Weird issue with Nosler 250 grain .45 colt bullets

[ophidia]

I recently bought a new Blackhawk in .45LC so naturally I had to get all sorts of reloading supplies for it. Initially I bought some Winchester brass and some 300 grain Hornady XTP's-- loading these up was uneventful, no issues. These are .452 bullets.

Yesterday I bought a box of Nosler 250 grain .451 bullets labeled .45 Colt. The bullets just dropped right into the unsized new brass. After I resized the brass with Hornady dies, they could easily be pushed in and, even after crimping the hell out of them, they still backed out under recoil (Ruger only loads, of course).

What's up with this? Has anyone else tried the Noslers and found them to be undersized? It seems really strange that they were so loose. When I measured them with my calipers they seemed to be about .4505 or so.

Seems odd. I've never had problems with anything Nosler before.

 

[Rusty W]

I'm not familiar with the Nosler bullet. I cast my own and if I use jacketed I use the Hornady XTP .452. I'm just guessing at the problem but it may not be a bullet issue but an expander issue with the die? You may need to contact Hornady and see if they can send a smaller expander expander plug for the expander die. If you know someone close that has a different brand of die like RCBS or Lee maybe you can try theirs and see if that's the issue.

 

[DGW1949]

Aint unusual for any company's bullets to vary by .0005 or so, one way or the other. And if you take a Mic to 'em, you'll find that some companies routinely make bullets bigger or smaller than other companies do, in the same caliber.....and that dern-few of them are their stated size.
But even allowing for all that, .451 is too small for most 45LC dies anyhow.

Me thinks that a quick fix for your delima would be to inside chamfer your case-mouths, pull the expander out of your die, and just don't use it when loading them particular bullets.
If you aint got a chamfering tool, you can use a pocket knife if you're carefull.

Won't cost nothing to try.

DGW

 

[Bucks Owin]

But even allowing for all that, .451 is too small for most 45LC dies anyhow.

DGW

Ain't that the truth! Seems some die manufacturers are of the notion that the .45 Colt must use .454" bullets only. Notably Lee. I bought a Lee Loader to use while my reloading stuff was/is boxed up and in storage. A .452" bullet will slip fit the resized case. Then I dug out my press, bolted it to a picnic table (!) and tried a set of used Lee carbide .45 Colt dies. Same thing. No case tension on a .452" bullet. Since I figure to own a .454 Casull "someday" I'm thinking of getting those dies to load .45 Colt. I think those should size about right for a nice tight grip even on .4515" bullets such as Sierra.....That should work huh?....Dennis (BTW I use WW cases which some say have thinner case walls than some other makes of brass)

 

[flatgate]

The .454 Casull shoots 0.452" bullets. The cylinder's throats would not accept anything larger.

My circa 1985 Lee .45 Colt dies would not size the brass small enough to contain a 0.452" bullet. I purchased Lee's .45 ACP carbide sizer. Been using it ever since and never looked back.

flatgate

 

[Bucks Owin]

The .454 Casull shoots 0.452" bullets. The cylinder's throats would not accept anything larger.

My circa 1985 Lee .45 Colt dies would not size the brass small enough to contain a 0.452" bullet. I purchased Lee's .45 ACP carbide sizer. Been using it ever since and never looked back.

flatgate

Well, seein' as my .45 BH also needs a .45 ACP cyl "someday" I could go that route too! I know the .454 needs plenty of tension due to recoil. I guess either way would "get a grip" on a .45 Colt bullet.......Thanks, Dennis

 

[ophidia]

Hm, maybe I should return the .45 colt Hornady dies and either get RCBS or get a set of .454 Casull dies. The .454 seater die should work for .45 colt, shouldn't it?

 

[ophidia]

Oh, and I didn't even use the expander die. I never do for jacketed bullets.

 

[ophidia]

I returned the Hornady dies and got Redding 45 Colt/.454 Casull dies-- problem solved. Thanks guys!

 

[Sonnytoo]

But even allowing for all that, .451 is too small for most 45LC dies anyhow.

DGW

Ain't that the truth! Seems some die manufacturers are of the notion that the .45 Colt must use .454" bullets only. Notably Lee.

Dillon told me that older .45 Colts used to use .454 bullets and Dillon never changed their sizing die once the bullets were (more or less)standardized to .452". So I use the .45 ACP sizing die; it prevents bullet creep for me; sizes to ~.446.
I find that boxes of commercial cast bullets seem to be always labeled as to the o.d. Check your throats also before you buy.
Sonnytoo

 

[Bucks Owin]

Well, life with the "modern" .45 Colt is always interesting ain't it? Too bad manufacturers don't just come up with a "new" cartridge called the ".452 Linebaugh Magnum Thunderbolt Express" and size everything accordingly... :wink: Dennis

 

[J Miller]

Older .45 Colt dies were made to SAAMI specs. SAAMI specs call for a .455" to a .456" bullet. These specs have never been changed.
That's why Colt still uses the huge chambers and throats in their SAA even though they use .451" barrels.

I've never had any trouble using jacketed bullets in my .45 Colts with RCBS or Lyman CARBIDE dies. The RCBS steel die set did require a smaller expander to use jacketed bullets.

I have a 2000 something vintage Lee Deluxe 4 die .45 Colt set that works perfectly with .451" jacketed bullets.

I think what's happening is tolerances. Some dies are at the large end, some at the small end.

That's my opinion and I've been loading the .45 Colt for nigh on to 40 years now.

And so it goes ...........

Joe

 

[btrumanj]

The .454 Casull shoots 0.452" bullets. The cylinder's throats would not accept anything larger.

My circa 1985 Lee .45 Colt dies would not size the brass small enough to contain a 0.452" bullet. I purchased Lee's .45 ACP carbide sizer. Been using it ever since and never looked back.

flatgate

The exact same thing happened to me. Sent the resizing die back to Lee explaining and they sent me a .45ACP resizing die. Like flatgate, been using it ever since

 

[Hunter6657]

I use the Lee 454 Casull dies and never had a problem shooting .451-.452 bullets in my Ruger 45 Colt with Ruger 45 magnum loads or even plinking loads.