Fast, dumb simple question reloading .45 Schofield??

[ANick57]

Ladies and Gents,

I may not have found the perfect search to find references regarding reloading the .45 Schofield.. it's amazing though how many times ".45" showed up!! :)

Curious on reloading dies. Will the .45 Long Colt adjust far enough to load these or is it going to be specific dies??

Thanks

(Told ya it was dumb/simple :) )

[NC_JEFF]

I haven't tried this but with the Schofield being shorter my concerns would be the 45 Colt dies may not have enough adjustment to seat the bullet deep enough into the Schofield cartridge. Having enough adjustment for crimping is also a concern. I see that the Schofield and the Colt have the same outer dimensions on the brass and bullet do an extended seating plug should allow ample travel to take care of the seating problem, you'll have to just try and see if you can get a crimp.
Jeff

[Guesser]

I knocked the carbide ring out of a Lee 45 Colt Carbide Crimp die, it works well for crimping both 45's; with out resizing after seating. End of problem....

[bedbugbilly]

What brand of dies? Some brands do and some don't. Your best get is to look at the die sets offered by the various makers and that should tell you if they will do the shorter Schofield brass or not. My main set of dies that I load45 Colt with is a hodge podge of different die brands. I have a set of the RCBS Cowboy dies and IIRC, they are listed as doing both cartridges.

The normal FL sizing die should work just fine regardless of if it is steel or carbide. The expander die and the seating die (which is usually also a crimp die) will be iffy depending on the length of the expander stem and seating stem and the location of the crimp in the die. I like to use a roll crimp but a 45 ACP taper crimp will work in most cases for putting a taper crimp on them.

Go up to the top and hit on the icon for Titan Reloading - they sell Lee and other brands. Lee lists the 45 Colt and the 45 Schofield as separate die sets. Not a whole lot different than trying to load 38 Colt Long in a set of 38 special dies. Some might work - others not. On my 38 Colt Short and Long, I use a 9mm taper crimp die. Check RCBS website and see what it says as far as their 45 Colt dies - they may do both since their Cowboy dies do.

[rintinglen]

I used a bastardized 45 ACP/ 45 Colt combo, with a 45 colt sizer and expander, and a 45 ACP Seater. My RCBS 45 Colt die was a llittle too long to crimp the Schofield round.200473

[Larry Gibson]

I used a bastardized 45 ACP/ 45 Colt combo, with a 45 colt sizer and expander, and a 45 ACP Seater. My RCBS 45 Colt die was a llittle too long to crimp the Schofield round.200473

Exactly what I do.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

ANick57,
Welcome to the forum.
Your question seems like a good one.
I'm glad you got some answers.

[reddog81]

The used Lyman dies I bought off Ebay work for both, however the 45 Colt RCBS shellholder did not work with the Schofield rounds. The Schofield rounds have a larger diameter rim. I had to file down the rim in order to get them to work. The Hornady LNL shellplate seems to work with either round so that might depend on the individual item.

[ANick57]

The adjustment limitations were something I was expecting to vary by maker, or for that matter product iterations. It wasn't a great concern as I was just mildly on the fence about fiddling with sharing the dies anyway. I'll just get a dedicated set for the Schofields and leave them parked on the turret plate. Beats the buggers out of resetting everything!! Good observation on the shellholder difference though. Not totally unexpected after finding the thread regarding the larger Schofield rim impinging on the star of some revolvers. I'm thinking my Uberti Schofields should like the Schofield rims a little better than they do the .45 Colt.

Thanks for the feedback folks!

[DougGuy]

I got a Lee 45 Schofield 3 die set from a forum member here for $20. There is currently a used set on ebay in good condition for $20 plus shipping. IIRC, Lee ships the 45 Schofield set with a 45 Colt sizing die.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Ran into the same issue wanting a 375 Whelen seater without buyer a very expensive custom die.
Found a stray 375 H&H seater, took it to the grinder, and 10 minutes later had a "home /custom" die that does just fine.
Mike in Peru

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I can't even get a proper crimp in the .45 Colt with RCBS dies with the Dillon 550B because the Dillon shell plate is too thick. I use RCBS Schofield dies to crimp my Schofield and Long Colt cases.

[Larry Gibson]

With the light loads used in the 45 Schofield I mostly don't crimp per say. Just use the 45 ACP seater to taper crimp slightly. A crimp isn't needed with the ACP and isn't with the Schofield......

[GooseGestapo]

I use the Lee .45acp dies to load .45 Schofield, .45 Colt, and .45acp. The .45colt and schofield require the #11 shellholder. I use the Schofield brass in my .45Colt M625 Mountain Gun as the ejected brass clears the cylinders, like the .44 Spl does from the M69.
Neck tension is good with the .452" bullets. Might be too tight if you NEED .454" bullets.