New to pistol reloading, have had 45 colt dies for years, only loaded some snake shot years ago. A freind that casts gave me some bullets (free)from a Lee 45 cal, 230 gr, .452 dia tumble lube cast bullets mold


Where would you role crimp these for a SAA 1873 AWA colt revolver?
I was thinking crimp between the top two ribs, but C.O.L. might be too long. Would crimping above the top rib be OK. Im worried the bullet could slide into the case deeper upon fireing.

As I print this im going to test seat a bullet between the two top ribs and see if it protrudes out of the cylinder

I use them for loads in my Taurus Gaucho. I crimp so that the case mouth is right at the top of the top rib on the bullet. OAL is right at 1.630" which is .030" over max. and they just clear. If I were going to seat them any deeper, I think I'd use a taper crimp rather than a roll.

Cool thanks Craig.

Oh shit, you got "roll" or "Tapper" crimp
Ive got redding die 45colt/454 casuall 3 die set.
Is this set a taper crimp? Doesnt say in the instructs.

Is roll crimp a seperate die you can buy.

Can you tell i never crimp anything before

Three die pistol sets have the roll crimp feature in the seating die, should say in the 'structions how to set it up. Taper crimp dies are a separate item.

Hey, I was gonna ask, did your buddy size the bullets he gave you? Bullets from that mould usually drop oversize. I size mine to .452".

Craig, I just checked out your Taurus Gaucho. My AWA doesnt have the transfer bar safety, my fireing pin is on the hammer.

What powders and charge weights do you use?

Ive got unique, bluedot, herco, 4756. I heard 7gr of unique is a light load, Ill start with that.

Got some hornady 250gr xtp jacketed coming on the brown truck too

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Hey, I was gonna ask, did your buddy size the bullets he gave you? Bullets from that mould usually drop oversize. I size mine to .452".

Nope he didnt, he put them in a plastic jar and put ome lee lube in with them, I spread them out to dry when i got home. I measured them at his house with his dirty junk cnc machinist calipers got around .452,(what a mess his garage is, geeze), now I just measured some again with my clean tools and im getting .454 +/-. Hmmm ... I read on the colt forum some guys like to shoot the .454s. im new to this so I Measured my cylinder throats on my AWA and they are .452
What do ya think. I can get some other cast bullets and give these back

In general dies, revolvers=roll crimp. Autos=taper crimp. Lee dies are different, they have a modified taper crimp that turns in to a roll crimp in the same die. You just need to screw the lee die down more to roll.

Lately I've been usin' 6.0grs Trail Boss. I've used Unique also, 7.0grs is a good place to start. If you haven't already, check the link below, there's a ton of loads there.

http://www.handloads.com/loadd...Order=Powder&Source=

Is that .454 on a bullet with the lube? Try wiping the lube off one of the bullets with some mineral spirits and measure again.

Load a few dummies and see if they drop into the cylinder OK. If so, you can probably shoot them as cast.

Craigster, does Trailboss fill up more of case of a 45 colt than other powder? I read it is light and fills the case beter

quote:

Try wiping the lube off one of the bullets with some mineral spirits and measure again.

Ok ill try that. Its that Lee tumble lube

Six grains of Trail Boss will fill the case close to the base of the seated bullet, it's very bulky. Impossible to double charge a case.