Lee 456 dia cap and ball conical for 455 webley?

[dnfd737]

So I was looking at different options for the 455 webley I need 455 dia bullets and the 45 cal are mostly 452 dia so I was thinking of getting the rcbs 260 gr hollow base mold and the lee 456 mold 220 gr then sizing them to 455.....will this work as a light bullet option?

 

[d'Artagnan]

Before doing anything else, slug your bore. My interwar-years (1925) Enfield revolver has a .449 bore diameter. The chamber throats, measured with a caliper, ran between .445 and .447. Drive a .451 lead ball through your barrel -- should be relatively easy -- and measure with a caliper, then try to drop it through each cylinder. If you have a less than a .450 barrel then .452 bullets will work fine. My best accuracy was with cast semi-wadcutters from a 200-gr Lee mold. They actually run 218-gr and are pure lead just like my Minie bullets.

 

[dnfd737]

I figure my revolver is a 1920-21 by serial number comparison, the year has been rubbed out by arsenal refurbishing.....so supposing I have a similar situation as yours, if I do get the rcbs mold and it does cast .455 dia bullets should I size the bullets to .452?

 

[d'Artagnan]

My RCBS .455/265-gr mold throws .4575/275-gr pure lead bullets. Magnificent bullets, as you would expect from a $160 mold, but way oversize. My $18 Lee .452/200-gr 2-cavity SWC mold casts what it shoots accurately. The choice is yours. And for the difference between Enfield and Webley revolvers, there should be a stamping on the right side between the trigger and hammer with Webley or Enfield over a crown and the year of manufacture under the crown. On my revolver, there is also a 2-digit year stamped on the left side flat of the barrel forward and above the cylinder opening.