Traditions Lightning Help?
 

A buddy of mine just got a new 45 Caliber Traditions Lightning and was asking me where to start with it. Does anybody have any comments/info to share? I was hoping to find what bullets they tend to like and wat powders/charges work well in this gun. Any info or comments will be appreciated.

Thanks!

RE: Traditions Lightning Help?
 

Look into the 285 grain Hornady Great Plains conical and start with 70 grains pyrodex RS or Pyrodex P. 225, 275 and a 300 grain powerbelt are also another good choice to try out.

RE: Traditions Lightning Help?
 

Have him read his manual. Lots of times there are suggested loads for the rifle in there.

Otherwise I would have him look at some powerbelts with about 80 grains of powder. Also some Shockwaves might shoot well also. It is all guessing on my part though to be honest.

I have never (well almost bought one) owned a .45 caliber fast twist rifle. When I was considering them, there was lots of rummors of them being hard to tune in with a good projectile. Keep us posted when your friend gets a load worked up. It would be interesting.

RE: Traditions Lightning Help?
 

That's why I was asking around the twist is faster. I will give hime some ideas.

RE: Traditions Lightning Help?
 

So Nobody has one???

RE: Traditions Lightning Help?
 

The .45 calibers were not real popular until just a short time ago. Many of the older models had some twists and rifling that were just real hard to tune. Plus the fact that a .50 caliber loaded down will do basically the same thing as the .45 caliber, many shooters did not see the need for them.

Now there are .45 caliber shooters out there, and some great rifles. White rifle makes a .451 caliber that shoots large conicals with extreme accuracy. Knight and Thompson center went through that "right twist" stage of development as well as the other companies. There are some real good .45 caliber rifles now available on the market.

http://www.prbullet.com/s45.htm here is some information and a sight that might be able to help you with finding the right load for your rifle. Email them. They will suggest some bullets that might shoot very well out of your rifle.

RE: Traditions Lightning Help?
 

I don't have the 45 but the 50 cal model. I use 100 grain pyro pellets with a 250 gr Shockwave bullet and use a 209 Remington Kleenbore primer with no problems. These guns can use 150 gr as in the manuals but why? I have used more powder and the groups seem to open up. I can hit 1" groups at 100 yds if I do my part using my 3-9-X40 scope. I usually take a lubed patch that is almost dry to the touch and run it down the bore before I load the bullet and it seems to help with velocity and accuracy. It's a great gun as I have 6 of them in various stocks and setups. Good luck shooting.