Lee .457 500gr FP GC mold

[Frank V]

Hope I'm in the right area, does anyone use the Lee .457 500gr FP GC mold? I am wondering what it's like in the .45-70 Marlin 95. I know some use 500gr bullets in the Marlin & I've looked on the Garrett web & they offer a 500gr bullet that's rated for the Marlin.
I'm wondering what data people use I know you'd have to seat it deeply fro the Marlin.
Anyone with experience I'd like to hear about it. Lee actually makes a pretty good mold, I use them for other cartridges & am happy with them.
Thanks.

[Sagebrush7]

Actually very accurate in my 1895 Marlin 22" barreled micro groove. You can crimp the case where you suppose to and it will feed without a hiccup. Using IMR 3031 The case cannot be double charged. I once shot a few with a heavy powder charge trying to get 2000 FPS. That didn't take long to scramble my brains. I bound up news paper and soaked it in the creek. Shot it with one of those 500 cast with wheel weights, 42" and buried up 6" more in the end of a fresh sweet gum stump. T-Rex no problem.



Hope I'm in the right area, does anyone use the Lee .457 500gr FP GC mold? I am wondering what it's like in the .45-70 Marlin 95. I know some use 500gr bullets in the Marlin & I've looked on the Garrett web & they offer a 500gr bullet that's rated for the Marlin.
I'm wondering what data people use I know you'd have to seat it deeply fro the Marlin.
Anyone with experience I'd like to hear about it. Lee actually makes a pretty good mold, I use them for other cartridges & am happy with them.
Thanks.

[Frank V]

Actually very accurate in my 1895 Marlin 22" barreled micro groove. You can crimp the case where you suppose to and it will feed without a hiccup. Using IMR 3031 The case cannot be double charged. I once shot a few with a heavy powder charge trying to get 2000 FPS. That didn't take long to scramble my brains. I bound up news paper and soaked it in the creek. Shot it with one of those 500 cast with wheel weights, 42" and buried up 6" more in the end of a fresh sweet gum stump. T-Rex no problem.


Thanks Sagebrush I love actual experience.

I wanted to share with everyone the answer to a question I asked of Lee customer service.
I asked if that mold threw .457 bullets out of wheel weights. Their reply was. The .457 shown on the box was the MINIMUM diameter it would cast they are guranteed not to go under .457 & they usually go up to .003 larger than .457. They said bullets well filled out from that mold usually come out at .459-.560.

I'm hoping someone else has used this bullet & would report on it.

[Larry Gibson]

I've used that Lee C457-500-FP since about '74 or '75 in my Siamese Mauser 450-400-70 (a 45-70 but please allow me my hallucinations). I use it primarily for my "DG" loads. For lions, leopards, Tigers, Plains antelope, pigs and lessor game I cast the bullet soft using COWWs + 2% tin then mixed 40/60 with lead. The bullets remain AC'd and are driven to 1750 fps. Penetration is excellent and expansion is uniform. For my "DG" loads (elephant, rhino, hippo and cape buffalo) I use an alloy of COWWs + 2% tin. The bullets are WQ'd out of the mould and give a BHN of 22+. I load these right at 2150 fps (458 Win Mag muzzle velocity with 500 gr bullets. I shot an injured spike elk one time from 25 yards (+/-) straight on hitting him under the chin. The bullet traversed the neck, body cavity and exited out through a hind quarter. Obviously penetration is sufficient. Now if only some rogue elephant would escape from a zoo or circus........

Larry Gibson

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[Fishman]

I have one and it casts almost .459 with ww lead. I've only ran it in my #1 but am planning to try it in my Marlin too. It is an impressive slug. I will likely use 4895 for my first attempts in the Marlin since it works so well with the Lee 340 gr.

[Frank V]

Coming back to this thread. I asked for the Lee C.457-500-FN for Christmas.
If I get it I'll be playing with it this Spring & summer.
Wish me luck.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Frank: there is another mould to look at. RCBS makes a .45-300FNGC, .45-405FNGC and a .45-500FNGC. All of these boolits have the same nose and crimp groove in the same place. The larger boolits simply have more Driving Bands and Grease Grooves.

These boolits are designed specifically for Marlin and Winchester Rifles and yield and OAL of 2.550 when crimped in the crimp groove regardless of size.

I only have the .45-300FN which actually drop WW material at 325 gr. My 1895 CB weighs only 7 lbs 1 oz so I haven't worked up to heavier loads and that boolit at 1400-1500fps is about all I can shoot 40 rounds of for a Silhouette Match.

The 500 gr version might be a little more noticeable when the trigger is pulled.

I know that Garrett ammo with the 540 gr boolits is only running 1500 fps and it has already killed everything. I personally think it would do well against an F150 if you needed to stop one.

People don't realize how formidable the .45-70 cartridge is when loaded for modern guns. It is more than up to the task for anything.

Randy

[Frank V]

W.R.,
I've read good things about the RCBS 405 FNGC & one may be in the future, I'm really hoping I'll get the Lee I want to see how well I can make it preform. I'll let you know right after Christmas.
Meanwhile I've still got a good supply of Rem. 405gr JSPs I bought when they were available & cheaper than any other .45 cal rifle bullets. These shoot very well & I'm happy with them, but I do want to go to cast bullets. I've cast for my six-guns for years & want to give the rifle a go.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Cast Boolits in .44 and .45 cal Rifles and Pistols is pretty much what the guns were made for.

I personally think they are the most fun you can have with Cast Boolits as the Impact and "Splat Factor" is just too cool.

It gives one a sense of power to know that you can knock down anything that walks!

Randy

[Frank V]

Yahoo My Wife got me the Lee .45 500gr FP GC mold for Christmas. It looks well made. It'll have to get above the temps. we have now we've had below zero temps & the garage is pretty cool this time of year.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Frank: I would suggest getting one of these and that way you don't have to wait. I've been heating my shop with one like these for 30 years and I assure you that they will run you out, and you'll end up turning it down to an idle setting!

The Radiant type Heaters, heat objects not the air, so you aim the thing at you.

Cheap solution to heating you in your Montana Garage.

http://www.mrheater.com/product/heaters/tank-tops.html

Or if you don't want to mess with filling Propane tanks then these Forced Air Heaters run on Kerosene or Diesel.

http://www.mrheater.com/forced-air-kerosene-heater-1653.html

These are available from lots of places and you can probably find better prices than from the factory. Big Box Home Improvement Stores are a good place to start.

Randy

[Frank V]

Wow thanks A friend had one one time & I think you are right they do heat well.
Thanks.

[big bore 99]

I shoot the Lee .457-500GC in my Italian Sharps and I like it just fine. It drops a bit @100yds, but still retains plenty of oomf. When it hits the wet berm behind the target, it throws mud up in the air and makes a tunnel big enough to put your hand in. I also like to size them down to .452 and paper patch them back up to .459.
I sure can't imagine it not killing anything it hits.

[Frank V]

I'm waiting for warmer weather & anxious, but I do like winter.

[Larry Gibson]

I sure can't imagine it not killing anything it hits.

I had some cast of #2 alloy that were WQ's so they were hard. Didn't have a BHN tester back then but they were as hard as lino. Anyways I got a call of a badly injured elk (I was a LEO/deputy sheriff and had to put down lots of injured animals) so I took my Siamese Mauser with me with those Lee 500s loaded to 1950 fps. The spike elk had a very badly broken front leg and was in bad shape and not moving well. I was able to pick the shot so I got about 40 - 50 yards directly in front of him. The elk was standing with his head a bit low so I took a kneeling position and when he slightly turned his head I shot him just under the jaw. He went straight to the ground and didn't quiver. A large puff of snow was blown up into the air from the bullet impact about 100+ yards behind the elk in the pasture. The bullet had gone through the neck length wise, through the lungs, through the paunch and out the rear a couple inches from the anus.....now that's what I call penetration!

Larry Gibson

[big bore 99]

500 grains at 1950fps must have been a real thump.

[Frank V]

Wow Larry I won't be able to run them that fast, but I'm hearing 1400-1500fps. Still should pack a whallup!

[W.R.Buchanan]

Garrett's .45-70 Sledge Hammer Load with a 540 gr boolit is only going 1550 fps. so I wouldn't worry about penetration. Larry's boolit is probably still flying!

Randy