.45 colt barnes xpb bullets

[chingalla]

This may be a dumb question but will using the .454 casull or .460 s&w bullets make the cartridge OAL to long for my .45 colt Blackhawk? They all share the same .451" diameter. I would like to load the 250 grain .454 casull bullet to about 1000 fps for use in the Ruger and my model 94.

 

[Dick]

If you go to the Barnes site and bring up their bullet chart (and knowing that the bullet diameter is .451), you can - with a ruler and calculator to do the conversion - measure the length of those bullets ahead of the cannelure. In the case of the 250 gr bullet that they list for the .454 Casull, that measurement comes out to be .40 inches. The case length of the .45 Colt is about 1.28 inches, which would mean a COL with that bullet of 1.68 inches, exceeding the maximum SAAMI OAL for the .45 Colt (1.60 inches). I'm pretty confident that method works because if you do the same thing with the 225 gr bullet they list for the .45 Colt it comes out to be exactly 1.60 inches.

Now, if the cylinder on your Ruger is long enough and would still turn, and if the bullet ogive doesn't engage the rifling on the 94, it might be possible to come up with a load (or loads) using that bullet that will function in those firearms. Note, however, that "function" doesn't necessarily mean that it would be safe or recommended, and especially note that I didn't suggest that you try it.

You should shoot an email out to Barnes and see what they have to say.

 

[BIG GUN]

Just be aware that you will see "0" expansion on the bullets at that velocity.
You should consider using cast bullets over around 9 grains of Universal for the velocity you are looking for. Cheap & effective!