What are people's opinions of the best commercial hunting load,for whitetails, for the 45 Colt? Just for fun I am borrowing my brother-in-laws TC Contender in 410/45 for this years deer season. I do reload, but since I don't own it I am not willing to invest in dies, etc. I am looking for everyone's experience with commercial loads. Buffalo Bore, Cor-Bon? I am open to any ideas.
Thanks

375er

Drop a note to Andy Rowe at Cartridge Performance Engineering:

http://www.cartridgeperformance.com/

He has a couple of excellent 45LC hunting loads -- they work, are reasonably priced and always available for a quick turn-around. Andy's an experienced handgun hunter and knows what he's doing -- I've taken more than 50 species with the ammo he provides and have never been disappointed -- and several of those species bite back.

You are setting up a harder row to plough with your choice of handgun barrel. Personally, you'd be better off with a .410 slug out of that barrel. The .45 Colt bullet may make the jump and shoot just fine.

You're in luck, sort of. Most any lead semiwadcutter 45 Colt factory load will kill a whitetail neatly at appropriate ranges, which in the case of the 10 inch Contender 45/410 barrel is 50 feet or less. I've played with two (why the second try I can't tell you) off and on over the last couple decades and at 25 yards they usually shoot "minute-of-freezer-doe" with Federal 225 lead SWC HP, Colt 250 lead flatnose, and Remington 255 lead roundnose, but most of the bullets are tipping and some are landing sideways. 410 shotgun slugs group as well at 50 feet and a little better at 25 yards (~6 inches) but an 88 grain .39 caliber swaged lead roundnose @ 1800 fps (nominal from a shotgun barrel - I never dared run that low striking pill and all its wads and confetti over my Shooting Chrony) is not my idea of deer medicine. Does your BIL has another barrel to consider?

I have shot Buffalo Bore, and cor Bon loads in several calibres, not 45 Colt however, and they were all excellent.

Thanks for the replies guys. You've got me rethinking this. I may be able to get a .375 Herret barrel from a friend. Anybody have field experience with that cartridge?

I've taken about a half dozen deer with my .357 Herret. The Hornady 180 SSP bullet is a good bullet for this caliber.

It's rare to see a 45/410 barrel that gives anything but horrendous accuracy, and you will be limited even moreso with factory loads (that's not saying good loads aren't out there, just that most will probably shoot poorly through that particular barrel).

I'd go with the .357 Herrett and see if your friend can set you up with some good handloads. The caliber works extremely well for deer-sized game.

quote:

Originally posted by 375er:
I may be able to get a .375 Herrett barrel from a friend.

Much better choice! Good hunting!

Thanks guys for all your replies. I am going to be able to use the 357 Herret. Going to do some loading and shooting this weekend in fact. I can't wait until fall now!

My expireance with the 45/410 has been the same as everyone else. really poor accuracy.

My .357 herrett barrel is my go to barrel for big game but I've only killed one caribou with it. I guess what I mean by "go to" is I've hunted but not had much success with the .357 herrett.

It's a real shooter though and will keep a group under an inch when I do my part.

I've also hunted with 30-30 barrels on my t/c. I haven't carried it as much as the Herrett but I have had better success. I've taken 3 deer and one caribou with the 30-30 oh ya and a racoon.

I'm in love with the 357 herret! I shot it several times this weekend. Did some load testing with IMR 4198. I did only four grain variations and decided I am done and will now shoot only off sticks etc. All four, five shot groups were around an inch, but one turned into one big hole after five shots. Now to find a big whitetail!
Thanks everyone for your comments. I think there is a 357 herret purchase in my future!

That's great! Glad to hear that it is working out for you.