options for reloading 45LC and 460S&W

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options for reloading 45LC and 460S&W

Post by westaussie » 29 Mar 2022, 5:55 pm

Hello everyone, i'm getting started with reloading for my .45LC lever gun and S&W 460 XVR revolver and I've run up against the problem everyone is having - being unable to find much pistol powder in Perth.

.45LC Options;
- I managed to find a tub of 5050 RBSA-B but it only has load data for .45 ACP. 45LC is ~14,000 psi versus 45ACP which is ~21,000 psi. Does anyone have recommendations for how i can start developing a load based on that? The company seems like it's out of business and their email just bounces back undelivered so i can't even ask them directly.

460s&w options;
- The Smith and Wesson 460XVR revolver i have is supposed to be able to handle pressures up to 60,000 psi. According to the latest ADI handloaders guide i can use 2207 for heavy projectiles, but I only have access to projectiles in the 200-250 grain range. Would it be possible to use 2207 for the lighter projies?

To be honest i'm not looking for maximum accuracy and performance - I'm just looking for cost effective ways to enjoy shooting every week. If that means I have to sacrifice some accuracy and feet-per-second so be it.
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Re: options for reloading 45LC and 460S&W

Post by bladeracer » 29 Mar 2022, 6:54 pm

westaussie wrote:Hello everyone, i'm getting started with reloading for my .45LC lever gun and S&W 460 XVR revolver and I've run up against the problem everyone is having - being unable to find much pistol powder in Perth.

.45LC Options;
- I managed to find a tub of 5050 RBSA-B but it only has load data for .45 ACP. 45LC is ~14,000 psi versus 45ACP which is ~21,000 psi. Does anyone have recommendations for how i can start developing a load based on that? The company seems like it's out of business and their email just bounces back undelivered so i can't even ask them directly.

460s&w options;
- The Smith and Wesson 460XVR revolver i have is supposed to be able to handle pressures up to 60,000 psi. According to the latest ADI handloaders guide i can use 2207 for heavy projectiles, but I only have access to projectiles in the 200-250 grain range. Would it be possible to use 2207 for the lighter projies?

To be honest i'm not looking for maximum accuracy and performance - I'm just looking for cost effective ways to enjoy shooting every week. If that means I have to sacrifice some accuracy and feet-per-second so be it.


Never heard of the 5050 RBSA-B so I can't comment at all.

Both are fairly large capacity cases so you can probably even try AR2206H (H4895 in the US), especially in the rifle. The .45 Colt is almost the capacity of .30-30, and the .460 case is bigger than .308. The issue really is that these are pistol cartridges using fast pistol powders in barrel lengths that are too short to efficiently burn the slower rifle powders, so most of it is just going to get spat out the front. A heavier bullet and a good crimp will help by keeping the bullet in place while the powder gets burning. I haven't tried AR2206H in .45 Colt yet but I might find time to test it out in a pistol barrel. ADI lists a 58gn charge of AR2206 behind a 400gn jacketed bullet in the .45-70 at 2040fps, but the .45-70 is a 50% bigger case, and it's burning it in a longer barrel than your .460. The .45 Colt is essentially just a shorter version of the .45-70 running at much lower pressure.

Can't see any reason you couldn't make AR2207 work as well, if you can find some, especially with the heavier bullets. There is load data online for H110 and 4227 in the .45 Colt behind 350gn bullets. These are in the same realm as AR2205, and slightly faster than AR2207 (AR2207 is H4198 in the US).

But without load data for the powders you can get you're really just going to be doing some educated guess work to see what works and what doesn't.
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Re: options for reloading 45LC and 460S&W

Post by bladeracer » 29 Mar 2022, 6:55 pm

westaussie wrote:- The Smith and Wesson 460XVR revolver i have is supposed to be able to handle pressures up to 60,000 psi. According to the latest ADI handloaders guide i can use 2207 for heavy projectiles, but I only have access to projectiles in the 200-250 grain range. Would it be possible to use 2207 for the lighter projies?


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Re: options for reloading 45LC and 460S&W

Post by westaussie » 28 Nov 2022, 6:53 pm

for those interested, you can use ADI 2007 in 45LC and 460SW, there is a bit of unburnt powder in pistol barrels, but it works great in rifles.

for ADI 2207;

45LC @ 26 grains (speed unknown)
460SW @ 39 grains gets ~1480fps out of a Smith and Wesson 460XVR with an 8.75" barrel

for 5050b;

45LC @ 12 grains works okay, still pretty mild
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Re: options for reloading 45LC and 460S&W

Post by Expps » 01 Feb 2023, 8:24 am

2207 in 45 colt
You say 26 grains in rifle?
But what projectiles
Cast or jacketed?
I have 185 GRN cast
And 250 grain and 300 grain jacketed
Any loads for these in 45 long colt in a rifle ?
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Re: options for reloading 45LC and 460S&W

Post by gunnnie » 05 Feb 2023, 6:35 pm

I run a 300gn cast, powder coated projo over 5gn of Alliant Unique. This load is run through my Uberti 1873 for Single Action comps.
Granted Unique isn't exactly a readily available powder so I'm not sure what rifle powders would be a good option. That said though, AR2207 is a great powder for large bore rifle/pistol cartridges such as the 45-70, 38-55WCF & 38-72WCF. So I'm thinking it should be a potential powder option for heavier projectiles in the 45Colt.
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