NOE 454 255gr loads

[Daddyfixit]

Cast about a hundered today. NICE! .454 dia, 258gr with WW
I picked up some Trail Boss (another subject but that's bizare looking powder!)
I was thinking 5.5gr to start with for my USFA SAA
My first dummy round looks like the crimp grove lines up good at OAL of 1.56, I
Guess that's OK
Any thoughts?

[Dale53]

I use the NOE clone of the Lyman 454424 in my .45 Auto Rim as well as the .45 Colt. It is a GOOD rendition of an old favorite. In fact, NOE's interpretation is better than Lyman's these days. Lyman has turned these bullets out that wouldn't even allow you to crimp in the crimp groove for a Colt SAA. The bullet was designed by Elmer Keith especially for the Colt SAA and some of the later editions of the bullet mould required you to crimp over the front band to avoid a "too long" dimension for the Colt SAAl. That is downright shameful!

The other plus of the NOE moulds is that you can depend on the dimensions to be "as advertised" (that certainly is NOT happening at Lyman these days).

You might want to read Handloader Magazine #260 "Understanding the Lyman 454424" for a full explanation of this. Apparently, as the cherries wore out they replaced with a way out of spec cherry. Talk about a quality control failure...

Dale53