.45 Colt or .45 Schofield

[Niederlander]

Gentlemen, For those shooting black powder cartridge, which do you prefer, .45 Colt or .45 Schofield?  By the way, the 230 grain bullet shoots closest to point of aim in my pistol.

[Quick Fire]

Dale, I shoot a 200 grain bullet in 45 Schofield. Less recoil and still hits hard

[pony express]

I use the Scofield cases for handguns, because:

1. A fellow shooter gave me a bunch of them some years back'

2. At that time I was shooting an Uberti Win 66, in .45 Colt. For better sealing of the chamber, I only neck sized the cases, and the cases loaded that way wouldn't chamber in any handgun I had in that caliber.

[1961MJS]

Hi Dale

.45 Schofields in Schofields with a  7 inch barrel shot to point of aim at 25 yards with a 250 grain round nose and 4.5 grains of Titegroup.  The Schofield cases have a wider rim which helps in loading the cylinder.

Later

[Coffinmaker]

Ah Ha 

None of the Above!! (snicker snicker).  In MY handguns I shoot Cowboy 45 Special cases with 130Gr Barnstormer bullets.  Even LESS recoil.  Super Duper pleasant to shoot.  I must admit, I don't really care how the load "Groups" at 25 yards as I shoot between Six and Ten yards, max.  Grouping at "Minute of Pie Plate" will suffice for CAS Game Play.

Recently however, I did set up a pair of 1860 Conversions for 45 ACP cartridges.  Same Bullet, same lack of recoil.  Real pleasant to shoot and gives me a use of my "ton" of 45 ACP cases.

Although, In all honesty, My rifles are "Trappers."  Short.  In the rifles I shoot 45 Schofield with 180Gr RNFP to be able to load 10 in the magazine.  My Henry Trapper is set up to run C45S cases for 10 in the magazine.  Groups of fun.

[ira scott]

Hey Dale,  my Pietta Calvary Model SAA shoots very well, and POA, with a Schofield case full of 3f APP and a 200 grain bullet.  I'm guessing it would shoot even better in your capable hands.(hand)

Less recoil is far less important than grouping at 25 yards at the GAF events, as Precision Pistol is part of the match. (shot @ 25yds.)  The handgun targets during the skirmish runs are generally further than 10 yards, (SASS rifle range) also.

B.N. Scotty

[Dave T]

Since you ask which we prefer, I always prefer the 45 Colt. The 45 Schofield rounds are reserved for the S&W 2000 Schofield I have which will only shoot APP. It will bind up solid after 4 rounds of real gun powder.

Dave

[Drydock]

Some consideration: the 45 S&W with less powder and a lighter bullet works fine, and is ideal in the Top Break actions.  BUT! The wider rim is more likely to hang up when ejecting in a gate loader, and the shorter case is more fumble prone when reloading.  IN A GATE LOADER/SAA I like the Colt case, with 25-30 grains of powder and a deep seated 220-230 grain bullet.  In CAS this is not a concern, but in GAF it's something to think about.

[Tornado]

I load smokeless in my 45 Colts and blackpowder in my 45 Schofields.  That way they are easier to tell apart. I also trim the rim down on the Schofields just a bit because in some of my conversion revolvers they are a tight fit.

[Professor Marvel]

I too have "length coded" my .45 loads for ease of identification.

30-35 gr of BP go into the .45 Colt ( sometimes called long colt)

An "appropriate amount" of Pyro or 777 goes into the .45 Schofield

6 gr of Unique go into my .45 Cowboy, same as .45 acp

Seems to work out pretty well, all are saistifying accurate at 20 yards.

I sorta settled on casting the flat nose conical Lee bullet and the flat nose heavy Big Lube.
The Big Lube looks the most old-timey...

[Coffinmaker]

Perfesser Marvelous 

Some off topic, but, PLEASE tell me you're not really subjecting you guns to that Pyro guaranteed Rust Alot!!  As a known Alchemist I just know you wouldn't do it!!

Right??

[DeaconKC]

Perfesser Marvelous 

Some off topic, but, PLEASE tell me you're not really subjecting you guns to that Pyro guaranteed Rust Alot!!  As a known Alchemist I just know you wouldn't do it!!

Right??

Maybe he has a nefarious plot to slip them into his competitors guns?
Would he be that evil?
Tune in tomorrow to find out!

[Professor Marvel]

Perfesser Marvelous 

Some off topic, but, PLEASE tell me you're not really subjecting you guns to that Pyro guaranteed Rust Alot!!  As a known Alchemist I just know you wouldn't do it!!

Right??

Ah My Good Coffin

I have related in the past that I do use it, on occasion.

I ONLY use those two items when there is absolutely no other powder, and only in several specified revolvers.
These revolvers, if used with P or 7 are broken down and meticulously cleaned/scrubbed/disinfected  beyond normal BP methodology.
I have a multistage method that has served me OK so far with these confounded substances as well as with corrosive primers.

BTW I am planning experiments with an cheap HF ultrasonic cleaner .....

SO FAR in the gloriously dry Great Southwest, I have not had corrosion issues.

The canisters of the stuff were obtained cheaply ( ie less than $5 per pound ) at clearance events and set aside
"against a time of need" . I have found that if unopened it seems to last a good while.

when powder was totally unavailble, I tapped  into those icky reserves.
But by relegating Schofield cases to "that stuff" , there is no question what I am grabbing :-)

Now that owder is trickling in again, the "bad stuff" can go to the back of the shelf again, after purging the open
bottle with CO2 "for luck" ....

I have to check with the local BP club (if it still exists ) and organize a group buy. esp If Goex comes back soon...
then  i can put aside my experiments in grinding, corning, pucking, screening, etc.

yhs
prof mumbles

[Abilene]

Used to be that Hodgdon would give out Pyrodex to some big matches and it would be given as shooter prizes.  Others would give theirs to me and I would shoot it in shotgun, as that used it up fastest and the shotgun is super easy to clean.

As for Schofield, I have only been using them in my 16" trapper '73 carbine which will hold ten 45 Colts but much easier to load ten Schofields.  This gun pretty much is just used for Wild Bunch, so I'm using 250gr bullets to easily make power factor.

But I won 500 Bear Creek 160gr .45 bullets so I have loaded 100 of those into Schofields with 4.0 gr Clay-Dot to try in my Model P's at some point.