what sizing die

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laurencen

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need some advice, going to try molding some 45auto bullets, wholesale sports have the 45acp 6 cavity mold but sizing die comes in 3 sizes, .451, .452, and .454, I assume I need the .452 but hoping someone can advise acordingly, will be used in 1911 handgun
 
laurencen said:
need some advice, going to try molding some 45auto bullets, wholesale sports have the 45acp 6 cavity mold but sizing die comes in 3 sizes, .451, .452, and .454, I assume I need the .452 but hoping someone can advise acordingly, will be used in 1911 handgun
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As long as the barrel is not worn the general rule of thumb with cast bullets is to size one thou over the diameter of jacketed. 45 ACP jacketed are nominally .451 so the .452 is probably the best for what you want. The .454 size die is for 45 Colt bullets. While you could try sizing the 45 ACP bullets to .454 I would be concerned about increased pressure. Also, if your barrel and chamber are reasonably tight .454 bullets might not even chamber.

Most moulds will throw bullets a thou or two over the desired diameter but I wouldn't be surprised that if you try to size cast bullets at .454 many of them wouldn't even be .454 as cast. I have gone as high as two thou over jacketed diameter but noticed no increase in accuracy over the 1 thou sizing. If the barrel & chamber are in decent shape stick to .452 and you should be good to go.
 
If it is the Lee Tumble Lube mold you are talking about, unless they won't chamber, I just lube and shoot. I have an old civilian Govt model that will let me do that.
 
To get best performance you need to go .001" bigger than the groove diameter. You will have to slug your barrel to find out what that is. My Colt 1911 has a huge bore, over .453", and I have to use .454" bullets or leading is an issue.
 
thanks for the info, bullets cast are .452 to .453, went with the .452 and after building 25 they shot well, not sure if the time is worth it but sure a way to enjoy further the pleasure of shooting
 
another obesrvation, when casting the bullets, at first they came out layered, turned heat up and improved some but after molding maybe 20 times they filled nice and smooth, after that I melted over half of them, the mold sure has to be hot
 
You can use a hot plate to preheat your mold, I dip my mold into the lead to let it preheat, just keep an eye on it!
 
laurencen said:
another obesrvation, when casting the bullets, at first they came out layered, turned heat up and improved some but after molding maybe 20 times they filled nice and smooth, after that I melted over half of them, the mold sure has to be hot
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Aluminum moulds heat up pretty quickly but also cool down more quickly so getting into a good pouring rhythm is important. Steel moulds may take 20-30 pours before getting up to the proper temperature but the good thing is that once they get there they retain heat very well and usually throw excellent bullets.

And the great thing about casting lead bullets is that you can re-melt your mistakes.
 
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