Lyman 452460

[swampmaster]

I have a Lyman 452460 4 cavity mould that was new or like new I have tried to cast some but they never come out looking correct like the mould wont get hot enough,I can keep playing with it and know I will get it correct someday,But that is not my question. My question is this a good bullet design to keep around as it doesnt look like it holds much lube. I had thoughts of selling it because I dont like the look of the bullets but then am wondering if I will ever regret selling a nice 4 cavity 45 acp mould

[Lloyd Smale]

that is an excellent mold and probably the most consistantly acurate acp bullet there is. Ive shot it in probably 20 guns now and its allways gave top shelf accuracy. As a matter of fact its the bullet i shoot in competion with my kimber gold match for ppc and my gold cup for bullseye. Only other bullet that even comes close to it is a the H&G 200 swc.

[swampmaster]

that is an excellent mold and probably the most consistantly acurate acp bullet there is. Ive shot it in probably 20 guns now and its allways gave top shelf accuracy. As a matter of fact its the bullet i shoot in competion with my kimber gold match for ppc and my gold cup for bullseye. Only other bullet that even comes close to it is a the H&G 200 swc.

That is what I was looking for I will keep it and keep playing with it,The one I am playing with right now is the Lyman 452400 4c and love it

[Phil]

Lloyd is absolutely correct about the 452460. With light loads you only need lube the bottom groove. This bullet is wonderfully accurate in everything I have ever fired it in. You might try casting at a higher temp (or lower temp) or increase (or decrease) the rate of flow of the metal. One of those two things should show an improvement in the bullet. Mine come out looking like they were machined, nice sharp edges and well filled out body.

Cheers,

Phil

[fecmech]

It's my best bullet in the .45acp and with the sharp shoulder (my mold is from the 70's)that cuts a nice clean hole in the target. I only lube 1 groove on my bullets also and get zero leading. I preheat my 4 cav while the rcbs pot is melting the lead(max setting) by setting it across the top of the pot with aluminum foil over it. I come back in about a half hour and start my casting with the lead at about 800 deg. After about 10-15 casts and the spru hardening starts taking a long time I cut the pot back to about 650-700 deg and continue for as long as I can take it. The 4 banger will give you an easy 500-700 bullets per hour, don't give up on it. Good luck Nick

[mainiac]

This is the bullet that i shoot in my .45 colt bisley. 7.3 grs od red dot,and crimped in the top groove. This load will shoot 1 inch- 1.25 inch groups @ 25 yards easily! By far the most accurate bullet ive found, even though it doesnt belong in a colt case! B.T.W. 1020 f.p.s average velocity. Hardly any recoil

[Leftoverdj]

Fillout problems are almost always due to mould contamination. The factory preservatives are incredibly tenacious and can be in the pores of the metal. Any other method of cleaning is a poor substitute for boiling them in hot soapy water. Dish detergent works fine although I use an industrial degreaser sold by Brownell's. Boil at least a half hour and rinse under hot running water. The residual heat of the blocks will dry them quickly.

Other methods may work. This one DOES work and it does so all of the time.

[Char-Gar]

If you decide to see it for a reasonable price I would like to have it.

[swampmaster]

Thanks all I will be trying again this weekend,and have decided this sounds like a mould that i NEVER should get rid of. I can get it right, and now know I need to

[MT Chambers]

Swampmaster: In my experience some moulds don't do well with bottom pour and do much better with ladle pour or vice versa.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

A couple days ago, I found a 4 cav Lyman 452460 mold in my stash...I totally forgot about owning it? Heck there was even a Top punch in the box. According to my log book, I only cast with it once, in 2013.
The mold looked like new, I had bought it used from a fella that bought it new in the 1980s.
So I cleaned off the oil and fired up the lead furnace and started casting.
Dang those 4 cav Iron molds are heavy. I got about 350 cast before my arms gave out.

I lubed/sized them yesterday with the lyman 45 using SL68B and a 451 die. This one revolver(625JM) I have had been giving me fits trying to find a brass/boolits to fit in the moon clips and having the ammo/moon clip assembly fit into the cylinder...The cylinder seems tighter than any other I have ever owned. So this was my first attempt going this small.

Today, I setup the Lee turret press ...and Dang, according to my log book, I haven't loaded anything since May 2018, no wonder everything in the reloading room was dusty. I got about half the boolits loaded over some Unique. I'll finish them tomorrow and mount 'em on the moon clips and wait for the temp to get above freezing, then hit the range.

[Thin Man]

I started casting in 1973 when I bought a furnace, lube-sizer and box of molds (about 12 sets of blocks) from a guy who wanted to get into swaging. Among those molds was a Lyman 452460 (4X). I have used that mold since then (still have it) and it makes the most accurate and reliable (feeding) boolit I have to feed my autos and the occasional revolver. You have a winner, don't let it get away from you.

[dale2242]

My first 452460 was a single cavity I bought in the 60s.
The boolit was/is so accurate I bought a 4 cavity.
With all the 45 ACPs in the family it gets used...dale

[Ed_Shot]

Recently got a 452460 4 cav off ebay. My first 4 banger; wonderful mold but HEAVY. What COAL are you folks using? Lyman spec's COAL of 1.161" which is not 100% reliable for me. I've been testing 1.170" ~ 1.190". Wondered what is Go-To COAL for this boolit.

Should have mentioned I'm loading for G21, CZ 97 and 1911.

[skeettx]

45 ACP 452460
3.5 to 4.5 Bullseye

One holers :)

[Walks]

I use dawn dish soap to clean my molds.

Disassemble the mold, putting all screws & sprue plate into a pot of boiling soapy water. While that's going on;

Start with hottest tap water possible, squirt a drop of soap into each mold cavity. Scrub with a clean hard toothbrush, each cavity and all sides/surfaces.

Rinse COMPLETELY in Hottest tap water. Wipe all surfaces dry with as many paper towels as needed. Dry each cavity with a Q-tip, both ends+ to each cavity. Run Q-tips into each screw hole until they come out dry. Use canned Air to blow out the holes out too.

Remove screws/washers & sprue plate from soapy boiling water. Rinse in hottest tap water. Dry well, put tiniest drop of oil on each screw and run a slightly oily Q-tip into the handle screw hole and along the handle cut-outs in each mold block.

Beware of "Flash-Rusting". Don't know why this happens, but you can get very light surface rust in the mold cavities and
surfaces. That's why I only do this heavy first cleaning immediately before using a brand new iron/steel mold for the first time.

Reassemble the mold, attach handles. Tighten the sprue plate so that it moves with just a bit of stiffness.

Put on Safty Glasses, Take mold outside to driveway. Open mold completely as possible, sprue plate too. Using a Brand New Toothbrush and a can of BRAKE CLEANER. SQUIRT/BRUSH the heck out of the cavities and mold top and top/bottom of sprue plate.

Then set the mold on a hot plate pre-heated to 400degrees.

After about 20 minutes take the mold from the hot plate.
And REPEAT the Brake Cleaning Procedure Again.

Now fill the mold with 750degree Alloy.
Count 10 seconds and bust open the sprue. Dump the bullets.

Using a Q-tip Apply a SMALL amount of Sprue Plate Lube to the mold guide pins, the top of the Outside of the mold top surfaces and the Outside of the bottom of the sprue plate. Using another clean Q-tip wipe off the Sprue Plate Lube from the Top mold surfaces and the bottom of the Sprue Plate.

Fill the mold cavities and set aside.

Inspect previously dropped bullets.

They should be pretty good castings.

Discard to sprue pile and begin casting in earnest.

Watch your alloy Temp, keeping it between 700 to 750 degrees. Watch the level in your pot, when it goes down to 1/4 full, stop.

Put your mold with bullets still in it back on the hot plate.
Refill the pot.

Take a break. WASH YOUR HANDS or at least your Nitrile Gloves. I wear them under the Welding Gloves I wear while casting.

Go to the Head, drink a cup of coffee, or glass of water.

By the way, after the first pour of alloy, I place as many ingots of alloy ( one layers worth) on to the hot plate to prewarm them and cut down the time it takes the pot to come back up to proper casting temp. Usually about 8 one pound ingots. I pick them up with channel locks and CAREFULLY place them into the pot. Put as much sprues and other ingots as will comfortly fit into the pot to bring it up to full. Remember the alloy in the pot will have solidified before the last pre-heated ingot goes in.

I usually cast from 3 4cav Lyman molds at a time. That allows time for the sprue to solidify. Maintains a smooth rythem too.

Using molds of the same brand and/or configuration will help maintain a good rythem, which will result in more Good Bullets.

Having Molds of matching heights really helps make a good pour.

When using iron/steel molds I keep Pot Temp at about 725degrees.
When using Aluminum Molds I prefer 750degrees.

Good Luck.

[Burnt Fingers]

I love 200 gr SWC .45 ACP boolits. I've got several different molds that cast it.

One thing I've found with all of them is that they need to be run hot to fill out that sharp shoulder on the front band. If your mold and lead aren't hot you'll get rounded shoulders.

I preheat the mold on a hot plate and run my pot at 800 degrees, PID controlled. Even doing this I have to make sure to hit each sprue hold right on to get some molds to have good fill out. I am adding an additional 1% tin to my alloy.

The harder the alloy the better the fill out. Of course harder alloys generally have lower melting temps.

[GBertolet]

I have that mold also in 4 cavity. I bought it new 40 years ago. My bullets drop out at close to .454. Cast of WW, sized .452, and bottom only grease groove lubed with alox, shoots well in just about anything you try it in. I found that it likes to have it's lead a little warmer in order to get the sharp corners on the bullets.

[gwpercle]

Mine is a 2 cavity, bought abot 47 years ago .
I have won more than a few trophies using that bullet over 5.2 grains of Unique in 3 gun NRA Bullseye matches . Shooting 22 LR, 38 Special and 45 acp (Colt Gold Cup) .

In a GI 1911 match , using an old as issued WWII Army surplus pistol I snagged a big First Place win, used that very 452460 boolit over 5.2 grs. Unique.
Keep the mould !
Gary