need some education

[tomf52]

Just bought a H&R Buffalo Classic in 45 Colt and the bore slugs out to .453. Most of the molds available are .452. There are some at Midway at .454 which would be workable but I was wondering if I could try paper patching with smokeless as I have access to a .452 mold that I like the looks of. An RCBS but not sure right now of the model number. Don't know anything about paper patching and have never done it so I was wondering if someone out there could give me a quick education on the subject. Have been casting and reloading for many years but this would be a new venture. Thanks for any help with this.

[1Shirt]

IMO, paper patching has merit for some ctgs, and may even be prefered I guess. However, I do not think that PP for 45 colt would be worth the trouble. I would go with .454 molds, or consider beagleing .452's.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[pdawg_shooter]

+1 on 1Shirt. Not much advantage in handgun cartridges. However if you want to try, first step is slug your barrel. Size the bullets to BORE diameter +.001/.0015. Patch up to Groove diameter +.001/.003 and lube after drying. Load and enjoy.

[303Guy]

Ther is the fun factor to consider. There is a certain satisfaction patching boolits and loading and shooting them.

Just a thought, if you get the .454 mold you could size to bore plus for patching or simply use as plain cast. It's probably easier to apply lube to a boolit than to wrap a patch but there is still that step.

Would it be true to say that the H&R with a 45 Colt and paper patch boolits would be usable at near rifle pressures?

[Harter66]

Not to deter you ,but, my 452-255 rnfp drops at .454 with range scrape and over 453 with WW.

[tomf52]

THank you all for your replies and help. After reading through them I decided to just get a larger mold. Probably isn't worth the work for a pistol caliber.

[runfiverun]

your bbl is most likely 452.