Dual purpose .452 mold?

[Anonym]

So I finally cast my first boolits this weekend thanks to some great advice and info here, and a personal THANK YOU to OldFart1956! I melted down some corroded .54 cal RBs and Maxis I got with a purchase and recast them along with some RBs for my .50 cal and .32 cal front stuffers.

So now I am addicted and am thinking about a production pot to make things easier, and I am also thinking about trying to find a good .452 mold that would work well for a saboted ML bullet (50 cal) but could also be sized and loaded in my .45 LC contender carbine. Both will be for whitetail hunting and general plinking.

Not looking to gas check and thinking about a 225-300 grain boolit in a RNFP? As I said, I need something for whitetail, and am not pushing anything very fast. In fact, I have loaded a few LC rounds with blackpowder to hunt with and am perfectly happy with what it gives me. I am used to hunting with RBs, so as long as it is accurate and will expand somewhat on impact (probably has more to do with lead hardness than boolit design, huh?), then I am good to go!

Anything I need to keep in consideration to use them for both applications? I am assuming the 45 LC should take priority in general boolit design, but thought I had better ask!

Thanks in advance.

Anonym

[kaytod]

Anon,

First look at your sabots you intend to use.

Try to fit a bullet that is the proper length for the sabot. What little I've done with them they SEEM to be happiest with bullets that the bullet nose protrudes slightly from the sabot. ( this also lets you push on the bullet with your ramrod and not mar the sabot petals with a standard ramrod. ) Next look at the bottom of the sabot cavity where the petals meet the base on the inside. Some of them are a bit "tight" at the bottom of the petal and will pinch the base of the bullet making it want to cant in the sabot. I've found a slight bevel base bullet fits best, but a gas check bullet without the gas check fit and work well too.

In a 50 cal sabots with 44 bullets the Lee 310RF works well as it is about the right length for the sabots I have. If they were 45 cal the bullet would be about 340 grains to be the same length. I shot them au natural in the ML but lubed and checked in the 44 mag.

That's about all the info I have, Hope it helps.
Todd

[Anonym]

Thanks, Todd. Sabots I have are to be used with a 45cal bullet, and I've been using the Hornady XTP jacketed bullet in 230 grain (I think). They are black, but I'll check them out and see if there is any inside taper. Good idea on the gas check option.

I was looking at the Lee 452-255-RF and the 452-300-RF molds. The 300 grainer may be an option if the sabot tapers at the base. Otherwise, I think the 255 grainer looks good. But hey, I'm new at this. Do I really know what I'm talking about yet? Probably not...

Justin

[chboats]

I personally like the RCBS 45-250FN for both purposes

Carl

[Anonym]

That looks nice! Should a boolit be sized before being used in a sabot? Or can a "raw" casting be used since the sabot should account for any inconsistencies with the bore?

Thanks,
Justin

[HATCH]

it depends on the as cast size.
I have used mine as cast but its .454 as cast and I normally size to .452

If you plan to cast for 45 acp then I would go with a 200 grain FPRN
Its a good boolit for all three applications