Buffalo Bore 45 Colt +P 325gr Hard Cast – Fearsome Outdoorsman Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 45 Colt +P 325gr Hard Cast is the load people carry when the thing they are worried about is large and close. A 325 grain LBT pattern hard cast lead flat nose at 1325 fps produces roughly 1267 ft-lbs, and it is built to go straight through rather than to expand. Read the firearm restriction first: this is +P 45 Colt, and not for the small frame New Model Vaquero. Twenty rounds per box, item 3A/20.

• Buffalo Bore 45 Colt +P 325gr Hard Cast Overview
• 45 Colt +P Hard Cast Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 325 Grain LBT Flat Nose Bullet Drives So Deep
• Specifications
• Safety Notes For This Heavy 45 Long Colt Woods Load

Buffalo Bore 45 Colt +P 325gr Hard Cast Overview

The bullet is an LBT pattern lead flat nose cast from a hard alloy. LBT stands for Lead Bullet Technology, the shop that developed these profiles, and the design brief is consistent: a wide flat meplat, a full calibre driving band, and an alloy hard enough that the bullet arrives looking much as it left.

At 325 grains it is very heavy for the calibre. Standard 45 Colt ammunition uses 250 to 255 grain bullets, and the extra seventy grains is not a marginal change. Sectional density is most of what decides how far a non expanding bullet goes, and this has a great deal of it.

The 45 Colt case is large and thick walled, and modern revolvers chambered for it are built far stronger than the black powder guns it was designed around in 1872. That headroom is what the Buffalo Bore 45 Colt +P 325gr Hard Cast uses. The cartridge is doing nothing exotic, the guns simply got much stronger.

45 Colt +P Hard Cast Ammo Ballistics

1267 ft-lbs is a serious figure, but with a non expanding bullet the energy number is the least useful thing on the page. What this load is actually selling is momentum, and momentum is mass times velocity rather than mass times velocity squared.

Run the comparison against the 225 grain copper load in the same line, which makes 1124 ft-lbs at 1500 fps. This one leads on energy, but it leads on momentum by far more, roughly a quarter, and momentum is what drives a bullet that will not deform through a shoulder blade and out the far side.

That is the whole case for 45 Colt +P hard cast ammo over the expanding options. You are giving up a wider wound channel in exchange for the confidence that a 325 grain LBT flat nose bullet will reach the vitals from any angle, which on a large animal is the trade most people want to make.

Why The 325 Grain LBT Flat Nose Bullet Drives So Deep

Expansion is a trade, and against a large animal it is usually the wrong side of it. A bullet that opens makes a wider wound but gives up depth, and when the requirement is reaching the vitals through heavy bone at a bad angle, depth is the only thing that counts.

A hard cast bullet declines the trade entirely. It keeps every grain of its weight and its full frontal area and it keeps going. That is why maximum penetration 45 Colt ammunition of this type has dominated big bore revolver hunting and bear defence for decades despite looking unremarkable on paper.

The wide flat meplat is what turns depth into a useful wound. A round nose of the same weight will push tissue aside and leave a narrow track. A 325 grain LBT flat nose bullet crushes and cuts a full calibre hole with sharp edges the whole way through.

And the calibre gives you a large hole before anything else happens. At 0.452 of an inch the unexpanded bullet is already wider than most expanded 44 Magnum bullets, which is the quiet advantage of starting with a big bore.

Specifications

Safety Notes For This Heavy 45 Long Colt Woods Load

Check your gun against Buffalo Bore’s guidance before anything else. This is +P 45 Colt, well above the standard pressure the cartridge is normally loaded to. Large frame Rugers, the Colt Anaconda, Dan Wesson revolvers and modern lever actions are the named candidates. The small frame New Model Vaquero is specifically excluded, and a single action clone or a vintage Colt is not in the conversation at all.

If you are unsure which Ruger frame you have, find out before you shoot it. The difference between the large frame and the small frame New Model Vaquero is not obvious at a glance and it is the entire question here.

Expect serious recoil. A heavy 45 Long Colt woods load at this level is not an afternoon of plinking, and most people sight in, confirm, and then carry it rather than practising with it. Shoot from sticks or a padded rest rather than a hard bench.

Think about your backstop. A non expanding 325 grain bullet at this velocity will pass through nearly anything you shoot with it and keep travelling. That is exactly what you want in the backcountry and a serious liability anywhere else.

Maximum Penetration 45 Colt Ammunition Availability

This maximum penetration 45 Colt ammunition is in stock and ready to ship from MAG5 Firearms, a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Ammunition orders ship to most states, and local customers are welcome to pick up in the shop. If you need case quantities or a standard pressure alternative to this heavy 45 Long Colt woods load, call us and we will check what our distributors have on hand.

Manufacturer details are on the Buffalo Bore site. For an expanding bullet at the same pressure, see the 45 Colt +P 225gr Barnes XPB. For the same hard cast idea in other calibres, compare the 480 Ruger 410gr LBT-WFN or the 500 S&W 440gr hard cast.