critter
Member
I had a Ruger Blackhawk (Bisley grip) in .45 Colt. I bought a large quantity of 255 gr lead SWC-FP's after I found that it shot them very well.
Later, I found (from an estate) a Freedom Arms in .454, purchased it and sold the Ruger as I felt it was a little redundant.
When I loaded the above bullets in some .454 cases, they would not chamber. A combination of tight tolerances in the FA, thick .454 cases and the bullets' diameters would not allow the loaded rounds to chamber. When I checked the diameters of the bullets, I found they were a little oversize and not perfectly round. At today's prices, I did not want to discard the bullets and buy others to replace them.
I found (at Midwayusa.com) a Lee bullet sizer kit. I purchased one to size bullets to .452. It consisted of a die (that screwed into my single stage press as any other die), a punch that goes in the ram where shell holders go, some lube and a sized bullet catcher.
I lubed the bullets, sized them, loaded them as before and the new rounds chamber perfectly in the FA .454.
The kit is simple, easy to use and works as advertised as well as solving my problem. I would not want to 'go commercial' that way as it is slow (one-at-a-time), but for what I needed, it worked out quite well.
Later, I found (from an estate) a Freedom Arms in .454, purchased it and sold the Ruger as I felt it was a little redundant.
When I loaded the above bullets in some .454 cases, they would not chamber. A combination of tight tolerances in the FA, thick .454 cases and the bullets' diameters would not allow the loaded rounds to chamber. When I checked the diameters of the bullets, I found they were a little oversize and not perfectly round. At today's prices, I did not want to discard the bullets and buy others to replace them.
I found (at Midwayusa.com) a Lee bullet sizer kit. I purchased one to size bullets to .452. It consisted of a die (that screwed into my single stage press as any other die), a punch that goes in the ram where shell holders go, some lube and a sized bullet catcher.
I lubed the bullets, sized them, loaded them as before and the new rounds chamber perfectly in the FA .454.
The kit is simple, easy to use and works as advertised as well as solving my problem. I would not want to 'go commercial' that way as it is slow (one-at-a-time), but for what I needed, it worked out quite well.
