.45 Auto Rim-Full wadcutters.

[dustoff451]

Hello, Does anyone out there know where I could buy any .452 caliber, full wadcutter or 'cup pointed' cast bullets, 200gr. up to 230 grs.? Thanks.

[GSM]

Penn Bullet used to catalog a 225 gr full wadcutter (I haven't checked in a while) - had to wait a couple of weeks though, sort of a special thing for them.

[dustoff451]

Thank you! They still have the 225 gr. wadcutters for 45 colt or as they put it, 45acp revolvers-- and you gotta check out those 230 gr. 38 cal wadcutters, I realize that handloaded 'selfdefense ammo' is frowned upon, I just emmediately think of this heavy .38 in a chief's special-- what a thumper!

[Jim]

I had been wanting to find a mold to cast .45 caliber wadcutters and could not. I used Lee .452-255-RNFPs and loaded 'em UPSIDE DOWN! I started low with the powder and worked up slow. Worked fine for me.

[bobthenailer]

saeco makes a 225 gr wc mould #453 a jan libourel design

[RX7Dryver]

saeco makes a 225 gr wc mould #453 a jan libourel design

I just purchased one of these moulds. Does anyone know where I can find data for it in a 45 Colt?

[felix]

No, but easily emulated with the data for the 180 grainer 44 magnum wadcutter in the 44 maggie cases. Use that data as is, obviously starting at the lowest to lower mid-values and no more. In terms of pressure, the extra weight of your boolit is compensated for by the larger diameter. ... felix

[monadnock#5]

The Lyman 45th displays two wadcutter designs, 452389 @ 185 grains, and the 454309 @ 235 grains. I have 100 rounds of the 452389 loaded and ready for experimentation. It's nice knowing that even if they won't feed in three ACP's, the 625-8 will send them down range no problem. Unfortunately, both moulds have been discontinued. Check them out in Castpics, maybe it's time to resurrect one or both for a group buy.

Load data for 45 Colt, 235 grain cast, from the same Lyman 45th shows start loads of: 4.0 grains Bullseye; 5.5 grains Red Dot; 8.0 grains Unique; and 19.0 grains IMR 4227. For a 225 grain cast boolit, reduce 10% and work up.

[RX7Dryver]

Thanks for the posts guys. Even if I did ressurect/hijack this old thread.

I have the Lyman 45th but it is packed away in a box. I guess I need to look for it. I looked at all of the powder manafacturers websites and did a google search and came up with nothing.

If you are looking into a group buy I would probably be happy to pick one up.

BTW,
I wonder why wadcutters are not real popular in .45 colt and .44special/magnum?

[Bret4207]

WC's used to be popular in the 44 Russian and Special in the early part of the 20th century. Lee made some WC moulds in 44 cal, but they're hard to locate. I've seen maybe 2 in 3-4 years and bought the last one I saw on Ebay. In 45 I know Lyman had some designs, H+G did too I think, and I would check with NEI and see if they catalog one.

As for the "handloads for self defense is a bad idea" stuff, I've only seen 1 documented case where it played a part and that was civil trial. Mr. Ayobb seems to have started this idea, and while I understand the concept behind it, the chance of you actually having to use a gun and then having the handload business crop up is extremely small. I sometimes carry full power WC in my 38 Airweight Bodyguard. A 148 gr WC at 850-900 fps is gonna smart something fierce when it hits you. Should the unfortunate event come to pass, who can call be bloodthirsty for using target loads in a self defense revolter?

[9.3X62AL]

From a friend's experience with a PPC gun he built in 45 Colt, one possible reason for the decline of the 44 Special/Magnum or 45 Colt wadcutter loads may have been recoil fatigue during long competition strings sometimes fired in PPC or other venues. What it boiled down to.......the extra "diameter" of a boolit strike for potential line-cutting on target wasn't as advantageous as the extra recoil impulse was tiring and distracting.

My buddy still has this 45 Colt N-frame, built from a Model 28 IIRC. It is dead-on accurate with about any cast boolit he has tried, and I think he has taken a couple deer with it. He keeps the 250 grain-class bullets at 950-1000 FPS, and has exchanged WW ingots for castings with me for years. He will be retiring soon, and his kids are almost grown and gone--so he thinks he wants to get back into casting his own stuff soon. He probably still has the wadcutter mould stored someplace, I thought it was a custom job but might be that SAECO mentioned above. I haven't seen it for years.