45acp- how do these loads sound

[Reefinmike]

for the past couple days, ive been casting up a boatload of bullets and getting ready to reload for a gun I didnt even have until today (get out while you still can!). I am using the lee 230 grain tumble lube truncated cone bullet. actual weight comes in around 235 grains. yesterday, I loaded up 4 different loadings, 16 of each using small primer pocket brass and cci small rifle primers. All loads were seated to 1.215 with a very slight taper crimp. using win231, I have 4.3 grain, 4.5 grain, 4.7 grain and 4.9 grain charges. after attempting the plunk test, I had to further seat them all down to 1.183" to properly fit in the chamber. the shoulder of the bullet meets up just perfectly with the case rim.

Only reason I ask is because I only have the lee manual(I know, I know... lyman cast manual) and I was going off the data they have for "230 grain lead bullet" which im assuming is for a lead round nose. the data the manual lists says 4.3 min, 5.3 max with a min oal of 1.200"

 

[LiveLife]

My guess would be 4.3/4.5 may work but 4.7/4.9 will give you better accuracy.

 

[hueyville]

Had my ear plugs in with cuffs over the top, could not hear how they sounded. haha. Try a few and adjust as need.

 

[Reefinmike]

haha, well, im not really referring to the NOISE, accuracy or feeding reliability, I will figure that out when i sling some hunks of lead down range. I am wondering if the seating depth of 1.183" with a 230 grain lee tumble lube truncated cone bullet is OK.

 

[rsrocket1]

I ran into the the same situation as you when I was loading the bullets directly as cast. I started by loading them at 1.17" and ran them through the Lee FCD. Chambered perfectly and after pulling the bullets, they were still at 0.4515-0.452" which was fine because my bore slugged at 0.450". I started low with 4.0g Bullseye (690 fps) and 4.6g Unique (710 fps) which was about 1/2 grain lower than what I was shooting with LRN seated to 1.275".

I have since settled on 4.5g Bullseye and 5.0g Unique for standard shooting and found that I can seat to 1.19", post size with the Lee FCD to remove the flare and get reliable feeding and a good feeling shot from the 1911.
This is at 1.17", I can actually seat 0.02" taller and still reliably chamber these rounds in my gun. Hope that helps.

 

[Reefinmike]

thanks for the info rs, did you find that your mold throws between .451 and 452, most are .4515 or .452, but I have some that are .451, hope they dont lead up the barrel.

 

[mike.h]

Why did you us rifle primers?

 

[Reefinmike]

I dont keep small pistol on hand anymore, just use small rifle and large pistol for everything. I like keeping components down to a minimum. less to screw up

 

[GLOOB]

'Twere me, I'd scrounge up some LPP brass and use that for now. LPP are the only primers that are still in stock most everywhere. It seems a bit frivolous to use SRP for a caliber that traditionally takes LPP during this particular shortage. I may load up my cast 308 loads with LPP, next go around.

Charge weights sounds fine to me.

 

[rsrocket1]

Mike, my Lee 6 banger drops them between .452 and .453 so if there is any swaging by the FCD it's probably 1/2 to 1.5 mils which is acceptable for me. This is the best of the Lee molds I have. All 6 bullets drop cleanly as I open the mold. Maybe it's the weight of the bullets or maybe I was lucky with this one, but casting these bullets is so mesmerizing, I will empty 2 pounds of lead before I know it and want to keep casting.

 

[Reefinmike]

gloob- Ive picked up 600 45 cases over the past two range trips, 68 of those being spp brass. at the moment, I only have a few hundred srp's as previous to this new purchase, ive only been loading for 380, 38, 357 and 223. But no need to fear, I put in an order with PV on the 26th for 7k tula srp and 3k tula lpp so hopefully all those cases will be all loaded up by the end of next week!

rsrocket- dont you just love when they all six drop right when you crack the mold? as long as the .451's dont lead up my barrel, I will be very happy with this mold. I bought the bullet sizing die for .452 and I dont even need it! ive been bit in the butt twice in the past after buying a tl 158gr swc .357 six banger that dropped at .360 and a 380 mold that dropped at .358. both times I had to do another midway order for a sizer die. dont ask me how I found out lee 6 cav molds dont come with handles! I like the 45 mold because you can let it rest for more than 15 seconds while adding lead/fluxing without it cooling down enough to make the sprue impossible to cut

 

[Reefinmike]

reporting back, the 4.3 grain charges dropped the brass right at my feet but wasnt very accurate, I settled on the 4.9gr charge, I was putting 8 shots all inside one of those 2" bright orange birchwood casey target stickers. I do think I need to seat them a smidge deeper, two of them didnt go into full battery. I think this is likely because when I seated them deeper, the slight taper crimp pushed up a bit of lead along the rim of the case that I couldnt scrape out.

I was very happy to find that these did not lead the barrel at all! first run of boolits and no tweaking needed for my alloy, Im a very happy camper. When I first started doing 38's, it took probably 3,000 rounds worth of tinkering/complacency to do away with my leading problem.

 

[LiveLife]

Good to hear ... I love happy endings.