Lee Molds in 45 ACP oversize?

[Hounddog]

Hello all,

Longtime lurker looking to pick the brains of the resident experts and glean some useful mold information. I'm looking to pick up a couple lee molds to start casting some bullets for my M&P 45 acp. I have procured almost 100 lbs of range lead from various berm harvesting trips of which I plan on smelting in the next few weeks.

Looking to make some boolits from all this scrap lead and seeing as how this is my first foray into lead casting, I plan on getting a Lee 420 bottom pour and a couple Lee molds to cut my teeth on. Slugged the barrel of my M&P and it came out to .451" so my question is do the Lee Molds typically drop bullets a few thousandths over-size?

Had my eye on the 452-200-swc and the tl452-230-2r. For 20 bucks a pop they seem just the ticket to get me started till I get the hang of it and delve into some other brands.

Lastly, someone here locally is selling the following:
LYMAN 4 CAVITY BULLET MOULD #454424 45 CAL KEITH SEMI WAD CUTTER DESIGN.254 GRAIN SW for 45 bucks. Would this be a good bullet mold for 45acp?

Thanks for any help.

Hounddog

[dnotarianni]

My experience is that the Lee usually drop to size and can be loaded without sizing. The 454 will need to be sized and the bullet shape may not feed in your auto. The 454 is a Long Colt bullet that will work in a revolver. I use the 454 sized to 452 in a 625 Smith for bowling pin matches, but never got it to feed reliable in a 1911.
Dave

[btroj]

Get the Lee 452 TX mould. Should be fine as cast.

[garym1a2]

My Lee 200swc mold is great. I even went out and got the 6-up version.

My Lee 230 2R tumble type was a Pita, cast very large. Did not want to drop from mold. I dis like it greatly.

[454PB]

You should be fine with the Lee moulds. I have several for .45 ACP, they cast around .453" in WW alloy, and I size them .452".

The Lyman 452424 is designed for use in a revolver, and probably wouldn't feed in a semi-auto. It's an excellent boolit design, just not for .45 ACP.

[Hounddog]

Thanks for the help guys.

Hounddog

[MikeS]

Gary: Just wanted to let you know that with boolit moulds in general each individual mould is different. You could go out and find another TL452-230-2R that the boolits just jump out of. Or you could fine a 452-200-SWC (a copy of the H&G #68 one of the best target boolits for 45ACP) that the boolits stick in. Lee moulds in particular seem to have various problems, if you look around the site you will find all sorts of fixes for Lee moulds. Chances are you could get your mould working fine with a little bit of work.

-Mike

[JIMinPHX]

The Lee .45 cal molds that I have used drop .453"-.455" raw.

[mold maker]

Many dis the LEE molds because they don't fall out of the box making perfect boolits the first cast.
Don't expect gold nuggets when your pouring lead.
Any LEE mold will make usable boolits with a little finessing. I have over 40 LEE molds, and have had to do everything, from just cleaning, to polishing and venting, to get good results.
In the collection of molds, I have most all brands and types. Not a single one of them cast perfect boolits without TLC.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I either have incredably good luck or Lee have improved the QC.
--I believe Lee has improved their QC--

I started casting last summer/fall
all the New Lee molds I bought worked very good.
most of the older Lee molds I bought used here or fleabay,
had either already been improved by the previous owner or
had issues that needed to be addressed.

The exception was a Lee 22 bator bator mold I bought new this spring,
it had the issue of extremely small gas check shank.
Lee replaced it quickly with a new mold.

I don't think you'll have any problems with newly purchased Lee molds.
Lee's customer service is excellent if you do have a problem.
Jon

PS. they still are a far cry (in craftsmanship) from the custom molds made by members here.

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

Houndog,
dont worry about the Lee molds. They normally cast bullets usable as cast but I size mine in a Lee push through sizer and lube with 45/45/10.

I prefer the 230 grain TC bollit myself.

If the molds dont drop bullets readily, simply lap them using either a fine lapping compound or some form of abrasive toolhpaste like Crest or Colgate. Yes, toothpaste, its is actually a very fine abrasive.

To lap a mold, simply pour a bullet, cut the sprue normally then drill the base of the bulllet with a 1/8" hole. Be careful to drill only the bullet. Then, screw in a small sheet metal screw. Its better if this screw is either hex head or phillips head. Then, drop the bullet, coat it with the toothpaste or lapping compound, put it back into the mold cavity and, holding the mold closed on the bullet, use the screw to "spin" it in the cavity. Speed is not critical but lean toward the slow side to prevent taking too much aluminum out. Once the mold is lapped, clean it normally and try to cast a few bullets. Once the mold is up to temp, the bullets fairly jump out of the mold.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[emorris]

My tl452-230-2r drops too small I wished ot was oversized.

[Recluse]

My tl452-230-2r drops too small I wished ot was oversized.

Easy fix with an aluminum/soft-metal mold--lap it.

:coffee:

[XWrench3]

whatever you do, get the 6 cavity mold! casting 2 at a time is slow work, especailly for a pistol. personally, i think everything shold come in 6 cavity (or more). i can not even imagine casting one at a time.