Lee Boolits for the .45 ACP

[Swampman]

I've been reloading for years but never for semi-auto pistols. Can any of the Lee boolits be shot as cast with good results? I'd prefer a 200 grainer to save lead but I'm open to suggestions.

[ncbearman]

Speaking from shooting my Dad's WWII issue with a new Springfield barrel..................size is everything. Once you have that and the proper pressure this thing will put 8 + 1 in 2" at 25 yards. I love this gun. He had it nickeled in the 50's when he got back. I know it affected value, but I'm glad he did it.

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[RobS]

Well they can be shot as cast since most of Lee molds typically drop at .452 to .454 with WW alloy or similar. Just use a tumble lube and go. Many 45 Auto's have the typical .451 groove but checking your barrels groove diameter (slugging your bore with soft lead) would ensure you are heading in the right direction. I've used the Lee 200 RF with decent results but neither of Lee's SWC's would feed very well in my Springfield XD. I also used with good results Lee's 230 TC design and even used the 225 grain 1R design. I never used their TL 230 2R but heard it is a good performer.

A thought: perhaps in the boolit exchange or swappin & sellin section you can ask some forum members here to send you out some samples to ensure they cycle and chamber well in your firearm before you invest in a mold.

[rexherring]

The Lee 200 gr RNFP works great in my compact .45. It seems to be the boolit of choice in mine. I do also shoot the 230 gr TC both sized to .452. The 185 SWC's don't feed quite as well but shoot o.k. so I may have to do a little work on OAL for them.

[Swampman]

The Lee 200 gr RNFP works great in my compact .45.

I'm thinking that may be the one I'm going to get.

[jh45gun]

I ordered and got the Lee Truncated Cone 230 grain bullet mine is the tumble lube version but they make a single lube groove version also. A search here told me that these are good bullets for the 45 acp. My reasoning over a 200 grain is I wanted a bullet the same weight as factory 230 grain ones and I really do not think it is gonna make that huge of a difference in the lead pot as depending on alloys the weight fluctuates anyway on bullet weight.

[Potsy]

I've run the 230TC and their 200grn SWC and both shoot and feed very well out of my Kimber.
My 200 grainer is retired as I bought a Mihec H&G 68, but I don't know that the MiHec shoots any better. It is flat based, which I like considerably better.
FWIW, both molds are single lube grooved.

Hey NCbearman, what kind of mold did those hollowpoints in the pic come from? I'm likin' those!!

[AviatorTroy]

I have the lee 230 gr round nose TL and the 230 gr TC standard lube grooves.

The round nose shoots better in all my guns for some reason, still working on the TC.

[AviatorTroy]

Speaking from shooting my Dad's WWII issue with a new Springfield barrel..................size is everything. Once you have that and the proper pressure this thing will put 8 + 1 in 2" at 25 yards. I love this gun. He had it nickeled in the 50's when he got back. I know it affected value, but I'm glad he did it.

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That's a handsome 1911 indeed!

[Fishman]

Swampman, I've done a little bit of loading with the Lee 200 gr rnfp sized to .454. The reason for this was the ability to use them in 45 colt and acp guns without keeping an inventory of both. I had to seat them a little deeper than the crimp grove to get them to chamber reliably in two different 1911's. However, they shot well enough (informal test) and no jams were experienced. I plan on doing a more comprehensive test in the future. So I just wanted you to be aware that you might experience some small issues with that design, depending on the diameter you size it and the dimensions of your chamber.

[jfischer]

I shoot the lee 230 round nose tumble lube without sizing out of my 1911's, taurus, Dan Wesson and a Kimber with no issue. I also cast semi wadcutters from a HG and a sized to .452 that the Taurus and Dan Wesson like but the Kimber does not.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

[ncbearman]

Thanks aviatortroy. I love this gun.

[Moonie]

I have 2 Lee molds for the 4 1911's in the family, the 200gr SWC non TL and the 230 TC non TL.

[Swampman]

This is what I'm going to shoot them in.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d34/Woodsman1956/Remington/100_1887.jpg

[ncbearman]

This is what I'm going to shoot them in.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d34/Woodsman1956/Remington/100_1887.jpg

Nice Remington. But you will have a hard time getting the game loads to cycle correctly :o

[Shiloh]

I have a LEE 200 gr SWCTL, 230 TCTL and a traditional groove 200 gr SWC. all work well. The traditional groove boolit works well with alox lube as well.

Shiloh

[blackpowder man]

I do run them through a lee push thru sizer, but the lee 165 rnfp cowboy boolit shoots really well in every .45 auto i have used them in. Just shot a bunch through a new springfield xds and they shot as good as they do in my 1911s.

[bigboredad]

for Lee bullets in the .45acp I have tried the rn tl and it was a great performer but I was new here to the site and drank the cool aid that said tumble lube won't work oops I also tried the 230 tc and for me it dropped at 240gr fed fine shot fine but I hated the way it looked and again it had the tumble lube grooves. I have also tried the 255gr. rnfp and I had really good results in a couple 1911's and my Springfield the one down size is it needs to be seated very deep in all my guns I had to seat just above the crimp groove but it smacked bowling pins quite well. I have never tried any of the 200 swc's but have heard both sides of the coin some love it some hate it. If cost is the issue and lee is where your budget allows you to buy My personal choice at this point would be the 200gr swc for that Remington and btw that is a great looking and shooting gun nice choice. How ever if cost isn't a issue I would go with accuratemolds.com Tom makes a good copy of the HG 200gr swc and you can get it flat based or bevel based and I would get a his 5 cavity aluminum cause once you start shooting that gun with those bullets it will be hard to stop. good luck

[Swampman]

I'm not sure what game loads are but it's shooting great with the 200 grain SWCs over 5.5 grains of Unique.

[ncbearman]

I'm not sure what game loads are but it's shooting great with the 200 grain SWCs over 5.5 grains of Unique.

I was referring to the box of 12ga game loads in the background of your picture. Sorry. It was a joke...................................never mind. Anyway, glad you found a load that works. Did you slug the barrel or size to groove specs? The 45 is pretty forgiving, but the accuracy comes to play mostly with the correct size. I like to stay under max grain loads. Your 5.5 Unique is just above minimum. You could work your way up a little if you need to. For the swc over unique the max is 7.5.

[2wheelDuke]

I'm a little late to this thread, but I'll throw in my 2 cents anyhow.

Jerry at carolinacastbullets.com is a great resource if you want to try some different Lee boolits without just buying the molds. I recently bought a few different styles of Lee .45 boolits from him to decide which 6 cavity I was going to buy.

I settled on the 230 RN TL. I was surprised at just how well it shot for me, and it cuts cleaner holes in the paper than I expected it to. I have a whole mess of them to load up now.

[rsrocket1]

I love the TL452-230-TL 6 banger that Lee makes. It was my first mold and after following the directions, the boolits drop out flawlessly without even shaking. The biggest challenge once you get into the casting "zone" is keeping the 20 pound pot from emptying out too soon!

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From my very first casts last November:
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[williamwaco]

I have a LEE 200 gr SWCTL, 230 TCTL and a traditional groove 200 gr SWC. all work well. The traditional groove boolit works well with alox lube as well.

Shiloh


DITTO.

I love the 200 gr SWCs.

Never loaded one that didn't function and shoot accurately.


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