450229 great results thanks to forum advice

All: I just cast my first hollow base bullets. These from a Lyman 450229 mold. Just lurking I found great advice on how to deal with hollow base molds and pins. I was quickly casting great bullets. These are pure lead and fall out (no, make that, get tapped out of the mold) at .453 and exactly 125 grains. Seems a bit light to me. I was hoping for .450 so I could experiment with expansion in my vaquero, but after sizing them right at .452, they are perfect fits and barely slide through the cylinder and fit deep in the forcing cone. They may just work.
Attachment 200457

-Tuco

They do pretty well in my Dad's old .45 Automatic; better, in fact than the typical cast round-nose that mimics the factory hardball bullet. If your example has the slight rebate on the bottom of the base band, it should start straight into the chambers of a .44 cap-and-ball revolver. Not all the moulds have the rebate, but if yours does, it's the only practical conical for C&Bs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bent Ramrod

They do pretty well in my Dad's old .45 Automatic; better, in fact than the typical cast round-nose that mimics the factory hardball bullet. If your example has the slight rebate on the bottom of the base band, it should start straight into the chambers of a .44 cap-and-ball revolver. Not all the moulds have the rebate, but if yours does, it's the only practical conical for C&Bs.

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Good info. No, the bottom of the skirt is a driving band same as the others. I tried some last night in my Remington 44 c&b. If I can get them to come out closer to 450, might work, otherwise, I might try to size them to 450, I just don't want to fold the skirt with the process.

My first copy of that mould didn't have it either, and I had to size the first band in a 0.446" sizing die to start them straight into my Uberti 1860 Army. I sold the mold and the revolver way back when, but since found another mould, and a couple .44 C&B revolvers. The rebate around the new mould looks like a thin line around the bottom band, but the castings start perfectly. I just lube them in a 0.454" die, which doesn't size them at all.

Of course, both of them worked fine in cartridge guns. There, the brass can be expanded as needed..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bent Ramrod

My first copy of that mould didn't have it either, and I had to size the first band in a 0.446" sizing die to start them straight into my Uberti 1860 Army. I sold the mold and the revolver way back when, but since found another mould, and a couple .44 C&B revolvers. The rebate around the new mould looks like a thin line around the bottom band, but the castings start perfectly. I just lube them in a 0.454" die, which doesn't size them at all.

Of course, both of them worked fine in cartridge guns. There, the brass can be expanded as needed..

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If the rest come out like this, I'll probably just lube them as well.