Sizing for .45LC ?

[DHC]

Seems like most of the commercial vendors size their cast boolits to .452 - though I've read that the 45LC should be sized to .454. Short of measuring the bores in my 45LC guns, and since they have previously shot those commercial boolits sized at .452 and were accurate and reliable, is there any reason I should spend the money for a .454 sizer when I already have one in .452 that also works for the 45 ACP ??

[prs]

Your modern 45 Colt barrel probably goes on order of .451". But slugging is so satisfying and easy ;-)

One approach is to let the barrel size the boolits. If your mold drops too much above .454", then that could be a problem. My molds for 45 Colt drop at just under .454" and I lube them in a .454" die that really does no sizing at all. If your molds are similar, and your guns are modern era, then using a .452" die is not going to detract. Your slugging can also tell you about the throat size, that can be even more helpful.

prs

[runfiverun]

I just go with 452.
if the gun don't like it then I look for the reason.

[oscarflytyer]

I went to the trouble of slugging my Ruger 44 SPC. When I got the 45 Colt, just cast and shot. Works great so doesn't matter...

[w5pv]

My new Uberti slugs at 449 so 452 shoots well so far 3to4"at 40 yards.

[Pb2au]

I agree with the others. Pretty much the bulk of 45 colt firearms now slug out at .451" I own three and they all slug the same. Just like Runfiverun says, 452 and if there is problem, work from there.

[tomme boy]

Mine 45 colt H&R slugged at 0.453" so not every is at 0.451"

[fredj338]

As noted, unless you have an older Colt, the new guns have 0.451" +/- bbls. So if you do not want to slug, a 0.452" sizer is a good place to start. Check your cyl throats too, some manuf, like Ruger, tend to make them smaller than groove dia. This only causes issues w/ leading & accuracy, not helpful.

[Char-Gar]

With the .452 vs. .454 question there is no need to slug the bore, as every handgun I know of in 45 Colt, will have a barrel groove diameter of .452 or smaller. Therefore either .452 or .454 will do just fine.

I will allow there might be some very old black powder Colt SAs out there with larger than .452 barrels, but I have never found one. I have read about them, but that is all. The earliest Colt SA I measured was from 1932 and it had a .452 barrel groove diameter. All Colt New Service sixguns had a barrel groove of .452. Colt used .452 for the 1917 models in 45 ACP and stayed with that number when they started the commercial New Service model in 45 Colt.

The critical measurement, is the diameter of your cylinder throats. Old Colts (SSA and New Service) has throats as large as .458, so the bigger the bullet the better. Most Italian Colt clones follow the same numbers. Older Smith and Wesson 25s will also have throats of .456 or larger. Smith tightened up their 45 Colt throats with the 25-7 and latter models.

Rugers have always had tighter throats. My new Lipsey's 45 Flatop has throats of .452 and I had my older Blackhawk's cylinder throats reamed to .453.

So do you need .452 bullets or .454 bullets (or larger), only your sixgun cylinder knows for sure and that is the place to ask the question.

That said, if you are happy with the performance of .452 bullets, I would just load and shoot what makes you happy. No need to spend money on theory if you are already happy.
Me...I have sixguns that require both sizes.

[Larry Gibson]

I just go with 452.
if the gun don't like it then I look for the reason.

+1. Sometimes we get too wrapped around the axle when the gun really can tell the difference.

Larry Gibson

[DHC]

Thanks for all the responses. The two (2) guns I own in 45LC are a Cimarron 'Evil Roy' 6-shooter and a Henry 'Big Boy' lever-action rifle. Both are among my favorite guns for general shooting. I think I'll stick with the .452 sizer for now, and only think about changing to the larger sizer if a problem develops.

- Dan

[TMenezes]

With my Rugers bore being .451 and my Lee molds dropping slugs at .452 I just lube and shoot.

However for some reason 45 Colt rifles tend to have a larger bore. My Uberti lever gun has a slightly bigger bore and wasn't shooting these Lee bullets very accurately. I ordered a .454 mold from Accurate. These drop right at .454 and shoot great in my rifle as cast.

[45sixgun]

I size mine at .451. Fits the throats right and I get minimal leading. It's a Ruger.

[cbrick]

Char-Gar is right, size to the throats. The only reason to bother slugging a revolver bore is know that it is not larger than the throats. If the bore is larger than the throats it will not make a lick of difference how big you make your boolits because they WILL BE throat diameter when they exit. Revolver throats are the world's finest boolit sizers.

Rick