Loading for the 45acp?

[odinohi]

I need to buy a set of dies and a good reliable feeding mold. Need something that will feed through any pistol. I had my heart set on a set of RCBS dies along with a Redding taper crimp die. I like the service with RCBS and I like to do my crimping in a seperate operation. The price for those dies wont allow me to buy a mold right now and I dont want to wait.
What are your feelings about the Lyman 4 die set? It comes with a taper crimp and I believe an M die. Its cheap enough that I would have enough to buy a Lee 6 cavity mold. What is a good mold for reliable feeding that Lee makes?
If I go with the Lyman 4 die set and the Lee mold I would be able to buy a set of handles for it also. Need some advice on these dies and mold. Thanks, Tom

[mooman76]

Don't know about the dies but I am happy with my Lee dies and they have a 4 die set. For a good reliable feeding 45 go with the round nose or a trunicated cone. I haven't used the TC in the 45 but I was having troble with the SWC so I switched to a RN bullet and that cured it.

[coyotebait]

odinohi

I have a six cavity Lee 452-228-1R and a four cavity Lyman 452460 (H&G 68 clone). Both cast a pile of boolits quickly and run fine in my Kimber and Colt 1911s. Be advised the Lee 452-228-1R is a non standard nose profile and must be seated to a shorter OAL than a standard ball profile nose in order to chamber. Have you considered going with the Lee dies?

coyotebait

[muleequestrian]

I shoot both .45 ACP and .45 Colt in revolvers and semi auto 1911. I have no trouble feeding all of them with the same LEE rnfp 200 grain cast from ACWW. I even load them all with the same powder charge and they function just fine. 5.5 grains of Bullseye since I have so much of it. It's a little dirty but that's what cleaning gear is for.

[Ricochet]

For the .45 I've long used a Lyman 3-die carbide set. Lee's 4 die sets are very nice, I have that in 9mm. I like the Lee tumble lube truncated cone boolit. No feeding problems.

[RobS]

As for dies that is really a preference. I have on one turret 4 different die manufactures in which I reload the 454 casull. For the 45 auto I have used the lee 4 die set with the carbide sizing ring cut from the Lee factory crimp die. I like the lee dies except for the factory crimp die due to it sizing down the case. A lead bullet makes the brass case diameter larger than a jacket bullet and since the lee factory crimp die is set up for the smaller diameter jacket bullet the cast bullet ends up being swaggered down in the last stage; not good and the reason for me cutting out the ring.

The lee 3 die set would be cheaper than the RCBS or Lyman sets and I don't see any advantage over either one of the three. As for the Redding tapper crimp.....this is a good die, but then you would be just fine with a standard lee taper crimp die too (not the Lee factory Crimp die). If it were me and what I know now, I would go with the lee dies and save money and buy two six cavity molds.

If you are one who likes tumble lube designs then the Lee 230 RN TL would be an ok choice as would the 230 truncated TL. As already mentioned these designs will more than likely need to be seated shorter than a standard ball bullet design which is not a problem just start at the minimum powder charge and work up while looking for signs of pressure. If you have a chronograph you can tell alot by the speeds for as they increase so does the pressure.

If you are not a tumble lube person then the Lee 228 grain RN or 230 grain TC bullets are good designs. For the 200 grain class you will have no problems with lee RNFP.

I use to tumble lube and could not get the lee 200 g SWC to function in my XD. I also tried the 230g. RN TL design and the small lip from the TL gave me hang ups to. I settled on the 230 grain TC TL design and it worked well with a short cartridge length.

I now use the 230 grain TC normal lube groove design as well as the 200 grain RNFP normal lube grove. The 230 grainer comes out closer to 238 grains where as the 200 grainer comes out at 211 grains so I usually cast up the Lee 200 grain RNFP as it is more the weight I prefer to use in the 45 auto.

[Shooter6br]

I use the Lee 230g TL in my Galena 1911 No problems I use Lee die set I have a Dillion cartridge gage to check each round I also use the Lee crimp die

[sirgknight]

You can't go wrong with "your" choice in dies. I shoot a High Standard 1911, 45 acp and it loves the bullets dropped from the Lyman 452374. The bullet is a 225 grain round nose. It feeds and cycles flawlessly and is a fairly accurate bullet. I also just purcashed a Lee 90358 (452-255-RF) to make some bullets for a friend of mine who shoots a 460 S&W Magnum. I may also try a few of these in my 1911. I use a Lee carbide set of dies and I love them. The set comes with the sizing die, bullet seating and feed die and powder through expanding die. Works great. If the pocket book is the determining factor, then go with the Lee dies and molds. They will save you a good bit of money without sacrificing on a lot of quality.

[35remington]

"If you are one who likes tumble lube designs then the Lee 230 RN TL would be an ok choice as would the 230 truncated TL. As already mentioned these designs will more than likely need to be seated shorter than a standard ball bullet design....."

Well, no, not quite correct. The 230 tumble lube design, known as the 230-2R, is a 2 radius ogive bullet that will duplicate the shape and feeding profile of ball ammo, including its overall length of around 1.260-1.265."

This bullet and the Lyman 452374 are the two "most likely to feed" bullet profiles for the 45 ACP for the simple reason that they most closely duplicate ball, which is known for the most reliable feeding through all types of guns.

Just setting the record straight. If you want it to feed as reliably as ball ammo, duplicate the ball shape. These do.

[RobS]

35remington:

You did not read my post carefully enough; continue down as to my personal regards to the 230 grain RN TL bullet. I mentioned that the 230 RN TL design where the TL groves rise up from the bullet profile thus creating a lip and this is what I was having problems with. Therefore I had to seat it deeper to avoid the hang up in my XD. Others are having some issues too as I have read it from time to time.

The post was asking about experiences to a reliable bullet design, I didn't have reliable experiences with the 452-230-RN tumble lube design. "End of the record" for me.

You are correct on the nose profile being a 2R and closely resembling the standard ball type bullet though.

Regards

[Potsy]

Loaded a couple thousand .45's with my 4 die Lee set and had no trouble. Granted, a couple thousand .45's may not be that many to some.
Neither have I had any feeding problems with their 200grn. SWC mold.
I do find the bevel base annoying and I'm looking foward to cranking up that group buy MiHec H&G 68 I bought this winter.

[clodhopper]

I took a couple of coffe cans full of 45 auto cartridges loaded with the lee 230 TC TL out to an appleseed instructor boot camp last spring when ammo was hard to come by.
Several pistols appeared, all seemed to digest the load with no problems.
Yes they are short according to RN specified length.
I just like the flat point on a heavy bullet.
Dies? well I have some dillon's, lyman, hornady, RCBS, and Lee. They all work for me. some have great features, and some can be replaced inexpensively.
I would not talk any of them down. All the dies I ever had that were no good was after I screwed them up.

[dogbert41]

They aren't cheap, but I do like my Dillon .45 Carbide dies.

[Cherokee]

I've been using the same Lyman set for about 40 years, with a taper crimp die. The TC bullet should feed in any 45 ACP and that is what I shoot the most in my 1911's.

[HeavyMetal]

First no die set is perfect!

I've used RCBS Lyman and Lee's. Each leaves a little to be desired at one point or another.

So my current die set is a mix of the three makers. I use a Lee Carbide sizing die and a Lee Universal expander die. The Lee powder through die gets the nod because I made an adapter to hold my Lyman 55 on it. I seat with a very old RCBS seater die and roll crimp seperately with an RCBS 45 auto rim die.

I detest taper crimping as most people have no idea when they've put the right amount of crimp on the case and most are taper crimped way to much!

I roll crimp just enough to remove any flare from the belling operation and have fired thousands of rounds of Lee's H&G copy with out a jam or miss feed.

For a beginner I would suggest the Lee as a good basic starter die set and add "specialty" dies as you feel nessasary. Avoid the Factory crimp die in the pistol calibers like the plague!

This should leave you enough for a good two cavity Lee mold and either the RN or TC Tumble lube designs should get you started without spending a bunch of cash.

After you've lubed a few thousand you'll decide on another sytem to lube, or not, as your experience dictates.

[AZ-Stew]

I have both Dillon and Lyman carbide dies. I won't use anything BUT carbide for handgun. No messy case lubing and de-lubing. Both die sets work well and have generous lead in. RCBS carbide have less lead in and I constantly have problems with cases getting hung up entering the sizer. This is no way to run a progressive press.

I believe the Lyman die set produces a taper crimp, but it's been so long since I bought them that I don't remember. Even in a 3-die set, it works well. All I want it to do is remove the mouth bell on .45 ACP. Once properly adjusted, you can't tell the difference between handloads from the Lyman 3-die or the Dillon 4-die set.

Regards,

Stew

[35remington]

Rob, I don't recall you mentioning the "lip" or shoulder on the tumble lube 2R in your previous post as being the hangup, and I thought I had read it pretty thoroughly. I notice now that it's edited.

Adding that subsequent explanation as to why you needed it shorter clarified things, agreed, but I didn't have it to go off of at the time I made the comment. That would have helped and would have made my reply unnecessary, and I wouldn't have responded that way.

[RobS]

35remington:
not a problem; the original post was only edited for spelling errors and one fragmented sentence; the content of the post had not been changed. I make spelling errors often and instead of leaving them for everyone to read I correct my mistakes.

As for the Dillon dies they are designed with a larger radius mouth to help assist in progressive reloading. The Dillon die has the largest mouth opening of any die out there. This may or may not be of concern but can really help when reloading some calibers. I've had little problems with most dies whether they are lyman, rcbs, lee, dillon, hornady, etc. I do however give a + to AZ-Stew on the carbide dies though as I don't believe I would want to do all the case lubing for the autos.

[MtGun44]

452460 is a great boolit, but not a clone of H&G 68. H&G 68 will feed in almost any
1911, the 452460 is a bit less reliable due to shorter and fatter nose shape. 452460 is
my most accurate .45 ACP boolit, H&G 68 does well, too. I am comparing to an actual
H&G 68 mold, too. There are lots of commercial copies that a pretty similar, more like
the 68 than the 460. Minor point, but good feeding definitely takes attention to minor
points. Best possible feeding is with RN. Taper crimp is the best way to get reliable ammo.
Looking at the round from the front compare an uncrimped and crimped round. You
want to crimp about half of the brass thickness into the boolit. LOA is set to avoid jamming
full diam boolit portion into the throat. Seat a round and then extract and look for damage
to the shoulder of a SWC or ogive near the case mouth with the RN.

Bill

[TAWILDCATT]

I dont understand the problem with SWC,I have three 1911s and they all feed the SWC flawlesslyI have never checked the OAL,[I keep meaning to]but shot compitition for 30 yrs.
I load the bullet so I roll crimp on front band.and my load is 3.6 of 700X.

[dogbert41]

Not all .45s are 1911s. Sprinfield XDs are notorious for not being able to feed SWC.

[Bert2368]

Anyone fed cast .45ACP loads to H&K USP family of pistols? We've got several variants, match (Lara Croft!), full sized, tactical and SOCOM. I vaguely recall hearing that the polygonal rifling migh be an issue?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LaraA

[mtgrs737]

I have fired cast lead H&G clone 200 gr. SWC loads in a HK USP 45 without any problems at all. The gun did have a aftermarket barrel installed with the standard land and groove rifling. Feeding was not a problem with that bullet which will expose feeding problems in most pistols. I read somewhere that HK barrel throating was different than Glocks and that they could shoot cast without any problems but I can't remember where I read it.

[mtnman31]

I have also shot plenty of cast through my USP. I've used both the Lyman 452374 and 452460. Both work very well and I have absolutely no complaints with either design. I had to play with the seating depth with the 460. When I first loaded up a few dummy rounds to test fit, the top band was preventing the round from seating all the way. I ended up seating the top band flush with the edge of the case and have not had problems - it works like a champ. I've got a few boxes of commercial cast (acquired in a trade) that I intend to try in the USP as well. They are nearly identical to the Lee TC design. Hopefully, it works out well since I have a couple thousand of them to use up.

I haven't had any issues with cast and the polygonal rifling in the USP. I have only just started shooting cast through my 9mm Glock. So far, no problems with the rifling there either, although I have only put a few hundred rounds total of cast through it.

[stephen perry]

Might have to buy this mold used. Will feed through most if not all .45 pistol.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR :brokenima