.45 " Lead Saver "

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
My grandson Trevor is running a lot of 45 ACP's out of my Ruger Blackhawk convertible.

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I got the idea ( since the Blackhawk has adjustable sights ) of shooting a lighter bullet than a 200 gr. or a 230 gr.

Just how heavy of a cast bullet does it take to get through a paper target at 15 yards for a 10 yr. old ? ?

My friend Maven sold me a very nice light weight Lee double cav. that was in great condition.
Thanks Maven !

They cast at 163 grs. Hopefully this will " stretch " my lead stash a bit.

Anyone with experience with this one ?

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The mould works great !
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fiver

Well-Known Member
yep.
I got one from Magma engineering in the early 90's.
LEE copied it about 98-99 or so.
in the revolvers you can get them down to such a small amount of recoil you'll be tempted to look down the barrel to make sure the gun went off.


stick with the faster powders for a better burn, but I bet the accuracy in a revolver surprises you.
bulls-eye, red-dot, titegroup, clays, 700-X type powders seem to work best.
although I have used enough Unique in the acp to function a 1911 [like 7.5grs] I wasn't a fan.

I like 4.8grs of clays, or 6 grs of titegroup, in my 45 COLT lever rifles and that makes them hit real close to the same place my deer loads do at 25 yards.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks All ! !

Yes, I fully expect the rounds to strike low.
I probably won't even shoot them out of my 1911 as it has fixed sights
that are closely regulated to the 230 gr. RN bullet.

Having adjustable sights on the BlackHawk should help with the point of impact of the light weight bullet.

Ben
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
No, not that one. But there is (was, at least) a 155 gr version of the H&G 68 sold commercially
years ago. It mainly lost weight by steepening the sides of the cone, keeping a fairly similar meplat,
so a very wide SWC shoulder, and shortening the overall full diameter part a bit, too. I never used
them but had many friends shoot them in IPSC. I joked with them about shooting "those thumbtack
bullets" because the base was short and the nose narrow and steep sided.

Like you said, Ben, no need for much weight to punch paper, and with an eager grandson, slowing
down the leakage rate of lead is a good thing. Keep him shooting longer on the same tonnage of
lead. :)

Apparently those 155 SWCs shot well, and fed perfectly through 1911s, too.

Bill
 

popper

Well-Known Member
You could task him with making a lead 'collector' or making tire shop runs on his bike? Or a 22LR? I know, my GS wanted to shoot the 40, not some piddling 22.
 

Maven

Well-Known Member
My experience with the "lead saver" mold and bullet was mixed. I.e., the mold, which I used no more than 3x, cast beautiful .452" bullets, which I intended to use in a Remington New Model Army BP revolver. Sized to .451" to fit the revolver's forcing cone, they were difficult to seat normally. However, seated backwards, they became in effect, boat tailed wadcutters, which seated easily. Alas, they didn't group very well @ 25 yd., although they did cut nice clean holes in my target. Thus, my failed experiment became Ben's good fortune. Btw, the revolver is much happier with a .451" RB, pure lead, naturally. Best of luck with the new mold, Ben!
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Popper,

He is already leaning " towards the big ones "......................
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
A good way to lean, Ben, although your lead supply will suffer. Ultimately, a pretty
good problem to have.

Bill
 

Ian

Notorious member
This works really well as a lead saver at my house:

 

RBHarter

West Central AR
How long is that bullet ?
My intent leans toward a bullet for an 1858 and 2nd Mod Dragoon. They shoot best up to now with .454 RB . I have a 430421 that was enlarged to .448 which I think might cast a little bigger with pure , which would make it a full contact press fit in both but I would use it in the Dragoon if I used it . It's perfect for the Colts and Raptor paper patched .

I'd like to have a heeled .450-451 x .454 RN . I did shoot a few 45-200 RCBS in the 58' roll sized down until the base band would slip cast dead soft .

Cool plinker bullet . The .454 RB is 141 gr in pure 140 in WW . Shot a few of those without issue . It would be better in the ACP cases I think .
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
it's about wider than it is long.
I was surprised it shot as well as it did for me. [not sayin much I don't shoot 2" revolver groups too often]
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Hmm. I avoid 3" 12 ga as much as possible.

Billl

We have probably 10 or 15 boxes of Fiocchi 3 1/2 12ga loads that go with an H+R Topper single barrel. I rather doubt more than 1 of them will ever be fired by my youngest boy who is just thrilled with the idea of lighting off one of those behemoths!
 

LenH

New Member
I have been shooting a 160 gr. bullet (H&G S242) in bullseye for more years than I can remember. Loaded with 4.5 gr. of
bullseye functions flawlessly in a 1911 with a red dot on the slide.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I hope this is OK to post here....a link to another site about a lightweight .45 custom mold.
Mostly for the images of the design. NOT trying to get involved in this .....this is an old closed buy,
just an archive of photos and drawings of interest.