Lee 452-230-TC

[klausg]

Gang,

Has anyone shot these in a 1911? Do they feed well? Yes, I know Catshooter is running another GB, and while I will probably break down and buy yet another GB mould, I NEED one now. I also like having something of a meplat, as opposed to a round nose. I just got a Kimber Raptor II on a deal and the break-in with jackets is only so long, so... Thanks for any replies, take care

-Klaus

[35remington]

I've shot them both in 1911's and in my Ruger P97.

The 1911's prefer a little longer OAL, to the point where the top tumble lube groove is nearly visible. The P97 must have a shorter OAL due to its short throat. Otherwise live ejecting will not work, and the rifling grips the bullet so hard that you can actually pull the bullet trying to get the cartridge out of the chamber. A long seated bullet will also not fully chamber dropping the slide from slide lock in the P97. When I load this bullet I have to make sure they are the proper OAL for the gun that I will be shooting.

I predict they will work fine for you in your 1911's when you work out the OAL issue,
and I do like the flat nose better than ball ammo. If you do some measuring of the bullet vs. ball ammo you can ensure that when loaded the contact points of the FN bullet should be the same as ball when it is going up the feedramp.

You can also seat some dummy rounds, remove the spring from the gun and hand cycle the action quickly to see what feeds smoothest with the least amount of clunking around. Really, though, there's no substitute for shooting it, as cycling the gun by hand isn't the same. It may get you in the ballpark, though.

Make sure you have good magazines, as some of my old GI ones don't care for the flatnose too much. I'd feel pretty confident about the Kimber's ability to handle it.

[KYCaster]

I've shot a lot of the Magma 225 TC, worked just fine.

Jerry

[BD]

When I started into trying to cast volume for the .45 acp I bought a pair of Lee six bangers in 230 TC TL. If I remember I loaded them to an OAL of 1.250 or so and the 9,000-10,000 I shot functioned fine. The meplat has pretty rounded edges and not much of a "flat". After a year or so I went to a lighter design for High volume shooting and the BD acp for a heavy bullet. I sold those molds to someone on the old "shooters" board
BD

[jcadwell]

Works great in my 1911. Like 35Rem said, load a little bit longer. I use 3.5g of titegroup for an easy shooting, no leading load.

[Gun-adian]

I've got this six-banger as well. They shoot very well out of my Para-Ordnance and my AMT Longslide.

Mike

[Ranch Dog]

You all be talking about the Lee TL452-230-2R? If so, it is the only boolit I shoot out of my 1991. I use 1 to 10 tin/WW and 5.0-grains of Unique for 644 FPS. My pistole' has cycled thousands of these boolits without any problems...

[milsurpcollector1970]

1 negative vote

I used the 452 230 TC TL in my Kimber TLE. I get better accuracy with the RCBS 200 gr SWC. The bullet would cast heavy about 242 gr. I used wheel weights with just enough tin too get the mold to fill out. It fed okay though

[Blackwater]

Klaus, I just gave some 230 TC's to a buddy with a new Springfield, and the initial loads had the bullets seated out just a smidge too far, and they didn't all feed. Shortening OAL by about less than 1 mm. solved the feeding problems though, and they're now feeding 100% ... at least so far. I'm thinking about going to this bullet as an all around performer for the .45. I'm fickle, and like to play with different bullets, and heretofore, have favored the 190-200 gr. cast SWC's for most of my .45 shooting, but he killed two deer last season with those bullets over 6.8 gr. Unique, and both were one shot and very quick kills. One shot was at @ 20 yds. and the other at @ 40 yds. and penetration and terminal effect were both very satisfactory. He uses the gun on very close by deer, since he can pull the gun silently with much less arm movement than necessary to bring a longer rifle to bear.

OAL is the key to proper functioning with most .45 bullets and guns, so his initial seating depth was the first try to see how they'd work at that length, and we both knew adjustments were likely. I like the way that flat point works, and the extra wt. above the 190-200's is kinda' reassuring on larger game, and for self defense in wintry weather where thick clothing may be an issue. Just my experience and thoughts.

[Tomhorn]

This is the only bullet I use anymore in my 45's. I have nearly a dozen 45's of various makes, frame sizes and barrel lenghts. This bullet functions flawlessly in all of them and is accurate as well.