Bullets for a 45lc Colt

[340six]

My next gun will be a real 45 wheel gun and reading the Lyman 49th edition and the Lyman cast book says "Old PRE WW2" guns need a 454 and new guns need a 452 same as 45acp size/luber
If this is the case can a 45acp rnl be used?
Will a 454190 lyman looks to be the best all around :Fire:
What other choise be good?

[Tom W.]

If it's going to be a .45 Colt, you may want to try the RCBS 45-270 -SAA.

[RobS]

If it is post war then it should have a .450-.451 bore and a .452 cast slug will work just fine. Now nothing is for certain though.......I have a super red hawk 454 casull with a .452 groove diameter and .4545 cylinder throats.

That said I have used 45 auto bullets for plinking rounds in my other 45 caliber revolvers with no problems at all. My favorite is the Lee truncated bullet as it casts out at 240 grains and I just roll the crimp into the bullet. Loaded up with about 6-7 grains of quick powder like green dot it makes for a 950 fps plinking round.

[Trey45]

I really Like the Lee 255gr RNFP and the RCBS 45-255.

[Edubya]

Don't forget: roll crimp-vs-taper crimp.
EW

[Railbuggy]

Do we have the book.Im reading from the "Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook third edition-copyright1980
I just got a 5.5 BH in 45colt thursday.Im going to shoot Lee cast 200gr SWC and 230gr LRN from mine.

[Bullshop Junior]

My favorite boolit in my 45 Colt is the Lee 300gr GC, but with out the gas check. I shoot them at about 1350 FPS.

[R.C. Hatter]

:coffeecom You don't indicate if your gun is older or new. That being said, size the bullet to match the throat diameter of your cylinder. The Lyman #454190 is a good
choice for a boolit, but don't overlook Lyman #454424 as this old Keith slug is also a very good choice. Either boolit over 8.0 grs. Unique powder will give you a good
working .45 Colt load. Hope this helps.

[Rocky Raab]

So far, I'm also very impressed with the Lee 255 RNFP that Trey mentioned above. You can use any number of fast to medium powders with success. I like 7.0 W231, others like 6.5 RedDot and that 8.0 Unique is the classic full-power charge.

[fredj338]

If it's going to be a .45 Colt, you may want to try the RCBS 45-270 -SAA.
My choice. I had Erik HP one cav & I can have 250grLSWCHP or 285grLSWC. The mold does throw bullets closer to 0.454", but they size to 0.452" fine.

[1874Sharps]

My old IDEAL 250 grain 0.454 inch mold (very similar to the Lyman 452424) has always worked very well in my 45 Colt pistols with a moderate 7.8 grain Unique load. When I got the 1873 Winchester replica in 45 Colt I found the COL was just a little too long for proper cycling of the action (when crimping in the crimp groove, as designed). That is when I switched over to the RCBS 0.452 to 0.454 inch RFN 230 grain Cowboy mold. Not only do the boolits shoot well in the 1873, but all the 45 Colts and even in the Schofield (same powder charge). What is there not to love?!

[geargnasher]

My take: I love the .45 Colt because it'll swallow just about anything and it's fun to tune differnent boolit weights and powders to the same POI with a fixed-sight revolver.

My faves for "standard" .45 Colt pressures: Lyman 454190 and 452664 with 9.5-10 grains of Hodgdon HS6. Lee 230TC with Universal, use listed data range to tune your POI as small changes make big POI changes. Lee 452-300-RFN with 10 grains of Alliant Blue Dot and the gas check shank removed to make PB boolits 305 gr with WDWW.

As has been said, there are huge variances of dimensions with revolvers. As a rule, chambers are way oversize for the brass and it gets overworked, especially near the case head. Try a longer decapper rod (I use a Lee Universal decapper rod in std Lee carbide sizing die to decap and JUST "NECK" SIZE to the point where the boolit base will be when seated. Size your boolits to the chamber throats, what ever they are (.455 or .452" or anywhere in between), ignore the barrel dimension unless it is bigger than the cylinder throats, if it is then have the chamber reamed. Use WW-type material or softer, air cooled 10-15 bhn should be fine for most of your shooting under 950 fps in this caliber in revolvers.

Hope this helps, have fun!

Gear

[Dale53]

I have a new Ruger 5½" SS Bisley .45 Colt/.45 ACP convertible. It ha adjustable sights so it is easy to properly adjust the sights for different points of impact when shooting bullets from 200 grs - 300 grs. With a fixed sighted gun, you nearly always are limited to one bullet weight.

I have had excellent results with the Lyman 452664 with both smokeless AND black powder.

My current favorite is the Lyman style 452424 from an NOE Five Cavity mould for the .45 Colt cylinder ahead of 8.5 grs of Unique. That is an excellent choice for a field revolver for general use. If large game hunting is in your agenda, then you can push this bullet to much higher velocities.

In the .45 ACP cylinder, my favorite is either the H&G #130 cast bullet or the H&G #68 (my #68 is from a six cavity MiHec mould) ahead of 4.0 grs of Bullseye or equivalent.

If I had to pick a "first choice" for the .45 Colt I would HAVE to give consideration to the RCBS .45 - 270- SAA designed by Dave Scoville.

If you are in the market for a 300 gr gas check bullet then the Lee C452-300-RF is absolutely first rate (what do you expect me to say, Frank Siefer and I designed this bullet :mrgreen:and it is a DANDY). It has a very large meplat and is extremely accurate.

FWIW
Dale53

[cajun shooter]

All of the above answers are good and if you pick any of them you will not be in bad shape. One thing I will have to say is when it comes to cast boolits each gun has it's likes and dislikes. The bullet that 1874 Sharps posted is the one that might be best if you have never fired the 45 Colt round. I use it in my Schofield cases also and the recoil is much less than some of the other boolits that are posted.Remember that if you are just shooting at paper or cans for fun then a 300 grain GC boolit is a waste with lots of recoil. It is one fine hunting boolit though. When you get your revolver, measure the throats of each chamber on your cylinder in addition to your bore. This is very easy to do with egg shaped fishing weights and some spray lube. If your throats are different you can fix it by having them all made the same.The statement that you read about "all guns made now" being a 452 is just not true. Ruger has several guns out there that are not up to par along with others also. I find that if I shoot my boolits in my USFA's sized at 454 that the accuracy is top notch. They measure at 452.Later David