size .4525 or .453

[zomby woof]

I just cast with my new H+G68 clone. It drops at .455. My Kart barreled 1911 has a .4515 barrel on it. My favorite commercial boolit was Carroll 200 swc. They measure slightly out of round from .452-.453. These shot incredible out of my pistol. I did get SLIGHT leading towards the chamber. It never effected accuracy. I'm going to purchase a sizer for my Star. What is your opinion please. Thanks.

[Snafu12]

I size 451..............I do not know why I bought that size die........I was new
Seems to work well
My star die will be 4525
My 45 LC dies could use a little more meat case tension

[geargnasher]

If you don't have a sizer die in that size range yet, get a .452". Try that, you can easily lap any sizing die out a half-thouandth if you think you need to, but I doubt you will find it necessary if you balance the load to the alloy and use a good lube.

Gear

[bobthenailer]

Ive had several factory guns in 45 acp as well as ones rebarreled with match barrels, two from Clark, and one each from Nowlin , Heine , and Kart .Ive had excellent accuracy from all with bullets sized @ .452 dia . with the Saeco 068, 062 bullets some testing was done with a Ransom rest or with a red dot sight or scope.

[williamwaco]

I have been loading for the .45 ACP ( mostly 1911 ) since about 1970. I couldn't count the number of 1911's that have passed through my collection. I currently have 3.

I have never seen a .45 ACP that didn't shoot 452 bullets with good results.

.

[Cadillo]

I just recently jumped onto the "Boolit Size is King" bandwagon. Before that I sized all my .45 boolits at .452. I now size them .453, and find that pushing two dry patches through my barrels will most often leave them sparkling clean.

This works both with my Sig P-220's and my Ruger Bisley in both .45 acp and .45 Colt. The Ruger cylinders I reamed to .4525, and the .453 boolits keep the forcing cone and barrel significantly cleaner than the same loads with .452 slugs.

Regarding accuracy the .452 boolits shoot just as well as the .453's in the Sigs, but the .453's seem to have an accuracy edge in the Ruger Bisley. Having said that, .453 may produce a loaded round that is too large in diameter for reliable function in some semi auto barrels, so enlarging a .452 die to size at .4525 may be a good compromise.