Need a 45 LC mold

[GMW]

I just placed a miroku 1873 sporting rifle on layaway and getting things ready for it. I have some Lee molds for 45acp, but they are .452 and I would guess that a .454 mold would be better. Anyone have a favorite bullet mold for this style of gun? This will be a fun gun and not used for hunting or hot loads.

[Pipefitter]

I would wait on buying a .454 mold until you have shot some of your .452 slugs through it. Almost all of the 45LC firearms have the same barrel dimensions as the 45ACP.

[hornady308]

I have an Italian '73 clone and it absolutely loves the Lee 452-255-rf more than any other bullet I have tried. Even the Lee 452-200-rf works pretty well, just not as accurate.

[Walks]

I started out shooting the RCBS .45-225-CAV in my .45COLT UBERTI 1873 clone back in 1992 when they first came out. There were no "Cowboy" bullets back then. Sized .452, bore slugged .451dia. that bullet dropped .454dia.
I used "Bear Creek" Moly lubed bullets when they were available in a 230gr TC for both Rifle & pistol. These days I use the Current LYMAN #452664 sized .452dia for Rifle & the discontinued LYMAN#452488 sized .452dia for pistol.

Slug your bore first before you decide on a bullet. Who the hell knows what the bore dia. of a jap rifle might be. My 40yr old BROWNING 1892 Carbine in .44MAG is .431dia.

[Time Killer]

I cant talk for the 45LC as I don't have one yet (Working on that issue). I do like the NOE HTC452-234-RN-BV5 (RG4) for my 45. It cast and shoots like a dream. I cast it with Pure Lead plus a small amount of tin. BHN is less than 8 and probably 6-7 according to the Lee tester. It runs 454.5 powder coated and weighs approx 222gr in the deep HP version. My accuracy node was around 830 fps with universal powder. Just a note I am guessing the bullet needs to be running around 950+ fps to start expanding properly and that is to hot for universal out of a 45 pistol at least for me. I worked my way up to max powder charge using water in milk jugs checking for expansion. I was only able to get around 900 fps with universal powder at max listed charge. The bullet was just starting to show signs of expansion. The brass and primers still looked good but i am not one to go over a max listing.

[ReloaderFred]

"My 40yr old BROWNING 1892 Carbine in .44MAG is .431dia."

The SAAMI spec. for the .44 Magnum rifle is a .431" bore, and for a .44 Magnum handgun, it's a .429" bore.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Jeff Michel]

The Lee 452-255RF

[sghart3578]

The Lee 452-255RF

This right here.

I shoot this bullet, as cast, no sizing in my Vaquero, Blackhawk and my Rossi 92.

One light coat of tumble lube with BLL or 45-45-10 and load them over 8.5 gr of Unique or 7.5 gr of Bullseye.

Shoot, load, repeat.

[evoevil]

I'm waiting on mine for MP molds. its slow going but got what I wanted

[LazyTCross]

No matter what “molds” you decide on(notice molds is plural!). I think the Lee 255 is a great choice. Cheap. Casts fast and well. And will fly true forever so long as it fits your gun.

But for specialty purposes I would suggest MP molds 308 454. With the HP pins. I have it without the pins, but have learned from that mistake. Still an excellent shooter and mold.

[LazyTCross]

Your 8.5 of unique and tumble lubed setup has gone through my vequaro a thousand times! Now I have migrated to 9.2 or 9.8 of hurco 9.2 is about the same as 8.5 unique. I am kinda liking hurco at this time

[RogerDat]

+1 on the Lee 255 RF If you have a tubular magazine you don't want a round nose that can engage the primer of the case in front of it and that Lee 255 works very well in my vaquero. I also use a slightly lighter Lee the 452-200 RF makes a nice round for daughter or grand kids with less recoil. It also works for 45 ACP so it's a two-fer.

[salvadore]

I also like. Lee 255rf but it casts .452, works fine in my Italian rifle and revolver but not my Colt SAA. I purchased a noe of similar design with gas check and hp which works fine in the Colt (sized .454) and steadier rifle loads. Casting with really soft metal in hp form makes a nice bullet at regular .45 Colt pressures for use in the SAA.

[salvadore]

I also like. Lee 255rf but it casts .452, works fine in my Italian rifle and revolver but not my Colt SAA. I purchased a noe of similar design with gas check and hp which works fine in the Colt (sized .454) and steamier rifle loads. Casting with really soft metal in hp form makes a nice bullet at regular .45 Colt pressures for use in the SAA.

[Larry Gibson]

I use my Uberti SAAs and M1873 carbine for fun shooting. In the Carbine I shoot out to 200 yards with the sight. I tried several bullets from 185 gr to 255 gr and found the Lee 452-200-RF shoots just fine in both revolver and carbine. The oal is perfect for flawless feeding in the 1873 Carbine. I load them over Bullseye to just at 1200 fps in the Carbine and they then run at 950 fps out of the SAAs. I have measured the pressure (Oehler M43 and Contender barrel) of my load and it's right at 14,000 psi; the SAAMI MAP for the 45 Colt. I cast the bullets out of odds n ends alloys left over so it's usually pretty soft in the 10 - 12 BHN range. They drop from the 6 cavity Lee mould most often at .453 - .454 so I use a .454 H&I in the 450 to lube them with BAC. I seat to the crimp groove and slightly crimp using a Dillon SDB to load them.

I also have used numerous 185 - 205 gr SWC 45 ACP bullets sized at .452 with excellent results.

For SASS or casual shooting I recommend the 200 gr Lee bullet.

[georgerkahn]

My favorite .45 rifle bullet is RCBS 45-225: 2-cavity RN mould coming out (for me!) at a medial 226 grains, and 0.4525" to 0.453" with my alloy; I use a #552 top punch. In a semi-automatic .45 rifle it functions well, and is pretty consistent and accurate at (my target distance) 75 yards. I also use Bullseye powder.
georgerkahn

[Edward]

This right here.

I shoot this bullet, as cast, no sizing in my Vaquero, Blackhawk and my Rossi 92.

One light coat of tumble lube with BLL or 45-45-10 and load them over 8.5 gr of Unique or 7.5 gr of Bullseye.

Shoot, load, repeat.

Me Too!

[jrmartin1964]

My personal favorite is Lyman's No.454190.

[GMW]

It looks like I will put the money for a new mold towards the rifle instead. I already have the Lee's in 200gr TC and 230gr TC and I'll just wait and see how they work. Buying a new rifle still lets the butterflies loose in my stomach and I have to use extreme caution on not jumping the gun and selling one of my other guns to finance this 1873. I always end up with seller's remorse. But my CZ 452 Lux in 22lr has not been shot in a couple of years..............hmm

[Bohica793]

My personal favorite is Lyman's No.454190.

What he said....