405 HB Lee .459

[armednfree]

I have a Rossi Rio Grande coming. I did order some Hornady FTX 325 grain bullets for it. I also ordered a Lee 405 grain HB boolit mold. I'm told that if it chambers as cast to shoot it. I noted that the Lee sizer available is .457 diameter. I intend to pan lube these with 50/50 JPW/Alox.

But looking at the numbers on that 405. Really, since shots beyond 130 yards are just about unheard of where I hunt (heck beyond 50 is rare) That 405 fired at even 1500 fps will kill anything in the woods and at 130 yards I don't even have to aim outside the kill box, top of the kill box yes, but not outside.

[waco]

I have that mold. Mine drops boolits at .460" with my alloy. I size them to .459" for my marlin 1895. 1500 FPS will do anything you need it to.

[357maximum]

I have that mold. Mine drops boolits at .460" with my alloy. I size them to .459" for my marlin 1895. 1500 FPS will do anything you need it to.


What alloy are you running with that boolit?

[Hickok]

I also have that mold and mine casts .461" with ACWW. I use it in a Marlin 1895 with ballard rifling. I size in a Lee push through die to .460" for my rifle, and tumble loob with Recluse loob.

[bikerbeans]

Seems that most of my lee molds with WW lead cast larger than advertised.

BB

[armednfree]

Can anyone tell me why Lee's size dies go from .457 right to .501? 45 rifle is .458 and these bullets should be .459 or so. I don't really want to lap out a die.

[Jacko.357]

I have used the 405HB as Cast in my Rio Grande. I use Clip On Wheel Weight Alloy, air cooled, White Label 2700+ Lube and 40 gr of ADI 2206H [Hodgdon 4895] It's an accurate Projectile in my Rifle. If you use the crimp groove it will be around 2.160 OAL depending how clean your sprue cut is. My Rio Grande feeds up to 2.167 reliably. I have bought a Lee .457 Sizer that I have yet to Lap out to .459 as the unsized Projectiles bulge my Cases. I have lapped Lee Sizers before, it is an easy job. Being a nose pour Mould I am thinking of machining 1/8" of the Face of the Mould for a larger Metplat

regards Jacko

[Hickok]

Can anyone tell me why Lee's size dies go from .457 right to .501? 45 rifle is .458 and these bullets should be .459 or so. I don't really want to lap out a die.http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/1193/1/LEE-SIZE-460 This where I got my .460 sizer.

I crimp the Lee 405 hollow base boolit right in the middle of the first driving band behind the nose of the boolit. There is no crimping groove, but a good crimp and the case will bite into the alloy.

[armednfree]

I have bought a Lee .457 Sizer that I have yet to Lap out to .459 as the unsized Projectiles bulge my Cases

How does it shoot sized .457?

[rhead]

How does it shoot sized .457?
Mine drops them at .459 . I paper patch them and size back to .462. Both my Marlin 95 (pre safety) and my Ruger #1 went from shooting prety good to shooting great. Considering how adding .003 improved the performance I was not all that curious about sizing to .457, sorry can't help with that. If it will chamber try shooting it. I think Lee advertises the minimum size not the average. (+.003 -.000). that is second hand info and not gospel. I use Coww plus 2% tin.

[waco]

What alloy are you running with that boolit?

I believe those were cast from coww

[curator]

armednfree:

Don't worry about boolit sizing until after you get your new rifle. Most .45-70s will shoot the Lee .459/405HB as cast. Rarely will a .45-70 rifle shoot well with cast at .457, most need .459-.460. This slug is designed for black powder and so is made with generous lube grooves. Lee Liquid Alox might not be the best choice for lube. Cast from AC-COWW it is fine up to about 1500fps, but your shoulder may be happier with 1250-1300fps. Buckshot on this forum can make a sizer in any size you want.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

my mold drops at .460 with range scrap (~8-9bhn)
they fit a unsized fired case perfectly and chamber fine,
and shoot great

[armednfree]

The 1300-1400 fps loads sound fine to me for plinking at the range. The thing is that I have 4 powders in quantity, IMR 3031, IMR 4046, WW748 and WW760.

No data for the WW748 or the WW760, maybe they just don't bulk up enough in the case.

The Hodgdon list shows IMR 4064 at 46 grains minimum for just over 1500fps, 45.5 grains of IMR 3031 for the same velocity range. So what happens if I drop those charges to the 43 grain region, which should do around 1400fps?

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Edit that, I see the 47th edition of Lymans has IMR 4831 charges going down to 34 grains. Now, can you do the same with IMR 4064?