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Has anyone used the 200-grain Barnes 45 Colt load on game tougher than deer, especially elk or hogs? I have a chance to hunt in California and I need to use lead-free bullets. It’s supposed to be doing 1,025 fps and that seems awfully slow.
Thanks,
Okie John
My guess would be that it's meant to be safe on any production gun.
Here's their load data for the cartridge. Considerably warmer, with accompanying warnings.
https://www.barnesbullets.com/wp-con.../03/45Colt.pdf
That's what I carried in my 625 over the summer after the lead ban went into full effect on July 1, and while working up a load for my USP. Haven't had a reason to shoot anything with it though. Ended up going with Cutting Edge solids for both a little later.
Keep in mind the only grizzlies in California these days are on the state flag, and black bear are really only a problem in parts of the state where idiots feed them. Elk are common on parts of the north coast but I've never had any trouble navigating around them during rutting season. Hogs are only common in a handful of areas, up here I've seen only one in the past year and it was a small one.
Was that these?
https://cuttingedgebullets.com/45-200gr-handgun-solid
Any issues feeding that wide meplat in the USP? Concern about feeding reliability is what moved @GJM to the Lehigh penetrators for .45 Super.
Yes, that's them. Feeding fine in my USP45 fs so far, although I'm still testing just to be certain. Accuracy has been good, only caution is that because of the wide meplat the OAL needs to be under a certain max to pass the plunk test, mine are at 1.210. They're also soft enough that some sharp-edged seating dies will leave a mark, seems to be more aesthetic than anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by OlongJohnson
ETA: Cutting Edge has a 300 grain version also which is too long to run in a 45acp semi-auto but should work great in a 45 Colt revolver. Staying with 200 gr for my mountain gun, but 300 gr copper could be effective in a Ruger-only load.
These look interesting. I wish that they made an intermediate weight solid in the 0.4515" diameter, but the choices jump from 200 to 300 grains.Quote:
Originally Posted by OlongJohnson
Okie John