I picked up a couple of new moulds to try for Paper patching the 45's. This first one is a Pedersoli .447 350 gr mould. After this bullet is patched it measures between .452 and .453 I ran 20 through my .446 sizer for my 1-30 twist .451 Hawken. Another 20 were sized at .451 for my 1-18 twist Renegade. I left another 20 unsized to see how they fit and shoot. I am a little worried that the 1-30 twist might not be fast enough.




This next bullet is a RCBS 11 mm bullet. It measures at .446 and weighs 405 gr with soft lead. I sized these the same as the others but I am sure my 1-30 will have a tough time stabilizing them. My 1-18 twist Renegade will stabilize them for sure. I am excited to try these bullets in that Renegade.




My old bullet I have been using for the 1-18 twist is a Lee 405 HB. That bullet is a copy of the 1873 trap door rifle bullet. I have had some good luck at times with this bullet but I started to have some trouble with it. I think most of the problem revolved around the softness of the lead, AND the fact I was sizing a .459 bullet down to .446. Here is where the New Pedersoli bullet comes in to play. It is a hollow base design so I can tuck the tail into the base. Also it is a minie design so the skirt is thin enough to engage the rifling's. I have had great luck with the minie design in the .451 hawken. SO this new bullet is going to be cool. Here is the two side by side.
The Pedersoli bullet is on the left. The Lee 505 HB is on the right.




When I cast these new bullets I hardened them a bit. The virgin lead I get from Rotometals is butter soft. In my 50 cal I had a bit of trouble with accuracy. I boosted the hardness from a very low 5 BHN to about 7 BHN. This bump in hardness was perfect for the paper patched 500 S&W bullets. Accuracy was great and i have had fantastic results on game with them.
These new 45 cal bullets are about 8 BHN or AKA 40-1.
40-1 and 30-1 are common hardness for long range ML bullets.
I hope I get a chance to get them out to shoot this weekend. Ron