Favorite .45acp mold

[paul h]

So far I've only cast and shot the lee 200gr tl swc, and an H&G #78.

The lee has been great, the 6 cavity mold makes a mound of bullets in short order and applying tl is a huge time saver. Accuracy and function with 4.5gr of bullseye has been very good.

Yesterday was the first time I've shot the H&G 78, accuracy was good with 6gr of unique, but I need to fiddle around with the seating depth as I had several jams with the load in my P90.

Looking forward to the group buy mihec hp mold.

[geargnasher]

THE one outstanding bullet in the .45 ACP is the old H&G #68 (a 200 gr SWC). It is designed with the same "strike" when feeding as the 230 gr Hard Ball military load. This promotes reliable feeding. It cuts clean holes in the targets and will give accuracy at the potential of the firearm firing it.

My favorite is Mihec's rendition. I have both the six cavity aluminum one and the four cavity brass one. Either is a superb mould for a superb bullet.

I have fired over 100,000 rounds through my 1911 and it will still shoot well under an inch at 25 yards.

FWIW
Dale53

The part I put in bold, thank you for pointing that out. Nose radius, length, and diameter is critical to feeding, the rest of the boolit not so much. I studied this in great detail when I designed the Accurate 45-230L, I found that the Lee 452-230 TL boolit had almost the perfect nose profile, mainly the last 1/8" of it, and had Tom duplicate that into the design.

The nose strikes the feed ramp and must deflect upward at the correct angle, then strike the top of the chamber and deflect again. If the nose is too fat, too short, or too skinny (like the Lee SWC), the boolit won't guide the cartridge correctly and feeding problems occur.

Gear

[MikeS]

The H&G #68 design is possibly the best target boolit even made for the 1911. This style boolit design is available from most all of the current boolit mould makers, from Lee on the low end, to Ballisticast on the high end. Mihec and Accurate Molds also make moulds that are clones of the #68. I personally have shot the Lee clone, the Saeco clone, and Mihec's clone. They're all good shooting boolits, the main differences between them are finish of the boolit, and concentricity of the boolit, and of the ones I've cast the Mihec are about the best. If you go with the Lee mould, get their 6 cavity mould, it's made better, and designed better than their 2 cavity, and casting 6 at a time makes it real easy to get a huge pile of boolits in little time.

[south.texas.dead.I]

Just ordered the lee 6cavity swc mold


Living another day
To CRUSH another clay

[Grandpas50AE]

You're hooked now.

[south.texas.dead.I]

You're hooked now.

Haha been hooked since I got my reloader for 12ga 3 years ago


Living another day
To CRUSH another clay

[L1A1Rocker]

The H&G #68 is an old stand buy (provided it's a good copy) but I'm really liking the Miha .45-200g. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=Miha+200

[40Super]

The #68 and its DUPLICATE clones stand out. I have a Lyman version and it has a smaller radious on the tip that causes a hard hit(and nose damage) when feeding, so not all clones are equal. I just got a Balisti-cast #668, so the issue is gone and I can now use softer lead .

[chboats]

Of course there is always the exception. My Colt series 70 does not like the #68 at all, at least one jam with every clip full. It does like the H&G 130. For some reason it does like the short nose SWCs, which is fine with me.

Carl

[Wally]

I have been using Lyman # 452460 with complete sucess . It feeds , is accurate and gets a few more boolits out of a pound of metal. I started out with a Lee 230 gr. round nose but found the Lyman semi-wadcutter more to my liking.

gary

Gary,

I've tried two Lyman 452460 molds...this style seems prone to front driving band "pull-offs"...do you find the same phenomenon?

[Artful]

Gary,

I've tried two Lyman 452460 molds...this style seems prone to front driving band "pull-offs"...do you find the same phenomenon?

are you talking about when dumping out of the mold? - are they frosty - if your using a gang mold you have to let them cool - that's why I use two molds of similar weight and caliber and alternate.

[Wally]

are you talking about when dumping out of the mold? - are they frosty - if your using a gang mold you have to let them cool - that's why I use two molds of similar weight and caliber and alternate.

Yes....no frosting. I used two different dual cavity Lyman molds, but not at the same casting session.

[Artful]

The bands need to cool a little more. I at one time used a pair of single cavity 452460's so as to avoid that problem - then got into 4 bangers which can have the same problem so it is the design you just have to have patience with letting it cool down.

[40Super]

That comes from the tip of the bullet sticking in one half and the bottom sticking in the other. In my mold I stoned the edges,mostly in the corners, and that stopped.
It may take a bit of playing with how much to hone, but I just slowly did one cavity at a time and got it so at the worst, the bullets stayed flat in one half or the other till I tapped it,if they didn't just fall out freely to begin with.

[StratsMan]

+1 with 40Super AND Artful...

I was having this problem yesterday; running too hot and too fast... boolits weren't frosty, but I know my melt and mold were both running hot... boolits were sticking (half on top, other half on bottom) and ripping the bottom driving band off... cooled the melt and the mold a few degrees, kept the mold closed a few extra seconds (~15 extra secs), and the problem went away....

[Wally]

I have a two Lee clone of the 452460 (one regular the other TL) ...no hang-ups or tear offs.....Hmmmm.

Seems that the cast bullet must cool enough to shirink to drop from the cavity in the Lyman mold.

However I guess one has to be patient...

[Artful]

I'm not patient as I should be that's why I put extra molds into rotation - keeps me working but give the mold time to cool - I have run as many as 4 molds but usually double cavity - three is the most for gang mold's I have had to use to keep things cooled off.

[trixter]

I love the idea of the Lee 452-228-1R but the single ogive seemed rather complicated for feeding. It was a long learning curve to get it right. Trying different COL's to get it right was a tedious process. I also have the Lee TL 452-230-2R, and find that it is much more accommodating. And of course no one with a 45 would be without the 452-200-SWC.

I am sure you might get different results with these same boolits in your gun.

[Elkins45]

If you had asked me this question last year i would have answered the Lee 200 grain tumble lube SWC. Now it's the MP H&G hollow point design.

I still like the Lee but the MP bullet is sure a pretty thing with that hollow point, and the fact it uses 15 grains less lead per cast really adds up over the long run. Cast 12 bullets and the 13th one is free!

[AlabamaEd]

Ordered the 454-230 mold from NOE on Friday nite, it came in the mail today. Awesome service from NOE. Spent today breaking in the mold per their instructions and will put some boolits on the towel tomorrow. Thanks NOE.