.452 plated hollow base bullets ok for 45 Colt?

SunnySlopes said:

I'm asking because in my Lyman loading book it gives bullet diameter as .456 inch in the cross section.

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You should be OK, with the caveat that you didn't mention the bullet weight. You'll need to put a little crimp in there to keep the bullets from backing out under recoil, but not enough to break the plating.

.456"??? That must be a typo...

.456 is a typo. ANY revolver that is either a 45 Colt/ACP convertible, or uses moon clips for 45 acp, is going to be fine with .452, even so, .452 is going to be fine anyway in a 45 Colt regardless, the modern rule is .451 jacketed and .452 lead (plated is same as lead), basically it will shoot any bullet made for 45 Colt or 45 ACP. You left out bullet weight, or if you're loading for 45 Colt or 45 ACP in that revolver. The normal caveats with plated and revolvers applies......if there is no crimp cannelure on that bullet, you run the risk of spliting the plating if you apply a heavy roll crimp. Also, if you are loading 45 ACP, and using a roll crimp......you may have problems if you expect the same load to run in a pistol.

A hollowbase design is supposed to be run very slow 750-800 fps so you don't blow the base off or ring the barrel. Modern bullets may have more allowances but baring any direct information in support of that my goal would be that speed range.

Walkalong said:

they just have a small hollow with plenty thick sides

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That's what I was thinking... not a true 'hollow-base' like you would think in a .38 WC bullet, for example.

The OP's estimated velocity is why I axed about the bullet weight. I'm not familiar with VV powders, so I don't know what, exactly, he's cooking up.

It is not a typo, .456" is SAAMI maximum .45 LC bullet diameter but with a huge -.006" tolerance, so anything from .450 to .456" is all right with them. Minimum chamber throat diameter is .452" with an even greater .0075" tolerance, so anything .452 - .4595" goes. And tolerances are not always observed, reaming undersize Ruger throats to .4525" is a common practice.

Bullet pull on these slick plated bullets is another question. I would want to shoot one, then look at the rest in the gun for signs of inertia pull by recoil. Then I would check the last round in the chamber.

The OP's VV book load is surely SAFE, but how well matched to the gun and how accurate it is is yet to be seen.

Jim Watson said:

It is not a typo, .456" is SAAMI maximum

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I knew there was some tolerance in there, but I didn't think that much. Sheesh.

Jim Watson said:

reaming undersize Ruger throats to .4525" is a common practice.

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I had my old Vaquero reamed to those specs some years ago. It helped, for sure.

Charlie98 said:

I knew there was some tolerance in there, but I didn't think that much. Sheesh.



I had my old Vaquero reamed to those specs some years ago. It helped, for sure.

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When I buy a Ruger revolver, first stop before I take it home is to the gunsmith to have the chamber throats regulated. Reamed to same dimensions all around, even if it’s a little on the high side, so they’re all at least the same. My Vaqueros were both all over the place. By far the worst was the .45Colt.

Geo.. who jeweled your hammers and triggers?

GeoDudeFlorida said:

My Vaqueros were both all over the place. By far the worst was the .45Colt.

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I've owned at least 5 Ruger .45's that I can think of... none of them had any semblance of accuracy. Knowing now what I didn't know then, I would have started with reaming the cylinders. There are some things that you just can't fix... and mismatched cylinder throats may not necessarily be the only problem. I just sold my last .45 Vaquero... I'm done with SAA's, and Rugers in particular.

Frulk said:

Geo.. who jeweled your hammers and triggers?

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Nick Garrett. He’s done a good bit of custom work for me over the years. I’ve known him since he was 14, now he’s 41 and has kids of his own learning the trade. Nice guy and very talented.

Charlie98 said:

I've owned at least 5 Ruger .45's that I can think of... none of them had any semblance of accuracy. Knowing now what I didn't know then, I would have started with reaming the cylinders. There are some things that you just can't fix... and mismatched cylinder throats may not necessarily be the only problem. I just sold my last .45 Vaquero... I'm done with SAA's, and Rugers in particular.

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When I got that Great Western II .357Mag pictured on the right it looked real purty on the outsides but insides looked like it was made in the Khyber Pass by native craftsmen. I took it apart, cleaned up the mill work with stones, emery cloth and files, had the throats regulated and the Ruger ejector rod fitted by my favorite gunsmith and took the black varnish off the grips. I like nice wood, not tacky paint. Now it shoots better than I can and has a trigger like Carlos Santana - smoooooth.

AJC1 said:

A hollowbase design is supposed to be run very slow 750-800 fps so you don't blow the base off or ring the barrel. Modern bullets may have more allowances but baring any direct information in support of that my goal would be that speed range.

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super soft swaged lead HBWC, sure. These are plated HB and are a different animal.

The Berry's base hollow is about the size of the one in the Remington 250 swaged lead bullet they use in factory loads and used to sell for hand loading, .454".

At the risk of tacking the OP's thread off topic. I have been interested in picking up a .45Colt Vaquero for a while to step into black powder reloading. I wasn't aware of the throat problems inherent with them. This isn't a deal breaker by any means but out of curiosity what does it cost to have the cylinder throats reamed?

.456" is a typo.

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Actually not.
See https://thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6931960&postcount=5
(The Lyman Manual graphic leaves out the important fine print)

SunnySlopes said:

185 grain. And, at that velocity, it won't need a drastic crimp. With the weight of the Redhawk and the mild load, I'll wager it won't need much of a crimp.

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the amount of crimp is also used to get the powder to burn correctly. fast powders usually do better with less crimp/neck tension, slow powders with more.

luck,

murf