Lee 45 ACP mold for reliability?

[LivewireBlanco]

I'm about to buy a Lee 2 cavity mold for my Springfield 1911 and it's pretty picky when it comes to bullet shape. Which Lee mold has the best track record for reliability?

[jsheyn]

Have shot thousands of thousands of 230 GN RN...and never had a feeding issue through my springfield operator, Taurus PT1911FS or my Traurus Aluminum fram 1911
. From what I understand the 1911 was meant to shoot 230 hardball and the 230RN comes as close as you can get using lead.

[Mlcompound]

I cant say with authority but I imagine the 230 truncated cone would be a safe bet. I have that one in 6 cavity and it works great in my Remington R1.

[Boolseye]

+1 on the TL452-230 RN. Never a hiccup.

[PS Paul]

Have you only shot hardball through the Springfield? If you've shot other designs, like a truncated cone or hollow points, either TC or RN profiles should work just fine. some guys have issues with the Lee copy of the H&G 68 which is a SWC 200 gr. boolit. I have that in a 6-cavity and works well in both my .45 ACP Blackhawk revolver cylinder and several other 1911's we've shot 'em in, but I have found if the shoulder is not seated deeply enough, it can and has caused chambering issues in a few pistols..... If your gun is finicky, you might avoid that particular style? Hard to know for sure unless you try it, but you CAN be reasonably sure both Rn and TC designs will work just fine. FWIW, that's all. My .02
PSP

[MtGun44]

H&G 68 is absolutely reliable in 1911s. Lee has a similar boolit design, 200 SWC.

Bill

[LivewireBlanco]

I've never tried the truncated cone bullets. Are those supposed to be real reliable?

[badboyparamedic]

Tl452-230 rn

[Boyscout]

I have two Lee .452-200-SWC molds. They feed and shoot well in both the Ruger PK97 and Taurus PT1911. I also have the Lee TL230-RN and the Lee TL230 TC. Haven't tried the round nose yet.

I like the 200 gn SWC because it punches nice holes, is accurate and recoil is moderate.

[kevindtimm]

+1 on the TL452-230 RN. Never a hiccup.

I see a tl452-230-2r but not -rn

[PS Paul]

H&G 68 is absolutely reliable in 1911s. Lee has a similar boolit design, 200 SWC.

Bill
Allow me to clarify, Bill. I have that mold and use it a lot. For my gun and as boolit supplies for a few other guys who work for me. I gave 100 to a guy who was a beginning reloader. I showed him how they need to look and gave him a nice recipe with BE and Unique for his gun.....

He chose to get "help" from an Uncle who told him "they don't look right" the way I showed him, so they worked together and loaded up 50, went to the range and they would not chamber.
He brought the loaded rounds to me and I laughed out loud, asking WHY he didn't follow my direction!! ha ha! He told me about his most "helpful" uncle.

I took 'em, seated 'em correctly and they all shot wonderfully.

So yeah, they are reliable, provided a guy knows what he is doing. I think it is a great boolit and I like the mold. Casts easily for me and shoots even better.

Don't know if this helps, but at least telling the full story might help show I am not tellin' wives' tales!!

Carry on.
Paul

[PS Paul]

I see a tl452-230-2r but not -rn

Lee uses "r" as code for the nose shape, so "r" and RN (round nose), as applies to the 452, are the same. Just their way of designating shapes......

[MtGun44]

Yes, any ammo needs to be loaded properly, and if the loader is a knucklehead,
he can mess up anything. :bigsmyl2:

The most common problem with reloading the .45 ACP is failure to taper crimp, or inadequate
taper crimp. Second most common is too long LOA which has the full diam shoulder jamming
into the rifling.

Bill

[PS Paul]

WAAAYYYY too long was the issue with this young man, who was told the properly seated boolit was NOT coorrect! ha ha! Knucklehead, indeed.

[saguaro]

WAAAYYYY too long was the issue with this young man, who was told the properly seated boolit was NOT coorrect! ha ha! Knucklehead, indeed.

Just got this mold myself. Can you go a little further and explain how it should look to help out the rookie in me?

Thanks
Saguaro

[PS Paul]

Somewhere in this forum, there are photos on that very subject, but I'd have to do a search.... Gotta go to work in a moment, but I will take a peek later cuz I don't have any loaded up after shootin this past week.
I'll get back is someone else doesn't first with a photo, but typically the shoulder needs to be flush with the case mouth. Imagine a full wadcutter on a 38 spl., then picture the case mouth and shoulder of the swc 45 and it might give you an idea..... stay tuned

[Bucking the Tiger]

Have the Lee 200gr SWC and the Lee 228R moulds. They both will feed great if not seated too long. The max length on .45 acp is 1.275", but I have owned a H&K USP that would not take anything longer than 1.230",and presently own a Colt Gold Cup that likes them at 1.230" or shorter. I load the 200gr SWC at 1.210" and the 228R at 1.200" and they feed perfectly. A taper crimp to "iron out" any excess flare and start with the beginning charges of powder and work up. Both are very accurate.

[seagiant]

Hi,
These work for me in EVERYTHING!

[LivewireBlanco]

OK so I'm gonna pick a tumble lube design. Either the regular 230 round nose or truncated cone. Just worried that TC bullet may not feed well for me. I may just go RN to be safe. Thanks guys!

[PS Paul]

http://shopwilsoncombat.com/45-ACP-Bill-Wilson-Signature-Load-200-gr-HG-68-L-SWC-875-FPS-5-Barrel-50_Box/productinfo/A45-200-LSWC/

Ahhh. Seagiant beat me to it! So as you can see, the "shoulder" of the boolit could cause potential problems IF loaded out too far/too long, which is exactly what my employee did based on his Uncle's "advice". he he

Some guys have to seat even deeper cuz that shoulder can prevent chambering. in my BH convertible cylinder, I pretty much have to seat the thing flush when sized to .452 or the shoulder prevents correct chambering. It'll go with a little "push", but just seating flush prevents the need for that anyway....

Hope this helps. and apologies for hijacking the thread a little bit!:lol:

[Andrew Mason]

I cant say with authority but I imagine the 230 truncated cone would be a safe bet. I have that one in 6 cavity and it works great in my Remington R1.

i had ZERO issues with the 230-tc from lee in my 1911,
i have the 230 round nose tumble lube as well.
no issues with that either.

[7Acres]

I've never had a bit of trouble with both traditional groove and tumble groove 230TC in both my 1911 and Glock 21.

[captaint]

Why doesn't everybody just use the plunk test and get it over with ??. Remove 1911 barrel, drop in your ammo of choice, the round should stop - even with the hood of the barrel. OR very slightly below. OR slightly higher BUT only slight pressure pushing down to get it to fit flush. Done. Mike

[PS Paul]

Why doesn't everybody just use the plunk test and get it over with ??. Remove 1911 barrel, drop in your ammo of choice, the round should stop - even with the hood of the barrel. OR very slightly below. OR slightly higher BUT only slight pressure pushing down to get it to fit flush. Done. Mike

Yep. Seems simple enough, but sometimes guys don't take the advice I offer freely when they try load my boolits. ha!

[gunoil]

iam reloading year & 1/2 or so. Not real kind to molds but have gotten better. Already wore out a lee 228 45 mold. Well, the screw threads.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/69D15AB2-2088-49DF-801C-E04E6E162E77-1426-000007BDE541E3F1_zpsbd86d635.jpg

I think lee should offer pinned handles and the lil' allen set screw on all bolts in the blocks like NOE. I think lee should never make another aluminum sproo plate.

I dont think i should have had lee in the beginning, should have been 2 hole lyman.

[captaint]

Lots of guys do their own set screw job on Lee molds. Only takes a few minutes, the right drill bit and a 8-32 tap & set screw and you're off !!! Mike

[MtGun44]

For suguaro,

remove the barrel and use it as a setup gage. First set the LOA by dropping a dummy loaded
round (no powder or primer) into the chamber, push it to full depth if needed. Pull it out and
look for marks on the boolit, if a SWC it will be on the full diam portion - or if it won't go
in the chamber all the way, then seat .010 deeper or so. Test and reseat until you have no
problem with the boolit hitting the rifling. Now set the TC to .470 or tighter (I have used down
to .465 without any problems). This dummy round should now drop freely into the chamber
of the dismounted barrel, or max take a 1lb fingertip push.

This is all there is to setting up LOA and TC.

Bill

[gunoil]

Thanks captaint, i have 8/32 round here some where. I'll do on next one.

[kevindtimm]

For suguaro,

remove the barrel and use it as a setup gage. First set the LOA by dropping a dummy loaded
round (no powder or primer) into the chamber, push it to full depth if needed. Pull it out and
look for marks on the boolit, if a SWC it will be on the full diam portion - or if it won't go
in the chamber all the way, then seat .010 deeper or so. Test and reseat until you have no
problem with the boolit hitting the rifling. Now set the TC to .470 or tighter (I have used down
to .465 without any problems). This dummy round should now drop freely into the chamber
of the dismounted barrel, or max take a 1lb fingertip push.

This is all there is to setting up LOA and TC.

Bill

I quoted it because I thought it could bear being said twice :)

(And, I like to have it repeated to me so I don't forget too)

Thanks

[saguaro]

I see. Mine looks similar to the picture. I still need got try them before I load up a bunch. I e given in to that temptation before and it doesn't always work out that well!

Sagauro

[Dale53]

Here is the picture of how to properly seat a bullet for the .45 ACP Model 1911:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/1911Headspace.png (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/1911Headspace.png.html)

Dale53

[fredj338]

OK so I'm gonna pick a tumble lube design. Either the regular 230 round nose or truncated cone. Just worried that TC bullet may not feed well for me. I may just go RN to be safe. Thanks guys!
The TC design should feed, it does in everything 45acp I have tried it in; Glock, XD, 1911. If you just don't want to worry about it, either 228gr RN or 230gr RNB design should be 100%.

[daniel lawecki]

Seagaint that looks a lot like 200swc I shoot thru my 1911a1 Springfield 3.8grs of Clays to give it a shove. In fact I use that same bullet in 45lc just more powder.

[neilin]

I would pick the 230 grain round nose.

[neilin]

Dale53, I might add to the first barrel illustration that; the case crimp could be too tight if taper crimped, or the case is roll crimped.