[nulfisin]

I purchased some 230 g LRN Laser Cast bullets. I noticed that there doesn't seem to be a groove, or cannelure, on the bullets. So, I wasn't sure where the best place to put the crimp is. I've been putting the crimp at or just above the top "ridge" on the bullet. I've tried to make it so that only the round nose of the bullet protrudes over the case mouth. (The first rounds I loaded have a tiny bit of the straight wall of the bullet showing.) Unfortunately, I don't have a digital camera handy to upload the pictures.

The bullets chamber well into my Beretta revolver. My question, though, is whether I should be taking a different approach to the crimp. Also, what is that green strip around the circumference of the bullet? Lube? Thanks.

[rcmodel]

Green is bullet lube.

http://www.laser-cast.com/images/45.230.rnbb.452.gif

On bullets without a crimp groove, you would apply a roll crimp over the shoulder just at the beginning of the ogive.

If you are loading light loads with fast burning powder you could seat just to the edge of the shoulder and only use enough crimp to straighten out the case mouth bell, sort of like a taper crimp on an auto-pistol round.

rc

[loadedround]

That's a fairly easy problem. First of all Oregon Trail(Laser Cast Bullets) usually supply loading data with their bullets so the OAL should be indicated or usuing your cylinder as guide, just seat your bullets so that they are seated below the mouth of the cylinder. Ideally they should be seated with a 1/8" clearance between top of bullet and end of cylinder mouth in case of some bullet jump because of a loose crimp. Just crimp them nornally with a medium to hard crimp depending on your load.












lV

[Walkalong]

If you are loading light loads with fast burning powder you could seat just to the edge of the shoulder and only use enough crimp to straighten out the case mouth bell, sort of like a taper crimp on an auto-pistol round.If you have a .45 ACP die set you can use the seater to apply a light taper crimp on those bullets loaded in .45 Colt.

[Vern Humphrey]

If you have a .45 ACP die set you can use the seater to apply a light taper crimp on those bullets loaded in .45 Colt.
I'd be leery of that -- the .45 Colt has fairly heathy recoil, and your bullets might jump crimp.

[Walkalong]

He is using auto bullets without a crimp groove. A taper crimp will work assuming he has proper neck tension. That was also to back up rcmodels quote of fast burning powders and light loads. I taper crimp plated bullets in .45 Colt all the time with no problems. Very heavy loads may not work with that bullet where he can't roll crimp without damaging the bullet. I doubt he is loading very heavy for that Beretta with 230 Gr auto bullets. Of course, I could be mistaken. If he is loading heavy, he simply has the wrong bullets. He needs to get some bullets intended for use in .45 Colt that have a proper crimp groove. :)

[Vern Humphrey]

I may just try a few .45 Colt loads with a taper crimp. If it works, it will save working the brass so much.

[Walkalong]

What bullets and how fast are you pushing them?

[Vern Humphrey]

255 grain bullets poured from wheel weights, cast from Lee mould 452-255-RF, loaded ahead of 12 grains of HS-6 and lit with a Winchester Large Pistol primer.

[Walkalong]

So around 900 FPS I figure. I have used heavy taper crimps on jacketed .357 bullets. It seems to work just as well as a roll crimp in that app. I don't see why you couldn't use a heavy taper crimp for those if needed to stop the bullet from creeping forward. It would still work the brass less than a healthy roll crimp.

[billybob44]

Sometimes handloading can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. Trying to load 230 Ball (designed for .45ACP) into a .45 Colt case seems to me to be making the process a lot tougher than it needs to be. If it were me, I would load the 230 Ball into acp. cases, and find some SWC, or Cowboy Action bullets to load in the .45 Colt. If you don't have a .45 auto, you may try to sell/trade the 230 for a revolver style bullet for your Colt??=Just my 2 cents worth....:D

[nulfisin]

Sorry for not mentioning that. Replacements are on the way. That said, it makes little sense to throw these in the garbage (the company didn't send what I ordered), and no one I know needs them.. So, I thought I'd try to make them work.

I do have relatively light charges. 4.4 grains of HP-38. I use an electronic autoloader , so every charge should be within .01 grains.

[Walkalong]

Then a light taper crimp will be perfect. If you don't have a .45 die, you can adjust the roll crimp feature in your .45 Colt die to just barely crimp, as posted earlier by rcmodel.

[SASS#23149]

I have shot those same bullets in my colt loads by just adjusting the crimp die to squeeze the case neck againgst the straight side of the bullet.I used my acp dies to do this,.no bullet jump or problems of any kind. I was loading mild 'cowboy' loads,under 900 fps btw.

[rcmodel]

It might be interesting to note that the original 250 - 255 grain LRN-FP bullets used in the .45 Colt factory loads didn't have crimp grooves either. Just two ube grooves.
A case full of black powder, and later, neck tension with smokeless powder kept them from slipping back in the case.

They were always loaded with a slight roll crimp over the beginning of the ogive to prevent recoil pulling.

Remington 250 grain, .455" .45 Colt bullet:
http://media.midwayusa.com/ProductImages/Medium/1601446981.jpg

We see a crimp groove on many of them today, because unlike then, we use them in lever-action rifles now too and they have to be tightly roll crimped to keep them in place in a tube magazine.

rc

[nulfisin]

Well, I tried them out today. They actually shot pretty well; my Beretta Stampede isn't the most accurate gun I own, but it's forgiving of "unorthodox" loads. Still, it's easier just to load semi-wadcutters or cowboy bullets. I only shoot my 1911 a few times a year, but have plenty of brass laying around and dies for it. The rest of the box is going into ACP cases.

[Doc Rizzi]

I reload hundreds of .45LC for CAS. I use 250gr. RNFP @ 5grains of Trail Boss. A bullet with a secant ogive is one that has the cylindrical surface of the bullet secant to the curve of the head. Bullets with a secant ogive usually have a very obvious transition from the bearing surface to the ogive length. Adjust your seating die to seat your bullet right at this transition point. I also reload 45ACP. I use a separate set of dies for .45LC and .45 ACP. The ACP round as you know is much shorter and therefore would require an entirely different adjustment. Transitioning back and forth is too time consuming...especially after your get your die set and locked in. I taper-roll crimp my .45ACP fairly firm, but I use the factory crimp die for the 45LC. I spend much more time fine tuning the seating depth and crimp pressure for the .45ACP because I want them to feed smoothly. I have found that every semi-auto has an OAL that it loves and finding it is half the fun!

[Vern Humphrey]

A case full of black powder, and later, neck tension with smokeless powder kept them from slipping back in the case.
It's slipping forward in the case that's the problem -- bullets in unfired chambers can creep forward under recoil. The early .45 Colts were crimped, but over the ogive, not into a crimping groove.

[Walkalong]

One can roll crimp into a lead bullet with no cannelure, assuming it is not a really hard bullet & there is a good spot for it between the lube groove and ogive.

I have no experience with early .45 Colt bullets, but I do know the alloy was pretty soft.

Vern is right, it's bullets creeping out of the case and tying up the cylinder that is the problem. :)

[Uncle Chan]

I use a Lee FCD for my 45 LCs and I've loaded 10 of thousands of them. Great die, perfect crimps. Oh, and I only shoot Oregon Trail 255s and 200s.

[rcmodel]

It's slipping forward in the case that's the problem -- bullets in unfired chambers can creep forward under recoil.Yes, I am aware of that.
Here is what I said, in it's entirety:
A case full of black powder, and later, neck tension with smokeless powder kept them from slipping back in the case.

They were always loaded with a slight roll crimp over the beginning of the ogive to prevent recoil pulling.

rc

[Walkalong]

Agh, back forward....:D

I just read where someone quoted you and replied. I missed that it was your original post. I know you know better. If the whole thing was quoted, instead of just what was, there would have been no confusion. :)