Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting .45 acp leading problems

I'm pretty new to casting and am having some leading problems with my 1911. My barrel slugs at .451 and my Lee .452 230 RN mold was dropping under .452. I am tumble lubing with alox. I concluded that my boolits were too small and got a Lee .452 TC that is making consistent .453 boolits. I'm still having leading. I seat and crimp as separate steps and only crimp enough remove the case bell. I do not have a hardness test tool. My alloy pencil tests at B and my velocity is under 800.
Could this simply be a lube problem or am I missing something? Thanks, Ken

alloy too soft or poor lubrication

I never really cared for the tumbled lube deal myself.


what is your alloy mix

Just looked at the Lee lineup of 452 entries.That 230 RN has many small grooves but they don't carry much lube [I'm not a fan of tumble lubing either]there are other molds on that page which look more promising.All my 45 ACP molds are older Lyman varieties with deep grease grooves and I've never had leading problems at all.

Alloy is very important don't always think on the soft side as the problem,casting bullets way too hard will also cause leading as the projectile will skid rather than bite.Depending on how many rounds you shoot I've found straight wheel weights to be a tad on the hard side.Try some different alloys and think about a different mold this may solve your problem.

Pure lead and some 70/30 super hard from roto metals. Pencil tested at B which is a little softer than Lyman #2. I'm going to mix a new lube today and see what happens.

I suspect the lube is the issue.

Pull a loaded round and measure the bullet dia again. See if it's getting "sized down" inside the case on one of your operations.

with T/L sometimes you have to lube, sized then lube again then load.

I think it kind of depends where the leading is occuring. If it is close to the chamber I would guess it's an alloy problem. If it's the length of the barrel I would guess a sizing problem. And if the leading is occuring at the muzzle I would suspect it is a lube problem. Of course other people's experiences may vary. With a barrel as short as a 1911 I doubt it is a lube problem. I've used tumble lubed bullets in a Guide gun (18" barrel) and a sharps rifle (over 30" barrel) for hunting loads over smokeless and I haven't had a "leading from lube" issue with either one.

My experiences with the .45ACP, back when I fed one with cast, mirrored Flyboy's statement. Leading was terrible with a hard alloy tumble lube bullet. I switched to a 'soft' alloy and leading improved but was still a bother. I finally gave up on the Lee bullet and switched to an RCBS 230gr. w/lube groove and 50/50 NRA Formula lube (Javelina) and life was good.

My leading is pretty much full length. It's raining like heck here so I'll go play some more. Thanks all, and if I ever figger it out I'll let you know. Ken

I'd suspect a "toothy" barrel and/or a bullet that is way too small for the leade/chamber fit (leading is made even worse by hard alloy). No lube or alloy can overcome either if extreme.

If dimensions of the throat (not groove of barrel) are matched and the barrel is smooth and rifling is constant width and pressure is not too much for alloy, you shouldn't need any lube at all.

I would try a softer alloy, taking care to not reduce diameter during seating. Hopefully it will slug up to seal the throat area.

How are you cleaning out the leading?
What powder are you using and what charge?
I've never found Lee molds acceptable, do you have access to a Lyman, RCBS or Saeco?

Jim

I clean with Kroil and a nylon brush wrapped with fine brass wool. Been shooting 5gr and less of Red Dot. I made up some 45-45-10 lube. 45% Johnson Paste wax. 45% Alox and 10% mineral spirits. I only put one coat of lube on and the leading was not as bad and cleaned up easier. I put another coat of lube on these bullets, but haven't loaded any yet.

Try Lyman's Super Moly lube. Thats all i've ever used, and i've never had any issues. I would recommend starting with proven lubes before you start mixing your own. That way you can see whats causing you issues. If you use something like the super moly or other commercial product and still get leading, then you can narrow down whats causing it. Don't enter in too many variables, it will drive you batty.

Thanks Severed. I shot some today after the second coat of tumble lube. Much better, but I still have some work to do.

Good luck. Let me know if i can help you with anything.

i try to keep lead bluuets under 800 fps.