Lee 160gn lead RNFP too light for 1911?

jude_00

jude_00

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hey all! looking into loading 45 auto, and want to try casting my own lead from wheel-weight. looking at the lee website for a mold, I noticed they had 200 grain and 160 grain RNFP. does anyone have experience loading these for a 1911? seems 160 would be far too light to cycle the action, and as I understand, are mainly for cowboy loads with 45 Auto Revolvers? I planned on casting 230 grain ball to start with, and maybe try the 160s later. the primary goal for loading lead is to have a lighter loading for higher volume plinking and some indoor range use.

Does anyone have experience with these 160 grain lead RNFP bullets? I will start with the 230 grain RN bullets because I know they will work in my firearm. but the 160 could be a real lead saver!
 
I also use 155 SWC's in my 1911 with no problem at all. You may have to develop a load but it should work. The bullet profile may be a problem but it may functio fine too..
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I've been happy with the 230 gr TL452-230-2R lubed with Alox. Don't bother getting a sizer, you'll want them as big as they cast.

Never tried anything light like the 160gr. I think they are intended for revolvers and the lead savings might not be worth it if they dont shoot good or cycle the gun.
 
heres what I'm thinking of ordering:
ingot moulds
.452-200-SWC or .452-228-2R moulds
Lee 4 die set (would I be OK with the 3 die? I heard the FC die for 45 Auto is a must have anyway)
I think I'm going to take the coleman stove and old ceramic pot route for my melter.

wasn't sure if I'd need the carbide bullet sizer, was going to get one in .452 to make sure the final size was "in spec". I will be shooting these out of a Norinco 1911C Commander length with the nice chrome barrel they had in this batch. Havn't had the barrel slugged, so I don't know what I'm dealing with as far as dimensions go. thought about pan-lubing with the 50/50 alox formula. This will be my first pistol loading, so any thoughts, tips, or recommendations on equipment is greatly appreciated!
 
I would look at this for your casting setup:

Lee 20lb Pro 4-20 lead melter $58
Lee .45ACP 4 die set $34
Mold you want in 6 cavity $38
at least one set of handles for 6 cav molds $12
Muffin tin for homemade ingots that FIT in your lead melter $8?

The Lee ingot mold and ladle are not really big enough to be worth it, and the sizer shouldn't be needed for the bullets you are casting. If they come out at .452-3 they'll be fine, no need to size smaller, and the factory crimp die will end up doing it in the case if they are too big. 2 cavity molds get tiring real quick for pistol bullets if the one you want comes in 6 cavity as well.

Save the coleman stove setup for melting larger amounts of scrap lead into clean ingots for your casting pot. Although you can cast right out of it if you want. You will need a ladle to pour lead into the molds, and a larger one to make ingots.

The factory crimp die is nice to have and if you find you don't need or use it you can always sell it. Check out Lee Factory sales in Wisconsin for best prices.
 
I agree with HK33 above, except for resizing.

I had a very bad experience with my Lee 158 grain 357 LSWC. At least half were oversize and bulged the cases quite a bit. These wouldn't chamber in any of my revolvers. My buddy loaded up a batch of un-sized .45 230 grain RNs and had a number of failures to chamber.

If you want trouble free shooting, re-size all your bullets. One reason is sometimes we get careless during molding and do not close the mold properly. This results in oversize bullets.
As well, the cavities are calibrated for a specific lead alloy and if you use a different alloy, shrinkage rates may be different...hence your "as cast" diameters may vary.
 
I would recommend the 200 grain SWC as a good general purpose load for your .45. Most seem to feed this well, and it can be used for target and plinking.
If you go down to the 155 grain bullet you now run into some challenges in making it work. Your load may need to be higher velocity than you might want, or you will have to replace the recoil spring with a lighter one to make it work. In which case you would have to swap the spring when you want to shoot other loads. (at least in my experience).
As for factory crimp die, never used one and never had a problem. With the .45 you need to remove the crimp and taper crimp a little bit to ensure good feeding.
 
if your not shooting ball, it seems the 200 grain SWC is the next load on the food chain for the 1911's. wasn't sure how different the profile was from the #68, but they looked very similar. I need to pick up my dies and all the tooling for loading the 45, so I might end up with a 2 cavity mould for now to try it, but I can see the difference in the 6 cavity moulds. trying to keep a low-overhead with this project untill I see what my lead supply will be like, and then I'll drop some money for a good bottom pour pot and some 6 cavity moulds. also decided that if I get into this, I want to try paper patching some 30-30 rounds down the road. the muffin tin ingots are a great idea, and I completely forgot about that option.

Whats the consensus on the melting pot? can I use a small stainless steel pot on a hotplate for some low volume test casting? I wasn't sure if I NEEDED a thick cast iron pot or a furnace for the first one or two hundred rounds, but as I got more into it, more gear would be sure to follow.

thankyou for the advice so far!
 
Your small stainless pot will work fine. I bought a 2 cavity pistol mold first and wish I had put the extra $19 into the 6 cavity that I eventually bought anyways. What part of the country are you in, you might be able to try one of mine in .45
 
well, I figure with the 2 cavity mould, I'll have a set of handles for Lyman shotgun slug blocks down the road when I get to the 6 cavity if I take care of the handles. I have to start my hunt for lead! I plan on going around tomorrow and next week and seeing what I can find to melt down. I'm in the 1000 islands region of Ontario, and as I get more involved with the shooting sports, the more gear I accumulate. I've come to accept that. haha. I started loading 8mm mauser, got my first cosmo-mummified mil-surp, started shooting pistol, and theres still a page-long list of gear I need to get, and more shootin' irons! I feel another online order comin' on!

thanks!
 
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