Casting workaround: using 45 long colt molds to reload .455 webley cases?

[olivestab]

(GREETINGS! A SMALL BACKSTORY FIRST)
Hello, Its been a while since Ive posted here about my Colt 455 new service revolver.
Since then I have found tons of info on the ammo type, and finally got my hands on 100 fiocchi rounds to shoot with.
I have also began to learn the art of casting and reloading, I am still green but compared to the last time Ive posted here I actually know what the heck you are all talking about now!

Anyways, my father in law and I have been producing tons of 45ACP, 9mm and 9x18Mak and this reloading gig is getting serious to the point where we eventually want to have an option to reload all the guns we mainly shoot.

My favorite of all is my Colt 455, Ive saved 50rounds of brass and keep the other box of 50 factory loads stored away.
I plan on doing a lot of target practice so I'm hoping I can make 50 cases last a long way before I have to buy more.

(MAIN QUESTION)
I know the gun needs a hollow based bullet, but the .455 molds are over 100$ I'm wondering if I could cheat and buy a cheaper mold for 45 long colt... or a .454 mold before we commit to the pricey .455 mold.

[Dutchman]

Well shucks! Looks like .454" is entirely acceptable for use in the .455 caliber. Do you know how small .001" actually is? Rilly rilly rilly* small. The hair on your head (if you have any) is usually .0025" to .0035" thick. That old Colt boat anchor isn't going to know .454" from .455" if it came up and bit it in the beehind. The hollow base design harkens back to yonder year and won't be missed at all by the Colt. Lots of older .454" molds for the older Colt SAA and New Service, etc.

* each 'rilly' is one decimal place.

As a side note.... don't confuse the "marks" of the bullets (or cartridges) with the "marks" of the revolvers. They are different "marks". Remember we're talkin' things British.

p.s. I still think you should poke a .45 Colt chamber reamer in that thing and re-Americanize it. It's crying out to be made ~correct~. It wants coffee and you're feeding it tea. :x

p.p.s. Remember these Brit bullets are not cast alloy projectiles. They were swagged soft lead.

http://images14.fotki.com/v1628/photos/4/28344/9895637/001bb-vi.jpg

A former .455 Ely re-Americanized to .45 Colt... It's much happier now.

http://images59.fotki.com/v543/photos/2/28344/1676633/DSC00157x-vi.jpg

[Dutchman]

These are from an unknown 1995 magazine article on handloading .455 Webley for the Webley revolver.. but the information is priceless...

90671906729067390674906759067690677

[Piedmont]

I'm one of those who would leave the revolver as it is. In answer to your main question on which mold to buy, it depends. What do the cylinder throats measure? How about the groove diameter? If your throats are as large or larger than your groove diameter you can use any old .45 Colt mold that drops them big enough for the cylinder throats. If your gun is built like most Webleys with cylinder throats that are tighter than the barrel, then you better get one of those hollow base molds. I think Mihec did one recently or is going to. Maybe he has some extras.

[olivestab]

Ok, I totally forgot I made this topic.
I discovered some info on my own and was excited to share with my father in law that I forgot to check the forums.

We decided to go with a 456 1R mold, 455 webley die set, and a bullet lube resizer in 455.
Ive found a few threads and wrote down some data for the amount of powder but it will be tottally different if Im using this 456 1R mold because it is only 220gr. The whole set is cheap and it will work.

Im on the fence about altering, we are half way invested in 455 reloading already and the alteration would mean new dies.
Its a family heirloom and we have the equipment to reload it without altering.
I would love to have a 45LC, but I have no problems with 455.

My only solution to this is to get my own single action army, a good ol cowboy gun in 45LC I can pass down as my own.
I love revolvers.

[Echo]

I would keep it stock. You say you have the equipment to cast .455 boolits - so do it! Someone recommended slugging the cylinder throats and groove diameter - you should use these measurements to decide how to process your boolits.

[MattOrgan]

Would keep it .455 too. Most molds for 45 caliber cast oversize anyway. If yours doesn't it doesn't seem that big a deal if you cast them soft. My pal has a beautiful commercial S&W .455 that is accurate with 280 LBT WFN bullets that fall out of the mold at .452 cast from very soft roofing lead. Even at 550-600 fps its a very cool round to shoot. As a side note shortened .45 LC work fine in the .455. Until recently cases and ammunition made it necessary to do this.

[Wolfer]

I have a Webley that has been converted to 45 acp. It certainly was not outstanding with ball ammo. When I started shooting cast it was with the lee 452-200 RF cast 1 WW-3 PB with 4.3 gr of clays. These shoot so well I've never bothered slugging it.

[The Virginian]

DO NOT MODIFY THE GUN AS YOU WILL RUIN ANY COLLECTOR VALUE....I use 45 Colt and 45 ACP bullets in mine all the time in 455 cases with great results. Keep that Colt happy with the original clambering.

[Bigslug]

Not sure how I missed this thread. . .

It's really going to depend on how your gun is dimensioned. My Webley MKVI is .452" in the cylinder throats, and - data isn't immediately handy - a little larger in the bore. I needed to use a bullet trap to recover a fired hollow-base slug to find this out.

I STRONGLY suspect that an American gun made for the round would have stuck with the standard American method of bore slightly smaller than throats, but you won't know until you measure. Even if you don't technically NEED a hollow base mold, there is something massively cool about the .455 cartridge with the regulation bullet because it is so totally UNLIKE anything else out there.

Hmmm. . .I wonder if anyone's ever set up a group buy for the hollow-based, wadcutting "Manstopper" Webley slug - for the days when those Hague Convention pansys just bore you to tears.:evil:

Possibly useful tidbits - I purchased a brass four cavity hollowbase .455 mold from MP Molds last year that was a leftover from a group buy. Miha may still have a few left. MUCH faster than my single hole RCBS. If I remember correctly, it was about $130 and worth every dime.

Hornady occasionally turns out .455 brass. I purchased a bunch last year from Huntingtons. Only problem is that Fiocchi is small primer and Hornday is large. I've recently come into some Fiocchi ammo and am not sure how to address this discrepancy once I shoot them.

[bhn22]

I'm sure I must have missed it in your posts somewhere, but what are your bore and throat dimensions? These of course need to be measured from soft lead slugs driven through scrupulously clean, and lightly oiled throats and barrel bore. This will tell you everything you need to know about sizing. It appears to me that the British (a mad race), added the hollowbase to the bullet design to lighten the bullet, and move weight forward, like a badminton shuttlecock.

[Char-Gar]

If it were my handgun, I would not modify it. But it is your handgun and not mine. If I wanted a 45 Colt, I would buy a 45 Colt, there are plenty of them around.