45 Range

[James Hall]

I'm wanting to get either an 1860 Henry or 1873 Winchester. I was gonna use it for hunting too. I was wanting to get one in 45. What's the longest effective range for a 45?

[Kent Shootwell]

Some numbers to consider: .452" 250 grain bullet with a .237 ballistic coefficient given a muzzle velocity of 1100 fps has 672 ft pounds of energy. Sighted dead on at 50 yards is about 14.24" low at 125 yards with 528 ft pounds of energy. Then at 150 yards is going 957 fps with 508 ft pounds and has dropped 20.24" these numbers are from the Lyman handbook. For me I'd like to be within 75 yards for deer sized game.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Some numbers to consider: .452" 250 grain bullet with a .237 ballistic coefficient given a muzzle velocity of 1100 fps has 672 ft pounds of energy. Sighted dead on at 50 yards is about 14.24" low at 125 yards with 528 ft pounds of energy. Then at 150 yards is going 957 fps with 508 ft pounds and has dropped 20.24" these numbers are from the Lyman handbook. For me I'd like to be within 75 yards for deer sized game.

Look at this one, and plug in the numbers.  The Balistic coeficient is closer to .170. 

http://www.handloads.com/calc/index.html

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[Kent Shootwell]

That's a interesting link Sir Charles. A number of other combinations in that calculator confirms for me that I'd want to be close! The bullet I used for this exercise is the Hornady jacketed hollow point which the book claims is .237 and would not be my first choice for hunting but was easy to find.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Here is a better method of calculating ballistic cooeficient;

http://www.tmtpages.com/calcbc/calcbc.htm

And here is a better ballistic calculator;

http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator

If you look around, there are several sources of technical calculators for shooters.  Handloads.com was my mainstay, but these were recommended to me as better.  I was told that the Hornady ballistic calculator was much more realistic at the longer ranges common in BPCR.

[Bugscuffle]

Look at this one, and plug in the numbers.  The Balistic coeficient is closer to .170. 

http://www.handloads.com/calc/index.html

Sir Chas., in order to get 1400 fps out of a 230 gr bullet what will the chamber pressure be? SAAMI specs for the .45 LC is about 15,000 CUP for the old Colt SAA and all of the Italian imports. For the Rugers. Blackhawk, Superblackhawk and Old model Vaquero as well as afew others you can jump that up to about 19,000-20,000 CUP and for many of the lever action rifles, i.e. Rossi model 92 you can go to 20,000 CUP. In this caliber particularly one must be careful to match the loading to the gun or be prepared to learn to shoot using a prosthetic hand.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Don't ask me as I don't have a .45 longgun.  I load for 1200 in my vintage Winchester .44-40's. Of course, mv's from a rifle will be somewhat higher than in a hogleg.  I think there is data out there but I don't have it.

[Shotgun Franklin]

I've used a Colt .45 for hunting and consider 50 yards well within its effective range. I just don't take a shot that is farther away than that. I've had more success with a lead bullet than a HP.

[Bugscuffle]

The original question was about a model 1873 and hunting. Yep, if you use the right ammo or handload the right ammo, such as this: http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=8 . You shouldn't have too many problems they are reporting 1500 fps with a 230 grain Barnes bullet and a bullet drop of about 7.3" at 150 yards delivering over 850 FP of energy out of a 20" barrel. Sounds like enough for me. Just remember that this is from a MODERN RIFLE, not an original Winchester.

[cpt dan blodgett]

Thinking perhaps rather than worry about Maximum range of the round ask this question.

How far can I consistently shoot 10 out of 10 rounds into an 8 inch circle without knowing the precise range from a hunting shooting postition without artificial support.

Can almost guarantee any SASS legal caliber when loaded to factory specs will be an efficient killer at that range.