lots of 45ACP

[leadeye]

I want to run off lots of 45ACP plinking ammo. What are the collective opionions on the Lee 6 cavity molds in this size? The 452-2281R and the TL452-230-2R.

[shooterg]

I have nothing bad to say about the TL452-230-2R. I get a lotta boolits fast, tumble lube and the cheap Lee .452 sizer working fine with good ole Bullseye in the 1911 and the old S & W 1917. Plates on my homemade rack slam down with a very nice ring !
Of course these .45's are my first castings, and I've only sent 800+ downrange so far - many of the posters here have cast/swaged/shot tens of thousands of lead projectiles, so listen to them first !

[Le Loup Solitaire]

This mold is a reasonably close version of the GI hardball boolit that weighs 234 grains. Also similar to the RCBS 225 grain. I had a Lee single cav for this bullet and it casted excellent boolits. Didn't even need to be smoked. They fed and shot very well. I used 4.0-4.1 grains of Red Dot. It burned very clean and the groups were good. Never had a chrono, but I don't think it went much faster than 900fps. It worked the slide ok..no stovepipes and the empties all landed in the same place. Made the mistake of lending it to a friend. End of the mold, friendship and story. LLS

[35remington]

The 2R more faithfully represents the .45 ACP bullet and produces a standard overall length in the vicinity of 1.265." This is right on spec.

This is the correct "hardball" duplication bullet; the 228 1R is noticeably less so.

The 1R produces an overall length of 1.220" when seated correctly for 1911's to headspace on the rifling origin (maximum length possible; any much shorter lengths is much less desirable in 1911's) which is not quite right as to OAL, but many 1911's shoot it reliably. It is getting a little short for standard GI magazines of the tapered lip, late release point variety but check functioning to be sure in your gun. Parallel lip, early release magazines may handle it better than GI magazines in some instances (especially for those seating the bullet to too short OAL's), but such magazines often have other attendant compromises than make them less than many tout them to be. Try the original Colt spec, tapered/middle release magazines for best functioning and fewest drawbacks.

Some would rather have the standard lube grooves of the 1R combined with the shape of the 2R, including me. Hard bullet alloys would work better then as soft lubes could be used which better control leading and gascutting.

As long as the 2R TL bullet is not cast overhard, LLA works fine even if it is a little smoky. With better hardness selection Johnson's Paste Wax also works well. Both designs shoot decently but are surpassed in accuracy by well designed 200 grain SWC's.

LLS, your loads of 4.0 Red Dot with the 228-1R were likely puttering along at 750 fps or so. I've shot many similar loads over the chronograph.

[leadeye]

Thanks for the tips guys, I will get one on order.

[imashooter2]

I load the 452-228-1R to 1.245 and it functions perfectly in a Colt and Kimber 1911 and a 625. It definitely is not hardball profile, and feed would need to be confirmed in your pistols. Like 35remington, I'd much prefer a standard lube groove and hardball profile. But I wanted a 6 cavity at Lee's price point so I settled.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have both those molds. They both make nice boolits and they are accurate and do not lead up my barrel if lubed properly. You have to keep an eye on COL however. If too long they will hang up the a magazines and not feed well.

I have found better results with the 200 SWC boolit. It is more able to cut a neat round .452 diameter hole in paper and even if a bit long does not hang up my magazines.

I have an H & G #68 that casts 6 at a time and wow are they perfect. Plain ww's water cooled and then lubed with Carnuba Red. No leading and no smoke.

Both types feed well in my Ruger p 90 and Taurus 1911 but I have the best accuracy with the 200 SWC. A little less recoil, less lead but more powder needed to achieve the same velocity.

I do however load up some LRN to mimic my street carry rounds. I wanted something that weighed the same as my Federal Hydra Shoks and moved at the same speed and had similiar POI. I wanted to practice with a reload that mimics my carry load. Since I shoot the +P version of the Federals my reloads had to be a bit hot. I can mix up the rounds in the magazine and I am not able to tell the difference other than the smell of the smoke. The Federal people do not use the same brand of powder which I favor that is for sure.

Also when shooting in dim light or at night my rounds have a much larger and longer muzzle blast than the Federals. Another reason to use factory ammo for self defense I am sure there are more.