Yes, for some folks. No, for others. Depends on your philosophy.

Jeff
NRA Life

 

Yes, for some folks. No, for others. Depends on your philosophy.

This is true, but it is ethical as a hunting practice if and only if it is combined with this:

No question that the 45/70 brings more to the table...but a properly loaded .45 Colt is perfectly adequate within it's limitations. If you are going to use it, you will just have to pass on a shot from time to time that you could take without reservation with the 45/70. No matter the caliber, shot placement is key...and pistol calibers don't allow much room for error. Know your and the guns limitations and stay within them.

Which you obviously do...

There are people out there you think, believe, and do the former without applying the latter, and when that occurs an irresponsible slob hunter is born.

 

There is a lot of difference between the .45LC (a pistol cartridge) and the .45-70 and .450 which are rifle cartridges. Bullet weight isn't the only consideration. A one pound rock is bigger than any of them but I doubt you want to take on a blackbear with the rock. (Just an analogy to make the point).

 

I would use the 45colt deer hunting, and see no problem with it's use on black bear. Range and hunters ability to use the tool come into question. I think there are better choices for black bear, but if it is your only or best choice option then it is your job to make sure the tool you chose to use will cleanly put down your intended harvest.

David

 

I'd use a 45 Colt carbine deer hunting, as I use a 45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk deer hunting, though I'd still keep my shots under 100 yards (and under 50 yards with my pistol). It is all about your shooting skill, knowing your firearm and game anatomy well and know when to take or pass up a shot. I'd say the same could apply for black bear at close range. But, with my 45/70 I have MUCH greater flexibility and range.

 

exactly....the higher velocities from a rifle give you a significant increase in usable range vs a hand gun....the higher velocities from a 45-70 give you a longer usable range for satisfactory retained energy vs the 45LC rifle...given the same bullet..its about=how fast is the bullet traveling when it encounters its target---like the 1lb rock mentioned earlier...if that 1lb rock was traveling at 1500 fps it would do the job...you just need to know the ballistics for hand gun cartridges and get closer to your target....

 

No question that the 45/70 brings more to the table...but a properly loaded .45 Colt is perfectly adequate within it's limitations. If you are going to use it, you will just have to pass on a shot from time to time that you could take without reservation with the 45/70. No matter the caliber, shot placement is key...and pistol calibers don't allow much room for error. Know your and the guns limitations and stay within them.

 

As loaded by the factory, you would want to keep your range very close. Handloaded to Ruger/ T/C levels or higher, you have a whole other cartridge under your trigger finger. A 45 loaded to the 30,000 PSI level in a rifle barrel is like a 454 casull out of a 7 1/2 barrel. Anyone care to tell me that won''t harvest a bear?? In the proper firearm, the 45 colt can run along side the 44 mag with bullets weights up to 280-290 gr. After that, the 45 pulls in front of the 44 due to increased case capacity and the longer 44 cal. bullet intruding in to that case. In my 454 chambered rifles, I can come very close to factory 300 gr.45-70 velocity using my 335gr. SWC in a case full of H-110. Yah, it'll take any bear in the lower 48. DP

 

WaywardSun said it all. I hunt deer with a 44 Mag. I keep all my rifle shots at a max. of 100 yards and revolver shots a little closer. The last deer I shot with my Super Blackhawk was 60 honest yards and the bullet went completely through it from side to side.
Keep your distance reasonable and your shots in the lung / heart area and you won't have any problem with the .45 Colt.
Coyote.

 

I can't see why a 45 Colt wouldn't be enough gun for either. Deer (whitetail) are simply not that hard to kill. As for bear, I cannot say, I've never hunted one. I have hunted feral hogs quite extensivley , and can't see how a large boar wouldn't be comparable.

I used a Chiappa arms 45 Colt (92 Winchester copy) for several years hunting hogs, and found the factory stuff to be lack, when I began handloading, and using Hornady Interlock 350gr, I had me a regular hog-hammer. The thing is, though, with handloading for a levergun, I wouldn't take it quite as far as the single-shot pistol (contender) loads. At least I never did, and I didn't need to either. With the 45 Colt, pistol loads and rifle loads are a whole different thing, and most of the box ammo out there is pistol stuff. If you handload for it, you will see this caliber's true potential.

 

With a good stout 320 load going 1500 fps plus you can kill any game animal humanely in the world with proper shot placement out to 100-125 or so yards. This craze about needing magnums for for every animal is something a lot of magazine reading hunters bought into. It's only marketing schemes, you know the whole bigger better faster crock of poo. Shot placement is KING.

 

I agree with you in terms of the .45 Colt being enough at 100-125 yards, and that is the major point - the .45 Colt is great within it's limitations.

However we're conflating the argument if we start talk about the magnum craze, magazine readers, etc (even though I agree with you on that as well) as those are separate issues and just end up stirring the pot. To the detriment of the magnum crowd, the .45-70 isn't something the magnum crowd would promote anyway as it's too slow and does not generate the energy numbers they seem to love (often at the expense of momentum, bullet weight, diameter and sectional density). Go figure.

I am however very curious about a 320 gr bullet at 1,500 plus feet per second out of a .45 Colt. That's indeed a stout load for the .45 Colt. In fact, it's at least 200 fps faster than I'm comfortable with even in a 20" Model 92 clone. Normally if I felt I really needed that much punch, I'd probably just pull out the .45-70 and launch a 400 gr bullet at 1500-1700 fps, or grab a .375 Winchester with a 280 grain bullet at 1700-1800 fps and call it good. But getting 320 grains to 1500 (or more) feet per second) in a .45 Colt is intriguing. What are you using for that load and what are you shooting it in?

 

I am however very curious about a 320 gr bullet at 1,500 plus feet per second out of a .45 Colt.

I've got one load worked up that is a 312 grain LFN/GC type bullet ahead of H-110 that clocks 1507 fps through my chrony. A very accurate load but when shooting at the bench it just knocks the snot out of me. Not a comfortable load to shoot from either the 1894 or H&R at the bench. In the field I don't pay any attention to the recoil but it sure wakes me up at the bench. My favorite hunting load for pigs is the RD bullet TLC454-290-RF ahead of a dose of H-110 that runs 1570 fps, again a stout load that is not fun at the bench. I have no idea what the pressure of these loads are, probable around 26-28,000 cup but I've never run into any signs of excess pressure. They are without question Ruger/TC loads and should be treated as such.

I worked these loads up for hog hunting and they do the job very well. Do I need them for deer.....not really but they do double duty in that capacity. Though I don't own one, I suspect a 45-70 would be a better choice for bear, especially if they come in a large size but I wouldn't be discouraged in using these loads for a bear if the opportunity should arise. Point is, the 45 Colt has the potential to be safely hand loaded far beyond what most people think.

 

Thanks for posting the bullet and powder. I've used H110 in other applications but have not gotten around to it in .45 Colt carbine loads. I've had good success with 2400 and IMR-4227 and I'm currently working up some 300 gr Hornady loads with both (I'd have been at the range today for accuracy and chrono purposes if the wind wasn't howling. H110 would pretty much split the difference, and I've got a pound or two around that I use for 30 carbine loads so it may be worth a try.