buying my first 6 cavity lee mold for 45acp, would like some suggestions

Sorry i post so many questions, but i learned a long time ago if you don't know the answer to ask someone who does. it beats screwing up.

so I have a few bucks saved up and i'm going to buy a lee six cavity mold for 45acp shooting. it will be feeding a Springfield armory 1911 (mil-spec, if that matters?) loaded over a moderate charge of unique.

A while back some members donated a 228gr 1 o-give radius 2 cavity lee mold to me, and it has worked well in this 1911 as cast. However i don't know if this was a fluke or if i just got lucky with alloys or what.

basically i'm just looking for something that feeds well. I'm grabbing the .452 size kit as well, unless you guys think i should try a different one?

i have no problems with TL designs, but i'm curious if you can pan lube them or if they have to be used with LLA?

the ones i thought might work are:
lee 230 gr Truncated cone TL
lee 230 gr Truncated cone non-TL
lee 200 gr RNFP non-TL
lee 228 gr 1 ogive RN

i'm not limiting it to only these ones, but just figured those would be solid starting points. feel free to suggest other molds or a preference for one of these. Especially if you run them in a 1911 similar to mine. (see BONE STOCK)

thanks in advance everyone!

mike

Hey Mike,
Iv'e shot thousands of the lyman 452374 round nose. It's a good bullet too.. I use 5.2-5.5 unique and it works just fine... The lighter bullets and the truncated cone things can be problematic but anything round nose should be GTG. I've shot many thousands of these bullets 'as cast' with just lee tumble lube but now use a lyman sizer as I like the convenience of lubing and not having to wait for it to dry...
Hope this helps some
38-55

I shoot the 452-228-1R lubed with Rooster Jacket with complete satisfaction in both revolver and auto. You've already tried it in a 2 hole and had success... I say just up your output and stick with the known good design.

If you feel you need to branch out, the 452-200-SWC is similar to the H&G 68. A tried and true design in its own right.

Tumble lube designs only work well with film lubes (LLA, RJ). The grooves are too shallow to hold conventional lube and it falls off.

Early in my casting career I cast and shot many thousands of the Lee 230 grain TC bullet with the lube groove. Using a pair of six cavity molds, a lee bottom pour pot and a cast iron kettle on a coleman stove, (for premelting alloy in quantity), I could cast 4,000 to 5,000 on a long Saturday afternoon. That truncated cone design drops from the mold easily, loads easily and offers no hinderance to the operation of a 1911 pattern pistol. You could do a lot worse.
BD

I shoot the 228-1R in both a 625 Smith, and a Springfield 1911 in ameteur competition. I bought the 6-cavity, and have been very happy with it. Mine casts very round, drops really easy, and casts right at .452". Super reliable in the 1911, and speedloads great in the revolver. Keep the pins and plate pivots lubed, and they last a long time too. Many thousands out of mine and it's still tight. Good luck.

Second BD's recommendation. I've also cast many thousands of both the tumble lube and conventional lube groove bullet. Feeds flawlessly; great Bowling Pin bullet. BD's and my routine is about the same, the only difference being that I feed Lee's 17 lb. variation on the Chinese Water Torture with a 10 pounder. A caveat here....check the diameter of the bullets from your new moulds at the BEGINNING of your six hour casting session - not at the end of it. AAAHHRRRGGHHHH!!!

I'm very happy with my Lee 6 banger in the 200 gr. SWC. I size and lube with a Star to .452 and they function and shoot great.

You'll get 5 more boolits per pound over the 230 gr, they punch paper well and do great on clangers, etc.

Here's an 8 shot group (shot from a Ransom rest) at 25 yds. Load was 5.5 gr. Win. 231, the 200 gr. SWC at 1.250 OAL.

I shoot the Lee 228 cast from both a single cavity HP version and a 6 banger. They function well and shoot accurately in two 1911's, a G21, and a Sigg. I am also partial to Unique, though I have good luck with BEYE, too.

get the 452-200-swc in 6 cavity.but keep the round nose.the swc is good stopper and good target boolet.

I have quite a few .45acp molds. The two I use the most is the Lyman 452374 in a four banger, and the Lee 452 200 swc in a six banger. The autos like the SWC and the 625 revolver needs the roundnose for quick reloads. I shoot in IDPA, ISPC, and Steel Challenge.

The Lee 200 gr SWC shoots very well in my Springy Loaded model.

I shoot the Lee 230 gr T/C non-TL out of my Para-Ordnance and my AMT Hardballer Longslide. They're sized .452 and lubed with a 50/50 mix of beeswax and moly grease.

I picked this mould up on Ebay, used. So far so good.

Hope this helps.

Mike.

update: i ended up picking up the 230gr TC non TL

big difference using a six cavity! this was my first venture with anything bigger than a 2 cavity. I found BD was right the TC's drop from the mold with ease. It probably took me nearly 10 casts to get the mold warmed up, i just kept dropping the sprue and the bullets back in the pot.

I think i might invest in a small hot plate and a larger pot next. I don't think i got the mold up to temp for probably close to 20 minutes. I was getting usable bullets after 10 casts, but once i really got rocking and rolling it was a really smooth operation.

some of the sprue's were getting stuck, i smoked the sprue plate, but maybe i didn't do a good enough job.

all in all, a great way to cast a lot of boolits. it drained a 10lb pot with ease, twice; and I still don't really have an efficient system yet.

also tried Frankford arsenal flux. not sure it worked any better than the chunks of candle i was using, but it doesn't smoke. it didn't take much at all to pull all the junk out of a 10lb pot of wheel weights.

from straight ww dropped into water, they cast right at .452 to .4525ish. plenty good enough for me. I'm going to try to shoot a bunch either tomorrow or sunday and i'll let you guys know how they perform. i'm gonna try them unsized first.