45acp overr size or ok

[DCB]

New lee mold for 230gr round nose bullets.
It cast with the mix I have to .453 at the driver band and weighs to 235-to 236grs,
can you shoot these or do they need sized to .451.
Thanks

[Rich/WIS]

Most people size .452 for 45 ACP so don't think an extra .001 would matter, but some pistols with match (tight) chambers may have an issue at that diameter. Load a few and see if they work.

[Misery-Whip]

I size to 452. I tried not sizing in the beginning but had too many failures. I use the Lee push thru setup, it goes fast.

[tazman]

I size to .452. That said, if they will chamber ok, they will work. You need to make a couple of dummy rounds and see how they feed.
They must be able to pass the plunk test.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I'm running .452 also

[Winger Ed.]

I size to .452 for a 1911. .453 doesn't seem like much of a stretch.
I'd try 'em.

See how they feed & chamber.
They will probably work fine.

[Outpost75]

What gun are you shooting these in? Have you cast the chamber and slugged the barrel? Many wartime M1911s will do better with .453-.454 bullets, ALL M1917 Colts and S&W REVOLVERS will. If you don't measure you do not know...

[Bazoo]

I size mine to .452 for my Springfield milspec 1911. What I've found is sometimes I'll get a bullet that is just a thousands or two bigger than the norm for my mould. I guess because the mould didn't get closed quite all the way. That is the reason to size, rather than to reduce that .001, in my opinion. I size my Lee TL bullets dry with their sizer, then TL with alox/paste wax.

[DCB]

1911 Thompson 45acp. The barrel is new, less than a 100 rounds through it. all jacketed 230 ball.
Ill try the drop test.
Any load data for a 235gr bullet?
found some load data for 238gr bullet in the 45 rimed section pressures look be about the same
Would you use that data for a starting load?
Thanks

[frkelly74]

If it fits , it shoots. If your loads will chamber without difficulty then they should shoot properly, assuming you have good brass and a safe powder charge, ( disclaimer ). I have found however that there are always a few boolits in a batch that somehow get to be a little bigger around than most of the others. So I put them all through a .452 sizer so that I don't get a loaded round jammed into the chamber in a gun that is not all the way in battery. It can be a pain and is embarassing to have a jammed gun on the line after you have told everyone that you have no use for factory ammo.

[DougGuy]

If you have a newly minted 1911 it might not have enough or any throat in the barrel for seating a .452" to 1.250" if you have an older one, you might be good seating to published COA. Choices are seating deeper to get the loads to "plunk" which if you have to deviate from published data very far can cause feeding problems with shorter cartridges, or you can have the barrel throated which is a much more practical thing to do, then it will plunk and feed anything you can cycle through the magazine.

SAAMI specs call for freebore in front of the chamber, hardly any of the current mfgrs adhere to this spec, and if they put any freebore at all in there, it's going to be .451" which will still cause issues trying to use .452" boolits. Once the barrel is throated it will happily gobble up all of your loads regardless of boolit style or COA.

[ioon44]

You could load one of the .453" bullets and then pull it and see what it measures, it will might be .452" or less.

[DCB]

Thanks, A lot of good help. I made a couple dummies and did the cycle from the magazine and they work just fine.
The oal was 1.26". I seated the bullet deeper so that I didn't have any problem ejecting a loaded round.
I have another batch of softer material that I will cast a few and see what I get.
I ordered a .452 sizing die to have.
Ill pull one of the dummies and check the diameter just for comparison.
Dave

[mdi]

I have 3, 45 ACPs and .452"-.453" works in them all (depending on alloy and "spring back"). As mentioned above for your purposed .002" isn't very much, so if they chamber, shoot 'em. A note about Lee bullets; the Lee 1R bullet has a blunt nose, wider out farther towards the nose and some have trouble with plunking at book OAL. Due to the bullet profile they must be seated much deeper than a "typical" round nose...

[DCB]

Thanks I figured out the nose of the bullet this morning and did seat a little deeper.
made 40 bullets out of the other softer material and the bullets measure .451 and weigh 232 to234grs.
Had to run the furnace a little hotter to get good fills in the nose,
I have a Mag 25 Lyman and finished the morning making modifications so I can get a better line up on the mold.
Thanks for all the information. Big help
Dave