I thought this would be a good topic considering the variety of specifications from brand to brand, revolver and carbine.

I shoot 45 Colt from a 16" Win 94.

Starline brass.

Fired cases measure .483" at the pressure ring to .477" at the mouth. I use a RCBS non-carbide sizing die. Sized dimensions are .479"-.480" at the pressure ring and .467" at the mouth. These are warm to hot load approaching 30,000 psi.

Loaded with a .452" cast bullet the mouth area measures .474".

Compare to official specs of a straight cartridge at .480". I am getting enhanced bullet hold and less slop at the base.

What specs do others get using carbide dies?

What are the fired specs in the assorted firearms out there? Especially interested in medium to high pressure loadings that do not soot the case.

An interesting cartridge that lends itself to customizing.

I use a standard steel Lyman die, I'll measure a few when I can.

Why are you using a .452" diameter bullet?
I use some round nose .45 ACP lead bullets for plinkers and they are great fun.
John Kort demonstrated a .459" and greater bullet will chamber in the .45 Colt rifles without difficulty.

I just recently read the long thread on over-sized bullets for the 45 carbine.

I have two molds. Both are gas checked designs. An Applegate 285 wfn and a mt. molds 285 lfn. Both molds produce a .454" bullet, max. The Win. barrel measures .451". I do not have a .454 size die yet for my Lyman 4500.

I also use a Dillon powder funnel/inside neck sizer. I probably would have to get a unit for the 4570. As it is, Dillon did not have a funnel/inside sizer for the 45 Colt. I got a 45 ACP unit, which was way too long and cut a section out of the middle area and then brazed it back together, turning the weld area smooth with the rest of the die. Works great!

Makes good sense to me.
I didn’t think of progressive press when I first read this.
If you have a standard press I would use a punch to expand the case mouth slightly. And load a few with bullets as cast and hand lubed.
But if your rifle is shooting well it is hard to want to change anything.
If you get the chance rotate your cases as you measure at the pressure ring and let us know the difference between the high spot and the low. I’ll have to do the same as I cannot find where I recorded this information.<O:p</O:p

I measured the expansion ring on several fired cases, from different batches and they varied by no more than .0005". Probably affected by the age of the brass and the pressure of the loads. The cases were remarkably round. Apparently the chamber on this Win. 94 is very round and well supportive at the pressure ring. No extractor cutout marks or anything else showing on the cases. The fired cases were also measured right next to the extraction groove and measured .474-.475". Probably manufacturing variance.

My Dillon powder measure sits on a Lyman turret press. I use the Dillon measure because it is accurate with most powders plus it inside sizes, bells and charges the cases with one lever pull.

I think the Starline cases, which are .474-.475" straight when new have this diameter in order to give a good hold on the bullet at the expense of a good fit at the base. The steel die from RCBS is obviously tapered to give good dimensions top to bottom. A carbide die will only size straight unless you use it to neck size only.

I made the powder drop/operating rod tube I use for .45 ACP on my Dillon SDB. It seems to me I just used 0-1 drill rod. The main thing I wanted to do was get a Lyman M type expander profile on it, which keeps the bullets seating in noticably straighter.

Since Dillon makes a .45 Colt / .454 Casull kit for the 550B, I'm not clear why you wound up with a .45 ACP tube?

As to bullet diameter, if you've slugged your bore to be 0.451", you might want to try sizing to 0.453"? In the 1895 Marlins and in a number of revolvers, better accuracy seems to be obtained at 0.002" over bore diameter. I don't know why? This is empirical. Marshall mentions this and shows a table of the accuracy improvement in his book for a revolver, IIRC?

Hello Nick,
I modified the 45 ACP to 45 Colt a few years back, before they started producing 45/454 550 parts.

I have not seen a .453 size die from anyone. I have seen size dies that produce .001 under or over. I'm thinking that going to .454 and seeing what is actually produced will be the way to go first. I could hone out a .452 possibly.

Jeff

Jeff,

Get a .452 and hone it with 400 grit wet/dry in a slot in a dowel rod chucked in a variable speed drill. With a long enough slot and paper, working it back and forth should open it up fairly evenly if you keep turning it. If you can find a hydraulic cylinder hone that is small enough, so much the better. I think KG makes one for holes as small as 1/2", and that might fit? You'll want a small hole gauge and a micrometer to keep tabs on your progress, or you could slug it.

Lee will custom size one of their dies for you, if you don't want to mess with the honing. I'm not sure what they charge?