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JohnH
02-14-2015, 11:20 PM
I am no great fan of Lee products, lets call it a love hate relationship. Nothing they make doesn't have the "it works but..." syndrome. The 452-2R-TL falls directly into this category. Be it the mold; every mold is a law unto itself, but somehow Lee carries this problem to a level all its own, or the boolit dimensions I'm always somewhat the near side of pleased with the products. So it pains me to admit that over some 30 years of casting the single best all around 45 caliber boolit I've ever used is the 45-2R-TL. It is a ridiculous boolit. There is simply not enough driving band area to make the boolit shoot as well as it does. It's ugly. It's so plain vanilla, ice cream in the grocery store laughs at it. Any other boolit with so little driving band area combined with so little lube reservoir should lead like the dickens and keyhole every third shot. But no.

Not only does this boolit shoot well, I've had three different copies of the mold and every one dropped uniform boolits, and they always shot well from whatever I fired them from, be it Rock Island 1911's, Taurus, Ruger, Kimber, Springfield; be it Cimarron Arms SSA, Ruger Blackhawks or Redhawks, the boolit shoots all out of preportion to its humble if unappealing appearance.

I am currently shooting boolits from two molds, not separating the boolits, just lump 'em together in a plastic container, dribble a tad of 45-45-10, shake, pour out and let 'em dry. No sizing or nuthin. Load and shoot. From an RIA 1911 GI model I get palm sized groups at 15 yards so long as I care to shoot (That's as good as these old eyes do with iron sights) and with 45 Colt Blackhawk I get palm sized groups at 35 yards so long as I care to shoot (The revolter is sighted with a Bushnell red dot) 8" plates at 50 yards are monotonous. And this is the results I've had from this boolit for some 15 years. I've tried at least a half dozen other different designs and have simply never gotten the reliable accuracy from them as I get from this boolit. And it will feed from a 1911, it simply doesn't hiccup.

So I'm done. This is my go to boolit for 45 caliber handguns. It ain't sexy, folk at the gun range don't ask about it, I'd as soon pull up to the car hop in a box stock Falcon as have to tell someone what this boolit is. But like that old Falcon, it performs. Day in, day out, rain, shine, sleet it performs. Doesn't care about powder either, anything that will make 750-800 fps the gun is happy with, the boolit will be happy with. So if you're looking for a good 45 boolit and don't know where to start (there are a LOT of choices) the Lee 45-2R-TL is an excellent starting point.

osteodoc08
02-14-2015, 11:25 PM
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.

Idaho Mule
02-14-2015, 11:29 PM
Reckon that guy owns stock in LEE?? JW

btroj
02-14-2015, 11:32 PM
The older I get the more I like a single mould for one cartridge. I don't use anything but an MP Moulds 200 swc for 45 ACP because it works. Why use a bunch of moulds when one does what you need?

62chevy
02-14-2015, 11:44 PM
I bought the 452-200-RF last year and it has proved just as useful and reliable.

ballistim
02-14-2015, 11:49 PM
Bought my Rock Island GI 1911 and had already bought the mold beforehand knowing it was on the way, and it is a MP 432-200-HP that was a leftover from a GB here. Loaded with Green Dot I had such good accuracy right out of the box with the gun, powder, and boolit that I didn't feel a need to go any further. Same story with my Beretta M9 with the MP 359-125-HP and Green Dot again, sometimes things just work out the way you hoped they would.

stormingnorm
02-15-2015, 11:59 AM
Anyone know a good mold for 210 gr jap 7.7.

bhn22
02-15-2015, 12:34 PM
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.

Positively Freudian!

bhn22
02-15-2015, 12:40 PM
Anyone know a good mold for 210 gr jap 7.7.

With the 7.7 Arisaka, you need to determine a few measurements to select the correct mould. Because of serious manufacturing variances, you need to know the groove and bore diameter, along with the throat measurement of your particular rifles bore. Essentially it is the same bullet that would be used with a 303 British (which also had serious bore variances), but the resulting bullet must fit your exact bore, or it'll never work well. I'd suggest starting a new thread and ask for recommendations. There have been such serious variances in these rifles that I've seen moulds with a diameter as large as .316 when the nominal diameter is listed as .312.

Bzcraig
02-15-2015, 12:42 PM
If you want sexy just powder coat that Boolit and watch the looks at the range

stormingnorm
02-15-2015, 01:13 PM
Ok thanks.

osteodoc08
02-15-2015, 02:19 PM
The older I get the more I like a single mould for one cartridge. I don't use anything but an MP Moulds 200 swc for 45 ACP because it works. Why use a bunch of moulds when one does what you need?

Ah, my favorite 45 ACP mold. That brass 4 banger is a serious workhorse around my house.