Ruger Forum

38-55 · October 13th, 2012, 10:17 AM

The # was designed by Keith for the 45 Auto Rim, I'm going to try it in 45 Colt. Anyone here have any experience with it in 45 Colt?
I'm also trying it in 45 Auto in a BH convertible.
Any experiences to relate?

Rodfac · October 14th, 2012, 05:39 AM

It worked well for my thirty years ago, tho the mold was oversize then...bullet of wheel weights dropped at .456...sizing them down didn't materially affect accuracy...they still shot into 2" gps at 25 yds from an early S&W M25 in .45 Colt. Never did try them in .45 Auto-Rim however. Can't say either, if Lyman is still making them that big....453 would be more to my liking as I do hate to size them down...that oversize bullet put some real stress on my 450 sizer/lubricator. I was using a lot of Unique back then and suspect that was probably the powder of choice...don't have my notes from those days however...I use Win 231 or HP38 now for most all Unique applications...

Best Regards, Rod

38-55 · October 14th, 2012, 04:37 PM

I'm casting them soft and they drop from the 454 mold at .4525. That's perfect for my BH, and I have a .4525 sizer for my 450, all it does is loob. I'm going to try it with several powders, from Trail Boss on up thru Power Pistol and HS-6.
Funny thing about that convertible; it is more accurate with any 45 Auto cartridge that with any 45 Colt. It has never had a jacketed bullet or a factory round fired in either cylinder; go figure!!!
Oh, Lyman discontinued the mold almost 30 years ago.

smithnframe · October 16th, 2012, 02:09 AM

I have been using the 454423 bullet for many years in my Ruger convertible. Very accurate in both 45 colt ad 45 acp. Also use it in my S&W model 1955 target in 45 auto rim.

Rodfac · October 16th, 2012, 02:38 PM

38-55, It's a good bullet (454423), and that size (.4525") should work well in your Ruger. I had my NV opened up (cylinder throats) by cylindersmith to that exact size...geez, he does beautiful work...cut my groups in half. I'm very partial to Win 231 or HP38 for ~800 fps loads in .45 ACP, .45 Auto-Rim, or .45 Colt...

BTW: What size are your cylinder throats? Mine were down around .450"-.451"

Also...you might try swirl lubing (is that the term used for the Lee Liquid Alox in a butter tub method?)...In both .44 Spl and .44 Magnum, regular Lyman bullets (429215 Gc and 429244 Gc) actually shot better with the "slosh" method than with the lube/sizer. By juggling the alloy a bit, I was able to get them to drop at .432" then sized them to .430" but did not lube with the 450 machine, I swirled them instead, and padnuh, they shot like a house on fire from my Rugers. I've got a cpl of sub-1" gps from 25 yds with them, and the average isn't much bigger! BTW, I thin the LLA with paint thinner by about 30% and heat it a bit too...a little (Like a single 3" squirt) goes a long way and will lube up 50 or so bullets. It's the easiest lubing I've ever done...now if I could just get the slugs to drop at .430" or .431", I'd be in hog heaven...no sizing that way!

The only draw back to the "swirl" method is that the bullet noses get pretty well gunked up too...I just shoot them that way, but pushing them down in the loops on my favorite gun belt is out of the question...pocket carry would be messy too with out a zip-lock bag.

HTH's Rodfac

38-55 · October 17th, 2012, 06:00 AM

The 45/45 BH I'm working with is a 2005 model. The cylinder chamber throats were an abomination to the world. 12 throats ranged in size from .442 to a really large .451; how that got free I'll never understand. I had access to the tooling so I slugged the bore, .451+/- .0005. I opened the throats to a uniform .4525 on all 12 throats. Made a world of difference with all my cast bullets from 160 gr. to 360 gr. I sized all of them .452, recently I got a .4525 sizer and the 454423 mold, hence, the questions.
Thanks.