Question on Lee 452-255-RF bullet design

[tweigenant]

Hi all, looking for input regarding the above mentioned mould. I was given this mould from a friend. It is brand new but I have a question. The lube groove(s) look awfully small and shallow and would seem to me that they would not supply adequate lube to prevent leading. Hopefully someone has had experience with this particular boolit and can relate their findings. I would probably lube with LBT and shoot in my 45ACP.

Thanks in advance for replies!

[spfd1903]

I have pan lubed these with beeswax/lithium grease, and tumble lubed with Lee liquid Alox. Cast with 20:1 alloy. Never had any leading issues with a Ruger Vaquero or Judge.

[prs]

I have used it extensively in 45 Colt revolvers and no leading just using Emmert's lube.

prs

[geargnasher]

I've shot buckets full of those in revolvers and rifles. The OLD design had even shallower grooves than current, CNC-cut moulds do. Never had trouble at all with the lube grooves, even when lubing just the bottom one and crimping in the top lube groove in long-cylinder revolvers. If you're getting leading in a revolver, odds are it isn't the lube. Dynamic boolit fit and balancing the alloy toughness to the load and powder used is how to get accuracy and prevent leading. Lube is just icing, no lube will prevent leading if you have gas leaks around the boolit in the barrel.

Gear

[tweigenant]

I really appreciate the info! We all know that boolit fit is king, but I was not too impressed with that tiny lube groove. I want to hard cast these for my .460 Rowland as a heavy bullet stopper.

I'll report back and let you know how it goes.

[runfiverun]

why do you want to make them hard to cast?

history lesson for the day.
the term 'hard cast' is to designate the use of antimony in the alloy.
it started around the turn of the last century so a guy knew he was NOT getting 'hard cast' antimony alloy bullets.

[Little Big Oz]

I use this bullet in 45 Colt, tumble-lubed with either LLA or 45/45/10. Pretty accurate and no leading whatsoever in my New Vaquero.

[Doby45]

More of a 45LC boolit that an ACP boolit. But to the original question, the grooves are more than enough..

[fcvan]

I have launched the Lee 452-255 RF briskly down a 20" carbine barrel without leading or other issues. I believe it was about 1200 fps from my Vaquero and a little over 1400 fps from the carbine. Lube was a batch of home made loob and also with BAC. The lube grooves seem to hold enough lube for the long barrel.

[R.M.]

This wouldn't happen to be a tumble-lube design would it?

[tweigenant]

This wouldn't happen to be a tumble-lube design would it?

Hi R.M., not a tumble lube, just a standard type two lube groove design.

I think I should have posted that I was going to use these in my .460 Rowland. I misstated in my first post that I was going to shoot them in my 45ACP. I meant a 1911 with a Rowland barrel kit. Sorry.