My 4½" 45 Colt Vaquero (old heavier model) is incredibly accurate with a 255 gr LSWC and 12.0 gr of Blue Dot. Will this be a good deer, bear,and hog load out to 25 yards?

Define super accurate! I would go to a heavier boolit with 296. The LBT 335 gr and the Lyman 325 gr with 21.5 gr of 296, Fed 150 primer are my choice. 100 yd's would be a sure kill zone and farther if you can hit.
Yes, your load can kill but I just can't get a SWC to shoot to standards I set for my guns.

quote:

Originally posted by CTI1USNRET:
My 4½" 45 Colt Vaquero (old heavier model) is incredibly accurate with a 255 gr LSWC and 12.0 gr of Blue Dot. Will this be a good deer, bear,and hog load out to 25 yards?

I too prefer heavier bullets, but that load should work really fine on deer.

Incredibly accurate - a 5-shot group from sandbag rest at 20 yards that I can cover with a quarter, precisely at my point of aim.

I'd be happy with that -- How does it shoot at 50? that's my current challenge, so I am trying to find someone to teach me to shoot better!

I am with Whitworth on this one, heavier bullets is what I use. I am using 325 gr. hard cast in my 45 Colt Bisley Vaquero with a good dose of H110.

In my opinion the 255 is a little light for bear and maybe hogs, but would be great for deer.

quote:

Posted 06 April 2009 19:49 Hide Post
Incredibly accurate - a 5-shot group from sandbag rest at 20 yards that I can cover with a quarter, precisely at my point of aim.

WHAT IS 20 YD'S? is that a distance or an amount from a measuring cup?
Accurate means a group you can cover with a nickel at 50 yd's and an inch at 100. Well, I give you a little more latitude then that, but why are you even shooting 20 yd's? You should shoot no less then 50. That is just the start to see boolit stability.
Sure you are good for deer to 25 yd's with what you shoot. But you are so limited with boolit choice, Powder choice, trajectory, killing power, penetration and accuracy that you are not making use of the wonderful Vaquero.
The .45 is a SUPER caliber. I have killed many deer out to 100 yd's with my Vaquero, off hand, because I do not EVER shoot 20 yd's.
Expand your horizons, you can do it. Stop shooting anemic .45 Colt loads. It is as good or better then a .44 mag.

Your load will shoot completely through any deer or hog you happen to run across. But in the event you are looking for a bit more load data, this is cut and pasted from a John Linebaugh article on the Smith 25-5;

To date my oldest and most used S&W .45 Colt has probably taken 5,000 plus loads. Half of these have been 24.0 gr H-110 with the 260 Keith. Doesn't sound like I shoot it a lot huh! Well, I shoot a lot of other stuff daily on the side, and I figure this old Smith gets carried about 200 miles per shot. It's packable, practical and powerful, and that's what Old School sixguns are all about.

Grains
Powder
Bullet
Weight
Velocity
Comments

13gr
HS-6
Keith
260 cast
925
General duty load

23gr
H-110
Keith
260 cast
1,000


24gr
H-110
Keith
260 cast
1,080
Consistent

25gr
H-110
Keith
260 cast
1,130
Recommended Maximum

26gr
H-110
Keith
260 cast
1,200+
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM

18gr
2400
Keith
260 cast
950


20gr
2400
Keith
260 cast
1,070
Recommended Maximum

22gr
2400
Keith
260 cast
1,130
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM

23.5gr
H-110
Keith
310
1,100
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM

23.5gr
H-110
LBT/LFN
320
1,120
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM

24gr
H-110
XTP
300
1,100
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM, crimped in bottom cannelure. Seated long.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neither I, handloads.com nor the author of this article assume any responsiblity for any use of the data listed here. It is the responsiblity of every handloader to verify the data they are using is safe in their individual handguns.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Linebaugh and Linebaugh Custom Sixguns can be found online at http://www.sixgunner.com/linebaugh/


Have fun!

quote:

Your load will shoot completely through any deer or hog you happen to run across. But in the event you are looking for a bit more load data, this is cut and pasted from a John Linebaugh article on the Smith 25-5;

To date my oldest and most used S&W .45 Colt has probably taken 5,000 plus loads. Half of these have been 24.0 gr H-110 with the 260 Keith. Doesn't sound like I shoot it a lot huh! Well, I shoot a lot of other stuff daily on the side, and I figure this old Smith gets carried about 200 miles per shot. It's packable, practical and powerful, and that's what Old School sixguns are all about.

Grains
Powder
Bullet
Weight
Velocity
Comments

13gr
HS-6
Keith
260 cast
925
General duty load

23gr
H-110
Keith
260 cast
1,000


24gr
H-110
Keith
260 cast
1,080
Consistent

25gr
H-110
Keith
260 cast
1,130
Recommended Maximum

26gr
H-110
Keith
260 cast
1,200+
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM

18gr
2400
Keith
260 cast
950


20gr
2400
Keith
260 cast
1,070
Recommended Maximum

22gr
2400
Keith
260 cast
1,130
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM

23.5gr
H-110
Keith
310
1,100
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM

23.5gr
H-110
LBT/LFN
320
1,120
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM

24gr
H-110
XTP
300
1,100
ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM, crimped in bottom cannelure. Seated long.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neither I, handloads.com nor the author of this article assume any responsiblity for any use of the data listed here. It is the responsiblity of every handloader to verify the data they are using is safe in their individual handguns.

Now why are all of your loads so much better? And all are close to what I shoot. Seems we are thinking the same.
My only question is to show Keith groups and if the are better then LBT style boolits.

I like the 325 grain LBT bullet by Cast Performance, the 335 is also a great choice.

I have an LBT mold that casts a 310 Grain LFN out of wheel wieghts and I load 25 grains of 296/H-110 for 1400 FPS and it is very accurate

My revolver is a Ruger Bisley

Yes your load will kill. If the load you are using shoots to the sights on your fixed sight revolver and you are happy with the accuracy that is fine. If you can shoot minute of quarter at 20 yards and are going to limit your shots to 25 yards, that should be just plenty.

If you decide to change your criteria or expand your hunting range, there are a number of different bullets and powders available for your use.

quote:

Originally posted by MS Hitman:
Yes your load will kill. If the load you are using shoots to the sights on your fixed sight revolver and you are happy with the accuracy that is fine. If you can shoot minute of quarter at 20 yards and are going to limit your shots to 25 yards, that should be just plenty.

If you decide to change your criteria or expand your hunting range, there are a number of different bullets and powders available for your use.

Agree. Seyfreid wrote an article a few years ago that explained how to sight in a fixed sighted Vaquero

quote:

Your load will shoot completely through any deer or hog you happen to run across. But in the event you are looking for a bit more load data, this is cut and pasted from a John Linebaugh article on the Smith 25-5;

To date my oldest and most used S&W .45 Colt has probably taken 5,000 plus loads. Half of these have been 24.0 gr H-110 with the 260 Keith. Doesn't sound like I shoot it a lot huh! Well, I shoot a lot of other stuff daily on the side, and I figure this old Smith gets carried about 200 miles per shot. It's packable, practical and powerful, and that's what Old School sixguns are all about.


Not my loads, Mr. Linebaugh's...

If I see a deer at 100 yards, I've got about 75 to 90 yards more hunting to do. There's no need to take a long shot like that. I've hunted hogs with my longbow near Victoria TX and have never had a shot longer than 10 yards. Now I want to do it with a handgun.

A friendly load in my Bisley 5,5 is Lyman 325, H110-21 gr./1050 fps.
In my Winchester 94 AE - 1370 fps.
Always penetration straight through - with both guns.

Some of those 45 Colt loads seem awfully stiff for a Smith 25. At least to me.
Peter.

heavy for me in a SW, 25 or 625 -- but I like 240 JHP at about 1000fps! will kill any pig I might come across

got to agree. Your load will shoot through any deer black bear or hog. 255s are plenty of bullet for that. I would say that if your getting one hole groups at 20 yards your gun is plenty accurate for 50 yard shooting. Keep in mind the vitals of a a deer or bear at 50 yards is more the 5 inch in diameter. your gun is plenty accurate for that if your capable of shooting it well in the field. Nothing wrong with heaivier bullets and one hole 50 yard groups but to be realistic there just not needed for hunting animals that size.

quote:

Originally posted by Lloyd Smale:
got to agree. Your load will shoot through any deer black bear or hog. 255s are plenty of bullet for that. I would say that if your getting one hole groups at 20 yards your gun is plenty accurate for 50 yard shooting. Keep in mind the vitals of a a deer or bear at 50 yards is more the 5 inch in diameter. your gun is plenty accurate for that if your capable of shooting it well in the field. Nothing wrong with heaivier bullets and one hole 50 yard groups but to be realistic there just not needed for hunting animals that size.

Right on.

I use a 255 gr LFN in my 454 Casull with 16 gr of blue dot, it's very accurate. and passes thru both sides of a deer. I've also shot deer with my 45 colt and a 230 gr bullet; this also puts 2 holes in the deer one in one out, it also took out both lungs. I think that a 255 gr 45colt at anything over 900 fps is plenty for deer.

It should be OK at reasonable ranges and the accuracy sounds great. But...

My own personal standard for deer is at or as close as possible to 1K ft lbs for a quick, clean one shot. That's with any caliber or cartridge.

If iron sights, I also try to limit it to about 35 yds and nothing moving faster than slow walking speed, like when feeding. The 8 3/8" 629 is my only scoped handgun and I can in good conscience take on deer with it out to 100 yds. I have known handgunners who can push the range out even farther...believe it or not...without a scope. But, that's beyond my ability level and I try to be honest with myself on that.

Don't believe I saw what your fps was on that load. You can calculate the energy figure easily if you know it.

That's just my take on it. I try to stick to this way of doing it in .41s and .44s and can honestly say in deer hunting since the late 60s I've managed to not cripple and/or lose one yet. And that's having been out there a good bit.

Ah man, you don't actually believe that muzzle energy nonsense, do you? My .454 with various loads "generates" (not something you can actually measure) more muzzle energy than my .475 Linebaugh, but I'll let you guess which one kills better.

If the accuracy is there, that load will punch through any deer with ease. ME is a tool to sell ammo IMHO.

At least a tool for those who don't know better.