Sizing .451

[SSGOldfart]

Humm nice group keep up the reports please I'm very interested in your experiments with cast bullets, in place of the patches round ball.

 

[Smokepole55]

I shoot .449 540 grain bullets from Buffalo Arms. Buffalo Arms sells almost anything you need for your rifle. Check them out on the web.

 

[dodger2]

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There is an anomaly here with regard to the bullet produced by the mould .
I see you draw your information from Midway , however an examination of the Lyman website and indeed the Lyamn 2019 catalogue state that the 457121 PH is .45
My own experience is that this bullet comes out of the mould at .45 with pure lead and I use them without resizing.
Obviously you only use bullets from the middle of the casting run and weigh them keeping only those within + or - a grain of the desired weight .
Doesn't help the original poster but , after being puzzled by this and then eventually buying my mould direct from Lyman , I feel it's better to get one's info straight from the source

 

[dodger2]

Lyman made some 457121 molds for the .451 rifles of smaller diameter without changing the numbers.
I swapped even with a fellow years ago that needed .451.
His cast .457 and mine cast .451. Win-win for both of us.
Some day I'll get around to using it in my .458 bore diameter TC New Englander.

Perhaps that explains the PH after the bullet number 457121 ?
I see that Lyman no longer lists a 457121 under rifle moulds , they do list the 457121PH under blackpowder moulds [ page 44 of catalogue ] and describe as a .45 .

 

[Smokepole55]

You are correct..

 

[dodger2]

After a day at the range with some bullets cast from the 457121, I thiought I would report back. I took all the bullets cast a few weeks ago and resized them twice. Some resistance can be felt even at the second try. I lubed some with beeswax and Vaseline with a crayon for colour, and some with Lee Liquid Alox. All shot well and dropped into the barrel with just a little help. The easiest loaded was were those coated with LLA. Not like the last time, when I gave up after only a few shots. So that's good.
Reading about casting, it seems that if I cast, just short of a frosted bullet, the bullet will shrink. Hot alloy, smaller bullet. I'm talking thou of course, but I like it when the bullet drops easily.
I have not been able to get an answer about the Pedersoli .451 mold, that is, is it the equivelant of the Lyman 451114. I was told it was 520 gr.

Pedersoli make 3 moulds of varying weights ;
https://www.davide-pedersoli.com/sc...-1-cavity--long-bullet-for-muzzleloading.html