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.45 cal bullets for 1911


Guest Pukin Dog, SASS#55356-Life

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Guest Pukin Dog, SASS#55356-Life

Howdy,

I'm kinda new to this new fangled smokeless powder and have a question.

 

I've bought some FMJ .45 bullets (230 gr) that had no lube whatsoever, and they shot just fine out of my 1911. I have some Dick Dastarly ROA bullets (sized to .452) and wonder if I have to lube them? Is there a difference in copper coated bullets and lead bullets as far as needing a lube ring?

 

I'm loading a relative light load of clays (3.9 grains) from a Lee loading guide which shows about an 820 ft/sec velocity.

 

If I have to I can lube them up, just wondering if I need too.

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Those ROA bullets will probably work well, but, YES you need to lube the (soft) lead bullets like these, or you will get a lot of barrel leading.

A smokeless lube would be the conventional way to lubricate them, sizing to .452 inch. In a pinch, black powder lube will work since the velocities are well under 1000 FPS.

 

These have a fairly short nose, so my guess (having never loaded them) is you will want to seat them so you just barely cover the lube groove with the mouth of the case. Use that .45 auto taper crimp die in your die set, and just crimp it enough to make the case straight (remove the belling). Test the to see how well they feed in your gun. Being this bullet has a short nose, you may have a few failure to feed problems.

 

If you have someone cast these for you, it would be wise to use a more standard hard lead alloy (wheelweights or lyman #2) than the soft (pure) lead these ROA's are often cast with.

 

Copper jacketed or copper plated bullets don't need lube as the copper is hard enough to slide down the barrel rather than smear into the grooves. There are no grease grooves on those bullets, anyway, and you would just be making a mess if you tried.

 

Good luck, GJ

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Guest Pukin Dog, SASS#55356-Life

Those ROA bullets will probably work well, but, YES you need to lube the (soft) lead bullets like these, or you will get a lot of barrel leading.

A smokeless lube would be the conventional way to lubricate them, sizing to .452 inch. In a pinch, black powder lube will work since the velocities are well under 1000 FPS.

 

These have a fairly short nose, so my guess (having never loaded them) is you will want to seat them so you just barely cover the lube groove with the mouth of the case. Use that .45 auto taper crimp die in your die set, and just crimp it enough to make the case straight (remove the belling). Test the to see how well they feed in your gun. Being this bullet has a short nose, you may have a few failure to feed problems.

 

If you have someone cast these for you, it would be wise to use a more standard hard lead alloy (wheelweights or lyman #2) than the soft (pure) lead these ROA's are often cast with.

 

Copper jacketed or copper plated bullets don't need lube as the copper is hard enough to slide down the barrel rather than smear into the grooves. There are no grease grooves on those bullets, anyway, and you would just be making a mess if you tried.

 

Good luck, GJ

 

Thanks for the advise. I've already loaded the DD ROA w/ BP lube and shot them through my 1911's and they do fine. Was just wondering if I could skip the lubing. Looks like I need to get the lubsizer out. . .

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