45 colt dia's

[crooked stripe]

I am going to start loading 45 colt for a Heritage Rough Rider revolver. I slugged the barrel and the measurement from the indentations in the slug where .4455. I have lead 200 and 250 gr lrn I purchased at a garage sale. The 4 boxes I bought list sizes as .451, .452, .453 and .454 dia. Witch ones can I use? Any other tips on this monster shell would be appreciated. cs

 

[Hammerdown77]

You need to measure the high parts of the rifling indentations; these are the from the grooves. You probably measured the indentations made by the lands, which are going to be closer to .44" (this is why some cap and ball revolvers are stated to be "44 caliber", when they actually use a 45 caliber bullet, because they were measured by land diameter and not groove diameter).

Measurement of the lands should yield something in the .450" to .452" range. Ideally, it should be .451". In that case, you would use a bullet measuring .001" over groove diameter, to ensure proper seal in the bore. This would be your .452" bullet.

 

[Uniquedot]

Like hammer said the bullets fit the groove not the bore, but with a revolver you have to fit them to the chambers and hope they are not smaller than the groove dia. which means you have to slug each chamber and use .001-.002 over the largest measurement as they will likely be different from one chamber to the other within your cylinder. With a .45 colt you will be looking at bullets between .452, .453, or .454.

 

[rcmodel]

Yep.

Worry about the bullets fitting the chamber throats, not the bore.

rc