.45 ACP 230 gr loads

[Mattog22]

I am going to cast my first batch soon. I have the Lee 6 cavity 230 gr RN 45 ACP molds. I have been doing a fair amount of reading on this forum and wanted to know if the following things would work well.

I am using WWs and was going to air cool them and not size them unless they are coming out of the mold way too big. Tumble using the Alox until I can afford something better. Load them using about 3.7 or 3.8 gr of Clays. Does anyone see a potential problem here? Any suggestions are welcome.

[HiVelocity]

Mattog22-

First, cut your Alox with something alcohol based, you don't need it to be thick and gooey. I cut my bottle (almost 50/50) with mineral spirits. My bullets come out a nice "golden" color and will go a long way. This is all you need for the shooting you're doing.

I cast the same bullet you note, and the Lee 230gr TC bullet. Spend the money and get the Lee Factory "Taper-Crimp" die, you'll need it. I use mine religously. Seating dept is important. I use a "factory" RN loaded round as a model to check my spec's. Can't go wrong there. Other than those couple tips, go try em' out!

Anybody else care to chime in here............... ? ? ?

Good luck, take your time (Safety IS #1),

HV in SC:bigsmyl2:

[Mattog22]

I actually bought the Lee Factory Crimp die when I bought all my other stuff but I thought I read that it may undersize the bullet causing leading?

[35remington]

If you MUST use the Lee Factory Crimp Die to get your rounds to chamber, you are probably doing something wrong.

Most likely and common is crooked bullet seating that leads to case bulging that prevents chambering. Proper cure, rather than a band-aide solution of sizing the crooked round in the LFCD to make it chamber (which does not correct the crookedness, only the bulge) is to correct bullet seating so it's straight. More accurate ammo is the result. Also very common is loading an oversized cast bullet which is too large to chamber. Correct cure is to size it first, rather than letting the LFCD size it.

It's also common to not apply enough taper crimp to remove the case mouth flare which also prevents proper chambering. Solution is enough taper crimp to remove the flare.

If you are sizing the round noticeably when using the LFCD, you're squeezing the case against the bullet, which once again is telling you something is wrong.....the bullet's oversized or crooked. This can loosen case/bullet fit depending upon just how much sizing the LFCD is doing. If your LFCD is undersized in the carbide ring area, and your bullet oversized or greatly crooked, then bullet pull can be loosened.

Always investigate why the LFCD is sizing when you're using it......it's always better to question why rather than blindly using it with no regard to the consequences. Noticeable sizing is a red flag.

Always, always, always remove the barrel or use a case gage to check whether the loaded rounds fit before loading up a batch. This is the number one mistake first time reloaders make.....they don't check to see if they'll chamber.

Too long bullet seating is another newbie mistake. This prevents the pistol from locking up.

If using the 230-2R, proper OAL is around 1.265" which approximates factory and military ball ammo.

If using the 228-1R, which does not duplicate the ball bullet profile, proper OAL for my 1911's is in the vicinity of 1.220."

Only use the factory FMJ/ball bullets as a model to duplicate if you're sure the bullet duplicates ball shape! The 228-1R does not, even though it looks like a ball bullet to the uninformed glance. Loading it to a ball cartridge overall length will prevent it from chambering.

[bigboredad]

when it comes time to seat take the barrelout of your gun anddropyour newly seated boolit in there if the case head is even with your barrel you're good to go if not adjust your die accordingly. The lee fcd is a funny thing some guns need it otthers do not. Mine can go either way and I get no leading. so you'll never know til you try it on your own loads

[Mattog22]

So I should measure my unsized bullet first, size if over .453? If it is crooked how do you fix that? I have a set of RCBS dies and it seems that there may be slightly more of a bulge on one side than the other. Rounds have always chambered with FMJ and commercial lead though

[fredj338]

Not big Clays fan, but it works. The LFCD may or may not be needed. IME, you'll get varying diameters when casting w/ the thin alum Lee molds, so you may or may not have issues if you just taper crimp. I size/lube my bullets, so have never needed nor wanted to use the LFCD. Sorry, also don't like Alox lubes, sticky, gums up the seating die, smokey. At some point you may want to go another route, but many enjoy tumble lube & no sizing.

[35remington]

Yes, size it first if it's oversized. This follows the proper principle of good bullet fit and straightness, which is important for accuracy, proper chambering and making sure the bullet does not get pushed in the case when it is fed, which is very bad news and can result in high pressure. Sizing an oversized bullet in the Lee Factory Crimp Die can be a cause of bullet setback. Don't appreciably size a loaded round with this die without realizing in so doing something is not right!

Make sure the bullet seating stem fits the bullet reasonably well and examine the bullet after it is just started in the case to ensure it is going in straight. A bullet seated straight and correctly processed through a taper crimp die (or however you turn in the mouth flaring) should need no other voodoo to chamber.

Then you know you're doing it right.

[Beau Cassidy]

3.8 grains of Clays with a 230 gr bullet is a good load. I cast mine 50/50 ww/Pb and have no problems.

[whisler]

Yes, use mineral spirits for thinning LLA. Do not use alcohol. Mineral spirits is not alcohol based, it is a petroleum hydrocarbon

[oldtoolsniper]

As I learn more from this site I experiment more. Brass will spring back and lead will not. Make a dummy round with no powder or primer but everything else as though you were going to shoot it. Size it, bell the mouth, add the boolit and crimp it then take the primer punch out of your sizing die and lube the case well and resize it with the boolit in the case. Result = boolit you can remove with your fingers in most cases. The brass will spring back and the lead boolit will not. I do use the LFCD but only to remove Glock bulge from range brass.

[Mattog22]

So there is no cutoff on bullet diameter, just go with what I get out of the mold and try to chamber it. If it doesn't go then use my sizer die?

[462]

The Lyman "M" expander die eliminates the possibility of a boolit entering the case mouth at an angle other than perpenticular, by installing a slight "step" about 1/16" into the mouth, which allows the boolit to enter the case squarely.

Mattog22,
We were typing at the same time, it seems.
Have you slugged the barrel? You will need to produce a boolit that is .001" over groove dimension.

[Mattog22]

The Lyman "M" expander die eliminates the possibility of a boolit entering the case mouth at an angle other than perpenticular, by installing a slight "step" about 1/16" into the mouth, which allows the boolit to enter the case squarely.

Never heard of it, sounds like a good idea though. Should I even worry much about how perpendicular unless I have chambering problems? Is it possible to be a little off but still chamber but then cause leading?

[35remington]

All pistol die sets of the 45 ACP type have a proper expander for pistol bullets.

It's better to have the proper bullet size of .452" to start as this will prevent need of the post sizing die (LFC) and assure proper bullet tension to prevent setback. Anything you can do to make sure the bullet stays put is important. At the same time, this diameter helps with feeding clearance if your chamber is cruddy. A needlessly large bullet doesn't help things in this respect. A case bulged large from an oversized bullet doesn't belong in an autoloading chamber after soot, dirt and lube build up from a lot of shooting.

Checking to see how straight the bullet enters the case as it's gradually seated will answer your questions. Seat a little then check to see how straight it's going in. Don't let bullet lube build up in your seating die as this can cause issues of its own.

The biggest mistake made in loading autoloading pistol ammo is the failure to check every round. Each and every round must be gaged to determine if it will fit, and you must make good ammo. If you do not you'll lose faith in your pistol's ability to function. If you just crank them out you'll have a jam-o-matic.

[Mattog22]

All pistol die sets of the 45 ACP type have a proper expander for pistol bullets.

Checking to see how straight the bullet enters the case as it's gradually seated will answer your questions. Seat a little then check to see how straight it's going in. Don't let bullet lube build up in your seating die as this can cause issues of its own.

If it doesn't go in straight enough how do you fix it?

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have made thousands of .45 ACP rounds with the Lee 6 banger molds. If I get in a hurry and fail to remove the guts of the Dillon dies every couple of hundred rounds I will get problems.

They will jam, FTE, fail to chamber and generally cause a problem. This is caused by crud building up inside the seating and crimping dies. The solution is to keep the reloading dies very clean with a q tip and mineral spirits and to chamber every round assembled in a case gauge or a barrel prior to putting aside to shoot.

I have found the most trouble free procedure is to size and lube the boolits with my SAECO luber and use lars45 white lable Carnuba Red lube. I size to .452 and my 1911 loves them. If I keep the dies clean and watch what I am doing I have a good day on the range. If I get in a hurry and fail to clean the dies I am looking for a slow day on the range.

It is not rocket science but you do need to control what you are doing.