Well boys, my newest hogleg is back from the gunsmith with a shortened barrel and is raring to go!.

The Ruger Vaquero now sports a five and half inch tube, and I am looking for some good field loads for it with H4277 and hard cast 250 and 255 grain slugs. A friend of mine mentioned that he has had good luck with this powder in his .44 spl.,.44 magnum, and .44/40, as it fills the case up very well and delivers excellent accuracy and good velocities. However, his loads are for .44s and not .45s.

I would like to keep the loads down to around 1200 to 1250 fps, as in New Mexico there is no need for anything higher. I have shot thousands of similar loads through my old .44 maggie and the recoil doesn't bother me.

Some of the data I have looked at strains and boggles the mind. I wasn't aware that the Ruger Vaquero .45, massive as it is was a .44 Magnum, and thus I am very, very leery of some published data. Seems some of this stuff is close to or exceeds .44 data and parameters.

Can some of you inform me of your experiences with the above powder and recommend some loads?

Actually, you can run a stock Ruger 45 almost to 44 Mag pressures. I had a five-shot 45 Colt for a while and it would go to 454 pressures. Having done it, I'm not sure I can say what it accomplishes. The difference between the 44 and 45 is about the same as the difference between the 41 and the 44. The five-shot 45 is a big step up, but Jim Taylor's opinion that a 300 gr. bullet at 1,100 fps is enough for North America makes more sense every day. You might do well to check out John Linebaugh's website. "Dissolving the Myth, Discovering the Potential" is a must-read for sixgunners, especially 45 Colt fans.

My favorite load for either the 44 or the 45 is 10 grs of Unique under a 250-300 gr. bullet. Velocity should be about 1,100 fps. It's accurate enough for small game and powerful enough for deer. Hope this helps, Okie John.

I have not had as much luck with H4227 as I have had with H110 or W296 (same powder). I can't seem to get enough H4227 into the case to give me the velocities I want. H110/W296 are the best powders for the .45 Colt in my opinion if you are looking to produce hunting level velocities. Just be sure not to reduce the charges below printed minimums and use a magnum primer and a good roll/profile crimp. My favorite load is a 300Gr. LBT style cast bullet over 23 grains of H110 for 1300FPS out of my 5.5" Ruger Blackhawk Bisley.

Damn, Sharkbait.
I bet that load rattles your noggin!
Ummm, I am not looking for rootin'tootin' mastodon loads. A good warm load, say around 1200 fps would just be fine with a hard cast two fifty. If anyone has such a load, let me know, as I am H Forty Two Twenty Seven rich and H2400 poor.

Thanks.

my stopper load is for ruger Vaqurez 45 LC

325 cast performance LFNPB Bullet
20.5 grains Lil Gun
Chronographed at 1175 Fps
Fed 155 primers

if that does not stop a hog it was not meant to be stopped.

Hey mikga - Good to see you over here. Welcome and enjoy.

Still pounding them with the 45 Colt, I see. That baby DOES make big holes in things, doesn't it?

R-WEST

R-West it's good to see you arround.

I love the 325 grain load for destruction its amazing what they little bitty bullet will do.