Fa 454

[JRLesan]

Wanting to cast 250 grain or heavier and would appreciate mold recommendations. Suspect I'll order a custom mold but am somewhat overwhelmed by the choices available. A SWC Keith design I have tried sans GC and am wondering if a GC is necessary for full house loads in the 454. I have plenty of alloy all the way up to Lino and mold cost is not really an issue. Comments???

[LUCKYDAWG13]

225858 225859 225860 This would be my pick

[Chad5005]

im on 2 mp group buys now for a 452 313gr hollow point and 452 275gr both in plain base and gc,cant wait to get some range time with them

[Lloyd Smale]

If you want a good swc for the 454 just buy the rcbs 300 swcgc mold. If I could have only one mold for my 454s and heavy 45 colts it would be that bullet or a 300 lfngc. Lbt makes a real good 300, 320 and 350 grain version. the 320 is my favorite. If your going to eventually shoot full power 454s a gas checked mold is the way to go. What ive found in the three 454 FA guns ive owned through the year is they do much better with a 300-350 grain bullet then they do with 250-275s

[jmort]

There is a group buy for a Mihec .454 340 grain that would be perfect
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?361103-Active-Mihec-454-340-Cramer-HP-Mold-for-45-Colt-454-Casull-460-SW-450-BM

[Dennis Eugene]

What Lloyd said.

[osteodoc08]

Lots of molds that would do well. Yes, you will need a GC.

[stubshaft]

I've been shooting an LBT 375 gr. LFN in mine since I got it in 1985. Extremely accurate and death and destruction on any animal I've shot with it.

[Gray Fox]

I'm very fond of the Lee 6 cavity 300 grain GC boolit loaded to specs with 296/H110 in my Rossi and Marlin .45 Colts. It should do well for your FA and is easy to use and reasonable in price. It's hard to beat that wide meplat. GF

[shorty500]

Having owned and shot the FA since mid-80s all I will say is pick the bullet design that you prefer, in a quality mold, match sizing diameter to throats precisely and ENJOY!!
There are literally hundreds of .45 caliber mold designs available new and used that will perform fabulously!!
On a personal opinion I would suggest best performance will be found in the 275-350 grain range.

[birch]

Someday, I will own a Premier Grade FA in .454. Yes........yes I will!

Good tidings on your mould quest from a jealous Northern Michigan dweller.

[evoevil]

I'm on 3 group buys in here from MP mold, I have 6 of his mold now,............. ALL work great

[bobthenailer]

I have three FA 454 casulls I have 3 moulds for them a MT mould 260 gr lfn gc and a 275 gr tc PB and a LBT 300 gr LFN gc all shoot excellent with or without gas checks installed at velocities up to about 1250 fps after that I use gas checks,

If I were to pick the best it would be the LBT 300gr LFN gc

[Moonie]

The Lee 300 isn't bad but I really like my NOE 350gr (325gr in HP) in 45 colt, 454 and 460 S&W.

[Groo]

Groo here
People tend to want to shoot too heavy a boolet in the FA M-83 454.
Remember that the FA has a slower twist than standard [1/24in] and the longer/heaver bullets will need to be shot at near full powder to spin true.
For most people a 250 to 280gr boolet will work fine, allowing lighter loads ,but also being closer to factory [FA 240gr to 260gr] weight.
Other 454s have standard twist of the 45 colt.
The FA was the first and designed to shoot 240 to 260 gr boolets at near 460S&W speeds.
The heaver boolets slowed the speeds to where lead would stand it.