Lee 6-Cavity Mold 452-255-RF and 100 yard shooting (45 colt)

[Whiterabbit]

Anyone shoot this boolit to 100 yards? can it be loaded accurate to do so? Accurate meaning maybe 6" at 100 yards (offhand)., or 100% success at hitting an 8" pie plate.

I like the 300-325 grain weight class better, and the meplat on the 300 grain LEE boolit besides, but I'd like to eventually have a boolit I can cast in volume that does not require a gas check and can go that maximum distance accurately. I can't find any reasonably priced mold with more than 2 cavities with the same kind of profile as the LEE300 except this one.

[RobS]

This will be a good shooter for you. I don't know what you are shooting it from (revolver or rifle) though but it will have a whole lot less drop that's for sure. NOE makes this version in a .454" diameter mold.

[runfiverun]

I shoot the similar lyman version to 100 yds and beyond.
in my lever gun off the bench I have shot a bunch of 2" or so groups, and use the same load to shoot lever gun silhouette which goes to 200 yds.
the 50 yd chickens and 100 yd pigs are gimme's for the most part.
we won't discuss the turkey's but the rams are pretty easy if I hold steady and remember my sight picture.
they also shoot rather well in my usfa rodeo's even at the lower velocity's they demand, and their crude
[1873 type] sights, 100 yd shots on a pie plate would be doable on a good day.

[Whiterabbit]

gun will be a large frame vaquero that will be "gone over" ad nauseaum until it shoots like a dream. sights will be filed for the best boolit/load, front sight will be replaced, every internal piece polished, the springs tuned, barrel checked, etc etc etc.

I can shoot 6" with my BFR 460S&W at 100 yards almost on command. did about 3" once on a good day. I'd like to duplicate that with a cartridge that doesn't need a gas check to shoot, but still have enough oomph to halt a 200 lb pig at 100 yards were I ever to have the opportunity to set up and brace for a long stationary shot. BFR did it with ease with a 425 grain ranchdog boolit. To get there in a hip-carriable package and no gas check would be a dream.

Will take alot of practice, so a mold with more than 2 cavities (more than 4 even) would help out there alot :).

Just got my M die in too, so I don't have to worry about bevel base. gas check kinda eliminated the need for the m die. that's gonna change.

[Dale53]

Whiterabbit;
If you already have the Lee 300 gr bullet mould, why not try it with out the gas check. It just work fine without the gas check and your "problem" is solved.

My "go to" bullet for the 45 Colt is the RCBS .45-270-SAA. As a solid it casts right at 285 grs with my alloy. I have a Mihec six cavity mould for the solid and a two cavity mould for the hollow point. I have a Bisley Vaquero with 5½" barrel that shoots to the sights at 25 yards and a Ruger SS Bisley convertible with adjustable sights. I consider this a SUPERIOR bullet.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/img086.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/img086.jpg.html)

Here are the actual bullets I have cast:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/LoadedRounds45-270-SAA-3732.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/LoadedRounds45-270-SAA-3732.jpg.html)

Here are the loaded rounds;
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/LoadedRounds45-270-SAA-3735.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/LoadedRounds45-270-SAA-3735.jpg.html)

FWIW
Dale53

[Whiterabbit]

OK, runfive, you have me convinced. midsouth had the mold for 35 bucks, so I bought it. Looks to be a more friendly boolit with the powder I "want" it to work with, bluedot, too.

I'm not hoping for 2" at 100 yards from a vaquero, but if I can do 6" off sandbags like I can with the BFR, and ~4-5 inches at 25 yards totally unsupported, I will be a happy guy.

[Harter66]

Ive shot that over enough Unique to get 1050 in 70s Blackhawk 7.5 in bbl the RNFP Lee 255 was fine other than 5" high at 50yd. I'm taking it hog hunting in 17 days .

[Whiterabbit]

I show only 2.8" high at 50 yards if you move it 1300 fps. Seems doable, some of the hotter loaders here are doing that with a 300 grain bullet in the ruger.

[dubber123]

I show only 2.8" high at 50 yards if you move it 1300 fps. Seems doable, some of the hotter loaders here are doing that with a 300 grain bullet in the ruger.

If it's a large frame Ruger, 1,300+ with a 310 was very easy to hit, (7-1/2" bbl), and the most accurate load I tested. Many of my most accurate loads are on the fast side.

[Whiterabbit]

It's a large frame.

I'm downsizing from BFR, so recoil management will be nothing new, but there's a reason I am downsizing and I feel no need to chase max loads unless that's where the accuracy is. If it has to be a max load to be accurate then that is what I will do. My goal is to make this a one boolit, one load gun, and I want it to be a sweetheart so I can cast and load lots. So that means no gas check, that means experimenting with tumble lube (but will probably use the lyman 45 and white label in the long run), and the 6-banger mold. Like a baby FA83.

Looks like lots of load data out there with bluedot, so that's exciting too. Looks like BD can be used to go from mild to wild also, so hopefully there's an accuracy node in there somewhere.

[Harter66]

My gun I ran all but out of down adjustment . I could have gone hotter with other powders but I didn't care for the recoil. I worked up a box of full tilt hunting loads and held back on the rest. I should add that with both feet on the ground I'm at 4000 to 4200 ft above sea level and have an average humidity around 17% so there may be a lot of influence there.

[Whiterabbit]

That's a good warning. In my case, muzzleloaders have taught me how to appreciate "adjusting" the gun using a file. That's one attration to revolvers for me actually. Adjusting cylinder fit, adjusting the sights (fixed sights), adjusting the timing, everything is adjusted via file. Or as one internet source stated, "adjusting that which was not meant to be adjusted."

In other words, if I run out of down, I get a new front sight and solder it on. :)

[dubber123]

The 1,300+ fps. loads I ran out of the last one I worked with were plain base. The barrel got firelapped, and I saw no leading at all. An oily patch after shooting was all it got. You may find accuracy at a lower speed, it just happened to be on the top end in this case. The particular boolit I was shooting doesn't start shooting well until close to 1,200 fps., and many who bought the same mould reported the same. The 255 should do much better at lower speeds.

[Whiterabbit]

What mold, if you don;t mind my asking?

[dubber123]

What mold, if you don;t mind my asking?

It was an older group buy LEE, it casts a .454+" 310 gr. Keith type semi wadcutter. A lot of people were in on the buy, and almost to the person reported poor accuracy from it. Myself and one other on here got good results, and both noticed accuracy started around 1,200 fps. It seems most who bought it had milder loads in mind, and it just didn't work with this design. It worked in this instance as the guns owner wanted a full power hunting load, and it was one of the few molds I own that cast large enough to fill the .455" throats Ruger shipped this one with. H-110 got plenty of speed, and shot in 2" at 50 yds., more than the owner hoped for.

[Whiterabbit]

Well, I picked up the LEE mold to give a try side by side with the 300 grain gas check version.

I like it. (the 255 grain bullet). I've only done first pass testing but got markedly better performance with just a single load, 15 grains of bluedot. It was fairly random with 13, 14, and 16. 15 seemed well controlled, a sweet spot. it has a heck of a bark, 13 grains was a sweetie. But the recoil is easy with all loads, including the 15 grainer that seems to shoot exactly where my un-uniform grip tells it to shoot :(

If it shoots at increasing distances like it does up close, I'll be happy.

[MT Chambers]

My fav. pb bullet is still 454424, a 255 gr keith type pb.

[DougGuy]

In the Ruger, I think there is a direct relation between hardness and velocity. I have best accuracy out of them with boolits I can -almost- dig a thumbnail into, and this is with the GC design. Felix lube, SPG lube, or some other soft lube rules. Never have to clean the barrel, get a lube star at the muzzle, and a "black bore" that is seasoned from lube. A dry patch just comes out dark gray almost black, and it's all lube. If you can get it to that point, you have hit on the combo the barrel likes.

In seeking the sweet spot with an original Vaquero, pay close attention to the thread area. You may be lucky and have no choke at all or if pushing a tightly patched jag stops 1" short of the forcing cone, that's choke you are feeling. If it's marginal, .001 ~ .002" and a blued gun firelapping may do the trick. If it is .003" and stainless, it just got 6x harder to lap out, and you may not get .003" lapped out of a stainless gun before the rifling in the good part of the barrel starts to deteriorate. In this case, it would be well advised to read up on Ross Seyfried's findings with a Taylor Throated 7 1/2" Ruger, he was recording 40 and 50 fps gains, and very nicely reduced groups across the board with all loads tested. I do have one of the Clymer Taylor Throat reamers for .45 and they work a charm on a choked barrel.

[Whiterabbit]

My barrel is choked somewhere between .0003" and .0009" depending on how I hold the micrometer. Average .0005".

now that I think about it, I did not clean the barrel before I slugged it. hum. I suppose I should check it again.

[JWNathan]

I really enjoy the 255 Lee for lighter loads and has been a great shooter for me either with plinking loads over some PB outta my flattop or over some 4227 outta my Win 94. The Ruger I've rarely shot over 50-60 yards but the winny is minute of tin can at 100 yards all day long. I'm gonna try the MiHec 454-308 Keith next week for something a bit different.
-Jesse

[Whiterabbit]

Shot a little more last weekend. Two young children and a wife that doesn't like me shooting really cuts into my shooting time these days. What seemed to have lots of potential at close ranges seems to fall apart at longer distances. seems almost as if the 15 grains if bluedot is a 25 yard load. I don't know for sure though if it is the load, the gun, or the shooter. Hard to tell. Shooting a Ruger is just so different than shooting a BFR.

I will say though that they shoot really low. So that is a blessing at least, that I can file the front sight to shoot at the distances I want to shoot at.

[osteodoc08]

Dale53 has it right. I really enjoy the 45-270-SAA as well. With the MP mold and my COWW alloy I'm right at 283-285gr sized and lubed.