Lee 452-200 for 45acp?

[Bashby]

I have a 45acp Polymer 80 I recently completed. It has a Lone Wolf barrel with a tight throat, so my cast boolits sized to .452will not chamber unless I seat them with all of the ogive in the case. I tried some tumble lube TC 230 grain Lee boolits a friend gave me(I powder coated them),and they wouldn’t feed reliably at a COAL that would plunk, so I ordered a 452-200 mold to try. I cast a bunch of them last night, then tonight I powder coated and sized them. I dropped one in the chamber, gave it a few taps, then measured and calculated my COAL and came up with 1.120. Made a dummy round up and it seems like it’s going to feed OK, but man it looks short. I’m kinda new to this and just looking for some input from the more experienced folks here. I plan on loading over Unique, since that’s what I have. Am I on the right track? Any advice apreciated.286020

[onelight]

I have a 45acp Polymer 80 I recently completed. It has a Lone Wolf barrel with a tight throat, so my cast boolits sized to .452will not chamber unless I seat them with all of the ogive in the case. I tried some tumble lube TC 230 grain Lee boolits a friend gave me(I powder coated them),and they wouldn’t feed reliably at a COAL that would plunk, so I ordered a 452-200 mold to try. I cast a bunch of them last night, then tonight I powder coated and sized them. I dropped one in the chamber, gave it a few taps, then measured and calculated my COAL and came up with 1.120. Made a dummy round up and it seems like it’s going to feed OK, but man it looks short. I’m kinda new to this and just looking for some input from the more experienced folks here. I plan on loading over Unique, since that’s what I have. Am I on the right track? Any advice apreciated.286020
Looks like you are on the right path to me . All I would would offer is start light with your powder charge and work up . I have shot many thousand of a similar bullet but loaded over RedDot and they shoot great.

[DougGuy]

You should probably have that barrel throated so you can seat out as long as you want to. As it looks right now you have to compromise published load data to compensate for the shorter COA, and also the 45 ACP feeds MUCH better with longer COA. I would also check the chamber length, many of the aftermarket barrels are meant to be gunsmith fitted, and once the barrel hood is fitted only then can the chamber be finish reamed. It's quite common to see the barrel cut to .899" and I finish them at .902" ~ .906" and then throat them they run like a Singer sewing machine then with whatever boolit style you wan to use, at whatever COA you choose, they will cycle and feed anything you can cycle through the magazine.

[Larry Gibson]

That bullet, with its short oal when loaded in the 45 ACP, will feed reliably in most pistols that do not have an integral ramp. Older M1911 barrels that have not had the feed ramp widened may not feed it well also. Colt Series 70 with factory barrel and 2 comp barrels feed it fine along with my Combat Commander. However, my Para14 with integral feed ramp does not.

[Bashby]

You should probably have that barrel throated so you can seat out as long as you want to. As it looks right now you have to compromise published load data to compensate for the shorter COA, and also the 45 ACP feeds MUCH better with longer COA. I would also check the chamber length, many of the aftermarket barrels are meant to be gunsmith fitted, and once the barrel hood is fitted only then can the chamber be finish reamed. It's quite common to see the barrel cut to .899" and I finish them at .902" ~ .906" and then throat them they run like a Singer sewing machine then with whatever boolit style you wan to use, at whatever COA you choose, they will cycle and feed anything you can cycle through the magazine.


My barrel has a SBN coating. Lone Wolfs sight says “ Due to SBN coating we are unable to custom chamber or custom crown Alpha Wolf barrels”. Will a throat reamer work?

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I used to seat my 200 swc for an AOL of 1.25" if memory serves. Needed a firm taper crimp due to a match chamber.

[Dusty Bannister]

"I ordered a 452-200 mold to try. I cast a bunch of them last night, then tonight I powder coated and sized them. I dropped one in the chamber, gave it a few taps, then measured and calculated my COAL and came up with 1.120."

I would have thought you get a better fit by just pressing the bullet into the lands. Tapping might give the impression that a longer bullet will work, when in reality it just makes a jam fit of the cartridge in the chamber. Powder coating increases the diameter of the bullet in all dimensions so you are actually hitting the lands with the nose ogive sooner than a bare lubricated bullet would. If it works for you, go for it, but if it stutters in feeding, try it without the PC and see if that results in a slightly longer OAL and improved feeding.

[BobT]

My barrel has a SBN coating. Lone Wolfs sight says “ Due to SBN coating we are unable to custom chamber or custom crown Alpha Wolf barrels”. Will a throat reamer work?

Without knowing for sure I'm guessing that the SBN stands for "Salt Bath Nitride" if so It would probably ruin the chamber reamer, the various nitride coatings are pretty hard. I have had really good luck in my various 1911 pistols with the Lee 200 grain SWC tumble lube design loaded over Unique.

[Bashby]

Correct, Salt Bath Nitride.

I just got back from the range and the 50 or so I loaded up over 5gr Unique fed and ejected, so for now I’m going with that load. I had loaded up some with 4.7gr and they worked, but ejection was really weak.

[bruce381]

I have used that bullet in my glock cause the SWC do no extract reliably.
OAL is Max 1.15 your 1.12 would work fine too.
Tapper is .472
231 4.5-5gr
unique too slow IMHO

[Bashby]

4.5-5gr
unique too slow IMHO

I know that’s on the slow end and Unique is not ideal for lighter loads because you get an incomplete burn, but I bought an 8lb can before the panic started and I’m trying to use some of it up. I’m trying to load for light recoil and faster follow up. I have a chronograph but didn’t check them. I guess what I should do is load up some different loads, say up to 6gr and see if any seem more accurate. It’s kinda hard to tell for a guy like me who shoots 6” groups @ 15-20 yards on a good day. I could get my best group with the worst load or verse-vica depending on a lot of things, luck being the biggest one.

[jcren]

My favorite 45 acp all purpose bullet. Load mine about the same length as you have there, just past the Colt crimp groove so the case doesn't get rolled into the groove and effect headspace. Lots of bearing surface and tends to shoot more accurate than swc or tc for me. Also a great hunting/critter getter round. Dispatched several wounded hogs with this bullet over reddot and killed 3 or 4 with it in a hi-point carbine.

[Half Dog]

+1 on sending it to DougGuy. I had a similar issue and he resolved it for me.

[bruce381]

I know that’s on the slow end and Unique is not ideal for lighter loads because you get an incomplete burn, but I bought an 8lb can before the panic started and I’m trying to use some of it up. I’m trying to load for light recoil and faster follow up. I have a chronograph but didn’t check them. I guess what I should do is load up some different loads, say up to 6gr and see if any seem more accurate. It’s kinda hard to tell for a guy like me who shoots 6” groups @ 15-20 yards on a good day. I could get my best group with the worst load or verse-vica depending on a lot of things, luck being the biggest one.

Understand completey I use unique only in a 45 colt cause "thats the load" my 45 run clay dot, clays, 232, vectan 9 1/2 AA 2 all the fast ones good to have a fallback powder with all that is going on.

[gwpercle]

Tight throats do not like the larger cast boolit , They hate the larger cast boolit that has been powder coated ... now it's even larger .
You have two options :
1.) Smaller boolits ... I have one that insists on .451" and no powder coating .
2.) A larger throat ... see DougGuy ... he can fix your barrel , open the throat and make it right .
Be sure and specify or send him boolits to be used...coating makes a difference .
Gary