Lee 452-255-RNFP in 45 ACP

[jmsj]

Hey guys,
I had used up all the commercial cast bullets that I have been using in my CCW 45 ACP. I was thinking about buying a new mold just for my my CCW pistol but money has gotten a little tight as of late. I remembered reading about members using the Lee 452-255-RNFP in 45 ACP. I have that mold and a few hundred of those already cast and lubed with FWFL, so I thought I would give them a try.
This is the best boolit I have tried in .45 ACP. It shoots better than my H&G 68's and 452460's. I started at 5.5gr. of Unique and then went to 5.7gr of Unique. At 5.7 recoil does not seem as stiff as factory hardball ammo and there are no signs of high pressure. I think I might try 6.0gr. of Unique next.
Here is a picture of my CCW pistol. It is one I put together it is a Detonics receiver mated to a Commander length slide. The group of smaller holes at the top of the target are from my daughter shooting a 30/30. The flyer at the bottom was all me and my flinch. This is the best group I have ever fired w/ this pistol.

http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae97/jmsj515/311008in30-30Trapper004.jpg

Here is a picture of a group fired w my Taurus 1911. I have posted before about how I can't get this pistol to group very well. I couldn't believe how well the 255gr Lee shot in this gun. I have also posted on how you have to keep an eye on the ambi safety coming apart. Well, you'll notice the thumb safety is missing in the picture. I was so excited about the groups and picking up my brass that I didn't notice it was loose or that it had fallen out. I will have to go and look for the left side of the safety. I am not even going to try and find the plunger and plunger spring. I am going to contact Taurus and see if the make a standard thumb safety they will send me to replace this *** thumb safety.

http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae97/jmsj515/45ACPandLee452-255-RNFP001JPG.jpg


I got to thank you guys. I would have never thought of using the Lee 255 grainer in 45 ACP if I hadn't read about it here.
jmsj

[Catshooter]

Ain't it grand when a plan comes together?

And, even though money is tight for you just now, you can still shoot & be armed 'cause you have the sense to cast/reload. Good on ya!


Cat

[35remington]

What's your OAL?

Keep a very careful eye on seating depth. I've shot it some myself. I can't say that it's of such a shape that I would trust it for self defense use, as it is outside the ogive shape the 1911 was designed to feed, but I haven't had much trouble doing a fair amount of shooting with it. The meplat is too wide and the ogive curve rather wrong for me to trust it much.

I'd suggest the proper OAL is a narrow range. Too short causes feeding issues, as does too long. Further, deep seating can cause chambering issues from case bulging. As well as running up pressures, of course. Some stock ACP seating stems don't seat it very straight.

It's also magazine finicky. For regular use I would park it at about 5.5 (or maybe your 5.7) of Unique and call it good. Especially since 6.0 Unique and a RN 230 of ball profile gets over 850. A 255 oughta be running about 800 or so to make a low stress practice load that is easy on the gun.

Wouldn't care to get shot with it at that speed either, if you're absolutely certain it will feed with a lot of shooting. Since reliability is so important I will sacrifice some meplat to gain reliable feeding. But to each his own.

[jmsj]

Cat,
Thanks, one of the reason I got into reloading 25+ years ago was the self reliance factor.

35remington,
I did not record the OAL, I adjusted to seating depth using the barrels of the two pistols. The Detonics has a Storm Lake match barrel and it's chamber is a lot tighter than the Taurus. I used the Storm Lake chamber to set the OAL and then checked it in the Taurus and all magazines to be used. I then made a few dummy rounds to test feeding. When I develop a round, I keep the dummy rounds as OAL gauges to reset my seating die. I will measure the OAL for you the next time I go to the shop.
Your advice to thoroughly check reliability is sound. I have only fired 25 of these rounds but did not have a failure to feed, fire or eject. I am going to load and fire a bunch more ( hundreds) before it becomes my CCW round. But I am really encouraged by the results so far. I have already loaded some 452460's to use for now.
At 5.7 gr. of Unique, I did not feel the gun battering the frame but I have a shok buff installed. I too believe that 5.5gr-5.7gr of Unique is sufficient for a SD load. It was only my curiosity that wanted to see if 6.0gr. of Unique would be more accurate.
As to sacrificing reliability for meplat, I agree. I do like the larger meplat on the Lee 255. But that is the great thing about our hobby, we are free to try different ideas out. If we don't try out different ideas we may miss out on something great.
This may really work great or it may totally fail, only pursuing it will tell.
Thanks for your input, jmsj

[The Virginian]

I find these bullets meant for the .45 Colt very versatile in .45 ACP, 45 Auto-Rim and properly sized in .455 Webley/Eley. The nice thing this does it basically turn your .45 ACP pistol into a .45 COLT- AUTOMATIC PISTOL with the 255 bullets traveling at 800+ fps. I too have used a similar .45 Colt bullet in .45 ACP cases and have gotten excellent results too. My 1911 guns only have a shok-buff installed and no signs of damage after shooitng 1000s of these heavy bullet loads. I do change the recoil spring out regularly, just to be sure it does not compress prematurely and do any damage.

[bigboredad]

On my last 1911 I shot that bullet alot with 5.4gr of unique in my gun it never missed a beat 100% reliability and I thought it was very easy on the shooter and gun 6gr. not so much

[txbirdman]

I've used that bullet in my Colt Combat Commander using 6.0 gr. of Herco. It clocked at 805 fps and seemed to work fine. I have also used the 200 gr. version of that bullet in the Commander with 7 gr. of Unique. From what I can tell it's the same bullet meplat wise just without the rear lube groove and attendant 55 gr.