Casting for 45 long colt

[slk]

Guys I have just purchased a SAA 45 long colt. I have always used Lyman molds for casting but they have gone sky high. Are there any other molds that you might recommend that are good?

Steve

[DougGuy]

What make and model? Colt? Ruger? Italian clone?

[slk]

Cimarron/Uberti SAA pre-war 5 1/2" barrel

[DougGuy]

My boolit of choice for the Uberti (avatar pic) is the 454190 seated over 9 grains of Herco, very accurate and clean shooting. Throats are .4565" so I size to .456" and it works very well never have to clean this one.

[Ozark mike]

Lee molds are good for the money i repeat for the money. With a little work the make good boolits used em for years got a whole bunch of em for diffrent calibers if ya dont like working molds over i highly suggest lookin at toms catalog he makes the best molds out there and they will cast to perfect size if using the correct alloy just one exception he cant do rn molds

[slk]

Lee molds are good for the money i repeat for the money. With a little work the make good boolits used em for years got a whole bunch of em for diffrent calibers if ya dont like working molds over i highly suggest lookin at toms catalog he makes the best molds out there and they will cast to perfect size if using the correct alloy just one exception he cant do rn molds

What do you have to do to Lee molds to make them better/good

Steve

[Ozark mike]

I lapped some of mine others were good enuf as is. I do believe there are several pages of lee mold work on this forum just type in lee molds in the search heres one

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ight=Lee+molds

[bedbugbilly]

U gave both lyman 452-190 and 454-190 - both shoot great out of my Uberti 7 1/2" 45 Colt Cattleman. NOE makes a duplicate of that boolit - I have a 4 cavity - ,454. If you are looking to get a budget mold - then the Lee mold that duplicates that boolit will work just fine. My molds are back in MI and I am in AZ. I am getting ready to order the lee in the 200 and 255 grain versions (round nose flat point) to use in a Uberti 1858 Remington NMA with a Howell conversion cylinder and I anticipate the will work just fine over BP and smokeless. Yea . . . seems like the prices of used lymans/ideals are going up - but while a $20 lee mold will cast just fine, I personally would rather spend more for a lyman/ideal mold (been casting in them for 55+ years) or a good NOE, Accurate, etc. but since I don't have them with me, I can still do a whole lot of shooting with the droppings of a lee mold. All depends on how much you want to lay out. Good luck - you'll enjoy the 45 SAA.

[John Boy]

Accurate mold clone of the Ideal 454190 bullet ... http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=45-250D-D.png

[Tripplebeards]

I bought a lee 255 grain mold for my new vaquero. I load them long (almost touching my forcing cones) with 5.2 grains of trail boss. I can hit shotgun shells with every trigger pull at 25 yards when I have the correct finger placement on my trigger. I have them sized at .451” so I push them through my forcing cones with my finger using very little effort. At 15 yards I can stack them on top of each other with this load. I did nothing to my mold...just poured and PCd. Never even sorted by weight since I knew I wasn’t planning on shooting long range with them.

[Ozark mike]

Check yore chambers and make sure they are not small then you should be able to do the same at 50

[Tripplebeards]

My barrel slugged at .4505” and my forcing cones are .451” so my boolit sizes down just enough for zero leading and excellent accuracy as fast as I can push it. Been down that road the day I picked up my pistol and talked back and forth with Doug. I got tired of asking questions and went to the range to let my fingers do the walking and found I out I bought a good one!

[Ozark mike]

Glad to hear

[slk]

I bought a lee 255 grain mold for my new vaquero. I load them long (almost touching my forcing cones) with 5.2 grains of trail boss. I can hit shotgun shells with every trigger pull at 25 yards when I have the correct finger placement on my trigger. I have them sized at .451” so I push them through my forcing cones with my finger using very little effort. At 15 yards I can stack them on top of each other with this load. I did nothing to my mold...just poured and PCd. Never even sorted by weight since I knew I wasn’t planning on shooting long range with them.

Are you using the Lee MOLD DC 452-255-RF

Steve

[big bore 99]

Having good results with the Lee 255gr in my Ruger.

[Castaway]

I’m a fan of the Lee 255 RNFP for both plinking and hunting. If you go with the Lee, suggest you get a six cavity version. I use it with black powder, it’s useable, but the two narrow lube grooves makes it not the best choice. I like my RCBS 270 Keith mould too. Carries enough lube for black powder, is more accurate than I am, but is a 2 cavity mould. As a starter mould, overall, I’d go with the Lee version. Half the cost of the RCBS or other steel moulds with three times more bullets. Let’s you determine if you want to keep casting before you invest a lot of money.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Steve,

I've been casting & loading these with good results.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...old-452-200-rf

AntiqueSledMan.

[CastingFool]

I, too, use the lee 452-200 rf, cast with 50%coww, 50% soww, 2% pewter, unsized, no problems, out of my Henry BBS

[Tripplebeards]

Are you using the Lee MOLD DC 452-255-RF

Steve

Yes I am. Works great! Picked my 2 cavity mold up on eBay brand new for $26 shipped. I did tons of research and everything I read said it was a great hunting, target, plinking, and great accuracy boolit. I casted mine up in 50/50 COWW and pure air cooled with 2% pewter added. I size mine through a lee push sizer. Mold number 90358. Looks like they run a little more now. Very easy to cast with it.

[LenH]

I am a fan of the Lyman 454-424, I have itin Lyman 2cavity and a NOE clone. I still have the Lyman but don't cast with it much as the NOE is a 4 cavity mold.
It has been my go to for nearly 45 years. I used to load it with 8 gr of Unique and it is a thumper. I don't load it so high any more but even at 7.2 of Unique
it can b a handful.

I guess the closest thing I have to a Lyman 454-190 is a NOE 454-265 WFN it has cup point pins and is also a accurate bullet.
One of my favorite is a NOE 452-230 RF that mold is closer to the to the Lyman 454-190 and is a good bullet also and has small HP pins,
I found it from a member here on the Swappin & selling. He had 2 that were close and sold one and it resides in my collection.

I have never had but one Lee mold and still use it some but never got any deeper in the Lee Catalogue.