RepackboxMidSouth Shooters SupplyWidenersInline Fabrication
RotoMetals2Reloading EverythingLoad DataTitan Reloading
Lee Precision
Page 1 of 5 12345 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 91

Thread: Best mold for heavy 45 LC rifle load

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    231

    Best mold for heavy 45 LC rifle load

    I have a 16 inch barreled Rossi M92 clone And I am looking for information on the heavier cast bullets that will function in this rifle. I have a LEE mold that makes a 255 gr, RF style bullet but it seems to be a pretty short bullet design though nose shape is acceptable. The rifle will feed Keith style bullets. Would like a bullet in the 290 to 320 grain weight range. Prefer a flat based design.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Southwest MO.
    Posts
    1,886
    The lee 452-300RF has a somewhat bigger meplat than the 255. Mine casts at 310 gr. It is a gas check design.
    It won’t stabilize in my Ruger new Vaquero. I can’t/don’t push it fast enough. With a faster twist or pushed faster it would be a real thumper.
    Some people live and learn but I mostly just live

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    AL
    Posts
    330
    I tried a 300gr boolit in marlin rifle, it shot well but was no better than the 255 gr that I normally shoot. The 255 was flatter shooting making 200 yd hits on steel easier.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Dillon, Montana
    Posts
    754
    Elmer Keith years ago used .45-90 300gr bullets sized down in his .45 Colt. I think he was using black powder. It might work for a modern steel rifle?
    U.S.A. " RIDE FOR THE BRAND OR LEAVE!"

  5. #5
    Vendor Sponsor

    DougGuy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    just above Raleigh North Carolina
    Posts
    7,395
    The heavier you go the more spin it needs to stabilize. If you have a 1:38 twist, a 300 has to be shoved pretty good to get it accurate enough at 100yds for hunting.
    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.

  6. #6
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    41
    Marlin CB 24" barrel 1:38 twist, NOE 454-285 SWC load VV N110 22gr around 1730fps at muzzle, makes round holes inside 4-5"groups piipsight target standing at 150 meters/164yds. Me likes.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    231
    The Rossi has a 1 in 30 twist. My scheme is to put together a cheap shootemintheass load for feral hogs. Distances are usually well within 50 yards. My property is over run with them and I am running traps, hunting them at night and even see them in the daylight mostly when checking traps. I try to sneak up on them but a lot of times they are running and just as I get my sights on them they are dissapearing into the brush. I want to be able to take those shots and have a good enough blood trail to find them. Of course I also want to break every bone the bullet hits also. Would the 255 grain bullets do this if cast hard? The 280 grain mold made by NOE seems like a good one.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master


    cwlongshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Central Connecticut
    Posts
    3,729
    I have the same and my LEE 454-300 RD @ 300g shoots just fine!!

    CW
    NRA Life member • REMEMBER, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE its being paid for in BLOOD.
    Come visit my RUMBLE & uTube page's !!

    https://www.RUMBLE.com/user/Cwlongshot
    https://youtube.com/channel/UCBOIIvlk30qD5a7xVLfmyfw

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    231
    I want that bullet in plainbase form!

  10. #10
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    41
    I cast those NOe boolits from 1:16 tin/lead, pan lubed with my own lube mix beeswax coconut grease and candle. No leading.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master


    cwlongshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Central Connecticut
    Posts
    3,729
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	4AAD90D9-AB74-447D-83DB-835F12AA9494.jpg 
Views:	38 
Size:	32.3 KB 
ID:	250535

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	FCFB0135-D5F5-451B-9C0A-9FEC364E694B.jpg 
Views:	37 
Size:	22.9 KB 
ID:	250536
    NRA Life member • REMEMBER, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE its being paid for in BLOOD.
    Come visit my RUMBLE & uTube page's !!

    https://www.RUMBLE.com/user/Cwlongshot
    https://youtube.com/channel/UCBOIIvlk30qD5a7xVLfmyfw

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    231
    Are you using gas checks CW? Oddly enough I found 400 or so 270 gr. Keith SWC in a box I have been keeping on a shelf for years, must have cast them in the 70's. Going to start with 13.0 grains of Blue dot. My guestimate chronograph figures I will be getting around 1300 fps?

  13. #13
    Boolit Master


    cwlongshot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Central Connecticut
    Posts
    3,729
    I use a GC if the bullet. Alls for one. Its not needed but I use it.

    CW
    NRA Life member • REMEMBER, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE its being paid for in BLOOD.
    Come visit my RUMBLE & uTube page's !!

    https://www.RUMBLE.com/user/Cwlongshot
    https://youtube.com/channel/UCBOIIvlk30qD5a7xVLfmyfw

  14. #14
    Boolit Master


    Walks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    3,028
    The Lee #452-255-RF shoot great in my Marlin Cowboy 24", pushing it over max charges of Ruger loads for the old #454190. Which is also a Great Bullet. I favor 2400 for Rifle Loads that hit hard. The longer bbl gives time to completely burn all the 2400.
    Tried the Saeco #454 300gr SWC, but it didn't give me the accuracy I wanted. One of the few molds I've ever sold. But no Casull anymore, so didn't really need the mold.

    If you trim all your cases to minimum when you start, you'll never have to do it again. And you'll get a very consistent roll crimp, which I've found to really increase accuracy in a Pistol-Caliber Lever Rifle.
    I HATE auto-correct

    Happiness is a Warm GUN & more ammo to shoot in it.

    My Experience and My Opinion, are just that, Mine.

    SASS #375 Life

  15. #15
    Boolit Master Idaho Mule's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Viola, Idaho
    Posts
    1,000
    Another mould to consider is RCBS 45-270-SAA. Cast of 16:1 mine drop about 282 gr. I am using Marlin Cowboy with 24" brl. Should get similar results as the above mentioned NOE mould. JW

  16. #16
    Boolit Master



    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    1720 miles East of Wall Drug, North of Cooperstown, NY
    Posts
    1,082
    rickT300, I do not shoot a 45 colt pistol or rifle. I do shoot and have harvested a lot of deer with a smooth sided projectile very similar to the LEE 452-255 RF. In Smokeless muzzle loaders I and my family shoot my hard cast .452 ( water dropped Boolits ) in sabots. from smokeless and and other ML rifles using sabots . I have 3 smooth sided molds for sabot shooting. Verel Smith of LBT made one of my molds. he recommended Hard cast and 1500 FPS muzzle velocity to harvest any North American game. It has been my experience that his advice is spot on. Water drop frosted boolitz from your LEE mold and lube and size for your rifle, Load them for 1500 to 1750 FPS and they will break bones, leave a great wound channel to bleed and or shoot length wise of a hog with no problem.

    Hard cast and let the meplat do its thing creating tissue spray as it passes threw.

    Ken
    ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
    Je suis Charlie
    Remember Lavoy!
    I'll cling to my God and my guns, and you can keep the "Change".

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    231
    Unexpected good results from old cast bullets. The ones I have been shelving since the 70's, the Lyman Keith 270 gr. bullet. I really didn't have much hope for them as they were a bit beat up (some of them anyway) Loaded the first 6 on top of 14 grains of Blue Dot and they shot just fine but there was a trace of leading near the muzzle about an inch in so I dropped my powder charge to 13 grains and loaded 6 more. before I fired these I shot a jacketed bullet and it wiped all but the merest traces of lead out. I shot four of them into 1 3/4 inches at 75 yards! Having two loaded rounds left and a stockpile of filled water jugs for bullet testing I lined four gallon milk jugs full of water up spaced an inch apart, went back to 75 yards and hit the front one just over the tag. The bullet split all four jugs nicely and went through the 3/4 inch plywood used to hold my targets with, grooved 7 inches of mud before deflecting upward into the berm! I don't think 5 jugs would have stopped the bullet. Think I will pick through the bullets and use the prettiest ones for hunting, I didn't do this for my initial testing. Previously I had decided to use the 240 gr. Sierra HP because I had them. The water jug test with them was not as impressive as that bullet stopped in the 4th jug and didn't even split the third. These were loaded on top of 24.0 grains of IMR 4227 which sure left a lot of unburnt powder in the bore.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    North central Ohio/Roane County, W.Va.
    Posts
    1,426
    If your getting groups like that, you might consider sending one of those bullets to Tom at Accurate Molds and have him duplicate it. His molds are excellent
    “Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
    ― Mark Twain
    W8SOB

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    231
    Well I admit to having a 2.5 power scope on the rifle in a scout style and these bullets were made by a mold I owned long ago but gave away when I joined the Navy. I am really considering not getting fully back into casting just yet. I have to find some tin somewhere. Or I could just order some from a casting outfit and not worry about it. And truthfully I expected to get a cast bullet to shoot this well. Years ago when I did a lot of casting bullets I could get very tight groups from 30-06, 303 British and 30-30 military and Thompson Center barrels. Comparable to jacketed bullets. One of my 30-06 rifles would not shoot as well with jacketed as it would with cast.

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    IOWA
    Posts
    259
    Quote Originally Posted by Idaho Mule View Post
    Another mould to consider is RCBS 45-270-SAA. Cast of 16:1 mine drop about 282 gr. I am using Marlin Cowboy with 24" brl. Should get similar results as the above mentioned NOE mould. JW
    +1 but use h110

Page 1 of 5 12345 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

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