrate well, although not like the hard cast ones will, and some rifles (handguns, too) seem to prefer the composite bullets over cast bullets.

If you're after maximum performance, H110/W296 and Hodgdon's Lil Gun give good results. Hodgdon lists some data at their website for H110 with 250's, I believe.

If you try one of the LBT style bullets, try a few dummy rounds to be sure they'll feed okay. The wide flat nose can sometimes hang up in there.

I'm hoping Santa will find it in her heart to put some kind of 45 rifle under my tree, too.

R-WEST

Rifle and/or Handloader magazines did a few decent articles on loading for modern lever guns, one specifically for the .45 Colt 16" Trapper carbine. Rifle #199 from Jan-Feb 2002 had a good article too.
I have a 16" Trapper and use 25 grains of 296 over the 250 XTP for near 1800 fps. I have seen data loading up to 27.5 grains of 296 and the 250 gr XTP resulting in over 1900 fps in a 20" rifle barrel! Thats stout.

If you can't come up with any good data drop me an e mail with an address and I'll copy an article or two and send it north.

The current Marlin,Winchester, Browning lever guns can turn the .45 colt into a very formidable small game and deer round. The normal revolver load for a weak SAA is no comparison to a +P load one can fire in a Carbine.

FN in MT

Thomas,

Got the e mail.....I'll copy and forward tomorrow. Enjoy.

FN in MT

I don't have a carbine or rifle but revolver instead. I use H110 for heavy loads, HS7 for mid and 231 for light to mid. A great jacket bullet I have used has been the Sierra JHC 240. Very accurate!! The XTP have been good bullets also. As for how far the load can be shot will be the guy behind the gun, 100+ this caliber will will work. Lot of fun for load development

Hcliff

I really like the idea of a 45 LC lever carbine! A couple of questions...Would a Winchester be preferable to a Marlin for cast bullets due to the Marlin's micro grove rifling? Would hot 45 LC loads have similar case life to say a hot 44 mag load or would the 45 LC cases suffer more from the high pressures?

I can't answer your question about micro-groove rifling cause I never had one.

I load my Raging Bull .45 Colt to the levels recommended for Ruger Redhawk and T\C Contender--very hot!! BTW, I checked with several different sources just to make sure my handgun was strong enough, and everyone said it was. Modern 45 cases are just as strong as 44 mag cases. It's the old balloon head cases from two centeries ago that will come apart. I prefer using Starline 45 brass. Good value for the money and last a good long time if I don't over crimp.