Lee 45auto 230gr TL mold.... good or bad?

[DEVERS454]

I have only used Meister hard cast 230gr lead bullets in my 45autos. (as far as non plated/jacketed rounds)

They work, but, leaded up fast. I am wondering if TL with ALOX would help at all.

I got a 6 cavity Lee TL mold for their 230gr RN bullet and I have 4 or 5 bottles of of LLA laying around. (I like the lee sizers for seating gas checks)

Are the TL bullets pretty good for the 45auto? I am also wondering if they would be any good in 45lc as well.

I have SA 1911-A1s and a Ruger P97 that deplete my 45acp inventory very quickly.

[redneckdan]

i use the trunacted cone TL and I love it. Quick and zero leading. What portion of your barrel is leading? This can tell you what is wrong. Too hard of a boolit can lead just as badly as a too soft of one.

[Ranch Dog]

I use the TL452-230-RF in my 1991 and love it. No problems. Use both Unique and HS6. My wife shot up my inventory of loaded ammo yesterday. Got to get busy and reload.

I use the 1 to 10, tin/lead alloy and only apply one coat of liquid alox without sizing. I have no leading or feed problems.

[DX250]

I have run about 2000 of them through my springfield and it loves them.

[Carteach0]

My Commander simply refused to shoot the 200 grain TL bullet no matter what I tried. Sized, unsized, light lube, heavy lube,light load, heavy load, crimp, etc.

It shoots everything else like they were on a string.

I gave away the mold to someone else to try.

[Lloyd Smale]

never shot for me in any of my 1911s

[Blackwater]

The 230 TC Lee with regular grease groove shoots at or near 1" at 25 yds., and sometimes tighter for 7 shots. My 4" Lwt. Kimber won't shoot them quite that well. Using FWFL for lube. The bullet seems to work well on game, too. Killed 2 deer with it this past season, and with one, the bullet broke both shoulders and wound up under the hide on the offside. Complete pass through on the other, just behind the shoulders. Neither deer went 5' after the shot.

One aspect of that bullet that I found, was that using data from an old Lyman manual (can't remember the manual #, but it's from the late 60's), was that apparently the bullet won't take as much powder as the 230 gr. Lyman LRN bullet. The book listed 7.2 gr. Unique as max with the Lyman RN, but with the Lee TC, 6.8 gr. took the bullet to 965 fps, which IIRC is only 1 fps off from the listed velocity with the 230 gr. Lyman RN bullet. It also (in our guns) needed to be seated with the case mouth almost up to the beginning of the taper of the TC portion, to function well. Your gun may be different, but that's what ours did.

My buddy was REALLY pleased with its accuracy. FWIW?

[Crash_Corrigan]

Lee Alox works fine for my Ruger P90. It loves those 6 Banger Lee RN chunkers. Loaded over 4.0 to 4.5 Gr of Clays I get no leading, a fairly clean gun and excellent accuracy. I lube them, then run them thru a .357 Lee Sizer and then lube them again lightly and assemble the round. I have had zero malfunctions in over 2,000 rounds fired in the last two months. I cannot say that about some 185 gr SWC rounds that my friend gave me.

[biggome]

I shoot the Lee TL452-230-2R as cast of W.W. and tumble lubed in L.L. alox by the bucketfull (as in I usually keep one of my Dillon XL 650's set up for production) out of my '43 G.I. Colt mfg 1911 A1 over 4.? grains of WST doing a very consistant 725 FPS. With a fresh (stock replacement) recoil spring and a shock buffer I figure I can't ever wear the damn thing out though the parkerizing is wearing thin. With a tight barrel bushing and a "Dwyer Group Gripper" it shoots pretty well for what it is. I also shoot the same bullet in my 3.75" 45 Colt Vaquero @ 900 fps with quite satisfactory results though I am not a very "well rounded" pistol shooter, for some insane reason I can shoot both of my (short barrel and shorter) .357 SP 101's about as well as my '58 High Standard Supermatic .22 target pistol even with the barrel weights and muzzle brake, go figure!

Paul

[azrednek]

It's been many years since I shot lee tumble lubed slugs in a Remington GI 45 and an AMT Hardballer. What I recall they were not 100% reliable, occasionally the slide had to be helped to go all the way home. Being that paper targets don't return fire I shot them by the hundreds and was more than satisfied with the groups. I was shooting these before the advent of the factory crimp die. Since I began using the crimp die I can't recall ever having to coax the slide home but I'm not sure if I've loaded any tumble lubed slugs with the factory crimp. You have nothing to lose trying it. The paper tagets wont care if you get an occasional jam.

[skeeter45]

I just finished casted some trunacated cone bullits using a Lee 452-230-TC mold. Can't seem to find the OAL for this one. Can someone help me out? Much appreciated.

[Jim]

I bought a Lee .452-230-2R TLRN mold to cast for my Vaquero. When I got my Ruger 345, I tried them in that. Worked perfectly. My italian Henry shoots them real well. So, I bought a six ganger.

[USARO4]

I've had good results with the Lee 230 TC tumble lube in a Ruger Blackhawk Convertible and a Springfield 1911. I seat them to 1.20". The bullets are tumble lubed with Johnsons Paste Wax. Absolutely no leading and as accurate as my limited ability will allow.

[35remington]

Skeeter, the correct OAL for your gun is the longest length you can get them to chamber reliably. In my guns that's 1.220-1.230." The 1911 prefers its OAL to be a bit longer than other .45 ACP guns for best functioning. Rugers, for instance, need a shorter OAL because they don't have much of a throat.

As regard the 230 RN Lee labels the 2R, it is one of the most reliable feeding ACP bullets made. Duplicates the profile/feeding characteristics of ball ammunition.

[Bob Jones]

I've got a 5 gallon bucket full of the 230 grain RN TL Lee bullets cast up for next year, that's how much I like them. I've shot probably 10K of them through various 1911's, they work great for me. Cast out of a mix of WW and range scrap. lube with Alox, never a trace of leading, absolutely reliable feeding. Good stuff. I do have to size mine to 452, they come out a little big at times.

[Ricochet]

I have the TC TL 230 gr. mould for my Government Model. It feeds and shoots well. I measured the maximum overall length by the method of seating the bullet into the breech of the barrel, measuring down the bore with a rod to the nose of the bullet and marking it, then to the face of the breech and subtracting. I don't recall the number, something like 1.2", but it basically seats the bullet right to the base of the truncated cone.

[medicstimpy]

I use both the 230gr RN and 200gr SWC from Lee. Both the TL versions. Both of my Sprinfields (1911 & XD45) shoot great with them. My Taurus 455 likes them, too but likes a little more powder than the semi's shoot with.

Took a while to get used to the aluminum molds but with the helpful advice of the users here, now have plenty of good bullets. Well, actually no, as I gave all the RN from the last batch to a buddy for giving me the lead. His melter is no more good.

Cast a batch and try them. I'm sure you'll like them. It was the same buddy who got me to try them and he swears by Lee products. (He should work for them!:-D )

[Cloudpeak]

I use both the 230gr RN and 200gr SWC from Lee. Both the TL versions. Both of my Sprinfields (1911 & XD45) shoot great with them.

What is your COAL with the Lee 200 gr. SWC TL design bullet? That was the first 45 mold I bought but couldn't get reliable feeding with any COAL that I tried. So, I bought the Lee 200 SWC non-TL design. I don't get 100% reliable feeding with this one, either, but it's close. I load the latter bullet to 1.26 COAL. Since these latter bullets don't feed 100%, I use them for practice. They've managed to jam up in competition twice:(

For our steel plate shoots, I use 200 SWC Penns bullets. These have always fed 100%. My guess is that the Penns is a good replica of the H&G 68 and the Lee is not. The Lee 200 SWC conventional bullet has a "skinny nose", .233" when compared to the Penns which is .280" which I think affects feeding. BTW, I have two Springfield 1911s.

Cloudpeak

Penns is on left, Lee on right.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v620/WyoBob/Guns/DSCN1441.jpg

[medicstimpy]

What is your COAL with the Lee 200 gr. SWC TL design bullet? That was the first 45 mold I bought but couldn't get reliable feeding with any COAL that I tried. So, I bought the Lee 200 SWC non-TL design. I don't get 100% reliable feeding with this one, either, but it's close. I load the latter bullet to 1.26 COAL. Since these latter bullets don't feed 100%, I use them for practice. They've managed to jam up in competition twice:(

For our steel plate shoots, I use 200 SWC Penns bullets. These have always fed 100%. My guess is that the Penns is a good replica of the H&G 68 and the Lee is not. The Lee 200 SWC conventional bullet has a "skinny nose", .233" when compared to the Penns which is .280" which I think affects feeding. BTW, I have two Springfield 1911s.

Cloudpeak


Oh, a 1911? For a minute there, I thought it was the XD45/SWC issue.

Those don't like SWC's of any kind. Some people have had luck with them but most can't get them to feed. I was lucky. Has to do with the feed ramp angle.

I tried various lengths and they all fed in my 1911 right from the start but not the XD45. They also didn't feed in my friend's Para Hi-Cap 1911. The trick seems to be to turn the factory crimp die in a little bit more on guns that have problems feeding. It went away on my XD45 and my friend's Para once we did that.

Crimp=0.265-.268 & OAL 1.210 seems to work for the 200gr LSWC.

[Cloudpeak]

Crimp=0.265-.268 & OAL 1.210 seems to work for the 200gr LSWC.

That's a heck of a crimp:-D I crimp my 45s to .469. If I set my 200 SWC bullets to 1.21, the bullets would be set way below the case mouth.

Cloudpeak

[medicstimpy]

I know it's really extreme but it works. I got the basic measurements from the XD forums from other users trying different lengths and tapers for those things to feed in the XD45's. Kind of hesitant at first but it does work :-D in my buddy's Para, too. Took a little tinkering and a few test rounds to get to those measurements to get them to feed in both guns, though.

[StrikeEagle]

I use the Lee 6-Cavity Bullet Mold TL452-230-2R 452 Diameter 230 Grain Tumble Lube and I love it. :)

Works great in all my .45 Autos... AND it's fantastic in my Colt SSA in .45 Colt.

Super easy to cast... six at a time makes it go quick. And the lubing is as simple as anything could be. LLA is fine. No sizing needed.

Great reliability, fine accuracy. It's actually a bit more accurate in my .45 Colt than is the better-reputed Lyman #452424 Keith bullet.

You'll be pleased as well, I think.

[medicstimpy]

That's a heck of a crimp:-D I crimp my 45s to .469. If I set my 200 SWC bullets to 1.21, the bullets would be set way below the case mouth.

Cloudpeak

OH, OTAY!!! I get it now! My Bad!!! :-D

A major typo... that should be 0.465-0.468" *not* 0.265". Yes, that would be rather difficult to obtain a crimp like that. :roll: