Lee TL452-230-TC Base Diameter?

[Ricochet]

I'm looking around at possibilities for a dual-use mould for my Government Model .45 and Colt Walker replica, which won't work with flat based .45s. I need a bevel that will enter the mouths of the .440" chambers. The Lee TL452-230-TC boolit appears to have a beveled base. Could someone with this boolit measure the outside diameter of the flat base for me?

[35remington]

Ricochet, several tries with my dial caliper, measuring as close as I can to the very end of the bevel and junction of the flat base, netted me .425-.430." It's definitely smaller than .440" but the bevel is fairly short and abrupt. I think you'd be OK with the design as regards size. These were wheelweight mixture bullets.

It would probably be easier to align square than your normal flatbase conical, but I imagine the fairly long bearing surface would require some enthusiasm with rammer leverage force as well as some lube in the grooves to ease the effort.

[Ricochet]

Thanks! Sounds like some experimentation is in order.

I'm thinking the microband design might be relatively easy to shear off, as only one band at a time would be hitting the top edge of the chamber and they're quite narrow.

Round balls up to .454" shave quite easily, and a .457" isn't too hard. The heeled bullets from the .451" diameter mould shave a ring about like the .454" balls do.

If that boolit turned out to be workable, it's a good prospect for the Colt as well, but I haven't tried shooting it with any truncated cone cast boolits. The old Speer 200 grain jacketed "flying ashtrays" of the late '70s-early '80s used to be favorites of mine that I loaded and fired thousands of. The Colt always fed them flawlessly. Wouldn't feed the old Speer 225 grin JHP of about the same profile as "hardball" with a nose of very soft lead, though.

[Ricochet]

I ordered one of these moulds from Midway. I'm betting it'll work in the Walker, and it should be a reasonable boolit for my .45 anyway.

[ace1001]

I have both and think the REAL bullet is the better bet. Can you size them? Ace

[Ricochet]

Yep, with a Lee push through. Won't help with the Walker.