Can you recommend a 45LC HP mold?

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theshootist

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Could you recommend any bullet design features and / or vendors for a good Hollow Point gang mold for the 45 Colt?

I have a Ruger Redhawk and a Henry Model X to load for. These firearms shoot well using both round and flat nose LEE .452 250 Gr Plain base molds powder coated and sized to .452. The alloy used has been straight WW water quenched.

What I want to do is find a good gang mold to make Hollow point bullets using +P loads such as listed in the Hornady data (for Ruger, Freedom Arms & T/C only).

I'd like to try and dilute down the WW alloy with pure lead until I can get soft enough alloy to achieve good reliable bullet expansion. Maybe at +P speeds a hollow point will expand using straight WW metal? If I were to guess I'd say 100% WW alloy is too hard.

Should I plan to use gas checks with +P loads? Maybe the alloy required for good expansion will be so soft it would require a gas check?

Max pressure for the +P loads is around 30,000CUP according to Hornady, an informal internet search says checks are generally recommended for cast bullets when velocities exceed 1400-1500 fps or when pressures exceed 20,000PSI. There's no way to convert between PSI to CUP so I'm not sure if I need to use gas checks for +P cast bullets or not. Load data says they should move around 1400fps (with a 7 1/4" barrel).

I'd like to get a mold that is in the +/- 250 grain area as I'd like to also use it for loading in 45ACP cases for light plinking in the Redhawk. With a soft enough alloy, would I still get expansion at slower 45ACP speeds without the use of a gas check?

Another bullet design feature I'm after would be a crimp groove and at least one grease groove for no other reason other than I have a Lyman 450 sizer for sizing to .452. I'd also use it for crimping on the gas check, should they be needed. I don't mind powder coating too, depending on what I'm loading for. I also have a Lee .452 push-through sizing die.

It's been a long time since I have bought a new mold, maybe this is my opportunity to get a fancy brass one.

Lots to unpack here. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you
 
I am not the biggest fan of Miha's business practices, but there is no question that his brass, Cramer-pattern hollow point moulds are gorgeous. They are the only HP moulds I've ever used. They perform just as advertised the vast majority of the time, the price is really good if you compare what you are getting to what others can offer, and I have always received any mould I ordered from Slovenia as fast or faster than I would from Utah.

MP-Molds.jpg
 
Thank you BattleRife for your input.
Would you go with a gas checked design if your plan was to use rifle/Ruger-only hot loads? I'm not sure if it's worth going through the trouble of dealing with gas checks.
 
I'm not an experienced user of gas checks, I try to avoid them myself. I once stumbled into a .44 GC mould along with a supply of checks. I made a few hundred to use up the checks, then I drilled the step out of the mould and used it without. I also got a Lyman .30 cal rifle mould, and did a couple of tests to prove that checked offered no advantage over unchecked when powder coating. That was all I needed to know.
 
theshootist said:
Thank you BattleRife for your input.
Would you go with a gas checked design if your plan was to use rifle/Ruger-only hot loads? I'm not sure if it's worth going through the trouble of dealing with gas checks.
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I have that same mold Battlerife has. It's a good mold and a good bullet design. You don't need gas checks at normal 45colt velocities. With a soft alloy like you described you might get some leading past 1000 fps. If you do, just use a harder alloy.
 
I'm not sure if the Ruger/+P loads would fall into the normal velocities category. I'm after the non-cowboy loading, like 1400fps. I don't have the Ruger loads with me at the moment for reference. I just want to stay under the max charges for the Ruger/TC only loads.

Is it conventional to use gas checks for the 44Mag? Or do most reloaders not bother with gas checks in typical 44Mag cast loads?

Typical 45LC cowboy loads are very underwhelming.
 
1200 fps is the number I have seen most often for when people start considering gas checks, so certainly many people have traditionally gone to GC designs when trying to push the .44 Mag hard. But I have also seen many argue that with good fit and good lube, you can go much faster. And in modern times powder coating appears to be capable of exceeding 2000 fps without gas checks.

In your shoes, I can't imagine going with a checked bullet. There's just too much evidence that you can get where you want to go without resorting to that PITA,
 
theshootist said:
I'm not sure if the Ruger/+P loads would fall into the normal velocities category. I'm after the non-cowboy loading, like 1400fps. I don't have the Ruger loads with me at the moment for reference. I just want to stay under the max charges for the Ruger/TC only loads.

Is it conventional to use gas checks for the 44Mag? Or do most reloaders not bother with gas checks in typical 44Mag cast loads?

Typical 45LC cowboy loads are very underwhelming.
Click to expand...
I agree with Battlerife. Gas checks are a pia. Avoid if possible, and in 45colt handguns you can probably do fine without. You will need a harder alloy than you mentioned in the first post for +P loads.

In the end it's your decision, and gas check bullets work as advertised if you decide to go that way.
 
Ive taken BattleRife's wise advise and ordered my first fancy MP mold. The same exact one, 454-640. Pretty excited.
A bit late, but I've come to learn that NOE is closing its doors.
Apparently 30% of whatever remains in stock...
 
theshootist said:
I'm not sure if the Ruger/+P loads would fall into the normal velocities category. I'm after the non-cowboy loading, like 1400fps. I don't have the Ruger loads with me at the moment for reference. I just want to stay under the max charges for the Ruger/TC only loads.

Is it conventional to use gas checks for the 44Mag? Or do most reloaders not bother with gas checks in typical 44Mag cast loads?

Typical 45LC cowboy loads are very underwhelming.
Click to expand...
Apples to oranges there.

The original .44 Russian and .45 Colt were black powder loads from the 1870s, extremely mild by modern standards. The .44 Special updated the 44 side just after the turn of the century. Then in the 1950s .44 Magnum and .454 Casull were introduced and could be compared to each other.

I think a warm .45 Colt smokeless load could be compared to .44 Special.

And the Cowboy crew are trying to recreate the 19th century with minimal recoil.
 
theshootist said:
Ive taken BattleRife's wise advise and ordered my first fancy MP mold. The same exact one, 454-640. Pretty excited.
A bit late, but I've come to learn that NOE is closing its doors.
Apparently 30% of whatever remains in stock...
Click to expand...

It was advice for sure, the wisdom of it is TBD :p

My experience with MP is you will have the mould in a week. Clean it up and give it a go.

I assume you are getting the full variety of pins with it? They cast a little easier with the blank pins in place (no hollow point). When the time comes to run with the HP pins, higher temperatures help make sure the bullets drop off without too much fuss. Don't screw the slider rods into the HP pins too tight, they usually need a little wobble to slide in and out easily.
 
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