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

Now thats a nice bullet! I especially like the 350gr mold.

They sure look good.

Purdy.





Message is too short. Blah blah.

Those are beautiful bullets you make. That 1-18 twist must be a great long range shooter when you get the rifle bullet. And talk about some thump at the end of the rainbow... must be really something to shoot.


I use a LEE mold and cast a 405 grain that is really a 423 grain of pure lead, in .457/8 diameter. Then I size them down to .451 diameter. I shoot them in my White M97 Whitetail Hunter. That rifle has a 1-20 twist I believe and it shoots them really accurate. No paper required. I was shooting them out of my 1-20 GMB it might be a 1-28 twist. They were hard to load, but they were accurate with 70 grains of Triple Seven 3f.

How heavy of a bullet would you recommend out of the .45 caliber to shoot?

It all depends on the rate of twist. I am stretching it with these bullets in the 1-30 twist.
Also it depends on what the person is trying to achieve. After shooting paper patched bullets I will never go back. Everyone has their favorite way to do things.

On my first Renegade I shot 410 gr Horady Great plains bullets. When they quite making them I panicked. I bought 25 boxes of them because I knew there would never be another bullet that shot like those. At this same time I was putting together my second Renegade 50 fast twist. I was kicking around the idea of the 500 S&W bullets but I knew from past experience with other bullets that were too small in diameter that they would probably not work. Then I had the idea to paper patch them.
Once I did that I quit shooting the first 50 that used the Hornadys. The only 50 I use now is the "hot Rod Renegade"

The thing I like about this combo is it is dependable. From season to season the load is the same and the sights never have to be moved.
So far I have not found the bullet combo yet in the 45's that match the 50 for dependability. I have got some great groups out of my 45's but they have been hit or miss at times. I think most of that has been inconstancy of the lead hardness. I have had the hardness tester for a couple years now. I have kept a accurate journal of the lead hardness and groups. This is the hardest I have tried and this is the first time I have started out with a bullet at .446 instead of taking a bullets that is .458 or .459 and taking it down to .446 Sizing that far down I don't think was helping groups. Ron

I know the question was for Ron but I get great results in my 1:20 451 with a 460 gr and superb results in my 1:18 451 with a 538 gr.

I think Bull Shop makes one that is 488 that a lot of folks seem to like...

Jeez! those seem like monsters from a 45!!!

Excuse me as I'm not very educated when it comes to .45s. Why shoot such a large conical out of the .45? Why not use the .50? Is it because of trajectory? I would think the larger bullet nose from a .50 would be more desirable in the realm of knockdown power.

A Toyota Prius could be the only vehicle in america. Variety is the spice of life I am told. Ron