Newbie caster, round two

[Whit Spurzon]

I haven't shot my first batch of the Lee 452-255RF yet, hopefully this weekend but I went ahead and made a second batch cuz it was so darn fun the first time.

This go round I cast some Lee 452-300 RF. It took me a while before I could consistently cast nice looking boolits but once I got the temperature right, it went well.

I'm using straight wheel weights. This alloy casts 312 gr and just a smidge over .452". I cast a dozen that I water dropped. Not sure if that will make any difference but I figured it would be worth experiementing.

I loaded up a dummy round, COL = 1.585" which is to the forward crimping groove. I plan to shoot these in my 45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk and in my Marlin 1894CB. I was please to find that even with the wide meplat the cartridge cycled easily. Haven't found a lot of data for this weight bullet yet. Suggestions?

At the moment I'm using LEE liquid Alox. It's all I'm set up for at the moment. My understanding is that once I size & gas check them I Alox them again. Sound right? Again, suggestions, insights, critiques and clever or witty responses are welcome as I'm only in ankle deep and I'm lookin to make to the deep part of the pool (eventually). You guys have been great so far and I REALLY appreciate it.

[Driller640]

Hello, I am new here, that being said, I have cast for my .45acp for a couple years and yes it toke a couple tries to get things roling but once mould was up to temp things went well. LLA is all the lube i us on my .45acp 230 LRN works great. don't size mine , I let the barrel do it, no leading after 7000+ rounds and don't gascheck either . Can hit pop can 1 to 50 yds works for me go ahead and try. eh.

[MakeMineA10mm]

Shooting as-cast (no sizing) is a trick the old-timers found gave them better accuracy, and since you're bullets drop at .452" I don't know what a sizer would accomplish for you, other than the theoretical truing-up of the roundness (proper technique in a modern mould gives AWFULLY round bullets...) and application of lube and the gas check.

If you're shooting low-velocity loads (under 1200fps), then you can save the money on the gas checks. No need for them. Just take your cast bullets, LLA them, seat and crimp, and shoot. If you plan on using a really slow powder with high and long pressure curve (like 2400 or AA#9 or slower powders) and maximize your velocities, then I'd put the gas checks on, especially for the rifle (cause the bullets are going to reach even higher velocity in it). The same goes for water dropping them. Only necessary for the really hot loads. May even be counter-productive for the light loads, because the harder bullet will not obturate as easily/efficiently as the hard bullet with light loads.

I've never used LLA and frankly don't like liquid lubing (for a variety of reasons), but it's a good technique for what you're doing, and if you don't mind the mess, technique, and waiting for the drying time, you are well-served by it (meaning I think it does do a good job of lubing-I just like other methods better).

The best part is, now you can use this smilie: :castmine: