first mold for .45acp

[mebe007]

Ok guys I'm new around here. I used the search feature but found so much stuff I was going crazy. So opinions please. What would be a good mold to produce good reliable bullets for my 1911 in .45acp

I've been looking at the lyman 452374 and the lee tl452 230 2r

Also anyone have a good source for a deal on one?

Thanks in advance guys

[runfiverun]

that lyman is a good one.
i replaced my 2 cav h&g 68 clone with the lyman 4 cav.

[35remington]

Both of those bullets you mention will feed well, and are the most reliable types out there as these bullets approximate the exact shape the gun was designed to feed....although the Lyman bullet is looking a little "pointy" as of late.

Eventually you'll also want a HG 68 200 SWC clone. Pick a good one like RCBS's or SAECO/Redding, as these are a little more faithful to the design than some others.

[yancey]

I replaced my lee 230 gr rn with the lyman 452-374. " you will not regret getting the lyman"

[mebe007]

Both of those bullets you mention will feed well, and are the most reliable types out there as these bullets approximate the exact shape the gun was designed to feed....although the Lyman bullet is looking a little "pointy" as of late.

Eventually you'll also want a HG 68 200 SWC clone. Pick a good one like RCBS's or SAECO/Redding, as these are a little more faithful to the design than some others.

R u talking about an rcbs rn mold?

[mebe007]

Then that brings up the whole single, double, quadruple cavity lyman mold?

[*Paladin*]

I have the Lee 6-cav 228-1R. It feeds well in all of my 1911's and drops boolits at 230 gr.

[Moonie]

The two I use I can recommend without reservation, the Lee 230gr TC (not the TL version) and the Mihec 200gr HP. I can't in good conscience recommend any new Lyman due to the issues with quality control they have been experiencing of late.

The two boolits above feed in everything I've tried them in.

[AnthonyB]

The RCBS 45-230CM is my favorite readily available 45ACP mould; I see no reason to use a RN when a larger meplat will function just as well. The Lee six-cavity 45-200 RFP is also becoming a favorite.
Tony

[mroliver77]

Lee makes what they call an H&G68 mold. It is close and works well. My older mold was plain base but the pic on Lees web page shows a bevel base. The H&G68 has become my favorite boolit for the 1911. I bought Mihas 6 cav version.
Jay

[mebe007]

i mean if its not a round nose it wont totally kill me. basically my concern again is reliability, on top of that i shoot a colt commander lightweight and for some reason in my mind the round nose would impart less force on the feed ramp.

i want the round i shoot to easily function in the gun and be reliable. i suppose those were the main reasons i was looking for a mold to duplicate the original round ball such as the lee TL452-230-2R and the Lyman 452374. but i had heard lots of mixed things with the tumble lube grooves.

another thing to keep in mind is i do not compete and when i carry i usually have store bought protection ammo. dont get me wrong i have complete faith in my reloads its just that i was advised that it is not a good idea to carry reloads for personal protection i a ccw. possible lawsuit from attacker or something.

keep it coming guys! i appreciate all the info.

remember i new to the casting scene and will most likely be using lee sizers to get started. down the road ill buy some better stuff.

also as of right now the alloy i am smelting is wheel weights and in the future i was looking at buy some hardball alloy from roto metals at some point. but just so everyone knows what alloy i will be using.

[Iron Mike Golf]

I have had great success with the older Lyman 452460. I just upgraded from SC to 4C

[MikeS]

First off, there's nothing wrong with Lee equipment, don't think just because it's less expensive than other brands that it's inferior. Richard Lee had/has some different ideas on things (like tumble lube), and many of them work fine. If you're going to start with the Lee dozers I would go with a TL designed boolit to start with as well. The TL bookies can be sized in their sizer 'dies'. I have the TL452-230-2R that you're thinking about, as well as the Lyman 452374, and they're both fine boolits. If you want to get started without spending lots of money give me a PM as I'm thinking of selling my lee mould ( I want to replace it with a 6 cavity version).

For the 45ACP I wouldn't bother looking at the hardball alloy, clip on wheel weights work fine, with the addition of some tin to make mould fillout easier. A lot of folks make the mistake of thinking harder boolits are better, fit is the important thing!

[mebe007]

ok so i just won an ebay auction for a single cavity 452374 on ebay for like $30 with handles, but i am still looking for another mold. since my roommate and i both are going to be casting for .45acp it would be nice to have another mold that isnt single cavity. should i get the tl452-230-2r or a different design?

[MikeS]

Sorry for the strange words in my last post, I'm typing this on my iPhone and it's auto correct turned sizers into dozers, etc.

[MtGun44]

H&G 68 clone, the closer to the original nose shape and length, the better. The Lyman
452460 is a really accurate design, but some guns will not feed it as well as the H&G68
which is the 'gold standard' for 1911 shooting, IMO.

If you have an old original milsurp 1911 without a throated bbl (nearly 1911s all have been
throated at the factory for decades) you may need a RN like the 452374, but it is a rare
gun these days that won't feed a H&G 68 at 1.250 LOA. Semi-clones with different nose
lengths will need a different LOA for some guns.

THE most important loading tip for .45 ACP is to use a separate taper crimp die and put
a noticiable taper crimp. IME the overwhelming majority of jamming with handloads in
.45 ACP is no or inadequate TC, followed in frequency by wrong LOA.

Bill

[mebe007]

i have a lyman taper crimp die that i use. i try to set crimp at .469 - .470

[sgabel1]

Ditto on the 452460. I have an old Ideal 4 cavity that I have shot several thousand through my Loaded Springer. Very accurate ,although a bit heavy for a long session of casting. Sized to 452 with Carnuba Red.

[gray wolf]

At this point it sounds like you are not sure what bullet will feed and give you trouble free shooting. If your pistols ramp and barrel are set up for ball ammo ( many new ones are not )
Then WC, HP, and Flat points May, I say May present a problem.
It's up to you to decide what is going to work
in your pistol.
So you can by a bunch of molds and try them all and decide for your self,
Or you can ask for some bullets to try from some of us, 25 0r 30 should confirm function.
It wouldn't take that many to establish the correct OAL for each.
How accurate will depend on how much you put into your load development.
All the I do this and I do that and this works for me are only guidelines as to what works for others. You have to let your pistol tell you if it's going to work.
Or you by a mold and take your chances.
I will help with some original H&G #68, a few flat points from a HP mold, if they work then a HP should work also. They have the same profile just no HP.
Pm me if interested. You can also try the bullet exchange. But I will help with what I can.
All I ask is you pay postage. Sorry I just can't do the postage, but I can do the bullets.

[mebe007]

At this point it sounds like you are not sure what bullet will feed and give you trouble free shooting. If your pistols ramp and barrel are set up for ball ammo ( many new ones are not )
Then WC, HP, and Flat points May, I say May present a problem.
It's up to you to decide what is going to work
in your pistol.
So you can by a bunch of molds and try them all and decide for your self,
Or you can ask for some bullets to try from some of us, 25 0r 30 should confirm function.
It wouldn't take that many to establish the correct OAL for each.
How accurate will depend on how much you put into your load development.
All the I do this and I do that and this works for me are only guidelines as to what works for others. You have to let your pistol tell you if it's going to work.
Or you by a mold and take your chances.
I will help with some original H&G #68, a few flat points from a HP mold, if they work then a HP should work also. They have the same profile just no HP.
Pm me if interested. You can also try the bullet exchange. But I will help with what I can.
All I ask is you pay postage. Sorry I just can't do the postage, but I can do the bullets.

Gray wolf you have a pm my freind. I appreciate everyone's help greatly. I'd anyone else could pitch in with a sample as well I would be very appreciative.

As if now my commander lightweight performs flawlessly with Wilson 47c mags and Hornady 230bsll and 230xtp seated to 1.230. It also seems to decent with the few raineer 200 fp I have run through it. The raineer 200swc feed decent with maybe 2 ftf in 2-3,mags it was seated with a little shoulder exposed to an oal somewhere around 1.256. The only thing I didn't like or shall I say scared me wad where I could see whew the most impacted on the alluminum feedramp which is the only reason I have stayed away from swc. I don't know if was truly an issue though

[fredj338]

First off, there's nothing wrong with Lee equipment, don't think just because it's less expensive than other brands that it's inferior. Richard Lee had/has some different ideas on things (like tumble lube), and many of them work fine. If you're going to start with the Lee dozers I would go with a TL designed boolit to start with as well. The TL bookies can be sized in their sizer 'dies'. I have the TL452-230-2R that you're thinking about, as well as the Lyman 452374, and they're both fine boolits. If you want to get started without spending lots of money give me a PM as I'm thinking of selling my lee mould ( I want to replace it with a 6 cavity version).

For the 45ACP I wouldn't bother looking at the hardball alloy, clip on wheel weights work fine, with the addition of some tin to make mould fillout easier. A lot of folks make the mistake of thinking harder boolits are better, fit is the important thing!

Well the QC at Lee has their stuff all over the board. Yeah, get a good mold & they work, get their avg stuff & it needs tweeking to work if at all. I prefer something of higher quality for a mold that will get used a lot, but when you price the Lee stuff, it works for the money invested, but can be a headache to get running 100%.
I like the various 200grSWC designs for a gen purp bullet in the 1911, most feed them well. For a all around 45acp bullet, any of the 230gr RN designs are tough to beat, work in anything.

[MikeS]

I started out using Lee 2 cavity moulds, I have a total of 4 of them, and only one has ever given me any problems. I have the TL 230 RN, the H&G #68 clone, the 220 RN for the Ruger Old Army, and the 170gr flat nose 30 cal. Only the 30 cal. ever gave me any problems, it doesn't fill out properly, get lots of boolits with wrinkles, even when both the mould & alloy are hot. At first I thought I was doing something wrong, but after getting a 311041 that casts really nicely I think it might be a problem with that mould.

I think the Lee 2 cavity moulds are a really good value when you consider that you cam get a new 2 cavity mould for around $20.00 + shipping compared to about $100 for a Lyman mould (when you buy the mould & handles new). It's also a good way to try a particular boolit style before investing a lot more money on a mould with more cavities (Lee six. banger, Lyman 4 banger, etc.). I bought a Lee H&G #68 clone to see if my guns would like it, and they do, so I'm going to replace the mould I bought with either a Lee 6 banger, or perhaps a Saeco, or if I'm lucky, and can find it, a real H&G #68!

[yancey]

Mebe007, I have a few different style boolit's i would be more than happy to give you to try out.
" just shoot me a pm if you are interested "

yancey

[Caster Blaster]

I have to agree with everything MikeS said already, I too had a 1 in 4 failure rate with my Lees. Usualy the bigger than 250grains start being a problem, my smaller ones are great, including my 230 RN-TL, which I have run litteraly THOUSANDS of boolits thru, as a second mold, for the price you cannot beat it. definately get the 6-banger thou and the taper crimp is hugely important, good luck. BTW, for a tumble lube, 45% alox 45% JPW 10% mineral spirits before and after sizing has got to be one of the best recipies going