Ok, once and for all. I'm getting too much conflicting info. locally.
My only blackpowder experience is Cap & Ball and muzzle loaders. However, just for the experience I want to load some of my .45 LC handguns with black powder. I currently have 200 gr. Oregon Trails Lazercast RN bullets, Pyrodex P & FFFg as well as American Pioneer FFFg powder. Using these, what powder loading would you suggest? I've been told 35 - 40 grains by volume and seat the bullets to normal OAL, no fillers etc.
I assume that the lube ring on the bullets is for smokeless powder, but am I correct that, at least for 50 rounds, that would present no real problem with black powder?

You should use black powder lube on the bullets and degrease the gun before wiping it down with BP lube as well, the more prep work you put into it, the easier the clean-up will be.

Unless you really want to know what it feels like to have a bomb go off in your hand, I'd strongly suggest you either use a filler wad or enough powder to seat the bullet tight against it!

I don't recall the charge in grains I'm using in mine off hand (made a scoop). Do all your powder measurements by VOLUME (yes, I'm yelling) VOLUME! Black powder weight can vary from lot to lot, thus you must measure it by volume to ensure proper case fill level. I run a slightly compressed charge of 3F real black powder, bullet base seated snug on the powder.

In the .45 colt, the 200gr may or may not shoot well for you. My Ruger does best with a 255gr bullet, I use the Lee 255gr RF because I like the overall results it produces. They perform well when cast from strait WW alloy but give better expansion if you cut the WW's 50/50 with pure lead. If memory serves, the Lazercast are quite hard and this may reduce your accuracy somewhat.

You should seat the bullet to give at least some compression to your load. I don't use pyrodex anymore and refuse to use APP, although some of my fellow cowboys action shooters swear by it, I only swear at is. If you are looking for mild shooting .45 BP loads, you should try using the Cowboy .45 Special brass, with is drawn to the length of the .45 ACP round. You only need about 13 grains or so of triple 7 so you end up saving a ton on powder usage, yet you get all the smoke and boom you could ever want with a light recoiling and very accurate load. 200 grainers work fine, but the 230 grain round nose lead bullets are even better.

I've used the 200 gn slugs with Triple 7 with great results. Make sure you use FFFg. My buddy bought FFg and loaded a batch of 45 LC with it and it split almost every case mouth. No problems with FFFg. Like markkw says, measure by VOLUME and seat the bullet tight against the powder. Don't shoot them in an indoor range (makes folks upset when they can't see their targets because of your smoke).

(makes folks upset when they can't see their targets because of your smoke).

They'll get over it! It they ain't smokin, they ain't workin!

mcg6637,
I just noticed this thread. With the b.p. subs, 1/16" compression would be fine....don't exceed that with 777. Regrading the smokeless lubed bullets, I would say give them a try. My experience with the subs is that the standard NRA smokeless lube formula (50/50 alox/beeswax) works just fine. I don't know about the hard smokeless lubes though.

Please let us know what happens if you go this route.

John

The first BP cartridges I loaded I used jacketed bullets. I just wanted to see what it would be like to use BP. They worked well enough for the half dozen or so rounds I loaded. I've also used hard lubed bullets intended for smokeless powder. Cleanup, in my experience, is much easier when a proper lube is used, but if you're doing it just to see what it's like I would just use what you have. If you want to do it more, then buy some with BP lube.