Can 454 Casull Seater be Used for 45 Colt?

[JDinFbg]

I read somewhere that the seating die for the 454 Casull can be used for seating bullets in the 45 Colt. Can anyone out there who has actually done it confirm this?

If so, can the 454 Casull seating die be run down to meet the shell holder and provide some cam-over (to take slop out of press linkage) WITHOUT engaging the crimping section of the die when a 45 Colt case is run in?

Is the bullet throat in the 454 Casull seating die large enough to accommodate .452 - .454 diameter bullets?

 

[weeniewawa]

they are the same diameter. should work fine

 

[BBarn]

Just did some quick checking with my RCBS 454 Casull die set. The internal length of the seating die doesn't appear to be quite long enough to ensure a 45 Colt case won't bump into the crimp section before the shellholder touches the bottom of the die.

The RCBS seating die is also fairly tight, and I'm not sure there is enough clearance for .454" diameter bullets. I did not have any issues seating .452" bullets into 454 Casull brass.

Obviously other brand 454 dies may differ from the RCBS set I have.

 

[243winxb]

Lee has this- The 45 Colt expander die will also work for the 454 Casull by backing the die out approximately two turns to compensate for the difference in case length.

https://support.leeprecision.net/en/knowledgebase/article/interchangeable-dies

 

[Mark_Mark]

If you want to get the ultimate seat everything die. Get a .460! Seats everything .451-.452!

 

[JDinFbg]

Just did some quick checking with my RCBS 454 Casull die set. The internal length of the seating die doesn't appear to be quite long enough to ensure a 45 Colt case won't bump into the crimp section before the shellholder touches the bottom of the die.

Thanks for checking. I was hopeful that with the 454 Casull case being 0.098" longer than the 45 Colt, that would allow the bottom of the die to touch the shell holder without the 45 Colt case touching the crimp section.

 

[JDinFbg]

If you want to get the ultimate seat everything die. Get a .460! Seats everything .451-.452!

Thanks for the suggestion. I note that the 460 S&W Magnum case is 0.515" longer than the 45 Colt, so that should clearly allow the die to touch the shell holder without a 45 Colt case touching the crimp section.

 

[BBarn]

For a 460 seater to work, the seating insert would need to sit about 1/2" lower in the die to seat bullets in a 45 Colt case. I have no idea if that's possible with common brand 460 dies.

 

[JDinFbg]

For a 460 seater to work, the seating insert would need to sit about 1/2" lower in the die to seat bullets in a 45 Colt case. I have no idea if that's possible with common brand 460 dies.

That thought had crossed my mind. Being able to adjust for the 1/2" difference might be tough to achieve. I just fired off an email to RCBS Tech Support to see what they have to say on the subject for both the 454 Casull and the 460 S&W Magnum seating dies. Redding supposedly makes a non-crimping seating die for 45 Colt / 454 Casull, but I have not been able to find one in stock anywhere. There are a couple of gun shows coming up this month in my area, so I plan to scour the tables to see what I can find.

 

[Mark_Mark]

That thought had crossed my mind. Being able to adjust for the 1/2" difference might be tough to achieve. I just fired off an email to RCBS Tech Support to see what they have to say on the subject for both the 454 Casull and the 460 S&W Magnum seating dies. Redding supposedly makes a non-crimping seating die for 45 Colt / 454 Casull, but I have not been able to find one in stock anywhere. There are a couple of gun shows coming up this month in my area, so I plan to scour the tables to see what I can find.

I got some 45 colt brass and rcbs .460 and rcbs .454 die. Let me shove them in and see what happens. What COL you looking for? I have to do it later tonight.

and what bullet will you be using?

 

[JDinFbg]

I got some 45 colt brass and rcbs .460 and rcbs .454 die. Let me shove them in and see what happens. What COL you looking for? I have to do it later tonight. and what bullet will you be using?

Thanks for offering to do the tests. I plan to shoot either 240 gr. or 250 gr. jacketed or 250 gr. cast bullets listed in the Lyman manual for rifle 45 Colt rifle loads. The Lyman manual recommends a COL of from 1.570" to 1.600" for these bullets.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Thanks for offering to do the tests. I plan to shoot either 240 gr. or 250 gr. jacketed or 250 gr. cast bullets listed in the Lyman manual for rifle 45 Colt rifle loads. The Lyman manual recommends a COL of from 1.570" to 1.600" for these bullets.

The .454 seating die worked great! with lotsnof room to adjust +\- a whole lot. See photos,

 

[Mark_Mark]

Let me know if you want to see .460 seating die

 

[Roverguy]

Yes. I use a nominal 454 Casull Hornady die set to load 45 Colt, and a lot of it.

 

[JDinFbg]

Let me know if you want to see .460 seating die

If you don't mind and have time to run the test, I'd be curious to know if the 460 seater could be used as a 'dead length' seating option for 45 Colt. I think other readers following this thread would be interested to know also.

 

[Demi-human]

Let me shove them in and see what happens. What COL you looking for? I have to do it later tonight.

Well done, Sir!
High Roading at its finest! Keep up the good work!

 

[JDinFbg]

The .454 seating die worked great! with lotsnof room to adjust +\- a whole lot.

Thanks so very much for running this test. Just to confirm, was the 454 Casull seating die long enough such that it could touch the shell holder with a little cam-over without the 45 Colt case touching the crimp section of the die? I want to come up with a 'dead length' seater that takes all the slack out of the press linkage during bullet seating.

 

[BBarn]

Just to confirm, was the 454 Casull seating die long enough such that it could touch the shell holder with a little cam-over without the 45 Colt case touching the crimp section of the die? I want to come up with a 'dead length' seater that takes all the slack out of the press linkage during bullet seating.

As I said earlier, my RCBS 454 seating die is not long enough to be used as a "dead length" seater for 45 Colt. Other brands could be different.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Thanks so very much for running this test. Just to confirm, was the 454 Casull seating die long enough such that it could touch the shell holder with a little cam-over without the 45 Colt case touching the crimp section of the die? I want to come up with a 'dead length' seater that takes all the slack out of the press linkage during bullet seating.

not sure what “Dead length” is. But I had the shell holder touch the die and went over about a 1/4 turn for cam over.

Crimping section, I don’t think it touched. I belled a case and here are the before and after. Also, these cases are not sized.


belled ^
Shell holders touching with 1/4 turn cam over^

looks like it dropped a little ^ could be measuring wrong, but didn’t feel any resistance

 

[BBarn]

You might also consider fashioning a spacer and securing it to a second shell holder. Then a regular 45 Colt seater could be used.

 

[Mark_Mark]

.460 I didn’t drop a bullet in it but I used the other dummy 1.570 to turn down the seating stem till it touched. Also did a 1/4 cam over. and there is still about 3/4” left to seat deeper

Crimp engagement, Did not feel it crimping, did the same bell case test and and the measurements didn’t change

 

[FROGO207]

I went the other way. I use the 45 Colt dies to load the 454 Casull. Same as using 44 SPL dies to load 44 MAG ammo.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Colt .45 dies at midsouth $33

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/0000690514/45-colt-carbide-3-die-set-with-shellholder

 

[Typetwelve]

If you want to get the ultimate seat everything die. Get a .460! Seats everything .451-.452!

I have a Hornady 460 die set and I couldn't get it to work for 45 Colt...the dies are just too long internally. Even with the die all the way as low as it will go (without smashing the shell holder), it won't seat. I landed up getting a 45 Colt set as well.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I have a Hornady 460 die set and I couldn't get it to work for 45 Colt...the dies are just too long internally. Even with the die all the way as low as it will go (without smashing the shell holder), it won't seat. I landed up getting a 45 Colt set as well.

agree! the more dies the better