Cast bullet for Rem. R1 45acp Please Lock or disreguard, project on hold for now

[silverpelican]

Well Sir
This is not the bullet question I thought I would ever ask....but which ONE bullet design and weight do you recomend for defense and general purpose, even hunting ( a little not much).  I have placed a new Rem R1 1911 in lay-a-way and will or (should have it in about 60 days.  I want to use almost 100% cast in the pistol.  The loadswill be all  full power and not intended to ever be a paper target weapon.  Veral what do you have and why that one whatever it is.....please....thank you.....silverpelican   

[silverpelican]

Kind of quite here on this tread....maybe my seeming simple question was to simple but last night I got to stay on line long enough to do more searching on this forum.  I did find the informative one starting back in Dec. ofl....well several years ago.  Where the 45 acp LFN is discussed to some extent.  Veral refers to this bullet briefly on his site, but I could not find photo's.  Me being a sight hound.....if I can"t see it....well....maybe I will take a leap of faith in about the 230-240 range.  Now do I really need a 4 cavity mold with oh say two of them cut for gas checks....Remember this application is one gun only.....a 5 inch bbl, Rem R1 1911....?

[Graybeard]

Veral is busy making and shipping moulds for folks. He checks in here about once a week to respond to questions. If you need info sooner e-mail him.

[cjensen]

Mr. Pelican, I am not Veral, so I will not try to give you advise in his area of expertise. I can, however give you a suggestion. Order the LFN in the weight you want (I just received a 220grn). I have cast and sized 550 bullets so far. I have only had the mold about two weeks now and have not shot any of the bullets. I would STRONGLY recommend the 4 cavity mold. I never purchased a 4 cavity mold before and after casting with this new 4 cavity mold I cannot see ever buying another 2 cavity pistol mold. Actually I received the 4 cavity 220 LFN and a 4 cavity .359 140grn FN on the same day. The feeling of having about 550 38's and 550 45's in two big piles in such a short time is very satisfying. I do need to fire up another pot next time as my Lee 20# dripomatic could not keep up with the two molds running side by side.
Carl

[silverpelican]

Carl
Thank you for sharing your resent revelations on the subject of molds.  The question of 2 or 4 cavities has crossed my mind often of late.  For the next year or more I will be using just a pot and ladle to pour the lead.  Moving on up to a bottom pour electric pot will be great...though I will always reserve the tools to use open flame and ladle.  So 4 Cav. I will go for then.  I do not know what lead mixture will be best, and thus the different weights dropped by different alloy combinations are a mystery to me.  Resulting in not knowing what is the optimal bullet weight for this application.  I of course understand that the 45acp has used 230 grain hard ball bullets for a 100 plus years.  What I do not understand is; with a bullet, with no copper what would  indeed be the optimal bullet weight......especially if one does not know which lead, tin, antemony, or whatever alloy will be poured.......again thanks for sharing your experiences todate.

[Veral]

  This post has been answered as I would, pretty much.  Get the LFN, and if you are uncertain of what weight, you can't go wrong with a 230 grain.   Get LBT bullet lube as it will forgive more errors in type and hardness of alloy than any other lube going and is not more expensive than most others.   If LBT bullet lube is used there is no good reason to use gas checks in a 45 ACP in good condition..

  Please contact me by email for answers to any personal questions.  LBTisAccuracy@localnet.com
Veral Smith