???Question for .45Colt warthog loaders.....

[Mad Mucus]

G'day,

I'm thinking about getting a powder compression die. Are they effective in .45Colt cartridges and is it worth the purchase?

I'd be looking to get a minimum 35gr/vol Swiss fffg and a wax card wad under a 30:1 l&t PRS 250-45 Big Lube for 50-100yds+ target accuracy in a Marlin '94CBL.

Thanks

Mucus

[Fox Creek Kid]

Are they effective in .45Colt cartridges and is it worth the purchase?

\

No and no again.

[Adirondack Jack]

Psst, for a "compressor"when I really want one, I use a jacketed bullet one size too small as a "ram"under a bullet seater.  In a .45, a .44bullet with a nice flat base works well.  It would help ya set yer card if ya wanted to so ya didn't have to smash yer .45 bullet, especially if yer .45 seating stem isn't a perfect match.  ram the .44 bullet down, dump it out, and repeat till ya have a tray full, then set yer seater properly and seat yer .45s.

Whether it ends up helping is a tough call, but ya can try it without the expense of the comp. die.

[litl rooster]

  I don't believe you will be able to get a wax card in with said amount fffg and that size bullet, and seat it enuff to cycle properly in a Marlin.................I have been wrong before

[Cuts Crooked]

.........and there is absolutely no need for a wax card under a PRS bullet! That would be a major waste of time and effort! 

[44caliberkid]

  I'm casting a "no" vote.  Don't waste your money for the compression die for 45 Colt.  Also agree with Cuts, you don't need any wads, cards, etc. with a PRS bullet.   Don't try to reinvent the wheel here.  A PRS bullet over as much 3F as you can fit in the case and seat a bullet on will serve any purpose you can imagine.
  I made some 45 Colt BP loads this summer, for the T-Rex side match at the NCOWS Nationals, that I compressed enough just by seating the bullet, that they wouldn't chamber. (swelled up, expanded the case)  I had to run about 25 out of 50 rounds back through the sizing die to make them chamber.

[Mad Mucus]

.........and there is absolutely no need for a wax card under a PRS bullet! That would be a major waste of time and effort! 

As I'll be using a softer cast(not WWs >>----> all metric in Oz anyway) for longer distance flight and consistancy, deformation of the bullet base is my concern. 

Guess I should pull my head in and just experiment when I eventually get to casting.

Mucus

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy MM,

For compressing powder, when I do it, I use a 1/2 ton arbor press with a hard maple dowel on the ram.  I left a shoulder on the dowel when I turned it in my lathe.  I run it down far enuf to just contact the shoulder of the ram with the case mouth. Then, I seat the bullet on my single stage press taking care not to deform it.  I've made dowel rams for each of the cartridges I compress powder for.

Hardly worth the work on 45 Colt loads, but works great on 45-70 and 38-55 Rifle cartridges.  I found the 1/2 ton arbor press at a surplus place for something like $20.  It's a hand rig to have around the loading lab.

Swiss will give you just a bit more oomph.  You don't need anything under the bullet besides the powder.  Good shootn'.  Please report back on the results.  I'm thinkn' yer makin' up some loads that would take down a good size Wisconsin White Tail buck.

DD-DLoS

[sundance44`s]

My vote is the compression set isn`t worth the trouble or the bucks .. i use a short piece of wooden dowel that just fits inside the case ...add card and drop in the wood dowel and compress .

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I'm with everyone else. You don't need a compression die and you don't need anything more than the lube groove of the PRS bullet filled up with lube. That's why you're using the PRS in the first place, so you don't have to do any of that other extra stuff. Particularly with clean burning stuff like Swiss, there is just no need for any more lube. Even with the dirty Elephant or Goex I usually shoot, there is no need for any more lube.

Ain't no Warthog load either, just what it is supposed to be. All you have to do is pour in enough powder so that the bullet compresses the powder by around 1/16" to 1/8" when the bullet is seated and crimped. No rocket science, nothing fancy. You will determine how much powder is right just by pouring in that amount, then dumping it out and weighing it. Stop using that silly grains/volume baloney with real BP too. That's just for substitutes. 35 grains of real BP weighs...............35 grains. Period. If you want to measure it out by volume, a 2.2CC Lee Dipper, leveled off, is just about perfect in the 45 Colt with the PRS bullet. Weight varies by brand, granulation, and lot. 2.2CC of Elephant in my Dipper comes to about 34.5 grains with Goex, about 37.5 grains with Elephant.

I cast my PRS bullets from a mix of about 1/26 lead/tin. I cast my Mav-Dutchmans from pure lead. I never put a card wad under either of them. Even with dead soft pure lead, accuracy tests in my 44-40 '73 at 25 yards yielded no significant increase in accuracy with a card wad, so why bother with the extra step?

[w44wcf]

Mad Mucus,

Since, in my experience, the lots of Swiss B.P. that  I have are 10% heavier by volume than Goex, 35 grs. by weight of Swiss is a capacity load (no compression) in .45  Colt Winchester Brass with a 250 gr. bullet.

I would say, like the other pards, a wad would not be needed.........BUT you did say target accuracy @ 100 yards, so it is possible that a base wad, would or would not improve accuracy.  It is good to experiment. I would try some with and without to make a determination.

Regarding compression, your neck expander (If it's the Lyman "M"type) will do a fine job. Otherwise, Adirondack Jack's suggestion is a good one.

PLease let us know how your testing goes.


.44 Caliber Kid,
Just curious.....how much compression did you use?  I have experimented with .45 Colt b.p. loads using  up to .20" compression in annealed cases, with no problems with case swelling.