Black powder loads for 45 long colt

I will tell you what works for my. Your milage might vary.

I use wheel weights to mould my bullets for BP 45 cal. For the 45/70 and things like that I use a softer mix.

I use FFFG Elephant Powder. I use ONLY Thompson's PS Lube this will work for BP or Smokeless.

If you use a bullet with LOTS of lube you will not need a wad between the powder and the bullet. I wont hurt anything to use one Might even help. I see no benefit in them when used in my use.

You will need some compression. I have found Elephant needs less than Goex but still needs some compression. Never Never leave an air space between the powder and the bullet.

Bullet weights . My favorite is a Hollow Base 200 gr that I mould from a Rapine mould. Old Time BP Bullet. It has 2 large lube groves and provides enough lube to work in my Winchester Legacy that has a very long barre. Also works great in the pistols.
Fast becoming one of my favorite Rifle bullets is the 250 gr PRS bullet that I mould from a Mould that Piegon Roost Slim had Lee Presion make for him and he allowed some of us to purchase the moulds also.
This bullet has a lube canyon I mean it is FLAT HUGE and makes a very nice lube star at the end of the barrel. I have shot both of these bullets in 8 stage matches with no cleaning of the barrel in between stages. I have sprayed out the action but no cleaning of the barrel and the rifle will shoot where you point it. Even at the end of the match.
A cleaner and lube that works for me is Balistol I use it for all my cleaning and lubing now.

Well pard I am sure I left out something, but I hope this will be of some help to you.
If there is anymore questions I will be glad to help. Also another pard here on these parts is Cuts Crooked he knows his stuff on BP give him a shout.

Pete
Have fun Shootin

Mason has given you major good info there! The real problems that crop up with this round usually have to do more with lube running out before the slug exits the barrel in yer lever gun, so the suggestions Mason made concerning the PRS bullet are something to pay attention too!

With single lube groove bullets and double groove bullets that don'carry enough lube, you end up getting really hard fouling build up in the final few inches of the barrel...REALLY FAST! This make accuracy drop off fast too! There are a couple of ways of dealing with this problem and they are fairly simple. The easiest of course is to use a bullet that carries enough lube! Next up is to wipe the bore between stages, something that seems to be a bother that a lot of shooters don't want to have to deal with at matches. The third solution is grease cookies. These are also a bother when reloading, slowing the process down a lot, but they work. I always load them as a "grease Cookie sandwich" by placing a card wad over the powder, then putting in the cookie, then putting another card wad over the cookie before seating the bullet. This does two things, it prevents contamination of the powder charge by the grease cookie, and prevents the cookie from sticking to the base of the bullet and ruining accuracy.

Lubes: I've had good success with every name brand BP lube I've ever tried, they all work great! The other well known option is 50/50 lube, which is also a fantastic lube. 50/50 is simply bees wax and crisco or olive oil melted together in about 50/50 perportions. ( a note here: 50/50 and the commercial BP lubes also work reasonably well with smokeless, at BP velocities) One nice thing about 50/50 lube is that you can adjust the mix to be a bit harder or a bit softer for use in warmer or cooler weather!

Since you have some experiance in BPCR you probably have a pretty good handle on things. Just ease up a bit when loading fer yer pistol calibers. :wink: You don't need a membrane over the primer, either 2F or 3F will work fine, and weighing charges isn't a big deal just throw them to fill the case and go! The compression is important, but not so much fer accuracy as it is for safetys sake and good ignition. And while softer bullets are nice, they aren't an absolute in the this game!

Have fun with it, Pard! :-D