Keith bullets

American Handgunner, Nov-Dec, 2008 by John Taffin

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On occasions when I require a true Keith bullet I now have three choices. Keith originally designed his bullet, Lyman's #454424, with three equal diameter full caliber bands, a large square cornered grease groove and a deep crimping groove. Lyman no longer offers this bullet having replaced it with #452424, which is not a true Keith bullet. That's the bad news. The good news is threefold. The original Lyman Keith mold isn't all that difficult to locate at gun shows or on the Internet, and we also have two currently produced RCBS .45 Colt Keith bullet molds with #45-255KT being a virtual dead finger for Lyman's old #454424 with both casting out around 255-260 grains; and #45-270 SWC, a slightly heavier version. These are both excellent bullets.

The RCBS #45-270 designed by Dave Scovill normally casts out at around 275 to 280 grains. For Colt SAA level loads I go with 7.0 grains of WW231 or 10.0 grains of VV3N37 for 840 fps and 8.0 grains of Unique or 18.5 grains of H4227 for 930 fps. A 280 grain bullet at these muzzle velocities is not to be ignored!

Keith bullets from the Lyman or RCBS molds are the bullets I switch to for Everyday Working Loads in the 1,000 to 1,100 fps range. All of these loads have been used sparingly in the Colt Single Action, however I normally prefer to use them in the heavier 7 1/2" Ruger Blackhawk. Using 15.0 grains of HS-7 yields 1,050 fps; 20.0 H4227 or IMR4227; 1,060 fps; 10.0 grains of Unique, 1,090 fps; and 18.5 grains of #2400, 1150 fps. I have used these loads in a Colt Single Action, however I am now more conservative and mostly use them in a Ruger instead. In an emergency I wouldn't hesitate to grab the Colt. But how often do we have emergencies?