What size should 45 acp be?

[lyinhunter]

I am confused...some bullets are .451 others are .452 assuming the bore is .450 what size should the cast bullet be?

[odfairfaxsub]

i run .452 in my xd. you gotta slug then if it doesnt fit .001 over go .001 smaller and pray you don't lead. if you have to go smaller use a 50-50 mix ww and pure they generally kick the bottom end well enough to seal.

[geargnasher]

They should be the size that fits your gun. What size is your gun?

Gear

[lyinhunter]

That didn't make sense. Is the bullet supposed to be .001 over bore size or under? I am starting to think casting boolits is black magic.

[MtGun44]

Why would you "assume the bore is .450"? Almost all that I have ever measured were
.451 or .4515, and the best diameter for boolits is usually .452.

BUT - you need to slug you own barrel. And it is not the "Bore", it is the "groove" diameter
that matters. The bore diameter is probably about .445 or so and is pretty irrelevant to
anything. Groove diameter matters and the rough rule for handgun boolitss is about .001 over
groove diameter. However for revolvers, the throat diameter is most important, and the
relationship between the throats and groove diameters. Rifle boolits seem to like .002 or .003
over groove diameter, but it varies. Never use boolits smaller than groove diameter unless
you like scrubbing out lead, or in a few odd situations, mostly with old blackpowder lever
guns in strange calibers.

No black magic, any more than driving a car is black magic. You have to know how to do it,
and it requires some study. Not all cars are exactly the same, but the general procedures
are similar.

Spend some time reading the stickies.

Bill

[Bwana]

My boolits are sized .451" and work well in my G30, KP97, Witness, and 1911 with ramped Clark bbl.

[slide]

Read,read,and then read some more. The archives are a real good place to look. It is at the bottom of the page. Check it out.

[prs]

You can not assume and for a 45ACP to be .450 would be odd. I "think" industry standard is .451 groove to groove; but that is ballpark and you need to slug your gun to see. .452 lead boolits should be good. .454 boolits might shoot well if they will chamber in a loadied round and are not squashed by the brass during hand loading. Slugging is no rocket science, just do it.

prs

[HangFireW8]

I am confused...some bullets are .451 others are .452 assuming the bore is .450 what size should the cast bullet be?

Assume?

I ASSumed my old Colt bore was the usual .451". In fact it was more like .453x.454. Kind of oval shaped. It was actually more complex than that, depending on how far I drove the slug into the bore, from which end, and whether I drove it through or drove it back out the way it came in.

I had a lot of problems with cast boolits in that barrel. I tried casting and sizing to .454, but it is hard to get them to feed reliably.

I bought a new barrel. It runs .451 in every groove. It works well.

Never assume. Slug your bore.

HF

[lyinhunter]

so why does everyone make a .451 mold?

[geargnasher]

That didn't make sense. Is the bullet supposed to be .001 over bore size or under? I am starting to think casting boolits is black magic.

It isn't black magic, just simple boolit science with explanations, suggestions, and guidelines for building ammunition given in many books. One of those guidelines is to size your boolit about a thousandth larger than the largest groove dimension as a starting point. Measure the groove diameter by pounding an oiled, dead-soft lead slug through it (casting a boolit out of pure lead is a good way, or use a .454" round ball if you have any, or flatten a .451" ball slightly with a hammer), post the result, and ask the question "My pistol has a groove diameter of .XXX", what size boolit should I try first?" Assumptions will get you into trouble fast in this game, so please be careful. Before you get too far into this, you would be well advised to pick up a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 3rd or 4th edition, and give it a good read-through to get your bearings on how cast boolits work.

Gear

[runfiverun]

cause they can.
most 45 bbl's spec out to 451 nowdays,and need a 452 boolit.
454 used to be the norm for boolit/bbl diameter.
and is even now days is still found in some bbl's.

[geargnasher]

so why does everyone make a .451 mold?

Cast with a few, very few are actually .451" with any alloy, most are larger to allow you to size to what your particular, individual gun needs. "Standardization" doesn't make things as precise as you might think, that's why there are a variety of dimensions for boolit sizers. Part of the deal with cast is that you can build ammo that fits your particular gun better than any standardized factory round. Jacketed bullets aren't susceptable to the same "gas cutting" and obturation issues as lead-alloy boolits are, so making them in a "one size fits all" .451" works ok. If it's too small for some guns, no big deal, you might lose a few FPS due to gas leaks. If it's a hair too big, it will swage down most of the time without causing too much of a pressure spike. Lead boolits are much more picky about being undersized, and will lead the crud out of your barrel if they're too small and leak gas. The boolit needs to be a slight interference fit to seal properly.

Gear

[Wolfer]

so why does everyone make a .451 mold?

I would like to know this also. It seems a common problem that guns are on the large side of spec and molds are on the small side.

[462]

so why does everyone make a .451 mold?

My .45 ACP moulds are labeled 452. What mould manufacturers are you referring to, when you say everybody?

[Iowa Fox]

I size mine to .452 and it runs fine with no leading. I tried a few at .453 but would occasionally get one round that would not go into battery. Had to take the heel of my hand and shove the slide foward. My old Lyman 4 cav 452460 drops them at 4535 a good old easy casting mold from the good old days.

[Char-Gar]

I have fired 250,000 rounds of cast bullet 45 ACP ammo through a couple of dozen 1911s and they have all been sized .452.

[Larry Gibson]

Most .45 ACPs do fine with .452 sized cast bullets. However, some with tight match chambers (my P14 as a case in point) will fail to go into battery with .452 sized bullets in some cases. Ergo I size the cast bullets .451 for that pistol. Like was said; depends on your gun for a variety of reasons.

Larry Gibson

[fredj338]

I am confused...some bullets are .451 others are .452 assuming the bore is .450 what size should the cast bullet be?

Your assumption is wrong. Most groove dia are 0.451" & most lead bullet shooters go 0.001" larger so 0.452" is a good starting point. It's what all my 45acp get, regardless of being match bbl or factory stock.

[Bullet Caster]

I size my .45ACP to .451 and .45 Colt to .452. I guess my 1911 is a little tighter than most as it slugs at .450. Have already test fired some rounds and no leading occurred. BC

[bobthenailer]

Over the years ive owned perhaps 15- 1911s in 45 acp as well as a few revolvers , i have used 0.452 dia bullets and perhaps 7 different bullet styles from 170 to 240 gr . with excellent accuracy from all !

[captaint]

It's funny. Let's be honest. People (many) avoid slugging bores. They think it's hard, or they're gonna damage the gun - or something. So we, they, do everything they can to avoid it.
However, once we just say OK, and find a suitable soft lead chunk and get it done, we see it's really not a big deal. I, personally believe this is why we ask so often - "did you slug your bore"?? Then guys avoid just saying NO. A thousand reasons why they haven't. Didn't need to. Shouldn't have to. Most guns are this... My take anyway. Mike

[avogunner]

Of course fitting the boolit to the barrel is preferred but I've never slugged and have always sized to .452. They've been shot in a multitude of pistols and barrels and I've never had leading issues. Accuracy has been great to acceptable in all too.
Not the gospel but just my experience.

[Char-Gar]

Sometimes folks make a fetish out of "slugging the bore". There are times when that is either helpful or necessary and times when it is a waste of time.

Early on I slugged a few 1911 barrels and they all came out .450 - .451. So, I size .452 and shoot them in whatever pistol I have at hand. A .452 bullet fired in a .450 barrel shoots just as accurate as it does in a .451 barrel. So IMHO, slugging a 45 ACP 1911 barrel is much ado about nothing.

The 45 ACP round has a few quirks, but once you figure them out, it is an extremely easy round to load for reliability and accuracy. I read this board and see lots of folks fretting about loading this round for the autopistol and many having problems. 99.9% of the issues I read about come from the fact that folks don't understand the basics of loading for the round for a 1911 pistol. They get all hung up with numbers, theory and math and don't understand how the round and pistol mate together.

The 1911 pistol and 45 ACP round have been around for 100 years now and has been handloaded almost since day 1. There are no secrets. I am bewildered at times, how folks find it so obtuse and difficult.

[Sonnypie]

I think I need a beer already.
And it's only 7:30!

:violin:

[MBTcustom]

My 1911 slugged .452. I was getting a lot of leading until I honed out the Lee factory crimp die so that it quit sizing the boolit inside the case.
Pulled boolits now measure .453 and there are no more leading issues.
Asking why most molds are labeled .451 is like asking why the .38 special was labeled as such when it shoots a .358 caliber boolit. (It was designating the case diameter FYI) they had to call it something and it probably casts .451 with pure lead or something. Don't get hung up on numbers on the side of the mold, you can make the mold cast different sizes just by changing the way you cast, or the alloy used.
1911 is probably one of (if not THE) most forgiving caliber to load for. However, the process does not change no matter what you are casting for. The steps are as follows:
1. slug your barrel.
2. buy a mold that will drop (by reputation!) .001-.003 larger than the groove diameter of your firearm.
3. beg/borrow/steal/buy lead while you can and get a large stockpile.
4. Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a heaping wheelbarrow of tips and tricks in addition to this that you will need to make castlead boolits work with other guns, but for 1911 that's about what you need. That and some sort of grease to put in the lube grooves and you should be golden.

[Bob Krack]

To over simplify, I use the largest diameter that will chamber after being loaded and call it good.

If sumpin else works better for you, please disregard this message!

Bob

[HangFireW8]

Early on I slugged a few 1911 barrels and they all came out .450 - .451. So, I size .452 and shoot them in whatever pistol I have at hand. A .452 bullet fired in a .450 barrel shoots just as accurate as it does in a .451 barrel. So IMHO, slugging a 45 ACP 1911 barrel is much ado about nothing.

I love it how Char-Gar lightly dismisses other's experience when it doesn't match his own.

As I and others have said, not all 45 ACP's slug out to .450-.451.

HF

[Old Caster]

Go to Dardas bullets and buy 100 each of some .451, 2, and 3 to try in your 45. I did and the .451's were the most accurate in my Les Baer wad gun with the .451's about 2 inches at 50 yards 10 shots and the .452's about 3 1/2 and .453's about 4 1/2. I size all of my cast bullets .452 pretty much because that is the die sizer I have and conducted this experiment after I owned the dies for years. The Dardas bullets are pretty hard so they won't swage down from the brass but my softer molded bullets will size to .451 just from the brass and crimp and will shoot about the same 2 inches at 50. I use a crimp of .469 which is a hair tight but this pistol will catch on the edge of the brass occasionally sized at .470 or above which is generally suggested. If you actually need a bullet larger than .451, you will need to have a larger expander so as to not swage down your bullet or go with hard bullets. Every pistol is a rule unto itself but following the parameters mentioned on this board will make your chances of success better with less effort. While I think it is important to watch your size, bullet choice is way more important because some of them can never be made to shoot accurately no matter what size or load you use. -- Bill --

[ShooterAZ]

I too size and shoot .452 in 45ACP. And....never slugged the bore on any because I never had leading problems in any of my 45's (7). If I did...then I would slug it. If his bore was .450....452 should still work fine...as long as they chamber freely. If it's not broke, I don't try to fix it.

[Larry Gibson]

Heck, I bet on .452 and got away with sizing all my .45 ACP bullets at that. I shot them in multiple M1911s, Revolvers and numerous other makes of 45 ACP and had no problems until I got the Para P14 with the match chamber.....it only takes .451 sized bullets reliably.....just the way it is sometimes.

Larry Gibson

[MtGun44]

Definitely not all will be .451, but my experience is that of all the possible calibers out there,
somehow the makers of the .45 ACP bbls seem to vary much less than any other that I
know of.

I recommend slugging, but if you are going to avoid it, the .45 ACP is the one where you
will get away with it the most often.

Bill

[Lloyd Smale]

452 allways outshot 451 in my guns so IF your gun will run them with a 100 percent reliability id opt for the larger.

[Char-Gar]

I love it how Char-Gar lightly dismisses other's experience when it doesn't match his own.

As I and others have said, not all 45 ACP's slug out to .450-.451.

HF

I note how you single out others by name for criticism, whoes exerience does not match your own. Your should read the disclaimer I put at the bottom of every one of my posts and then mind your own business.

[blikseme300]

It's funny. Let's be honest. People (many) avoid slugging bores. They think it's hard, or they're gonna damage the gun - or something. So we, they, do everything they can to avoid it.
However, once we just say OK, and find a suitable soft lead chunk and get it done, we see it's really not a big deal. I, personally believe this is why we ask so often - "did you slug your bore"?? Then guys avoid just saying NO. A thousand reasons why they haven't. Didn't need to. Shouldn't have to. Most guns are this... My take anyway. Mike

+1

You want to play, slug that bore and measure with a micrometer. :goodpost:

Bliksem

[40Super]

I have 4 -.45ACP barrel right now,they slugged .4505(Kart NM),.451(XDM),.4515(Storm Lake),and .453(Taurus).I couldn't stop the leading in the Taurus at first because I didn't slug it,and wasted a lot of time,bullets and powder trying to clean it up when the other barrels were doing good. A chunk of soft lead pushed down the bore ended the problem.I now have some bullet sized to .454.Unfortunately.I will always slug my barrels imediately after I buy it.

[HangFireW8]

I note how you single out others by name for criticism, whoes exerience does not match your own. Your should read the disclaimer I put at the bottom of every one of my posts and then mind your own business.

Actually, I was just amused, but if you want to take it as criticism, that's OK with me! [smilie=s:

[geargnasher]

I have 4 -.45ACP barrel right now,they slugged .4505(Kart NM),.451(XDM),.4515(Storm Lake),and .453(Taurus).I couldn't stop the leading in the Taurus at first because I didn't slug it,and wasted a lot of time,bullets and powder trying to clean it up when the other barrels were doing good. A chunk of soft lead pushed down the bore ended the problem.I now have some bullet sized to .454.Unfortunately.I will always slug my barrels imediately after I buy it.

Yeah, the salesmen get kinda cranky when you pull out your pure lead slugs, hammer, brass rods, and oil and start to take the gun apart on the counter. :?

Gear

[runfiverun]

man..... i don't know, a 30 cal 36" brass rod at the c-a-l ranch store was about 9 dollars.

[40Super]

Man I guess a person has to watch your wording,someone might take it wrong.
I will slug my barrels WHEN I GET HOME after I buy it. WOW:-?:-?

[Coconino]

.452 works for me in older and newer Colt 1911's and Springfields. I would just shoot some of each diameter and look at the accuracy. I suspect that there will not be much of a difference. Now I did get some Speer FMJ's that miked .450". They did kinda pattern.

[mpmarty]

In my case ignorance is bliss. I cast them and after LLA/JPW tumble I load them and shoot them. I really don't know or care what diameter they are. They all chamber and don't lead with five grains of Red Dot.

[geargnasher]

Man I guess a person has to watch your wording,someone might take it wrong.
I will slug my barrels WHEN I GET HOME after I buy it. WOW:-?:-?

Yes, a person does, punctuation particularly. Now I'm no punctuation or grammar angel either, but you left out a bunch of spaces and your questionable use of a period makes it easy to misinterpret your post. I thought you were lamenting the fact that you slug your barrels when you get the guns home, but can't do it BEFORE you buy. I was making a joke in light of the situation that affects many of us after we buy a gun: Dadgum thing has a non-standard groove. :-|

I read what you wrote as "Unfortunately, I will always slug my barrels immediately after I buy it", the implication being that it would be fortuitous if you could do so BEFORE buying it. My mind turned that period into a comma, I guess the "unfortunately" was actually ending the previous sentence. It's difficult to tell, because you capitalized "Unfortunately, but had a period before and after it, and no spaces. The only thing that made any sense to me, since there are no "one word" sentences, was that you meant to put a comma after "Unfortunately" to modify the following about slugging after you get home. The previous sentence seemed to be lamenting the fact that one of your guns requires a grossly oversized boolit to prevent leading, so you'd obviously have to segregate ammo for it from your other guns of the same caliber. That's a pain. Too bad you couldn't have slugged it before you bought it, RIGHT? Hence my joke about trying to slug one on the salesman's counter before you buy it. :roll: So don't blame me for your twisted knickers when you leave punctuation and sentence structure up to the interpretation of the reader. When you do that, there's no telling how you'll be understood.

Gear

[MBTcustom]

The process is simple and it works every time. Unfortunately most folks want to be spoon fed firearms knowledge by "experts" and don't want to understand how it works for themselves and don't want to know that it can be better or worse depending on how you load for it. Sorry its the facts.
If you have any desire to have any good results from cast boolits or superb results from jacketed bullets, you will have two things for every firearm you own and will be able to pull these two things for reference at any time.
They are:
1. a barrel slug
2. a chamber casting from cerosafe, sulfur, or quicksteel plumbers putty.
Read it and weep! If you dont have these two things you are guessing about what your gun needs and if you get any accuracy at all, it is cosmic coincidence!
Sorry if this offends anyone, but I have read this advice so many times and seen the positive results as the reluctant boolit smiths pull their heads from their butts (I include myself in this category) that for me, it has become as good advice as saying "if you change your oil, your car lasts longer".
This process works really well, and if you do this it will teach you things you need to know.

[LUBEDUDE]

Commercial casters go with .452 because that is the "norm".

Of course there are AlWAYS exceptions.

[Alan in Vermont]

Originally Posted by Char-Gar
Early on I slugged a few 1911 barrels and they all came out .450 - .451. So, I size .452 and shoot them in whatever pistol I have at hand. A .452 bullet fired in a .450 barrel shoots just as accurate as it does in a .451 barrel. So IMHO, slugging a 45 ACP 1911 barrel is much ado about nothing.


I love it how Char-Gar lightly dismisses other's experience when it doesn't match his own.

As I and others have said, not all 45 ACP's slug out to .450-.451.

HF

He didn't dismiss anybodys experience. He related HIS OPINION based on his personal observations. I'm not much of a barrel slugger either. My approach has been to start with a boolit sized the same, or .001" over the diameter of the J-bullets for the caliber. So far that has wored fine in my guns. If I get one that won't shoot by that method then I'll slug the barrel or chamber throats to see if the issue might be there. In a bunch of shooting I have never felt the need to slug a bore other than curiousity, that being the reason I have slugged my 1911 and checked the cylinder on my Security Six. In both cases those were fine (by the numbers) at .452 and .358 respectively.

[462]

"Unfortunately most folks want to be spoon fed firearms knowledge by "experts" and don't want to understand how it works for themselves and don't want to know that it can be better or worse depending on how you load for it. Sorry its the facts."

I'm amazed at the number of new members who seem to join just so they can ask a casting or reloading question that is rather basic in nature, then disappear without acknowledging the advise they seek.

There, I've been wanting to say that for a long time.

[Faret]

"Unfortunately most folks want to be spoon fed firearms knowledge by "experts" and don't want to understand how it works for themselves and don't want to know that it can be better or worse depending on how you load for it. Sorry its the facts."

I'm amazed at the number of new members who seem to join just so they can ask a casting or reloading question that is rather basic in nature, then disappear without acknowledging the advise they seek.

There, I've been wanting to say that for a long time.
I feel better now too.:-o

[geargnasher]

Me three. I call it the "drive by poster syndrome". We'll never know if we helped or if they "got it" because we never hear from them again. I guess asking someone to do five minutes worth of work so we can give a more accurate answer to a basic, valid question is too much effort for some, or maybe they understood and moved on. Who knows.

There, I feel even better!

Gear

[slim400]

When you look at the 47th edition reloading manual if you examine the specs between full metal jacket and cast you will find that the full metal jacket is always 451 and that the Cast was 452 I always thought it was because the lead is a little softer than the full metal jacket the bigger diameter would form a tighter seal I do not know about what they're calling slugging a barrel that I will be reading and learning just my opinion

slim400

[MikeS]

I usually slug the bores in my guns. The one exception so far (and I'm not really sure why), is my Winchester 30-30. For some reason I've never slugged it, but boolits sized to either .311 or .310 seem to work just fine in it. When I slugged the barrel in my Taurus PT1911 (the first gun I ever slugged), I first tried slugging an extra 1911 barrel I had lying around here, and it measured .451, then I slugged the PT1911, and it too measured .451, in fact I had slugged the 'practice' barrel about 3 times, then did the PT1911 twice (I wanted to make sure I got it right), then stupidly all 5 slugs got mixed together! So when I measured them, all 5 measured the same, so I can only assume that my PT1911 is also .451 as well! I just remembered a second gun I forgot to slug, that being my Smith & Wesson 22-4, but boolits sized to .452 seem to work in it without any leading, so I'm guessing it's bore is .451 as well. I did measure it's throats with pin gauges, and they were all .452 for all of them.

I guess I've either been very lucky, or doing the things I learned here has really paid off, as so far I've yet to have ANY of my guns that leaded more than what comes out with a couple of passes of a bore snake, or in the case of my Jericho, once I had to scrub the bore for a long time, at least a minute, to get all traces of lead out of it!

That same gun (the Jericho) with it's polygonal rifling was the hardest one to read the slug, but I think it was around .451, and so far it only leads within the first 1/2" of barrel, and it seems no matter if I shoot 50 rounds thru it, or 200, that the amount of lead it collects is the same, and comes out very easily. I think it's because the rifling on that pistol starts out sharply, and I should probably either get a throating reamer (I think that's what the one I need is called), or have a gunsmith do it for me.

[Char-Gar]

The bore of an auto loading pistol is important only if it is way over normal spec. If the round will feed well and the bullet is larger than the bore all is good. I size 45 app bullets 452 and 9mm bullets 358 ans never had a problem.

The bore of a six gun is important only if it is smaller than the cylinder throats. Otherwise the throats are the critical numbers.

The bore of a rifle is important only if it is smaller than the barrel throat and that can never be. That makes the throat the critical number.

Barrels can deliver excellent accuracy with bullets quite larger. Unless the bullets are rock hard and the pressure is already top end, the estra pressure generated by an oversized cast bullet is no issue as we build our loada around the individual bullet.

I t is for these reasons I feel the "slug the bore" mantra is overworked. The bore is a number I want to know, but it is not at the top of my list of specs that are of critical importance to me.

As always read the disclaimer below and try and keep a sweet spirit a out this stuff.

[Moonman]

READ-READ-READ and you shall find your answer.

Please Work with YOUR firearm.

When you find a bullet size, weight, style, then you work with the powder, type, load, etc.

Great things do not come easily, it takes work and effort.

Instant gratification, you just buy load ammunition, but that's not why you're here, correct.

[Rockchucker]

I just received my new in the box Ruger 45 LC last night and this afternoon I slugged the barrel and it was just like I hoped it would be...4505-.4510 Just like my S&W 1911. Might get to shoot some acp's thru it this week till I can get some LC molds in, love this gun and the waiting is killing me to shoot it.

[243winxb]

Lyinhunter> Last Activity: 04-18-2012 10:16 PM :smile:

[Char-Gar]

READ-READ-READ and you shall find your answer.

Please Work with YOUR firearm.

When you find a bullet size, weight, style, then you work with the powder, type, load, etc.

Great things do not come easily, it takes work and effort.

Instant gratification, you just buy load ammunition, but that's not why you're here, correct.

You talking 45 ACP here? Good accuracy and function do come easy in this round. There is no need to make it a quest. After 100 years and many, many millions of rounds, the 45 ACP on the 1911 autopistol holds no secrets.

1. There are at least a dozen proven cast bullet designs that will feed and give excellent accuracy. H&G 68 and Lyman 452460 are just two that come to mind.
2. Alloy..Good old ACWW will get er done.
3. Sizeing diamter...452 and forget the rest
4. Lube..any decent soft lube will work
5. Powder -- Bullseye has been loaded in countless millions of round of USGI ammo and more countless millions by target shooters.
6. Seating depth...Use the barrel as a guage
7. Taper crimp

Go forth and enjoy shooting. Folks can try and reinvent the wheel and that is OK is you find it fun, but don't pretent the wheel wasn't there before you were born.

[40Super]

As 243winxb said, the OP has left the building!!!!!
He is no longer partaking in the conversation.

[filric48]

I pore a .452 and re size it to .451 works great Lee products , the resizing die is about 20.00

[MikeS]

I just received my new in the box Ruger 45 LC last night and this afternoon I slugged the barrel and it was just like I hoped it would be...4505-.4510 Just like my S&W 1911. Might get to shoot some acp's thru it this week till I can get some LC molds in, love this gun and the waiting is killing me to shoot it.

I'm assuming the Ruger you're referring to is a revolver? If so, then the bore being .4505-.4510 is good to know, but the more important measurement on a revolver is what the 6 throats measure! Ruger throats are known to vary some, so it's really important to measure them.

When you say shoot some acp's thru it, I hope you're talking about boolits designed for the 45ACP cartridge, and not an actual 45ACP cartridge! If that's what you mean, then there's no reason you can't shoot them thru a 45 Colt (the 'proper' name for 45LC). Depending on the boolit design, you can either crimp in the upper lube groove if using a boolit with 2 lube grooves (like the 452460), or if using a boolit with a single lube groove, just use a light taper crimp (back out the seating die till it just removes the bell from the case mouth), and don't load max loads, and you should be fine.

Just my 2¢ on the matter.

[sig2009]

So that would mean that if your barrel is .451 and you are shooting jacketed which are normally .450 then the bullets will not contact the rifeling?

[40Super]

.451 is the groove diameter, the bore dia. is smaller,around .440ish so the bullets will still be tight.

[geargnasher]

So that would mean that if your barrel is .451 and you are shooting jacketed which are normally .450 then the bullets will not contact the rifeling?

Yep, they fall right through! :kidding:

Gear

[Old Caster]

If you will look at my post #39 you will see that the difference between the .451 -52 and 53 bullet groups were quite a bit when you go by percentages but if you don't have a good set up to test a pistol you would never have a clue which worked better because it would be difficult to scrutinize the difference in these groups even though one is almost twice as big as another. When groups out of pistols get this good, testing in a Ransom Rest or scope is the only way to know for sure and just doing it once with 3 shots don't get it. Unless you are a competive shooter a pistol shooting a 4 inch group is every bit as good as one that will shoot 2 inches even though that is twice the difference. -- Bill --