Wondering if anyone has used this fine (but reputedly fragile) handgun to kill Whitetail. I know it is not supposed to stand up to hotrodding, but surely a good 250gr. bullet at a moderate velocity would do the job. Somewhere between factory loadings and heavier colt loads. Anyone with experience not derived from reading magazines? Clem.

I'm assuming you are talking about 1000 to 1200 fps., if so you have barely got a handgun for deer with good shot placement. If it were me I would look into something with a little more umph to it but if you are going to hunt with it regardless I would use hard cast bullets to get the maximum penetration, the deer may run a little further before expiring but a .452 hole through the vitals will kill him. With expanding bullets I would worry about not getting enough penetration at those velocities. Know what your arms are capable of as well as the arm that is holding it, the rest is easy.

Go to www.sixgunner.com and look up under Paco Kelly's articles and read what he has to say about the .45. Also, look at the archives, it has a bunch of info on the .45.
A 250gr cast bullet at 1000-1200 is plenty for most anything in this country, excluding bigger bears. Theres more to the performance of the cartridge than what you read on paper. Elmer Keith used a Colt Frontier (fragile gun) with bullets ranging from 250 to up to 400? (he loaded some heavy weights, but i dont remember the exact weight) and loaded them safely at 1000-1200fps and killed lots of animals. When i aint no longer a poor college student and able to buy my own handguns instead of shooting ones that dont belong to me, i plan on getting a Ruger Blackhawk and loading a 250-260gr WFN cast bullet from Beartooth (www.beartoothbullets.com) at about 1100-1200fps for deer and hogs. Currently, i use a Colt Python .357 loaded with 158gr Sierra SJSP's for deer at about 1200fps, aint never recovered one and they work perfectly. I like to keep my shooting at 50yds or under, but i also use a recurve bow (20yds max range), so 50yds seems quite a bit out there from that perspective. Have fun.

cyberhick

Thanks, guys, I appreciate the response. Paco Kellys stuff looks pretty good. I'll probably try some medium weight premium bullet at moderate velocities, bowhunting range. Thanks, Mike.

13 grains of Blue Dot behind a 255 grain SWC gives me about 1000 fps out of my 7.5 inch Ruger Bisley.

Mike,

The 625 is not so fragile as some would have you believe, the main concern of gunwriters is that you don't start stuffing loads for Super Redhawks in them. Look in the Accurate Arms reloading manual. They list a page or so of 45 LC loads at 45 ACP+p pressures. These are the loads I use for the 625. I wouldn't worry about penetration, as long as your bullet is moving 900 fps or so at impact. Do look into Beartooth bullets and good luck.

DOC

Thanks, DOC, everyone likes to talk about their favorite 45 loads for their Rugers, very few will respond to an inquiry on the S&W. This is a really fine revolver with a nice action and trigger pull. Southern whitetail are generally small. Surely a load exists to put them down using this gun. Bowhunting ranges. Mike.

Mike,

If you want to use a jacketed bullet, then Paco Kelly'd 250 XTP New Frontier load @ 1100 fps from a 5.5 inch barrel look good. What year was your Smith made, and what is the barrel lenght?

DOC

Mike,

http://www.sixgunner.com/linebaugh/gunnotes.htm

There is a note at the end of this on the 625. I don't have trouble using 28,000 psi loads in my 625, and if John Linebaugh says it will take 32,000 who am I to say otherwise. There is some other good reading on his site.

DOC

Doc, again thanks. Linebaugh is the man. My revolver has the 6" barrel, not sure when made. I look forward to some new loads for this gun. Thanks, Mike.

The S & W 25/625 is regarded as "fragile" in the .45 chambering because the indexing cuts on the cylinder are directly over the thinnest part of the chamber wall. This is not really that great a weakness, since that part of the rear portion of the brass is actually thick enough in modern cases to hold reasonable pressures by itself without being confined by the chamber wall. But don't press you luck with 45,000 psi chamber pressures.

Any moderate load generating 1000 to 1100 fps (stay subsonic for best accuracy) with a 240 to 260 grain jacketed soft point bullet will (1) work just fine in your S & W, and (2) go all the way through most any whitetail and secure it within a reasonable time and distance.

If you prefer just punching holes with hard cast bullets, then it doesn't much matter whether you shoot them at 700 fps or 1700 fps, you'll just get a .45" diameter hole, and, provided the heart or a major blood vessel is punctured, your deer will die on the same day and in the same county as shot, if you're lucky.

Stonecreek: how about a 250gr. Nosler JHP? Maybe not my first choice, but I was so tickled to see them on the shelf at the local gun shop, I had to buy! I still think I'll get good penetration at moderate velocity. Any comments? Mike.

I have always thought that the great weakness of the n-frame was the small size and delicacy of the internal parts. The cylinder is strong enough but nothing like the Ruger. The frame is not as strong as the Ruger either. But it is strong enough for our purposes.

DOC

I shoot both a 3" 625 and 6" 25 in .45 Colt and have never had any problems with 260-300 gr. cast bullets pushed to 1000 fps with either. As far as the lock works go, I have never had a component failure in any S&W (I have a bunch)! Your hand and wrist will wear out long before the gun will.
C.G.B.