.455 Reloading

[MAJONES]

Hi All,
I have a SW New Century chambered in .455. I found a set of dies from Lee with load data. The only thing I'm having trouble figuring out is what bullet diameter I should use. I have seen reference to using .454 and was wondering if that is what you guys would go with.
Also, the factory ammo I bought for it (Hornady) was lead. Would you guys suggest staying with lead, or could I/should I use something jacketted?

 

[bearhunter]

They originally loaded the 455 with a hollow base bullet. To be honest, unless you are casting proper bore diameter bullets the only bullet that IMHO works well is is a hollow base bullet. When fired, the skirts expand to fill the grooves fully and the bullets seem to be more accurate.

 

[Al-Sway]

The original hollow base bullet is best. Second best is the Hornady Cowboy Action bullet - 250 grain swaged RN designed for the .45 Colt. The soft bullet seems to set up well in the rifling on a .455 and gives me good accuracy. I would otherwise use at least .454 bullets.

 

[dan belisle]

Try casting bullets in a .454 mold, and then measuring the unsized bullets. Mine come out around 455. Which works well in my S+W and Colt .455's, but is still slightly undersize for my Webly. If you slug the bore of your revolver and the throats of the cylinder you will have a much better idea of what actual bullet diameter you will need for good accuracy. - dan

 

[Sharps '63]

.455 ammo

I shoot .452 RNFPs in my Colt NS in .455 with 4.5 grs Trail Boss. Shoots to point of aim. The same bullet and the RCBS 265 HB shoots 6-8" high with 5 grs Unique.

My .450 Tranter also likes the .451-.452 bullet. If not cast too hard, they seem to obturate just fine.

 

[Johnn Peterson]

The scan/photo I've attached is info from an old copy of the Lyman 1st Edition of their Cast Bullet Handbook and it may be of some help to you.

I have a Webley Mk. VI I'm shooting and the bullet I'm using looks very much like the # 457196, sized to 0.456" and weighs 260gr. The loads I'm using are mid range to what is listed in the scan/photo with Unique for the 250gr bullet. I've also been trying TB loads but so far I seem to be getting better results with Unique.

 

[Colin]

this is all I have been able to find on the web regarding .455 and trailboss, the stuff below I have taken from different forums, use with caution


In a nutshell, 4.4 grains of Trail Boss (Lee disk 1.02cc) gives 640 fps from a 4" bbl, with a max spread of 20 fps. The powder fills the case about 3/4 full and is slightly compressed by the head. I estimate Trail Boss to be roughly the same burn speed as Unique. Burns very clean. Meters in a Lee disk powder measure very consistently. In short, I think it's a great powder for old BP guns. I am very pleased with it.


The all important detail :

Head - 265gr hollow base .455" cast from NEI mould #300 with 20:1 lead/tin alloy. Nominal weight of 268 gr. Sized to .455" in a Lyman 450.


Brass - Winchester 45 colt brass, cut down to Webley 455 Mk 1 spec of 0.86".


Winchester Large Pistol primer.
LOA of round when case crimped into crimp groove is 1.363".

Air temprature was 96 degrees. Dunno about humidity, etc. Altitude is Austin Texas !

It's IMPORTANT to note that these are Mk 1 spec rounds. The brass is longer then the Mk 2 brass. Mk 2 brass is about 3/4" of an inch. I haven't loaded Mk 2 cases, so can't offer any information on them. If you have a .455 that's been shaved for 45ACP, then this load data is valid for Auto Rim brass as well.

With 230 .452 RN and RCBS 265 HB using 5 grs Unique, my Colt NS prints 6-8" high at 15 yds off hand.
In desperation I tried 4.5 grs Trail Boss with the 230 RN - Bingo! It printed right on POA. For pistols older than the MK IV and MK VI Webleys, I'd cut that back to 4.0 grs. The loads given in the first post were not intended for the .455 Webley MKII cartridge case, which is afaik the only current commercially available .455 webley headstamped brass.

 

[white dog]

If you decide to try jacketed bullets buy some that are designed for low velocities. I think the last box of Hornady .357 XTP's I bought you could pick the velocity range you wanted. In the early days some fellows fired jacketed bullets at low velocities and some of the jackets stuck in the barrel with the lead core heading off for parts unknown.