6 cav. .45 Lee group buy

[Ben]

A few days ago, I purchased an older Lee Group Buy .45 , 6 cav. mould. I think it was designed to be a 185 gr. mould. However, mine drops ( with my alloy ) about 8 grs. heavier. The mould had seen a lot of use . The handles were all cracked and the mould really needed a good cleaning. The top surfaces of the blocks had experienced some abuse which concerned me. However , when casting with the mould today , it turns out that was a " non issue."

I repaired the handles and refinished them. The handles work and look great now. The mould got a good cleaning and today was my 1st opportunity to cast with the mould. I have the current Lee , 200 gr. H & G clone , mould that is very similar to this mould. However, I'm no big fan of bevel base bullets.
I'm thankful this mould throws a conventional plain base bullet with no bevel base. When lubing and sizing ( for me ) it works so much better to not have a bevel base bullet for lube to crawl under. The bullets drop from the mould nice and round at .4535". I'm sizing to .4520".
My plans are to shoot these in my Smith Model 625 .45 ACP. I've got 500 ea. Starline 45 Auto Rim cases earmarked for these bullets.

You want to make a suggestion for an " accuracy load " in 45 Auto Rim brass for my Model 625 Smith ?

Smith and Wesson Model 625, 45 ACP / 45 Auto Rim Revolver

 

[Bret4207]

I'd start off with about 6.0 Unique, or 4-4.5 Bullseye. See what the gun says. I haven't played with lighter bullets in my 45AR, so check the manuals to be sure.

 

[Ben]

That's pretty much what I was thinking.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[CZ93X62]

Many years ago, I loaded a large lot of 45 ACP "hardball" duplicators with Lyman #452374 atop 5.5 grains of WW-231. Ballistics run neck-and-neck with the old standard 5.0 x Bullseye load in my 45s. This got completed over several evenings after work.

A couple days later I resumed the refilling of 45 ACP cases, and the powder measure's adjustments were left in that "5.5 x 231" setting. I still had cleaned empties in 45 ACP, but no more #452374s. I did have the Lee 200 grain H&G #68 copycat castings in good numbers, so I sized and lubed 50 of those just for grins (.452") and refilled the powder hopper with WW-231. I checked and confirmed the throw weight (even flattened ball powders behave nicely in my measures), and 5.5 grains was the charge. (Trust nothing--confirm everything. TRUST NOTHING,)

W-W cases--CCI 300 primers--5.5 grains of 231--Lee 200 SWC. DANG, did that load ever shoot well for me! It remains in my ammo inventory, and I have run thousands of these through my autopistols and now my 625 identical to Ben's. Clipped in ACP cases or loaded in Auto Rim brass, this load and bullet just plain WORKS. Velocities clock 875-900 FPS (depending upon barrel and length), so it rates right around the old Major Caliber class in old-days IPSC regs. Taper- or roll-crimped doesn't seem to matter, either--ACP brass gets seated with bullet .020" above case mouth, then a light taper crimp (just straightening out the case mouth flare); the AR brass gets the bullet seated flush with the case mouth and a light roll crimp applied.

 

[Ben]

Some good info. fella's .
Many thanks,

Ben

 

[Rockydoc]

Ben, you always cast such beautiful bullets.

 

[Ben]

You , my friend, are very kind with your words.

Ben

 

[fiver]

i used a titch less 231 than Allen for years. [and years and years it's all my pop would even think of using]
since then i've used kind of everything from unique on down.
700-X has been a good one, and was at least available during the last umm slow down, as has
tite-group.
i use that exact pistol for a house gun,, but on the range it see's a whole bunch of 165gr rnfp bullets on top of tite-group, it's like shooting a 38 special.

Anyway.
i've found i like the powders a bit faster than green-dot.
i know you have a bunch of that one powder [AM. select] you use in your rifles a lot.
that one would be just about perfect as far as a balance between enough burn speed to be clean and a gentle bullet push.
anything faster, and your just doing specific load tuning.

 

[Ben]

Yes, I have an 8 lb. container of American Select.
I'll give it a try.
Some good stuff !!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Dale53]

Ben,
I shoot the original H&G #68 through my 1911's and my 625-8 Jerry MIculek Special and it is one of my most favored combinations (the JM with the #68). My target and small game load is 4.0 grs. of Bullseye or equivalent. It shoots well under an inch off the bench at 25 yards and is quite pleasant to shoot. For more serious use, it can be driven at 1000 fps+ if necessary with 7.5 grs. of Unique.

FWIW
Dale53

 

[Ben]

Thank You Dale.

Ben