Lee 459

[Mark Daiute]

ANYONE TRY THIS IN A TRAPDOOR?

http://www.titanreloading.com/molds/bullet-molds/45-70-caliber-rifle/lee-dc-mold-459-500-3r-

Inexpensive at least but I read years ago that a postell was no good in a trapdoor

[Skipper]

ANYONE TRY THIS IN A TRAPDOOR?

http://www.titanreloading.com/molds/bullet-molds/45-70-caliber-rifle/lee-dc-mold-459-500-3r-

Inexpensive at least but I read years ago that a postell was no good in a trapdoor

Not in a trapdoor, but in my Buffalo Classic

you might have stability problems.

[curator]

Great boolit in a 1 in 20" or 1 in 18" twist. The original Trapdoor Springfield's 1 in 22" twist does not quite do it for a boolit of this length. Bump the pointy nose back 1/4" and you may have a winner. Good sized lube grooves and the mould price can't be beat.

[country gent]

I just purchased both the lee 405 grn moulds. Have yet to try them. The barrel twist in your trapdoor will determine what it likes. The lyman postell ( I converted my mould to nose pour so its only 528 grns now) shoots very well in my Hepburn in 45-90 and pedersoli sharps in 45-70 both are 18 twist barrels. The Lee 3r may have the same issue with the bullets length being to long to stabilize. For a heavy bullet you ight try the Lyman 500 grn round nose 457125(?)

[Mark Daiute]

have 457125 and the lee hollow based 405, thought this one just might be cheap and fun. Thanks for the replies

[country gent]

Check it on lees sight for it length. Information then cast bullet dimensions. See how close it is to the lyman 500 grn bullet.

[Chill Wills]

ANYONE TRY THIS IN A TRAPDOOR?

http://www.titanreloading.com/molds/bullet-molds/45-70-caliber-rifle/lee-dc-mold-459-500-3r-

Inexpensive at least but I read years ago that a postell was no good in a trapdoor

I would like to correct the record.

At one time most of the NRA national records held in military rifle BPCR, Midrange and Longrange, were shot by Dennis Bruns using a Springfield 1884 and the bullet he shot was the Lyman 457 132- Postell. Frank Monikowski and Richard Wood, using the same model rifle, have bested some of those records using long for twist bullets too.

It may seem like the 22 twist should do poorly with these designs but in practice they not only work, they perform well.

Your question was about the Lee 500 2r. In my limited use of it I found it was lacking past two hundred yards. I would save my money. But you may or may not need anything better for your needs. What do you intend to have it do? Compete of shoot for fun?

I think Lee had a good opportunity to tweak that design and make it more stable by only doing one thing. Keep the length, Keep the tangent ogive. Keep the ogive radius but increase the very front of the nose width there by opening the two ogive radii making a better more weight forward nose profile. It would only change the current bullet slightly but increase the stability greatly.

[rfd]

i used the lee 459-500-3r in a buff classic, then a number of sharps and rolling block rifles, all with lots of different cartridge build spex. in the long run, the consistent accuracy results for well over 100 yards weren't good at all for me. the design has too little rifling bearing surface, and far too fast an ogive taper. not nearly as good as the lyman postell 457132 ... or better yet, a BACO money bullet 459525. ymmv.

[Mark Daiute]

thank you all

[Kitika]

I use the lee 500gr in my pedersoli sharps and have had great success out to 700yds with smokeless powder pushing them a smidge over 1400fps. Going to be trying them out to 1000yds soon.

[Don McDowell]

ANYONE TRY THIS IN A TRAPDOOR?

http://www.titanreloading.com/molds/bullet-molds/45-70-caliber-rifle/lee-dc-mold-459-500-3r-

Inexpensive at least but I read years ago that a postell was no good in a trapdoor

Have shot that bullet in trapdoor, sharps, hi walls, and buffalo classic. It shoots alright to 200 yds, beyond that it's a **** shoot. There are much better bullets, and moulds.

[iplaywithnoshoes]

I have noticed a lot of criticism of the mold by the BPCR community. I'm curious why there is such a mix of opinion. I have the mold and I may actually try some testing in the future on stability with different alloys. I'll be using it with 1:14 twist so we'll see how that affects precession and keyholing at longer ranges.

shoe

[Don McDowell]

I don't think among the folks that shoot bpcr/bptr that shoot for accuracy you'll find any mix of opinion. The bullet won't stay stable at the distances used in competition. Works great for shooting medium sized groups at 200 sometimes 300 yds, beyond that it's a bust.

[brad925]

I just purchased both the lee 405 grn moulds. Have yet to try them. The barrel twist in your trapdoor will determine what it likes. The lyman postell ( I converted my mould to nose pour so its only 528 grns now) shoots very well in my Hepburn in 45-90 and pedersoli sharps in 45-70 both are 18 twist barrels. The Lee 3r may have the same issue with the bullets length being to long to stabilize. For a heavy bullet you ight try the Lyman 500 grn round nose 457125(?)

I have both 405 molds as well. However, i foundthe one with the shallower lube grooves was not well suied for long barrels due to lack of lube. I was getting leading in the last 4" of the barrel on my uberti hiwall.

[Lead pot]

If I could only get one mould for the .45 caliber rifles it would be the postell. If not the Lyman 457-132 because they have a problem making them round or diameter problems it would be an exact copy from neihandtools the http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/458-525-PB-2.jpg. Walt made this mould for me before his passing and it will shoot in both of my Trap Doors even in the one with a .461 groove.
Using a undersized bullet or a out of round bullet will be the correct bullet when the black powder is lit under it.


brad925

A wide shallow groove that is only 8-10 thousands deeper then the grooves in the barrel is more beneficial then a deep groove for leaving lube behind. A deep groove is a waste of lube that does not get used beyond the top of the lands. I checked this out.

[country gent]

I shoot several 45 caliber bullets for different things. 1) is the lyman 510 grn round nose govt bullet. Its just a good standard to start with and does well most of the time. 2) is the Lyman postell originally 535 grns A great bullet as is ansd does good in most rifles. Mine has been converted to a nose pour desighn similar to Hoch molds when I got bored one day. 3) Is a 550 grn Old West Shillouette bullet that really hits the rams hard and carries well. I have several lighter moulds from Lyman, Lee, RCBS that while they do okay my 1-18 twist barrels seem to like the longer bullets better.

[Lead pot]

Hey Gent, Alma Mich silhouette match is on next weekend.

[country gent]

Thanks for the info Lead Pot, I'm still hurting from the accident last Sunday though. Also with my disabilities I shoot offhand sitting from the waist up. Some groups find that a problem, but not many. I think some friends from here are going to it though. Theres another from the site that shoots there routinely.

[brad925]

That is true but the shallow groove on that shallow groove 405 is narrow as well. in my shorter barrel double 45-70 Baikel i can use it without issue.