Cast Boolits for any 45 ACP

I've been playing around with a cast boolit for this forever favorite round and find the 45-230CM mould from RCBS works pretty good. I realize, of course, this is the cowboy action bullet for the 45 Colt, but wonder if any of you have tried this one. I cast mine of w/w alloy and size it to .452 along with seating it to just below the crimp groove. I use a Paul Mathews formula for lube. I've shot this combo in a Ruger KP-90 and a Kimber match 45 as well as a Springfield XD, and it seems to do well in both the Ruger and the XD. The magazine seems to limit feeding reliably from the Kimber with the OAL length I've been using(1.230). I feel by seating the bullet a bit above the crimp groove and backing off on the powder charge(I was using a fair load of 6.8 grs of Unique) to 5.5-5.8 grs of Unique, this bullet will pass muster in this old war horse. What say you fellow shooters/casters.....anyone use this bullet in their 45's?
Bob...

I say if it works for you & you can work out any feeding problems go for it ! 45's in my experiance have always worked well with hardball type designed bullets !

Dave

I for one can not use a .452 bullet in my 1911/45. I tried and they would not feed. I use a .450 and they go through her like a hot knife through butter. I run every reload through a gauge and if they drop in free and don't stick out the other end it is a shooter. Gauge cost about $10.00. You can use your barrel if you chose. All my rounds are set at OAL 1.223.5". I have no FTF, or FTE. Work's for me.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ge_Bullets.jpg

Upon reading other articles for the 45 ACP, I find that .452 dia bullets will not work in a number of chambers/guns as you have already found out. It is certainly something to be aware of when loading this favorite of calibers....
Bob...

My old Lightweight Commander likes the 452460 Lyman SWC. And at 200 grains, it suits my CHEAP personality to get a few more boolits out of a pound of lead.:)

My accurized GI (my source shot it, bought it, and brought it home from Camp Perry in 1958:mrgreen: ) came with a recommendation to use 185 grain SWC which it REALLY likes! I have the #130 H&G in a 4 Cavity to feed that one. Feeds like a charm, and the even lighter weight suits my personality even better!:-D

The newer Para P-14 hasn't given me a final opinion yet, but I'm usually loading that one a bit hotter than the others. I'm hoping it'll like the 452423 SWC, but I don't know right now.

The bullets I buy from Space Coast Bullets say LSWC .451" on the box but they measure .450". I am fairly new at this reloading business, but something just don't add up. Go figure.. All I know for sure is I got one fine shooting pistol and one very accurate load.

200Gr LSWC over 5.3 gr win 231 works great in all my 1911's sized to .452. Great target load and even better self defense load. Those sharp shoulders cut blood vessels very cleanly. I think a much better bullet than 230 gr ball.

Like DOK said if what you are using works for you than go for it.


Take Care

Bob

My Colts seem to favor 452630 a 200gr bb LSWC and Unique powder. They feed excellent and accuracy is surprising, better than store bought LSWC.

I shoot Lee 220 RNHP's of ACWW @.452 with LA in both my Kimber and Colt Officer's models over 6.2gr of Unique. Feeds well through both and is more accurate than I am at reasonable ranges. It causes no leading in either pistol, so I don't have to bother with water dropping or adding any lino to the mix. I figure this load will stop anything up to and including a small foreign car with no problem at all. I also like this boolit of pure lead @452 unlubed in a sabot in my .54 M/L.

Do you expereience any leading with those .450 bullets. They must be very soft to be able to bump up enough to seal the barrel. When I ran .355 bullets in my 9MM I got tumbling, mind I was casting them from WW and water quenching them. Now I size to .357 and have no leading or tumbling. .45acp LSWC are all sized to .452.

Take Care

Bob

Hi Bob. I get just a little leading at the forcing cone after about 200rds. It doesn't affect the accuracy of the gun at all. Easy shooter too. It doesn't beat your gun up or you either.

Since we are on about .45acp bullets I tried 250 cowboy commercial bullets a month or so ago. I only had a few and wanted to see of they would feed ok and they did! Fed through my Norinco (It feeds anything I swear) and my Para. Next time I buy some of the bullets in Edmonton I'll trrack loads and chrono some and report back here. Recoil was quite mild and there were no pressure signs. Felt like I was throwing bricks down range.

Take Care

Bob

I have been considering buying a mold for my .45 ACP I don't have much cash to throw around so lee molds are usually were I go. Lee has alot of different options out there for the .45 I tend to think I would like a 200 gr bullet but I'm not sure. Also I have a question that may sound a little strange. During a test using a kimber and a ruger .45 auto I found that after hand cycling the bullets in factory loads were being pushed back .020 and sometimes more. If this were to happen with lead it would cut a ring out of the bullet and make a ridge. I guess my question is do you guys have this problem and do you not crimp because of it or do you crimp more to keep it from happening or do you think I'm nuts :lol:

Nathan the .45acp bullet is held in the case by case tension. All you do when you load lead bullets is remove the belling on the case. The 'crimp" if you want to call it that runs between .469 and .471. Lead bullets are sized .452 as opposed to jacketed at .451. You will note a little bulge in most cases after you seat the bullet. This bulge is normal and should not effect loading.

The .45acp cartridge head spaces off the case mouth so you do not want to apply a rolled crimp like you might do for rifle jacketed rounds.

Take Care

Bob

Thanks Bob I guess I didn't think about the larger bullet haelping keep it from being pushed inward. As far as the crimp I was talking about a tapered crimp but I understand your point. I guess after I get a mold I should just test this like I did with the jacketed rounds and see if I get the same results.

" I guess my question is do you guys have this problem and do you not crimp because of it or do you crimp more to keep it from happening or do you think I'm nuts"


Yes, yes, no and.... well I don't know you enough to answer that... ;)

Before I start, have you checked the ammo after the gun cycled it "naturally"...? It probably does it too.

My lead bullets stopped moving when I stopped resizing them. They are loaded as cast (about .4535) and neck tension keeps them in place.

I nevertheless had lots of lead shavings in the gun when I got my Norinco (it has a tight chamber and the barrel is hardly throated; I didn't realise I had overdone the crimp when readjusting the seating of the bullet).
I didn't worry until one of these shavings found its way in the diconnector well, "deactivating" the gun....

So in short, as long as the gun feeds it, I will apply the lightest possible crimp on lead bullets.
Jacketed onesa usually don't have a crimp but some are intended for both 45 (acp and Colt) and have one. If you crimp for an auto, make sure the ammo still firmly headspace on the case mouth.

kg

Hmm seems like keeping the bullet fat in a .45 auto will help. Thanks I have a mold meant for a colt that I might try in that case. I haven't let the gun naturaly feed then pulled the round and checked it but if it does it by hand I can only imagine it's worst under opertation. Thanks a ton Kg.

My molds are LEE's and all 45 are similar in production diameter. I use 45-190-SWC (discontinued?), 45-200-RF, an old 45-255-RF, and my early 200-SWC (H&G 69 copy) was the same.

this one is a 45 252 SWC I checked it and it dropped around .454 so I kinda gave up on it. I could buy the right mold for the amount of a resizer but I'll give it another shot with a little more tin to see if I can get it to work. If your shooting 453.5 then I'm sure I could get this thing to drop around there. Now I have to slug my barrel tomorrow thanks LOL. I do appreciate the help though. Oh and sorry for hijacking the thread

drkly its not so much your bbl but your chamber you gotta worry about
with each .001 over size you only pick up about 300 psi pressure with cast
i can shoot 225 rnfp, 200swc 230rn or 250 rnfp in all of my 45's colt
acp or auto-rim
i have nottried my 160 rnfp in the acp yet.

and i just size them all to 452 any more.

Yeah I'm going to load up some dummies tomorrow and see if she'll be able to chamber them then I'm going to slug the barrel and see how over sized it is. If all that works out I'm going to load a few up and see if she'll feed then I'll work up a load. I won't be resizing them mainly because I don't have the cash right now to get a sizing die. I know how bad that sounds but I'm on a tight budget for my hobbies right now and try not to buy more equipment then I have to.

Lee push through sizing kits are less than $15 and come with lube.

Yeah I know your right :) I just can'tget over LLA everything I was taught about how bullet lube works kinda goes against a lube that won't melt.

it works on the slower stuff and will get ya goin
i dont use but if it works and keeps ya shootin, i say go for it.

I use it for everything. Slow wadcutters at 700fps up to hunting bullets at 1700-200 to varmint bullets at 2600+. I haven't found it to be any handicap with faster loads. All of my handgun shooting and 90% of my rifle shooting is all done with cast & LLA - many thousands of rounds a year. Good accuracy, no leading. Lube is important, and certain ones will work best in any given situation (and there are individual barrels that have an attitude, too), but proper fit of bullet to bore and the right alloy are usually much more important.

Check your OAL.
I had the same problem with not chambering and lead shearing with the RNFP bullet. The slide would not go to battery. I Thought it was a light load with a heavy recoil spring so I put in a light paper punching spring and increased the charge (multiple trails) A few rounds would chamber and then it would not go to battery again. What I found was the shoulder of the round nose did not taper for the first .125" +/- of the bullet and it was hitting the lands. I have a NEW but very pitted barrel and I used it to test chamber the rounds and sure enough they would not drop in. I shortened the OAL and the first 10 rounds covered an area a little smaller then a base ball. I know that's not impressive but I hit the paper. I duplicated this 3 days later. Now when time permits I'll pull the group a little tighter. (maybe) I'm shooting a 1911A1 on an Essecs from 1975 with a Colt barrel, a Remington slide and a recoil spring stabilizer. GI sights. Yes it's a rag. I had tightened the rails and polished the trigger so it shoots very well. Problem is I was using it to fire some red line hot loads that Guns and Ammo had played with and it hammered it so it's a little loose again. That's for another story. It's been the wife's house gun for 25 years. I finally found some time to start loading and shooting again. I also have a Colt 1911A1 that has a 400 Corbon barrel in it. (YES)
Specs:
LEE 452-200RF 200gr RNFP Mold sized to .452 (Lee sizer) WW water quenching
Alox before and after sizing
5.2gr Unique
CCI lg. Pistol primer
.1106-.1108 OAL
I actually realized the problem when trying to stick a bullet in the end of the barrel. It did not go to the case.

I have a SF M1911 A1 ...win brass- 230 LRN (.452 ) dia- w231 / 4.6 pld with 870 fps and I have to say
I get a good pattern..I seat at .265. I use a gage to to ck my ammo and so far everthing is
working out very good for me. I do cast my own lead with a Lee mold and Lee sizer so far I
haven't had to the sizer but I ahve one on hand if needed.
scout/ Bob

I have not been by this site for a while and dropped in tonight.

I got to looking at the 45 cal Maxi-Balls I was casting from soft lead for my smoke pole and wondered if I could successfully load them in a 45ACP. Cast from WW, sized .451", lubed with whatever lube was in the press, seated to the front driving band over 5.0 gr 231. I anticipated failures to feed but none occured. Accuracy is as good or slightly better than any of my other cast bullet rounds. Regretably, I do not own a chronograph.

Made an interesting project.

I have heard of loading them in .45LC, .45-70, and .458mag, but never in a .45ACP. What did you shoot them in, what powder, and was the recoil like?

Shot them out of my Llama Max-1, full size 1911 wannabe. 5 grs 231. CCI primer. Nothing unusual about the recoil or report.

Uses up a stick of bullet lube in a hurry.

1st mold I ever bought to cast (about 6 months ago!) was the Mihec 200 LSWC (H&G #68 clone). Load it in front of 5.0 gr Bullseye, sized to .452" (my bore is .451") and OAL of 1.250". My Thompson Auto Ord GI 45 loves it, and my buddy's 45 shoots the same bullet over a cpl diff powders very well also.

All I did to my gun was replace the bbl bushing and put in a .005" oversize bbl link - my gun was well broken in when I go it. But the above load shoots probably a 1/3 the size groups that factory hardball does.