Anybody loading Lee452-255 for 45 ACP?

[Rickf1985]

I cast a ton of these boolits figuring I would use them in my 45 ACP but now I am looking for load data and I am not finding anything over 225 gr lead boolits. I also have a Lyman 452-460 which is a 200 gr. boolit I have made some of but that die is a single cavity and I have over a thousand rounds to load. As much as I like casting boolits that is a stretch! So if anyone has any data to start on that would be great or if you think it is not doable that so be it. Back in the pot they go.

[Rickf1985]

In doing some searching I did find this thread along with a couple others from way back. Tis one actually mentions the very boolits I have and also 3.5 grains of Bullseye which falls in line with what others have said about similar loads. I will wait to hear if there are any better ideas from here that are more recent data.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?201978-45-acp-250-gr-cast-loads

[littlejack]

Speer #12, and #13 manual's both have data for their 260 grain jacketed hp. I don't know for sure if that bullet was discontinued or not. I have loaded the Lee 452-255 rnfp in my 45 acp. I used the Speer reloading manuals I mentioned. I used Alliant Herco powder.They are thumpers. There's a lot of folks here on the Castboolits that have loaded the same Lee boolit or something else of the approximate weight. Some folks say that shooting those heavy slugs will eventually cause problems in the 1911 platform. I don't want to get into that debate again. Its you're choice. Start low and work your way up, as with any reloading procedure. Hope this helps.
Regards

[pka45]

I just checked my records, and Taffin wrote about loading 255 SWC's with 5.0 - 6.0 of Unique as well as 5.0 - 6.0 of Universal, in an XD45, for ~875-950 fps. He also added that you're on your own if you decide to use the 6.0 loads.

Pete

[murf205]

I just checked my records, and Taffin wrote about loading 255 SWC's with 5.0 - 6.0 of Unique as well as 5.0 - 6.0 of Universal, in an XD45, for ~875-950 fps. He also added that you're on your own if you decide to use the 6.0 loads.

Pete292914
Here are the 253 gr boolits from an Accurate Mold that I load in my son's 1911 Colt and my 525-3 S&W. Unique is one of the best powders in both of them but Taffin is right. You better sneak up on the 6 gr load. I have loaded 6.5 grs of Accurate # 5 with this boolit in my Smith and it loves it but again, I would sneak up on that one from the backside as well. Accurate is a bit slower burning that Unique and just may be a bit more forgiving.

[DougGuy]

It is almost *required* that you have enough freebore in the barrel to seat this boolit out as long as the magazine will permit. You want to conserve case volume as much as possible not only will that buy you as much headroom as you can get with the pressure curve, but this boolit seated longer will feed like magic.

[littlejack]

Years ago, when I decided to load some of the heavies in my 1911, I had two projectiles to choose from; the Speer 260 grain jhp, and the Lee 452-255 rf. According to my notes, the Speer 260 jhp has a length of .680. The Lee 255 cast has a length of .630. So, if seated to the same reccomended book OAL (1.200), the Lee boolit has .050 more air space than the Speer 260 jhp. I just checked this round, at the AOL of 1.200, and it fits in my magazines perfectly. May even be a little more room to increase the OAL a few thousanths. So considering that there is the extra .050 air space with the Lee boolit there should actually be no issues with pressures being higher than for the Speer jhp. The top of the case, sets .020 below the base of the crimp groove.

[Kosh75287]

When shooting bowling pins was popular and I owned but ONE pistol, I worked up a .45 ACP load with a 255 gr. Speer LSWC and Herco. I used data for their 260 gr. .452" JHP. It's been too long for me to remember the exact numbers, but the starting load was exactly 10% of the maximum load. I went 10% under minimum, expecting failures to feed, etc., and worked up 0.1 gr. until I got proper functioning. I increased 0.1 gr., to err on the side of caution for feeding, and stopped.
Even the loads too light to function would dispatch a bowling pin with ease. I think the load I settled on was just under starting load, but it worked great on bowling pins, and was a sheer joy to shoot!