Hunting Boolit for H&R .45 LC?

[Wilson]

We have three H&R 45 LC Buffalo Classics that we've been using Hornady 225 gr bullets in to kill deer. We'd like to use cast boolits this year. I'd especially like to try a HP boolit.
What mold do you suggest?
I'm on a group buy for the 462 Hammer GC Mihec Cramer HP. Do you think this would be a good boolit for the LC? I got on this buy for my 45/70, but I'm worried it won't be ready in time for our October, Louisiana primitive weapons season, so I just got a Lyman 45-330 Gould Express bullet designed by John Barlow. Now's the time for me to cast and do load development.
Thanks!

[Wilson]

I see MiHec has this mold listed as available 452 640 HP HOLLOW POINT 4 CAV BRASS. Would this be a good one for the LC?
Thanks,

[Nobade]

Check out the Ranch Dog 454-290. It would be hard to get a better hunting boolit for a 45 Colt than that, and he has them in stock.

[Good Cheer]

Is anyone loading a bore rider in the single shot to maximize the powder space?

[fcvan]

I've been curious to see what FFG would do behind the Lee 452-255 RF through my Classic Carbine. The lube grooves are shallow so a lube wad might be in order. I'll have to try the plain base gas check too, just to see if it helps keep the bore clean enough for a few shots. After all, when hunting you won't be launching a long string of shots.

I also have the C452-300 RF which has two crimp grooves. I plan on making this mold plain based since I already have the plain based gas check maker from Pat. Seating the boolit further out to the second groove would give a little more room for FFG and would no doubt be a hard hitting performer. Yup, time to do some experimenting! Frank

[geargnasher]

I second the Lee 452-300-RF IF you can get it going fast enough in the slow twist. It needs at least 1350 fps to make it to 100 yards and cut round holes.

What I used is the Lee 457-340 sized to .448" and paper-patched to .457" to fill the huge throat that the rifle has. Brass is well fire-formed and sized just enough in a .45/70 die to hold the patched boolit, which is seated to engrave the patch. A compressed load of Reloder 7 and a regular pistol primer gets things to a chronographed 1325 FPS or so.

I tried the 340 Lee boolit sized .454" and lubed, but it never shot quite as well as it did when I paper-patched it.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_89094e597bd333b83.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=1960)

Mine has a .447" bore and almost a .452+" groove, oversized chamber and enormous freebore, so consider the shallow rifling and oversized groove when working up loads.

Gear

[Shooter]

I run the Goulds bullet through a Lee .454 sizer and shoot it in my .454 Casull Encore. I see no reason it shouldn't work well in the .45 Colt.

[Nobade]

I wonder what the #457191 would do in those rifles? It's about the same as the Ranch Dog one , weighs about 285gr. and ought to fly well. It works great in my Marlin 1894CB, which also has a big enough chamber to work well with a .458" boolit.

And fcvan, you'll see about 1250 - 1300 fps with a heavily compressed charge of FFFg and that Lee boolit. A few grains of 4227 against the primer cleans it up so you won't need extra lube. No more than 4 gr., 3 is better.

[Wilson]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have the 452-300-RF and I've made up a small batch to try.
I'll also try sizing the Gould down and giving it a go.
I've never paper patched, but would be interested in doing it.
I've been killing game with flat points, but wanted to give the HPs a go this year.

[wgr]

i shoot a300 grain LBT boolit with a wfn. it will flat hammer a whitetail. dont know how fast there going but i use h110 powder

[Whit Spurzon]

I've had great luck with that Lee 300 (315 with my alloy) in my Marlin 1894. Shoots well from 1250 on up to 1500 fps. Beyond that the groups start opening up. I've had good luck with several powders but IMR 4227 and A2400 seem to work the best.

http://www.myhostedpics.com/images/Pathfinder/ee300g2400load50yards.jpg
50 yards, the flier was me. Front rested, iron sights.

A friend took a nice old Black Bear with that same load out of a Blackhawk. No tracking required and one shot did the job. Complete pass through on a quartering shot. My Rifle gets it going a good bit faster. I suspect it'd do well on Elk too.

[fcvan]

Today, I launched some 200 RNHP Boolits from my Vaquero and my H&R Classic Carbine in 45 Colt. THe Vaquero printed rather low in comparison to my usual Lee 452-255 RF boolit. The Carbine, which tends to shoot high with the 255, was right on. The mold is a Lee 450-200 1R HP designed for use with the 1858 Remington percussion revolver.

The front driving bandas cast is about .453-454 while the base is tapered. I used an aluminum plain base gas check from Pat Marlin, and the boolit was sized to .452. I loaded 10 grains of unique for approximately 1100 fps from the revolver and 1300 for the 20" carbine. Wow, what fun. The bore on the Vaquero and the H&R was shiny and clean. My next loads will be hotter as there was minimal recoil.

I've been shooting 45 Colt for about a year in the carbine, and 6 months in the Vaquero. I'm liking the versatility of this cartridge and loving the plain base gas check die from Pat Marlins, a vendor sponsor at this site.

My next loads will be the Lee 452-255 RF with aluminum gas checks. My goal is a comfortable load for both the handgun and the carbine that is accurate and fun to shoot. I have a Lee C452-300 RF that I intend to modify to plain base for use with my new checkmaker. I'm hoping to use this cartridge for some pig hunting but for now tin cans beware. Frank

[Olevern]

I second the Lee 452-300-RF IF you can get it going fast enough in the slow twist. It needs at least 1350 fps to make it to 100 yards and cut round holes.

What I used is the Lee 457-340 sized to .448" and paper-patched to .457" to fill the huge throat that the rifle has. Brass is well fire-formed and sized just enough in a .45/70 die to hold the patched boolit, which is seated to engrave the patch. A compressed load of Reloder 7 and a regular pistol primer gets things to a chronographed 1325 FPS or so.

I tried the 340 Lee boolit sized .454" and lubed, but it never shot quite as well as it did when I paper-patched it.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_89094e597bd333b83.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=1960)

Mine has a .447" bore and almost a .452+" groove, oversized chamber and enormous freebore, so consider the shallow rifling and oversized groove when working up loads.

Gear

Gear,
I've been thinking about getting a 350 Lee mold, but have been disappointed in the past with Lee molds dropping undersized boolits. What diameter does your mold cast?

[Moonie]

The lee 300 is what I will be using this season in my new NMBH Convertable.

[pls1911]

I have a Lee 300, but as luck would have it , pigs and deer dropped to the RCBS 255 grain SWC.
I shoot unsized, heat treated, tumble lubed with LLA/JPW, in Marlin rifles and Riger and TC pistols, normally 20-30 yards in the Texas Hill country.

We can't kill'em any deader the dead, so I'd offer the RCBS as an alternative

[DanWalker]

Today, I launched some 200 RNHP Boolits from my Vaquero and my H&R Classic Carbine in 45 Colt. THe Vaquero printed rather low in comparison to my usual Lee 452-255 RF boolit. The Carbine, which tends to shoot high with the 255, was right on. The mold is a Lee 450-200 1R HP designed for use with the 1858 Remington percussion revolver.

The front driving bandas cast is about .453-454 while the base is tapered. I used an aluminum plain base gas check from Pat Marlin, and the boolit was sized to .452. I loaded 10 grains of unique for approximately 1100 fps from the revolver and 1300 for the 20" carbine. Wow, what fun. The bore on the Vaquero and the H&R was shiny and clean. My next loads will be hotter as there was minimal recoil.

I've been shooting 45 Colt for about a year in the carbine, and 6 months in the Vaquero. I'm liking the versatility of this cartridge and loving the plain base gas check die from Pat Marlins, a vendor sponsor at this site.

My next loads will be the Lee 452-255 RF with aluminum gas checks. My goal is a comfortable load for both the handgun and the carbine that is accurate and fun to shoot. I have a Lee C452-300 RF that I intend to modify to plain base for use with my new checkmaker. I'm hoping to use this cartridge for some pig hunting but for now tin cans beware. Frank

I have a bit of a love affair with the 45 Colt also.
Both LEE boolits you have are proven killers of game with me. The 300 just HAMMERS deer and hogs. Load it over 6.5 grains of Red Dot, for a fun accurate load with moderate recoil, or seat it on top of 18.5 grains of 2400 for a hunting load that will punch through anything you'll want to hunt. I took the 255 LEE to Africa with me this past summer, and it performed wonderfully. I like it over 6.5 grains of Red Dot for a fun,easy to shoot load with factory equivalent power. My hunting load is 18.5 grains of 2400. Here's a link to my Africa trip.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=135266&page=5

[geargnasher]

Gear,
I've been thinking about getting a 350 Lee mold, but have been disappointed in the past with Lee molds dropping undersized boolits. What diameter does your mold cast?

I've never had that happen with Lee. These drop .4572-3" with 50/50 WW/pure. Probably not quite fat enough for most .45/70s from that alloy, though.

Gear