DougGuyYou will find a multitude of help and suggestions here. Everything from casting to crimping and all things in between. This is the best forum on the net in a LOT of ways..Originally Posted by Brandi
I will send you a PM about the other forum..
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You will find a multitude of help and suggestions here. Everything from casting to crimping and all things in between. This is the best forum on the net in a LOT of ways..
I will send you a PM about the other forum..
Got a .22 .30 .32 .357 .38 .40 .41 .44 .45 .480 or .500 S&W cylinder that needs throats honed? 9mm, 10mm/40S&W, 45 ACP pistol barrel that won't "plunk" your handloads? 480 Ruger or 475 Linebaugh cylinder that needs the "step" reamed to 6° 30min chamfer? Click here to send me a PM You can also find me on Facebook Click Here.
ROFLMAO!
Anybody else have a flash of Ben dressed in a black cape standing over a broken Lyman 4500 saying "Lube. . .I am your father!", or is that just me?
WWJMBD?
In the Land of Oz, we cast with wheel weight and 2% Tin, Man.
Lot's of great information, thanks! It'll take me a bit to go through it all and mentally digest it lol. I knew that getting into reloading would have a learning curve so I was ready for that but the sheer amount of information out there for just one caliber is brain stretching lol. Hopefully we'll have our chronograph sometime before next month and we'll be able to start really seeing what our test loads are doing speedwise. I got a great book on loading for the Springfield Trapdoor for my birthday a couple weeks ago and I've been doing a lot of reading about loading the best .45-70's for these old beauties. (Yes, I do have one) It's an 1873 Model carbine that started life as a rifle and was cut down (as many were) at some point. Some folks who know these guns pretty well have inspected it and said it was likely cut down in the late 1800's by someone who was extremely skilled because it was done very well. The bore is in excellent condition and the gun itself is in very good condition. I really wanted a "from the arsenal" carbine but couldn't afford one at the time and this one showed up at the right time and right price so I bought it. I LOVE these guns
I would say pick one of the many commercial caster's 250 gr RNFP. They are made to feed in leverguns. Levers can be fussy about what they will feed. You will have to test a bit to find a load that works with rifle and revolver.
The Accurate 45-2450 looks about right for a hunting and target all around bullet.
Just to clarify the Accurate mold designator, the last is a letter "O" as in Oscar, not a figure "zero."
A wonderful revolver game bullet which feeds well in rifles.
However, at ranges beyond 100 yards in rifles I have found the 45-259EB to be a better long range performer, if that is important for you and is cast in soft 1:40 tin-lead alloy also a good game bullet with full charges.
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Keep it to yourself.
All good advise here. The 454190 is not recommended for tubular magazines because the meplat is small enough that it could theoretically detonate a large primer under recoil. I'm not familiar with any detonation in a tubular magazine ever actually occurring, but even frontier era guns had flat noses for tubular magazines.
I load 45 colt for a 5.5" revolver, 16" carbine and 20" rifle with scope. I've settled on 2 bullets for use. First is the commercially made Magma 45-250 which I buy in bulk from Missouri Bullet Co as the #1. The other is the Lee 452-255 that drops and lubes at 260gr +/- 1. Both are rnfp. For me, powder selection is the key. I load with 8gr Unique for 925fps out of the revolver and 1120fps out of the carbine. That charge slows down out of the 20" barrel so I use 16gr of 2400 over the Lee for it. Slightly better velocities and will cut clovers at 40 yards if I do my part.
Unique is a fine old powder, but I don't think it's best in the 250gr and above range. It's a medium powder that does a little of everything ok, but not great. Fine for the revolver and carbine at steel plates, but it does better in the Schofield case with 180 to 225gr bullets and shorter case.
That said, both of those bullets seat deaper than some. The #1 seats in the groove at an OAL of 1.575" and doesn't require anywhere near the published load data to get the velocity. Same with the Lee as it seats to right about 1.555" for me.
For reference, here's my last chrono session for Unique and the #1 Missouri Bullet at 1.575" OAL . Arrows indicate whether the muzzle was pointed up and brought down to target or the opposite.
Welcome to the sport.
LOL, I was thinking the same thing.😂
Good things to think about here. Just try not to get overwhelmed, it's easy to do with all the enthusiastic helpers here. Stick to simple at first. The 45 Colt is forgiving to reload and lots of fun to experiment with.
I was a dog on a short chain.
Now there's no chain.
Jim Harrison
The 454190 or its clone from Accurate Molds.
Attachment 173164
The bullet you showed is my all time favorite plane base bullet for 45 Colt. I literally shoot thousands of them a year. They work great from hard cast to soft cast and they work in my lever actions and they work in my handguns. I have shot everything from deer and bear with them all the way down to ground squirrels. I shot my black bear last year with this bullet out of a revolver and I have shot multiple deer with them as well. Can't say enough good things about that mold.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true
Two bullets I have had exceptional luck with at velocities from 800 to 100 FPS are the Lee 250gr RNFP and the best is the RCBS 45-270SAA which drop at 284 grains from my mold with wheel weights. Both will do most anything I ask a 45 Colt to do, and I shoot them in everything from a S&W 25-13 to a Freedom Arms 454 Casull. They are exceptionally accurate in my Ruger Flattop 45.
Ok Brandi, In looking over the responses I think it's a safe bet to say that the RF or RNFP style is most favored. It is here too.
I use the Lee C452-300-RF which gains very high remarks among shooters and hunters. There was a group buy last year for an "improved" version of this boolit that had better and more pronounced crimp grooves, the gas check shank was larger and a more snug fit than the Lee, and it could be ordered .452" or .454" which is much better than the hit or miss sizing of the Lee mold. Some Lee molds dropped small and some dropped large enough to size to .452" and this should cover just about any need for a heavy for caliber boolit.
There are several different producers of the 255gr RF boolit. The NOE design was mentioned a few posts up from this one and it is also an improved version of the Lee C452-255-RF for a more standard weight boolit for .45 Colt.
So I will say that my vote for the best all around boolit for .45 Colt would have to go to the 255gr RF style with the widest meplat I could find. I would also choose one with one lube groove as opposed to several shallow grooves like a TL would have, and I would choose one with a well defined crimp groove. I guess I am describing the NOE mold perfectly now..
Edit: I just remembered two samples sent to me by a member for testing in my .45 Schofield project that deserve honorable mention here too. Fitting the above description to the TEE, are two LBT 250gr WFN boolits, one with plain base and one gas check. These are from Montana Bullet Works (which is apparently open again). The .350" meplat is HUGE, and I particularly like the sides of this boolit as there is quite a long bearing surface. I haven't fired any of these but they should be an excellent performer on targets or game. The PB weighs 246gr the GC weighs 253gr.
Links:
https://www.montanabulletworks.com/p...-250gr-wfn-gc/
https://www.montanabulletworks.com/p...-250gr-wfn-pb/
Montana Bullet Works also offers the 260gr LBT Ogival Wadcutter if you fancy a near soup can which would offer a devastating wound channel at supersonic velocities for hunting.
https://www.montanabulletworks.com/p...-250gr-owc-pb/
Last edited by DougGuy; 07-29-2016 at 01:42 PM.
Got a .22 .30 .32 .357 .38 .40 .41 .44 .45 .480 or .500 S&W cylinder that needs throats honed? 9mm, 10mm/40S&W, 45 ACP pistol barrel that won't "plunk" your handloads? 480 Ruger or 475 Linebaugh cylinder that needs the "step" reamed to 6° 30min chamfer? Click here to send me a PM You can also find me on Facebook Click Here.
well let me say this I own two pistols and two leveraction rifles in 45 colt and I use and old lyman single cavity mold in 454190 its a mold they don't make it anymore but only in a double cavity mold in that part number! so heres my load I cast out of this single cavity mold and it has no crimp groove but I use a lee collet crimping die part# 90302 it will make a crimp on that bullet! and I have no problem in both of my rossi 92 leveraction rifles with bullet setback! and I also use a lee sizer die in .457 and I get zero leading in any of my guns chambered for this bigger bullet! but I use 6.8gr greendot powder with this bullet and this shoots super accurate in all four of my guns and I have zero leading!!! and I lube with lee alox as I coat the bullets before sizing and then I recoat after sizing and let dry both times work very well!
Most of the Noe moulds drop rfswc bullets at .454. I will be getting a mold later this year.
The rf is not part of the mould designation but it is definitely a part of of the design.
The .45 long colt is a fundamently sound chambering. It'll shoot aerosol Cheese Whiz accurately.
Hmmm....I do like Cheese Whiz......
Still haven't decided on a factory bullet to load our .45 Colts yet.... We got a little side tracked by trying to pick a bullet and powder for 9mm since we just got those dies. We've amassed dies for .45 Colt, .45acp, 9mm, .357 mag and .223/5.56 to date and we needed 9mm more at the moment but I'm still trying to figure out a .45 Colt bullet.
A RNFP seems to be as good a choice as any of the SWC types so I just need to find an affordable place to get some hard lead bullets in the 255 grain range. Unfortunately I'm limited to "affordable" choices at the moment with the other calibers coming online and needing bullets and powder for them too.
You really don't need "hard" bullets in the .45 Colt. Original factory loads were soft, nearly pure lead. I use 1:30 tin-lead in my revolver loads up to 1000 fps and for plain based rifle loads to 1400 fps. using either smokeless or black powder.
Matt's Bullets is a good place to try a few http://www.mattsbullets.com/index.ph...roducts_id=279
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Keep it to yourself.
I'm not opposed to common soft bullets but I want to stick with something that will drill holes through big gnarly hogs, mountain lions, alligators, black bears, sasquatches, yeti's and rhinosauruses that might jump out and try to sell me discount vacation time shares. Soft bullets don't work as well for the tougher critters.
If you are significantly exceeding black powder velocities, as in the "Ruger-Only" loads, I concur and agree.
But where I live there are no predators big enough to eat'cha, and I feel such loads unnecessary.
The classic black powder equivalent 255-grains, 1000 fps as obtained with black powder from a 7-1/2" barrel is entirely adequate for nearly all purposes you would attempt with a handgun.
Truth be told, the great majority of my .44 Magnum loads do not exceed that payload and energy level.
The ENEMY is listening.
HE wants to know what YOU know.
Keep it to yourself.
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| BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
| BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
| BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
| HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
| PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
| LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
| GC | Gas Check |
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