Cast Lee .452-255-RF @ 800 fps...just for paper?

[Southern Shooter]

A buddy of mine borrowed my Lee .452-255-RF mold to cast boolits for his .45 ACP. He is wanting to experiment with this heavy for gun boolit as a woods/defense load to be used in east Texas and Louisiana. He is not pushing it hard...keeping his loads around 800 fps. My thought is to push it more than that.

Granted, we don't often have big threats in the woods, here. But, for his intended purpose, is a 255 grain boolit @ 800 fps even worth carrying??

Thanks

[DougGuy]

Is a 255 grain boolit @ 800 fps even worth carrying??

I used to shoot pins with a 255gr Keith type and by the very energetic manner it cleared a table, lifting pins in the air and throwing them 3-4 feet behind the table? Yeah I would say it is very formidable load in the .45 ACP format. I doubt a deer would stop one.

Might have to throat the barrel as this boolit has a bit of a proud ojive, and you definitely don't want to deep seat this one to compensate for it.

[DanWalker]

The original 45LC load was a 250 grain bullet at 850 fps and it was powerful enough to shoot through a horse and kill the indian hiding behind it. Yeah, 800 fps is PLENTY. I've punched 255 grainers at 950 fps through antelope at over 100 yards with plenty of power left after they exited.

[taco650]

I used to shoot pins with a 255gr Keith type and by the very energetic manner it cleared a table, lifting pins in the air and throwing them 3-4 feet behind the table? Yeah I would say it is very formidable load in the .45 ACP format. I doubt a deer would stop one.

Might have to throat the barrel as this boolit has a bit of a proud ojive, and you definitely don't want to deep seat this one to compensate for it.

I've shot pins a few times too with a 44mag revolver loaded with 240gr lead SWC's (store bought) at about 800fps and it would clear the pins just as Doug described. Recoil was low and I have no doubt that those loads would penetrate soft bodies easily because it went right through the wooden pins. Your friends load, if it cycles the pistol fine, should be a good defense load for woods carry.

[GhostHawk]

Speed or velocity is not everything, although many seem to enjoy chasing them.

A big chunk of lead at 800 fps carrys a LOT of energy. If it dumps even half and blows through you have a double leaking hole. If it hits anywhere in the chest area you have a shot up heart, lungs full of blood and a dead critter.

Take the same bullet and launch it with a slingshot at 150 fps, better yet, have someone else shoot it, you be the target.

Different story now?

That much lead anything over 200 fps could break bone and be fatal. His load is 4 times that.

You want to learn a lot about speed, velocity, energy vs power expended?
Play with a slingshot for a while. Some of the new Latex type rubber tubes are very very good.

I know a guy putting 300 grain broad heads on heavy wooden dowels through 3/8 inch plywood with a 20 pound draw slingshot.
And he's useing a wooden ball on the end as fletching and to give him a better grip.

Want an education? Take 2 minutes and read.
http://www.theslingshotforum.com/f19/sling-dart-evolution-37084/

[Indiana shooter]

I too have shot a 240 gr swc at around 800 fps out of a 44 mag. I ran a simple ballistic test on wet phone books, boards, and 2 gallon jugs of water. I had a 1X3 heat treated skid slat sat about 1 in. In the first book followed by 4 more books (5 books totaling about 25 in.). Behind the books was 2 dry catalogs about an inch thick each. Followed lastly by 2 gallon jugs of water. The test reviled that I don't have enough stuff to catch that boolit. It passed through ever thing, barely, but it did it. I found the boolit on the ground less than 3 feet from the last jug.

To help put this in perspective a 165 gr bullet from my 06 is usually found in the last book. A 180 gr bullet from my 06 is usually found in the dry catalogs. And a 240 gr xtp at around 1300 fps is usually found in at the end of the fourth book or beginning of the fifth.

So in short I wouldn't be afraid of carrying that boolit in the woods if it was reliable in the firearm.

[Wolfer]

I've shot that boolit out of a 45 colt a considerable amount. A little faster velocity @ 950 fps. Personally I don't think the extra 150 fps makes much difference in terminal performance.
I suspect it will be really difficult to recover one of those boolits in deer size game. I say suspect because I've killed a few deer with this load and haven't recovered a boolit yet that was in the deer.

Ive killed two deer with this boolits 200 gr little brother out of a 58 rem at 700 fps. I couldn't tell a difference between it and my heavier loads.

Put it where it counts and it will do its job. Unless the target is really big it will come out the far side.

[jabo52521]

I agree with Woofer. My long colt loves them. My acp Will not cycle with them no matter what I do. Great boolit just the same.

[DougGuy]

That boolit has long straight sides. It protrudes a fair amount from the case mouth, even before the ojive starts to curve. You simply have to throat the barrel to accept this, and they will cycle and perform like any other ACP load as far as feeding and chambering. May need a 24# recoil spring because I think an 18# isn't enough for the 255gr load.

This throat will plunk anything and everything that will cycle through the magazine. THIS is what it will need to look like to handle the C452-255-RF in the .45 ACP pistol:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cylinder%20Services/DSC03632crop_zpswxlphffv.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cylinder%20Services/DSC03632crop_zpswxlphffv.jpg.html)

[300savage]

My bone stock g21 and g41 both love that bullet in front of 10.5 of 2400 for a little better than 900 fps. My sr1911 eats em up as well with no changes from factory form. the usp has no issues either now that I think about it, why do i need to throat em ? Oh yeah I forgot, they are awesome on big feral hogs even though a big boars shoulders can stop one from exiting. Breaks em down no problem but surprised it could stop that chunk of lead.

[Elkins45]

My bone stock g21 and g41 both love that bullet in front of 10.5 of 2400 for a little better than 900 fps. My sr1911 eats em up as well with no changes from factory form. the usp has no issues either now that I think about it, why do i need to throat em ? Oh yeah I forgot, they are awesome on big feral hogs even though a big boars shoulders can stop one from exiting. Breaks em down no problem but surprised it could stop that chunk of lead.

What's your OAL for this load? I just set up a G21 for 45 Super and was thinking of giving this bullet a try.

[DougGuy]

What's your OAL for this load? I just set up a G21 for 45 Super and was thinking of giving this bullet a try.

Have had a couple of Glock owners send in KKM barrels for G21 to be throated so they can run .45 Super, seated out long. They say they shoot lights out afterwards.

[300savage]

If they will function in a g21 st mag they will chamber, sorry don't have the aol right now. Try just seating to cover the crimp groove and it should chamber in any 45acp

[Butcher45]

I shot a corsican ram broadside with my airgun using a soft lead 260grain BigLube PRS250 with a .32 meplat going about 650fps. The meat processor said it looked like it had been shot with a 30-06.

[Butcher45]

Here is what the other Lee .45Colt boolit (260grains) did to a 600 page book (dry), at about 650fps, shot at 25meters distance.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x65/butcher45/DSCN5534.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/user/butcher45/media/DSCN5534.jpg.html)

[LouisianaMan]

I agree with the other posters: nothing we have in the woods down here in Louisiana, much less in east Texas, would be able to fight through a well-placed bullet of the load you mention. The occasional bear, hog or wild dog would be the toughest threats, and a well-placed 255g @ 800 would dispatch them. With a .45 Automatic and a couple of spare mags, your buddy would be quite well-armed against a pack of feral dogs, although it would take a very cool head to deal with it.

As mentioned in your other thread, grizzlies, Kodiaks, & polars are much tougher and more aggressive. They flat-out view humans as a food source, and that makes for a different dynamic.

[w5pv]

Everthing thing that I have shot with a lrnfp 255 grain bullet traveling around 800 850fps have dropped like a rock.