mold for 45 caliber inline

[RogerDat]

I'm looking for options for a mold to use with a 45 caliber inline with a fast 1/28 twist.
considering a couple or three styles.

A heavy .40 caliber to use with an MMP sabot. Think I want something in the 200 grain or above weight. I have a nice 140 grain MP round nose mold for .40 caliber that works decent in a sabot, although it is a tight fit as cast so wondering if there is a Lee push through sizer I should use.

I would like to try a 45 caliber bullet without a sabot. Plan to powder coat and probably lube. I have alloys to cast as hard as monotype if that is needed. My Lee 45 molds for 45 colt are heavy (225 and 255 grain) but as cast are too large. Get stuck as soon as they engage rifling. Maybe I could size down but to what? Lee offers a .451, .452, and .454 diameter push through sizers.

Or is there a mold for a longer 45 bullet with more generous lube grooves that might be better?

So heavy 40 caliber for sabot, heavy 45 that I can shoot with powder coat and no sabot if I size, or using the heavy 45 colt pistol molds I have if I size.

[LAGS]

I have made a shaping mold out of a piece of the barrel that I had cut off.
It was about a 2" long section of the same barrel.
I could make slugs that were sized to the groove depth.
I would pound them thru that section of barrel to swedge the rifling into the slug.
That slug could be loaded into the rifle barrel with sizing and rifling that matched the rifle perfectly.
It made it easier to load, and not deform the slug trying to pound it down the barrel.
On a couple of rifles.
I welded on some guides that aligned the barrel cut off with the rifling on the barrel.
That way you can install the die on the barrel end to use to load the slugs directly into the barrel.
I have seen many target rifles with the same set up.
I recently built a rifle for a friend's son.
Since I had shortened the barrel for him , I made one of those swedging dies for him.
I also made a pistol out of the rest of the barrel cut off piece, which they also bought from me.
They haven't tried the die for accuracy or easier loading yet , but I hope that they do in the near future.

[RogerDat]

LAGS,
Interesting and frankly clever idea. The first half inch of the barrel lacks any rifling, it almost looks like the rifled portion is an insert. I heard that at one time they did that unrifled and larger mouth so that it was easier to insert the sabot far enough to use a bullet starter to get it started in the rifling. Otherwise I think a lot of sabot/bullets would end up getting dropped or inserted cocked at an angle. They are pretty tight fit once they hit the rifling.

[RogerDat]

I saw this mold and thought something like this might be a candidate for PC and use without a sabot. I didn't especially like the idea of spending that much on a mold without having some information that made me think what I was buying would have a good chance of working.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010236977?pid=497427

Especially don't want to buy what is essentially a mold with a relatively limited user market. Some caliber/weights if my gun doesn't like it there are plenty of folks will be glad to buy it. A 450 grain .451 mold isn't going to have a big market if it turns out to be a poor choice for my 1/28 twist rifle.

[BK7saum]

I have cast 240-265 41 mag HP boolits and sized them to 0.401/0.402 with push through sizers for ise in the 40 cal sabot. Three does were killed with them this year. Full broadside pass through shots with 70 grain equivalent load.

Are you wanting to try some boolits or just looking for mold suggestions?

[LAGS]

I think the TC had some barrels that the first inch of the bore had no rifling to make it easier to load.
I have never shot one of those.
But is not something I would do to any of my barrels.
Not that I think it isn't any good.
Just that it doesn't seem to be a traditional style barrel

[RogerDat]

I have cast 240-265 41 mag HP boolits and sized them to 0.401/0.402 with push through sizers for ise in the 40 cal sabot. Three does were killed with them this year. Full broadside pass through shots with 70 grain equivalent load.

Are you wanting to try some boolits or just looking for mold suggestions?

Just looking for what options I can follow up on. Didn't consider .41 mag could be sized down to .40 for use in sabots. Once I had a .40 mold I realized there was a good amount of length left in the sabot, considering most inline ML are used with heavier than 180 grain I started wondering what options I had.

There certainly are not a lot of 41 mag molds but there are options in 200+ weight.

[RogerDat]

I did find this Lyman mold that makes a very heavy 450 grain bullet. Not sure if that is too heavy for use in an inline ML. Makes bullet intended for Parker Hale Volunteer rifle which is a muzzle loader so good with BP but having a 1:20 twist rather than my slower 1:28 twist.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010236977?pid=497427

Lyman 1-Cavity Bullet Mold #451114 45 Caliber (451 Diameter) 450 Grain Volunteer

Anyone pushed a bullet this long and heavy out of a 45 caliber 1:28 twist inline using a sabot?

There is also a fellow member who lives in the area with a couple of 41 mag molds in the 220 grain range that I will be trying to see how they perform.

[RogerDat]

I can't imagine no one else has tried a 450 grain 40 caliber lead bullet in sabot for a 1:28 twist inline.

I will try the available 200 - 220 grain sample to see if I can get good accuracy with that weight. That is a bit more weight than the 180 grain .40 caliber I have. See if accuracy is as good or better with that weight. Just sort of a pipe dream of heavy (300+ grain) 45 at sabot velocities that was target accurate to 100 - 200 yards.

Not in a rush to buy a $140 mold to check out that heavy bullet. Just one of those winter time ideas that cross my mind as a project that could be interesting. If I do end up trying it I will certainly post results.

[dondiego]

I can't imagine no one else has tried a 450 grain 40 caliber lead bullet in sabot for a 1:28 twist inline.

I will try the available 200 - 220 grain sample to see if I can get good accuracy with that weight. That is a bit more weight than the 180 grain .40 caliber I have. See if accuracy is as good or better with that weight. Just sort of a pipe dream of heavy (300+ grain) 45 at sabot velocities that was target accurate to 100 - 200 yards.

Not in a rush to buy a $140 mold to check out that heavy bullet. Just one of those winter time ideas that cross my mind as a project that could be interesting. If I do end up trying it I will certainly post results.

That is going to be a long bullet! Do you mean a 45 cal. bullet? I wish that I had more experience with inlines to help you out.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

https://youtu.be/Y-5eDr8xBrs?si=kVDoPFCnL8CcQU-q

I really like the Lee 459-500-3R out of my CVA Accura. The link above is to my test. I've shot a lot of different bullets from this gun.

Sabots might be better but I don't like the idea of using plastic.

[idahoron]

Have you considered a Paper Patched bullet?
I have a couple that shoot fantastic. For a pointed bullet the Accurate 44-390P is a great bullet. I shoot it in my target rifle. It drops out at 401 grains with the alloy I use.





For a more of a hunting bullet I have the RCBS 11mm rifle bullet. These weigh 408 grains with the alloy I use.




Both bullets like to be wrapped and then sized with a .446 sizer die.
Below are some of the animals I have taken with the 11mm bullet.