Anyone have problems with the Lee .452 RN mold?

[prickett]

I'm thinking of trading in my .452 Lee conical nose mold (230 gr.), replacing it with the round nose mold. Before doing so, has anyone had feed problems with it?

TIA

[Budzilla 19]

I use the TL 230 RN in .45 ACP, never failed to feed so far! I just cast them, use Hi-Tek on the slugs, size and go! Good luck. If you want to try a few, PM your address and I'll send you a few, if I got some left! I'll look.


well, I lied to you! The only ones I have left are lubed with BLL. I have some commercial cast RN if you still want to try them! Oh, dang, guess I'll just have to cast up a few! Dang the bad luck!! Haha!!! Those few I have lubed with BLL there's only about 20 or so. Let me know what you want to do.

[prickett]

Thanks for the offer, but I'm considering the conventional, not TL, design. But, thanks again!

[GhostHawk]

I use the conventional design, have 2 of them actually, one with smaller grooves but it is not a TL design.

Ben's liquid lube still works, as long as I set the OAL to anything close to right they work just fine.

I do not shoot as many of those as I did for a while. Been playing with 9mm and .22lr of late.

But the molds work fine.

Smaller stuff takes less intestinal fortitude leaves me more concentration for actual sight picture.

[jcren]

I have not used that mold myself, but when researching 45 molds, I found a lot of people have feed problems with the blunted profile of the r1

[retread]

I liked that mold but I had the old style Lee mold. Keeping the halves lined up was a pain but the new style or a 6 cavity would be great. I used them in 45 ACP and 45 Colt.

[prickett]

I have not used that mold myself, but when researching 45 molds, I found a lot of people have feed problems with the blunted profile of the r1

Does R1 mean release one? If so, what is the difference between R1 and current (R2?)

[jcren]

It refers got the radius. R1 is a straight semi-circle profile, r2 is a more oval shape closer to hardball. Low drag rifle bullets will have more complex profiles like r7 or r10

[retread]

Does R1 mean release one? If so, what is the difference between R1 and current (R2?)

Don't know about R1 or R2 but the earlier ones have the bars and the new ones have alignment pins and sockets. Big improvement. Beware of buying new on Ebay. They will try to sub the old ones as new (they are actually new old stock). The 6 cavity have been the pin and socket type for as long as I have been buying them.

[prickett]

It refers got the radius. R1 is a straight semi-circle profile, r2 is a more oval shape closer to hardball. Low drag rifle bullets will have more complex profiles like r7 or r10

Does Lee only make R1 (not an R2)?

It is the semi-circle profile that concerns me, which is my purpose for the question in the first place.

[jcren]

As far as I know, Lee uses r1 profile for the standard groove design and r2 for the tl design.

[yondering]

Thanks for the offer, but I'm considering the conventional, not TL, design. But, thanks again!

That particular conventional 228-1R design is one of Lee's worst, IMO. Sure, some guys will say it shoots fine for them, but it's a pretty poor design.

- The nose radius blends right in to the driving band with no step, so very small changes in as-cast diameter affect the effective location of the front driving band.

- The very short nose means the bullet is mostly body, and has to be seated very deeply.

- The tiny lube grooves are marginally adequate at best.

I don't usually like Lee's TL molds, but in the 45 cal round nose choices, the TL design is the better of the two.

[gwpercle]

The 45 - 228 -1R was the first mould I ever bought for the 45 acp. It was also the only mould I ever sold. $5.00 at a yard sale. It fed OK...but the 1-R profile just isn't right. I didn't care for the ragged holes it cut in targets either. Some guns have trouble feeding it, it's not the same as ball or the Lyman #452374 profile. Now that I think about it ....the design sucks , don't get it .
Much prefer the SWC profile and truncated cone...SWC is my favorite in 45 acp.

[Texas by God]

Still using the 45-228-1R for ACP and LC. Works for me tumble lubed. Although currently using 200 swc in the Ballerina Molester with great results. Best, Thomas.

[Kraschenbirn]

Tried it and wasn't overly impressed. Fed okay in my Gold Cup and Series 70 Commander with their throated barrels and relieved feed ramps but second round from the mag would hang up in my USN-marked '43 Remington-Rand. Switched to the RCBS 225 gr. TC and never looked back.

Bill

[Tackleberry41]

I have not had any issues with feeding on the RN Lee, after I leemented the mold so they were .452. Early on I had to buy the FN version of the mold, I figured the RN would work in my ACP and revolver, but they had to be seated to deep to get the nose to clear, so had to get the FN mold. I tumble lubed at first, but switched over to PC. I dont use either mold much since I bought a HP mold from NOE.

[DerekP Houston]

I'm still using up my stash of 230rn TL design. Was one of the first molds I purchased and does well with alox, hitek, or pc. That's just IMHO of course. Good info on the difference between 1r and 2r thanks for clearing that up.

[Bushrat]

I have one and it feeds great in all four 1911s.

[natchomamma]

I'm thinking of trading in my .452 Lee conical nose mold (230 gr.), replacing it with the round nose mold. Before doing so, has anyone had feed problems with it?

TIA


I have the non-TL 6 cavity version. No problems here. Works like a champ.