.45Colt blowback ?

[Marshal Deadwood]

You boys that used a rifle in .45Colt have any probs with blowback ? I'v heard of this,,,my spent brass is dark less than half-way from the mouth,,and I see no 'smoke' till I lever the next round,,and a wee bit of chamber smoke follows the spent brass out,,thats it.
I had a guy tell me one time that blow back on a .45Colt was so bad, you could feel it on your face. I just dont get that much.

I am shooting 250gr bullets at about 775fps.

I guess my main question would be,,,how much would blow back increase were I to go to a lighter bullet as a hunting round?

Marshal Deadwood

[Will Ketchum]

Blowbye in 45 Colt caliber rifles has been a problem that has been discussed on various Internet forums for years.  I have a Rossi 92 that is fine with bullets of 230 grs. or over.  I tried some 200 grs. at it was like shooting a flintlock.  I actually had burn marks on my hat brim. I put a paper towel over the breech and couldn't believe the amount of blow bye I had.

I see no reason to use a lighter bullet for hunting. I think you would have better luck making clean kills with the heavier bullets.  You are never going to get enough velocity with this round to get the shocking power of a modern high velocity round.  The 45 Colt kills very well with the 250 gr bullet out to 150 yards or so.

Will Ketchum

[Marshal Deadwood]

Will,,,I tried that tissue thing this morning,,with one square of toliet tissue,,folded once...two plys thick you might say,,,very light weight,,,and laid it over the ejector port with the dust shield back,,and fired a round. The tissue didnt fall off,,and looking at it,,there is a greyish/black spot about the size of a dryed pea on the tissue,,,very lite actually,,,,so,,I dont think, with the 250gr bullet/load,,,that I'm getting much blow back at all.
I shall do as you say, hunt with this load and call it all a good deal.

Thanks for your reply.

Marshal Deadwood

[Captain Rob Page]

  Blowby in 45 Colt is to be expected due to the straight case. About all I get on my 73 and 66 is that the case will be dirtier on the outside about halfway on the case. I do not notice it in my face at all. The 250 grain bullet is excellent for deer. We used the 45's last year with no problems. One shot on each deer. Enjoy! and safe shooting!

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

I shot my Uberti Henry in a CAS match Sunday and My cases were dirty about halfway back on some and not on others and this was factory Winchester Coawboy loads. Haven't shot Holy Black in it yet,and probably won't until I get it converted to 44 Henry Flat C.F.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

There are a lot of variables as to how much blowby you will get with 45 Colt. Chamber dimensions, bullet weight, rifle design, probably a whole bunch more. Many times I have been at a CAS match and watched a puff of smoke jet straight up out of the action as a round fired. I'm sure it would scorch something if there was something in the way.

Generally speaking, you will get less blowby the more pressure you can develop. The fact the the case is straight has nothing to do with it. It is the thickness of the brass. 45 Colt brass is much thicker than 44-40 brass or 38-40 brass. 45 Colt brass runs around .012 thick at the case mouth, 44-40 runs around .007 thick at the mouth. With the thicker brass, more pressure is needed to obturate the case to seal the chamber. I hear folks claiming it is the bottleneck that prevents blowby in the 44-40 all the time. Case shape has nothing to do with it, high pressure gas has no problem going around corners. It is strictly a case of PSI, and how much you need to seal the case. Shoot a heavier bullet, and you develop more pressure.

If you are getting very little blowyby with 250 grain bullets, then leave well enough alone. I know shooters who think it is an advantage to be shooting the same caliber in their rifle and their pistols, but the fact is they shoot a hotter load in their rifles to keep blowby out of their face. They might as well be shooting two different calibers.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Blowback can increase if your cases start to get work hardened after a few times of reloading. El Rod told me a simple technique for annealing the case mouth. Stand the empty, unprimed cases in a flat pan filled with a little over a half inch of water. With a low temp torch, heat the case mouths to a dull reddish color and tip them over into the water. Then tumble and reload.

I don't think anyone here needs this, but here's the appropriate disclaimer.
Disclaimer: don't try this with loaded rounds.

[Drydock]

I would say that if you want to go hunting with the .45 (I have)  you need to upload just a bit.  I have gotten 1200 FPS out of a 24" barrel with an as cast .455 250 grain bullet over a compressed charge of 3F black.  You can get this with smokeless as well, using published load data safe in your rifle.  The above load dropped a 6 pointer in his tracks at 50 yards.  I'd like to see at least 1000 fps for a hunting load.

BTW, the use of an oversized bullet can dramaticly cut back on blowby.  Meaning .454 or so as opposed to .451 of most commercial bullets.  My mold drops .455, and I shoot them unsized. 

[Will Ketchum]

BTW, the use of an oversized bullet can dramaticly cut back on blowby.  Meaning .454 or so as opposed to .451 of most commercial bullets.  My mold drops .455, and I shoot them unsized. 

As I have said here and other places over the years, in over 30 years of loading for the 45 Colt I have yet to find any gun, rifle or pistol, old or new that didn't shoot better with the .454 bullet than it did with the .452.

Will Ketchum

[USCG Flyer]

Lots of good points here, and all very useful. I shoot and load alot of 45 Colt, both in smokeless and Black. I started with 45 colt using heavy loads of 2400 and 325 gr LBT bullets in a custom Bisley blackhawk. There is no such thing as blowback with those loads. That tells me that these folks are dead on with the idea of a heavy bullet and a good charge. Keep in mind that those loads have no place in these type if guns, but I bring it up as an example of pressure doing the work we need.
   In my Henry, I find the same thing applies, a 250 gr bullet, and a case full of black (or equiv. smokeless load) gives me much less fouling than a light bullet and light charge. In my SAA clones, the same loads are very manageable. I totally agree with the idea that it isn't the case taper, but the brass thickness that produces blowback. As was said, gas is gas, and will find it's way around a taper. Find a nice 250 Gr load, that is safe for use in a period type firearm and it will do the job on a deer just fine.

[Pitspitr]

If that's the case, then shooting the brand of brass that has the thinest brass would help too. In .45-70 Winchester is the thinnest (most case volume) is it the same with .45 Long Colt?

[Ransom Gaer]

I have an 1866 rifle and a Henry. Both are .45 Colt.  I have more trouble with blowby in the 1866.  I have done a little measuring on both rifles and have found the chamber in the Henry is a touch tighter.  Which probably explains why I have less blowby with it.  I can live with what blowby I do have because it isn't too bad on either, but their is some.

Ransom Gaer