Time to begin casting for .45 Colt for my Ruger Old Army conversion cylinders.....

[Tallbald]

Hi everyone. It's time for me to expand to reloading to include .45 Colt, and enjoy the versatility of the conversion cylinders I have for my four Ruger Old Army's. I can only use "cowboy loads" in the cylinders, and my preferred powder (as I've talked about here a number of times) is Trail Boss. There's a wealth of thoughts shared here about .45 Colt loads, and I've tried a search for the Lee 452-228-1R round nose bullet but it comes back with no results. Maybe poor search wording on my part.
Am I right in thinking that .452 in pure lead is the right diameter for my Ruger Old Army's when shooting .45 Colt? I know I use .457 round ball when using them as muzzle loaders, and of course get a nice shaved lead ring as the balls are stuffed into the cylinders. Accuracy potential is very important to me.
Would anyone care to tell the mold number of their favorite LEE brand .45 Colt mold for their Ruger Old Army? I like light economical loads, and with generous help here I've learned nicely to use LEE aluminum molds for a couple different calibers.
As always thank you all so much! Don.

[Pipefitter]

If I had the time I could make and send you a few .452 swaged soft lead slugs to try out, but I am looking at 4-5 more weeks of 6- 10 hour night shifts. Somewhere here I have the Lee .457 RN for the ROA 45 but you would probably need a larger expander insert for your dies. (NO, it is not for sale, sorry.)

[Tallbald]

Thanks Pipefitter. I'll keep looking for information. Perhaps a member here will jump in with some additional thoughts. Don.

[prs]

I would first try the Lee 452-250-RF unless I already had a Lyman/Ideal 454190. Those moulds typically drop at .453 to .454 with my alloy (96-2-2). Pure lead should not be needed with trail boss and the conversion cylinder. Check the cylinder throats and see if they are .451 to .452. In non-cat sneeze cowboy loads for good groups, 7.2gr Unique under the Lee 250gr boolit shoots better than I can hold with an RBV. Trailboss, for me, yields minute of clay pigeon accuracy; which is good for large and close cowboy steel.

prs

[DLCTEX]

I have fired .454 sized 255 gr boolits cast from ww in my ROA (not conversion cyl.) with good accuracy. I need to get a conversion cyl. of my own. Black powder is non-existent here. Do they make them for Colt .36 Navy?

[jcren]

I load the Lee TL452-230 tc for my father in law for a Blackhawk and Rossi circuit judge carbine. 7 gr unique is a fun "one handed" load and we stoke the carbine to 9 gr (use your own judgement) for a hog stopper. 50/50 ac roll crimped in top tumble groove. Have used Recluse lube, Ben's liquid lube and pc sized 453 with no leading.

[Tallbald]

Hey thank you each. I'm happy I asked guidance here. I like slow and heavy rounds. Just a personal preference. Looking forward to expanding my casting range. Don.

[GoodOlBoy]

For lee the old 452-255rf (or if you can find the OLDER 454-255rf) is always a good choice in the 45 long colt in both pistols and rifles. In fact it is my preferred bullet 99% of the time in a 45 long colt.

There is one bullet, and one alone that I like as well as the 454-255rf for 45 long colt (or schofield) with black powder. That is the old lyman hollow base 170-175 gr mold (Lyman 45468 649) . I searched for one for YEARS until good old George hooked me up last year. I treasure it and wouldn't let it go for a million dollars so long as I have a 45 long colt.

GoodOlBoy