New 45 colt owner. Want a mold

[gitzitfish]

I’m a new Blackhawk owner in 45 colt. I’m a caster and have cast many bullets in the past for multi calibers. I’ve got a bunch of molds but nothing that works for 45 colt. Looking for a mold for a 7.5” Blackhawk and a future purchase of either a Rossi 92 or a Marlin 94. I’m a big lever fan and have found to love them more and more as I’m left handed. Anybody have a line on a must have mold please let me know. As things are now as much as I read and try to buy its “out of stock”. I’ve been a long time lurker here and have read a ton of posts and have learned a ton which I thank you all for!

[USSR]

Your Blackhawk will digest a lot of different bullets and bullet shapes; lever guns, not so much. With the lever gun in mind, I would get a RNFP bullet that isn't too long to ensure that it will feed properly.

Don

[big bore 99]

My Blackhawk and my Winchester'94 levergun both do good with the Lee 255 gr rnfp

[CastingFool]

I use both the lee 452-200 rf, and the 255 rf in my Rbh, with 7-1/2" barrel.

[Wheelguns 1961]

My blackhawk and my marlin 1894 both shoot a noe 454-280 WFN great. It is more like a LFN to me. It is too long for my m-25, and I can only put 9 in my marlin because of the length. I use this bullet for deer hunting, and it is a good one.

[farmbif]

mp makes a mold 454-360. round nose flat point with 4 types of hollow point pins included.
I'm sure there are others that have good things to say about this one in 45 colt

[bruce381]

this is what I use sized to .452 NO leading and clean barrel.

[DougGuy]

Hard to beat the 454190 sized .452" take a .452" boolit and see if it will go through your cylinder throats from the front. If not, throats likely need honing, very common, easy fix. Haven't seen a Ruger single action yet that hasn't benefited from having throats properly sized.

[Targa]

I am a big fan of the Lee 452-255-RF mold. I can’t believe I paid $20 for a mold (yes, 2 cavity) that casts bullets as well as it does. The caveat is finding one in either 2 or 6 cavities at fair prices. By fair I mean in the neighborhood of $25 for a two cavity or $45 for a six cavity. Any more than that I would certainly be looking at an MP, Arsenal or NOE mold for example which are higher quality.
Here is a crummy picture of the Lee bullet in a .454Casull application just to give you a rough idea of a design that will function reliably in a lever gun.

[Brettitt41]

I went with the NOE Bullet Mould 454-255-SWC-AD4-21 for my Schofield in 45LC. Nice Keith style bullet.

[Castaway]

My vote is for the Lee 255 RNFP. It’s a thumper on deer and hogs and I consistently get 5/5 in the X ring at 50 yards with my Win 92 and also did with my now stolen Win 94. My Black Hawk loves it also at moderate Unique loads or full house Ruger loads using either of the 4227’s or surplus H110. For the heavy loads I’ve found that a cardboard wad helps reduces the group size substantially

[FlyfishermanMike]

The Lee 200, 255 and 300 all shoot great in my BH!

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[Jeff Michel]

Lee 255 if you go with the Rossi/Winchester clone. Like Wheelguns1961, I use the NOE 454-280 in my Marlin, no way will it feed in a '73 or a '92. Never tried it in my BlackHawk but it works very well in as a .45. in my .454 RedHawk.

[Mk42gunner]

I like the Lyman 452424 in my Vaquero and Marlin 1894CB, can't remember if I tried it in the Rossi or not.

If I were to start over, I think I would look hard at Lee's 255RF for use in both.

I'm not a big fan of going with the heavier 300+ grain boolits in the .44 Mag or .45 Colt. My thoughts are if you really need that much more power, you need a bigger gun.

Robert

[David2011]

I now have a RNFP but for years I used a Lyman 452374. It's the same shape as the original Browning ball ammo for the 1911 and works fine in the .45 Colt. Just an option if you find one.

[gitzitfish]

Thank you all for the great advice! I did end up ordering a couple NOE molds the other evening. Just like everything else they are sold out backordered. I got a couple that will work great off of recommendations. Also had a member offer me a Lee mold and I jumped on it. I’ve got a bunch of Lee molds and handful of Lymans. Also have NOE for my 45-70. I cast a good bit but a lot of my casting is for fishing baits, also cast good bit for black powder. I enjoy the heck out of casting and maybe sometimes I like it as much as shooting. Especially in these cold snowy days here in Ohio

[Freischütz]

454424 or its equivalent works well.

[gitzitfish]

Agreed from what I have read online the 454424 Is a great mold. Now finding one for sale is a complete different story hahaha

[USSR]

gitzitfish,

You want to be careful with going with the 454424 or any other SWC if you intend to use it in a lever gun. That's why there were so many suggestions for getting a RNFP.

Don

[gitzitfish]

USSR agreed. I currently don’t have a lever in 45 colt but plan to have one in the future. I have a variety of levers in mostly Marlin and I understand what you are saying about feeding. I do cast for four different lever guns now. The 45 colt is 100% new to me as a caliber and to me that’s part of the fun figuring out what works and makes them accurate. Thanks for the heads up