Fitting 45LC boolits to the revolver

[truckjohn]

Hey all,

Need suggestions for proper bullet
choice/fit for Nephew's .45 Long Colt
revolver.

It is one of those Taurus deals....
He bought it used....
I Scrubbed the 50 lbs of lead out of the
barrel last night-- When I finally unearthed steel,
I found what looks like someone shot
plenty of Black Powder down the tube before
selling it to him. (Pitted and a little frosty looking)

Any-way...

Barrel slugs at 0.453", Chambers mic at 0.457"

So... what would you recommend for a course of action?

Thanks

John

[Springfield]

.454 should work well.

[Buckshot]

.............Wow, those are some fat measurements! If you have the Lyman 457191 (I think it is) if a 300 gr FNPB .459" slug I'd lube-size it to .457" and try it.

http://www.fototime.com/68E891AD4F08210/standard.jpg

.................Buckshot

[arkypete]

Buckshot is right on the money. Fit the bullet to the cyclinder mouths.
The old Colt mod Ps had cyclinder mouths like you mention.
Jim

[truckjohn]

Yeah, I was kinda wondering if I should fire lap 1st
-- as the barrel is certainly in no danger of being
fatter than the throat.....

It would clean up some of the pitting....

Maybe this will teach my young and naiive
nephew to carefully inspect used firearms
*Before* purchase.......

Especially since this one is chrome finished......
so pitting from BP won't show on the
OUTSIDE.....

Currently the I only had 1-candidate mold
for this gun.... the Lee 452-255-RN
that casts at about 0.4525 ...
or I guess I could whack the front end off of a
459-500-3R -- that casts at 0.461" and try
sizing it down to 0.457.....

Either way.... looks like time for more molds.

Best regards

John

[buck1]

"Barrel slugs at 0.453", Chambers mic at 0.457"

So... what would you recommend for a course of action?"

OUCH!
RCBS makes a mold for the .455 Webley thats hollow based. Other than that You may have something that I call "trading stock" .

[Bass Ackward]

John,

I would certainly try this first. You might still be able to use softer lead mixes in .454 size quite well. My dad always used 20-1 in his Smith that has .433 throats and a .429 bore. He sized .430. You can get .454 molds that might give you enough to size .455. Or shoot unsized.

I had a 45 Colt when I was a kid that had .451 to .457 throats all on the same gun. I shot .451 and would surprise a lot of people. But don't kid yourself here, you are going to lose flexibility. It took me 2 years to finally get it working with just one load, but it taught me alot.

And lead will polish the bore itself just shooting. If it handles .455 diameter OK, and you get a wild hair, then you can mix up some 600 grit in Lee liquid Alox. Then paint it onto the olgive of as many bullets as you need to get rid of the frost. This way you won't enlarge the throats. The lube will only cut where it hits. And since painting it on with a Q-Tip is so fast and simple, you can just shoot like normal loads and not have to worry about your progress. Making lappers is a PIA.

But I would try it first.

[truckjohn]

On the one hand, I am glad this is not my gun...

I would probably not have bought it.... and it does
make me think twice about buying a used
"Cowboy cartridge" six shooter....

This is Nephew's pistol... and I guess he likes the cowboy
chrome look.

On the other, I wish the barrel and chambers
were tighter -- it would make accurate reloads easier.

He wants to try his hand at reloading, and bought a
set of dies to feed his 45 colt. He has plenty of
brass, and I have plenty of powder and primers....

I also had this mold, but it looks like it won't
make a very good candidate for accurate shooting.

Probably the thing to do at this point is to get a
box of 454 WFN type bullets with some good lube
and just try shooting it.

Best regards

John

[buck1]

You may want to throw on some safty glasses untill you know it wont spit at ya.
IMHO...............Buck