Recomendation for 45ACP

[blacktail 8541]

  Veral, I want to order a 45ACP mould. What types would you recomend? It will be a general purpose bullet that will see a lot of range and personel protection use in my carry gun, with a little carry in the woods. Reliable feeding is a priority. Weight desirable is in the 220 grain range as that regulates with my sights well.          Thanks much and welcome back!

[Veral]

  My LFN, which is available in any weight from 200 gr up.  220 is excellent from a velocity standpoint, as max velocities with that weight make this a deadly killer.  I've only had one customer who had feeding problems with this bullet in perhaps 15 years of selling it, it is accurate, and has a good size killing meplat.  BB or PB will handle all the ACP can dish out, but a few customers order it cut for gas checks.  I can't tell you whether gc's tighten accuracy, but do know that they will TEND to tighten accuracy, and they will increase velocity a little, perhaps 50 fps max.

[blacktail 8541]

  Thanks Veral, I will be getting an order out this week for a four holer with a bevel base. I value the ease of loading a BB more than a slight gain that a PB might give in my 45acps'. I've been useing your lube and have been very impressed, Your claims of no leading are as promised, my barrels are clean with just a couple of passes with a bore brush. I've never had that experience before when shooting cast bullets!

[Veral]

  Keep in mind.  You'll hate bevel bases if you don't have a Star sizer.  With RCBS and Lyman sizers, the bevel will fill with lube, causing the stop plug to move down, and a wad of lube filling the space between it and bullet.  If you have a push through sizer,  bevel base will be most accurate and nicest to load.  Push both bevel base and plain base  through base first for best accuracy, using a flat punch wide enough it doesn't mark the bullet nose.  In push through sizers, gas checked should go nose first with a pusher punch which fits within about .010 of sizer diameter, so the checks are pressed flat and square during sizing.

[azvaquero]

Veral, when you say to push bevel base bullets base first through the sizer for best accuracy, are you referring to only RCBS and Lyman sizers, or does this apply to the Star as well?

[Veral]

  Bevel base bullets don't work well in RCBS and Lyman sizers, which MUST have ALL bullets run base first..

  Use them only with the Star sizer, and the reason for running them base first is they come out of the sizer with better balance and more square base.  The reverse is true for Gas check, in which case the pusher punch squares the gc during application and sizing.

[azvaquero]

OK, thanks Veral.  And have you found all bevel base bullets to be generally more accurate than plain base no matter how big the bevel, or just ones with a small "chamfered" base?  The reason I ask is because I have some .357 moulds that have a fairly large, .050" bevel base on them (almost a boat tail).  They don't shoot worth a darn.  But on the other hand I have some .44 mag moulds that have a big boat tail that are 1 inchers.

[Veral]

  Your candid answer.  The only reason bevel base shoot more accurate than flat base is because the powder gas exts a dead sqare bullet base ---  IF THE MOLD IS CUT PRECISION AND IF THE BEVEL DOESN'T ROB A SHORT BEARING BULLET OF CRITICALLY IMPORTANT BEARING SURFACE.  I make them tiny because thats all that's needed to get results and it doesn't rob bearing surface. noticibly.

A little more technical explaination is perhaps in order.  -  With all base pour molds. bases do not solidify perfectly square.  I've measured about .002 to .003 on 44 caliber.  If the bullet has a slight bevel, which is on the SIDE of the bullet, the bevels will be perfectly square even though the flat bottom is out a bit.  When using RCBS or Lyman sizers the out of square bases, whether gas checked or plain base, can be made perfect if the stop plug is cupped out, leaving about a 1/32 flat around the primeter, which is printed into the bullet at least 80% of the way around the bullet heel or gc.    The Star does this fine with gc, pushing them nose first, but without checks, best precison is obtained pushing base first.