I bought a bullet mold at a show hoping to use it for 45 long colt. However when I cast some I ended up with a 266 grain (cast from wheel weights) .458 bullet. Pretty tough to size down to .451 or .452. I checked out 45/70 data but the lowest bullet weight I find data for is 300 grains. Does anyone have any suggestion for a good use for this? I'm willing to buy a gun to fit it. hate to waste the mold for crimminy sake.

I like this guy already...But I have no idea. Have you lookid in a load manual for that particular diameter bullet??

Dave:
Checking several manuals, it looks like you may have a mold for the 45/70 , the 44-40, the .44 Magnum rifle, .458 Win. Magnum, or the 45/70 caliber rifles, but I am unable to find a bullet mold of your exact weight. An alloy difference might make a 2-5gr. difference, but not as much as 16 gr. I would think. 266gr... I read it wrong! Apologies!

It looks a bit heavy for .44/45 caliber revolvers, but might serve.
I it looks like you have a useable, and probably a very good bullet for Cowboy Action rifles.

NEI lists a .458 230gr. hollow base, and RCBS lists a .459 246gr. for the .44 magnum rifle, and a 246gr for the 444 Marlin. Your bullet would seem to be suitable for any of the above, properly sized, and with loads carefully worked up.

The above were arrived at , using LYMAN #2 Alloy. Wheel weights will approximate #2 figures, sort of, and linotype metal, (does that even exist any more?) will cast really hard bullets, a bit light, and will shrink a smidge more that the others.


I have a buddy who has the Remingrton XP 100 pistol rebarrelled to .458 Win. Mag.
I don't believe he used cast bullets in it, although that may have been a better plan. I saw the video, and he shot it 4 times, flinching like mad from #1, and the the 4th shot broke his custom laminated stock. I have it on good authority he has not shot it since. I don't wonder.

A new 45/70 doesn't sound so bad, either.

Sniper,
Thanks for your input. You might have misread my posting, it is 266 grains, not 366. It seems like a light bullet for a 45/70. But I would like an excuse to buy one! I couldn't find data in my speer #9 or the most recent speer manual for this size bullet.

[quote="david grabowski"]Sniper,
Thanks for your input. You might have misread my posting, it is 266 grains, not 366.

Yup, you're right! See edited post.

According to my Hodgdon manual:
44 mag and 444 Marlin use a bullet diameter (lead) of .429"
45/70 and 458 Winchester use a bullet diameter of .457" - you could size it down to fit these.
It is 100 grains light for any load data that I have for lead bullets in either cartridge listed above.
The older 45 Colt ammo used a bullet about that size but all the new guns are sized for the .451" and .452" bullets.
My Speer manual lists a Cowboy action shooting load for a 255 grain lead bullet sized to .454". The load listed is 7.7 to 8.5 of Unique, 7.3 to 8.3 of Power Pistol, 6.1 to 7.0 of WW231.
I would think that you could use the starting loads safely with your bullet or start half a grain lower and work up to find the accurate load.