NE Hunter

I'm in the market for 454 casull dies and am wondering if they will also reload 45 colt or do I need to buy a seperate set of dies for the 45 colt. My other sets say 38 spec/357 mag or 44 spec/44 mag but the casull just says the 454 casull ( other than redding and at the redding price I could but 2 seperate sets anyway) Thanks

handloader1

Redding makes a set of Series A dies that will size 45 Colt/454 Casull. Good luck.

eldeguello

If you buy .454 dies, you'll need a shorter bullet seating die for the .45 Colt, since the .454 dies won't crimp them. I use my old .45 Colt set to load .454, however, and just bought a carbide .454 sizer. It will size .45 Colt brass also. I think you could just buy a three-die set for the .45 Colt, and use them for loading both rounds.

driftrider

I load for both .454 Casull and .45 Colt with a set of Hornady New Dimension dies, despite the fact that the die box only says .454 Casull. My seater has more than enough adjustment to seat and crimp .45 Colt nicely. I had the same question until I just went ahead and tried to load .45 Colt with them. They work great.

The only major thing that sucks about using the same dies for both .454 Casull and .45 Colt is that if forced one to adjust the dies every time one switches cartridges, which is both a PITA and it hurt consistancy.

Mike

NE Hunter

Thanks for the information. I guess I'll get a set of 454 dies and see if they'll do .45 colt too.

Driftrider- I know what you mean ... when I started shooting 38 spec and 44 spec more than a box here or there I bought a set of dies and adjusted them just for the shorter cases and left my mag dies alone. And that's probably what I'd do here too if I shot enough .45 Colt to make it worth while.

HighDesertWolf

So go buy a caliper.

driftrider

I'm not sure if I should take this as well intentioned advice (if it was, then thank you) or an insult to my intelligence.

FYI, I do own a caliper (two actually), and a set of bullet comparators I use regularly. My comment was in regard to time consuming and tedious nature of readjusting the mouth expander and seater dies ever single time I switch from one cartridge to another. Since I often will take both .454 and .45 Colt loads to the range at the same time, it means that I have to readjust the dies TWICE for every reloading session.

As for consistancy, with I caliper I can get the dies adjusted to very close to what they were before (within .001"), but it takes a lot of time to do so given the non-precise nature of adjusting the dies via the lock collars, and it's never quite perfect. My comment was meant to illustrate the fact that if one has two sets of dies, one never has to mess with the settings unless something changes. Therefore, having a set of dies for both, while unnecessary, is beneficial as it saves time, hassle and improves the consistancy of ones loads from session to session without the headaches associated with trying to finely tweek the dies to get them back to exactly where you had them before.

Mike

NE Hunter

I have a set of calipers too just to clear the air.

Driftrider, I make a dummy round for each type of bullet that I use ( LSWC, JSP, WD ... you get the idea ) I use that to adjust the dies. I simply run the dummy up, screw the crimp die down until I make contact and then screw in the seater. hope I was of some help