.45 Minie Rifles?

[nkbj]

For the .445"-.454" diameter hollow base bullet molds, do any of you fellas have rifles set up to shoot them?
There's the old Lyman #445599 at 250 grains.
And the RCBS #45-280-M (280 grains and .445" diameter).
And Lyman #454613 (265 grains and .454" diameter).
Lyman #454617 (255 grains and .455" diameter).
Lyman #45468 (175 grains and .454" diameter).
Lyman #450229 (155 grains and .450" diameter).

Was thinking that a rifle set up for these small diameter hollow bases might be a really nice piece.

 

[mooman76]

I don't have any but I agree, it would most like be a nice piece to shoot. Mine are 1/66. I have limited experience with minies but mine weren't really the correct size for my guns. Came out too big so I really had to drive them in a little.

 

[dave951]

I shoot minies all the time. For best accuracy they need to be sized to the bore of your rifle as very, very few molds will match your bore.

 

[tenngun]

If your rifle has a slow RB twist the lighter might shoot best. If your twist is closer to 1/48 you might go a little heavier. The maxi-ball of tc was in the 220 grain range for that twist.

 

[sawyer04]

For the .445"-.454" diameter hollow base bullet molds, do any of you fellas have rifles set up to shoot them?

Don't now, but have had a 45 with a hollow mold in the past. The mold just didn't calibrate to the size of the rifle bore. I chamfered the skirt of the bullet to thin down the lead expanding in the rifling and it was much more accurate.

 

[nkbj]

Hadn't thought about the TC .45 maxi and the Lee .45 REAL's.
With a push through sizer just below bore diameter any mold starting out big enough could be adjusted. Reckon a wide variety of pistol and revolver molds could be used the same way.
This is becoming somewhat intriguing. There is a far greater variety of nominally .45 diameter molds to be used than there are for the industry standardized fifty caliber.

 

[nkbj]

What about best rifling twist for 250, 265 and 280 minies?
.45 REALs?
.45 maxi?
Anybody got ideas?

 

[longcruise]

My 45 tc barrel with 1/48 twist shoots the Lee 452 255 grain SW cast from pure lead and sized to .451 in a Lee push through sizer.

Experiments in case it might be used for deer or antelope.

 

[tenngun]

What about best rifling twist for 250, 265 and 280 minies?
.45 REALs?
.45 maxi?
Anybody got ideas?

The .45 maxies and reals were both designed for 1/48

 

[Eterry]

IMHO, the REAL Maxi, and other conicals are apples and oranges compared to a minie ball.

The Minie needs shadow rifling, usually faster than prb, but not always. Some minie guns shoot great with 1-72 or 1-66". But not all. I have 2 fast twist muskets and 1 slow twist, still working on the slow twist to get it shooting.

The REAL needs deeper rifling and is provided in 2 weights per caliber, for fast or slow twist. But an over powder wad of some sort is paramount if you wanna shoot minute of pie plate.

I've always wanted a 45 minie ball gun, that bullet has the highest BC of all the minies in Lymans old book.

 

[nkbj]

Sloped sides and rounded corners on the groove bottoms would certainly be preferable.

How slow of a twist could it get by with? The Greenhill formula calculators would be useless for hollow based bullets. How about for various .45 caliber revolver bullets? The available data is plentiful if bewildering. Not beyond ones ability to digest but quite a meal for the mind.

 

[nkbj]

My 45 tc barrel with 1/48 twist shoots the Lee 452 255 grain SW cast from pure lead and sized to .451 in a Lee push through sizer.

Experiments in case it might be used for deer or antelope.

longcruise,
What kind of loads worked for you with the 255 grainer?

 

[Eterry]

My 45 tc barrel with 1/48 twist shoots the Lee 452 255 grain SW cast from pure lead and sized to .451 in a Lee push through sizer.

Experiments in case it might be used for deer or antelope.

I missed this post last night.
I've had the same 255gr mold for years, casting for my 45 LC.
Never thought of using it with soft lead for my 45 muzzle loader.

After sizing do you just lube and load?
What's your starting load if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks.

 

[nkbj]

Remember the .45 swaged lead 250 grain round noses with a small base hollow that Remington used to sell? I tried those in a .45 Kentucky rifle with 48" twist back around the late seventies and never could get them to stop key holing. When using .45 molds in a 30" twist Pietta 1858 revolver or a Uberti Walker some molds want to make elongated holes in the targets.
That said, in rifles you can have the benefit of the added FPS and therefore RPM to help prevent tipping. In a muzzleloading rifle I'm always in favor of the slowest twist I can get by with as slower is better for loading, resistance on the bullet and for cleaning. But I'd be hesitant to try 48" twist again, afraid it would be just a little too slow for that small a bore as a .44 or .45.

 

[Eterry]

The 1-48" twist seems to work fine in my 40 cal, using prb's or 197gr REAL conicals from my custom mold. You gotta use an OP wad.

 

[longcruise]

longcruise,
What kind of loads worked for you with the 255 grainer?

I didn't do a lot development. I first loaded 45 gr of 3f just because that's my rb load. Then I popped it up to 70 gr 3f because it seems like a good hunting load.

Both those shot pretty good but the 70 gr load better. At 50 yards right at 2" off the bench which is not bad for my eyes.

 

[longcruise]

I missed this post last night.
I've had the same 255gr mold for years, casting for my 45 LC.
Never thought of using it with soft lead for my 45 muzzle loader.

After sizing do you just lube and load?
What's your starting load if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks.

See my post above reference loads.

I lube first and then push through a Lee .451 sizer.

Might be bending the forum rules a bit, but I also powder coated some of the 452s and some 50 maxiballs then lubed and sized them. Used the Lee 501 sizer on the maxis. They shot about the same as the uncoated ones.

The reason for the powder coat experiment was just because i don't like the thought of lead in the barrels.