Lee .45cal 230tc 6 cavity

I used to shoot SASS using both Lee's 200 and 255gr rnfp in .45 Colt and Schofield. Well, life happened and I haven't shot SASS in about 10yrs and the "Cowboy" guns have slowly left one by one. Now the only .45 I have is a 1911 that I carry daily and I've had to use XTP's because it doesn't reliably feed the rnfp's. It will feed them but it just doesn't feel smooth. Definitely not as smooth as the XTP's. So, I ordered Lee's 6 cavity 230gr tc with lube groove because it has a profile very similar to the XTP. It arrived yesterday. I cleaned it, smoked it and tried it out today. I poured 150 bullets, lubed them with the Lubri-sizer, and loaded 50 test rounds. Lubed with SPG they weigh 235gr. I put the first 2 loaded rounds in the mag and released the slide, locked it back and released it again. "LIKE BUTTA!" Man they feed smoother than the rnfp's , and as good or better than the XTP's! I can hardly wait to see how they shoot. I loaded 5rds each of 5 different charges of Unique and Titegroup. I figure anything 750fps or faster will do nicely for SD.

I'll let ya know how the shoot when I get a chance to try'em out.

CS

I believe you will find you really like that bullet. I've also got the mold and it gets used a lot here.

I got the same mold recently, Ive cast a bunch but I also found my PB gas check maker and aluminum coils, plus the powder coating materials.... so Im making up ones that are just PB with lube, Gas checked with lube, powder coated and powder coated with gas checks.. Now Im looking for all my powders to make up loads. I wish I didnt have OCD

I got the lee tc in 9 mm 40 S&w
And now the 45 I like them all.

The Lee 230 TC has become my favorite 45 ACP bullet also. I load it over 5 gr of Bullseye. My Colt M1911 has a 5 1/2" barrel in it and that load runs right at 920 fps. It feeds like butter through all 3 of my M1911 (Colt Combat Commander, Colt M1911 mentioned and my para P-14). It also is very accurate out of my M1917 revolver, my Uberti Evil Roy SA with ACP cylinder, my Contender barrel and my M98 Rhineland converted rifle. All in all an excellent bullet.

Additionally I taken to using it loaded in the 45 Colt over 7 gr Bullseye. It runs 900+ fps out of the Evil Roy SA, 1078 fps out of my Contender and 1135 fps out of my 20" Uberti M1873 Winchester. Again, an excellent bullet in that cartridge.

Larry I also load that bullet with 5 gr of bullseye. I got that load from you Or somebody on this site . At first I thought it was A hot load looking at my different manual’s . Not over pressure but hot for bullseye. After I shot some it seemed to equal regular 45 acp ball no chronograph. It shot very good for me.

Ok y'all another day off work and a chance to try these slugs out. I haven't mentioned what firearm I'm using these in. I'm running them in a Springfield Lightweight Compact Range Officer with a 4" barrel. It didn't really care for any of the Titegroup loads. However, the Unique loads faired a little better. 3 of them were pretty close. The best of them was 5.8gr. At 15yds 4 shots were right at 3/4" and the 5th round opened that up to just under an inch with an average velocity of 867fps. All of them fed smooth as silk. I believe I may have a new SD load!

CS

Here's that 15yd target:

I have become a big fan of truncated cone designs in both 45 acp and 9 mm Luger .

With the Lee 452-230-TC , cast 50/50 COWW / soft scrap lead , air cooled ,sized .452 ,
my all time favorite , walking around load is with 5.2 grains of good old Unique !
Just something about Unique ... it works !
My 45 is a full size AMT Hardballer , 5" barrel .
My pet 9mm load envolves Unique also .

Looks like you have a winner with that boolit and Unique too .
Gary

Also liking the Lee truncated cone, but in .40/10mm. My .40 ParaOrdnance and 10mm Glock eat ‘me up!...also over Unique.

Carolina...nice shooting!

Gwpercle...we’re neighbors.

It is my new favorite as well. My old crunchenticker Ruger likes it too.The same 5 grs of Bullseye that I use for 200 SWC since the 80s, but these feed better with less fiddling. Lee done good.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...366993cba3.jpg

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Have been using my Lee 230gn 0.452" gang mold for several years. Cast up about 50 pounds of slugs yearly and lube size with Whites' red, using an old Lyman 450 and aluminum plate under the tool and heat applied with an old clothing iron.
They feed well in my 1911, hit well and makes nice holes.
Same boolit in my son's Glock #21 don't feed so well. He wants a RN mold to try.

4.8 gr of Red dot under that lee 230 tc with standard lube grove seams to function in every 45acp I tried it in , + it hits what I'm shooting at unless I do something wrong .

I just got back from the range testing some more. I put about 100 on a couple silhouettes this time. They all ran smooth in the RO Compact and about 90% were in the vitals. At 865fps I think these will do.

CS

That Bullet profile was My .45Colt Cowboy Load from 1989 until forever.
Hipshot suggested it over 5.0grs of Clays.

Used it in an Old 7 1/2" Vaquero to hit a tennis ball 6 out of 6 times at 25yrds. Won $80.00
Used it in a Taper Crimped .45Colt case with never a problem about bullet setback in a Tube-Fed Lever Rifle or moving forward out of the Case in any Revolver.

I Don't remember how long I've been casting the Lee version, at least 15yrs.

Just Love it. Works Extremely well in .45ACP too.

Doc, I’ve never had a leading problem with a 45 ACP or Colt. Wouldn’t mind trying powder coating, but if you have to use a gas check, I’d look at my barrel dimensions, mould dimensions, or most likely, the alloy used.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smilin jack

Have been using my Lee 230gn 0.452" gang mold for several years. Cast up about 50 pounds of slugs yearly and lube size with Whites' red, using an old Lyman 450 and aluminum plate under the tool and heat applied with an old clothing iron.
They feed well in my 1911, hit well and makes nice holes.
Same boolit in my son's Glock #21 don't feed so well. He wants a RN mold to try.

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I have this mold and it did much better out of my G30 than the RN version. I did still get some jambs feeding, but once I dropped the COAL to 1.180 it seems to have cleared up.

Also shoots well in a Para-Ordnance P13-45.

If you aren’t in a hurry, I can send you some RN to try. Maybe early next week?