I've been seeing a few of these around. I think they seem pretty nice. They seem to balance well (4"), are available in stainless and double action in a 45 "Long" Colt is a little different.

My question is most my load books have a really light loading section for SAA clones and then a beefy (almost 44 Mag) section for Rugers, and Contenders. Where does the S&W fall? I assume it's not as strong as a Ruger, but is it really as weak as a SAA?

As a practical matter a fella's recoil tolerance is the limiting factor with these handy gats. My 44 magnum Mtn Gun gets shot with a 240 SWC @ 900 fps unless I have a very special problem in mind.

If you handload, use Lyman Pistol & Revoler Handbook or Speer Number 12 or later, conventional .45 Colt loads. 255 grain cast at about 950 fps and 200 JHP at about 1000 fps in four inch. 13 grains of Blue Dot for most JHPs is the Speer solution. I also use 2400 with cast bullets in my S&W 25s and 625s. The older guns don't like a constant diet of the heavy loads, although safe. My S&W 25 six inch's ejector rod required some lock-tite after a couple of hundred Keith 255 grain cast SWC with 18.5 grains of 2400! My wrist didn't like it much either! I now use my Ruger Bisley or Redhawk, both 5 1/2", for heavier than Speer loads, intended for S&W 25 six inch, with convient velocites for that model. Of course, the typical four inch will usually give some 50 fps less. No deer or black bear will ever tell the difference!

the mt. gun .45 will have no problem taking any of the loads mentioned here. My load for the mt. gun is a 340 wfn with H110. In my redhawk I shoot a 375gr.LFN with enough powder that you would say I was crazy if I published the load.

At one time I was a commercial reloader and made duty ammunition for many police officers in the Dallas, Texas area. One of the most popular guns at that time was the M25-5 .45 Colt. In the 1980s there were no factory loads that made 1000 fps. Most people used the WW Silvertips and Federal LSWCHP.

The powder used was SR4756 powder with the 200 and 225 grain Speer jacketed hollowpoint bullets. Velocity from a 4" barrel was 1170 and 1140 fps. The cases would drop right out of the cylinder.

Two officers reported to me that they had used the 200 grain JHP load on deer..in both cases it was Bang-Flop...

Another officer shot a burglar that had just shot at him with the 200 grain load..it was also bang-flop. The bullet look out the burglar's liver, spleen and then punched a hole out the back through one kidney.

If you look inside the first few pages of the #13 Speer Loading Manual you will see a picture of Allan Jones who is the editor. At the time Allan was one of the two balistic experts with the SW Institute of Forensic Sicense better known as the Dallas County MEs Office. After I found out about the shooting I met with Allen who said that the bullet had not expanded and had punched all the way through the guy...I said no way. We then went up to the test area where he proceeded to shoot both the 200 and 225 grain loads into calibrated balictic gelatin....and the bullet a) Expanded and degenerated along it's path beauitfully b) Had more than enough mass to expand and punch through the gelatin block and into th catch box behind. The recovered weight I believe was about 100 grains... When the x-rays of the burglar's wound channel came back...sure enough, there was lead and jacket material all along the path...

The 225 grain bullet expanded into a classic mushroom and only lost 3 grains in weight. It also left a great wound track and penetrated even further into the catch box than the 200 grain bullet did...

Bob

Here is John Linebaugh's take on the subject. I think his information about heat treating the frames is extremely useful...

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=12

It seems to me that the issue is how much you plan on shooting the heavy loads. I don't see a problem with developing a heavy load for occasional use eg. to carry as a backup. Just don't shoot 50 rounds a week of the heavy stuff (for a year)!
Peter.

I have one and love it. Basically, you are more likely to find your limit before you find the guns. It is a light weapon for the caliber and my loads for the S&W are significantly lighter than ones for my Ruger Bisley in .45 Colt. It is a comfort thing. My current favorite top load for the Mountain Gun is 13.0 grains of Blue Dot pushing a 275 grain Keith. That is about as warm as I want to experience on a regular basis.

The RCBS 270 SAA bullet at around 1000 fps would be my pick. It is what I use in my custom medium framed Ruger Blackhawk and FA M97 as well. Here's where I get mine and they actually weigh 282 grs.

http://www.montanabulletworks.com/

Excellent info guys, I have a S&W .45 Colt Mountain Gun and have been wondering it's limits as well.