.45 auto rim

[Elmo]

My mold came in today. It is a Lee 452-252-SWC. I cast a few with # 2 alloy that I had left over from my 45-70 500+ grain casting. I used those in a Winchester high wall browning replica. The bullets were shot at 1250 fps over Swiss 1 1/2 black powder. Lubed with Shavers lube, no leading and was very accurate. I am going to shoot these in a single shot Chicopee rifle that I am building chambered in .45 auto rim. The barrel is 24" long from green mountain with a 1 in 16 twist. I want to use 231 powder because I have some and use the Shavers lube. How will the load work?
Lmo

[Outpost75]

Should work fine, but you have to be careful with 231 and the heavier 250+ grain bullet in .45 Auto Rim as pressure will peak higher. Not familiar with the Chicopee rifle and action strength, but in my .45 ACP rifle built on a small prewar H&R .410 shotgun frame I use 4 grains of Bullseye with soft 255-grain .45 Colt cowboy bullets similar to Saeco #955 and it shoots well for 875 fps in a 20" barrel. I think you would be OK with 4.5 grains of 231 as a start load, but would be cautious as you approach 5 grains unless you can find a source of pressure tested data with a heavier bullet. 6 grains of Unique is a full charge load listed by Speer with the 250-grain lead SWC.

[Elmo]

The Chicopee is a low pressure design. I intend to use it as a plinker and don't intend to go over 800 or so fps. Thanks for the advise and the load data. I fully intend to be cautious. I am not new to reloading and
working loads up. All my load development has been for max accuracy. I was a diehard IHMSA competitor and did a fair amount of black powder silhouette.
Elmo

[Elmo]

I also have a good chronograph to keep tabs on what I am doing.
Elmo

[flint45]

231 works fine in my .45 auto rim loads, also like red dot very good accuracy

[Elmo]

Thanks Flint!