Hello again folks. I finally had a chance to fire the old colt .455. It works wonderfully although I suspect the barrel to be severly bent due to the fact that it wasn't hitting any where near where I aimed it. (not my fault of course). Aside from this I now am getting ready to reload for this handgun. I have read a fair deal in here and in other places about slugging the bore and chambers to determine bullet size, while at the same time most literature states that a bullet of the size .454 is the best choice. After carefully measureing the bore both with an expanding bore gauge,and micrometer,and also by the slugging method outlined here, I came up with the same number during both methods. ".453".
A friend of mine has kindley donated to me, a box lot of 500 cast lead bullets that is marked .452" although they average out between .452" and .455". This leads me to question number one. Are these sizes acceptable? How close of a tolerance should be kept to actual bore size?
My next question is about powder, along with the bullets he gave me a half pound of hercules "blue dot", which is listed in the loading chart that came with the lee die set I have. Is this one the the "optimium" powdrs for this caliber?
In closeing I guess what I am trying to say is I am ready to load for the .455 webley/eley cartridge. The gun to be used is a 1908 colt new service with a bore of .453". The casings are once fired brass from fiocci and are head stamped G.F.L. .455. I am going to use winchester small pistol primers, Lee carbide die set. I am looking at a starting charge of 6.1 grains of blue dot powder, useing the lee powder dipper that came with the dies. (I will check against my powder scale). The bullets I have available at this time are .452"-.455", and are a hard cast lead cowboy profile (flat nosed) weighing in at 250 grains.
If all, any or none of this is acceptable I would truley apprecciate any further advice from some one more expirienced than myself. This is my first attempt at any reloading and I could use all the help I can get.
Many thanks in advance,, Harold
A friend of mine has kindley donated to me, a box lot of 500 cast lead bullets that is marked .452" although they average out between .452" and .455". This leads me to question number one. Are these sizes acceptable? How close of a tolerance should be kept to actual bore size?
My next question is about powder, along with the bullets he gave me a half pound of hercules "blue dot", which is listed in the loading chart that came with the lee die set I have. Is this one the the "optimium" powdrs for this caliber?
In closeing I guess what I am trying to say is I am ready to load for the .455 webley/eley cartridge. The gun to be used is a 1908 colt new service with a bore of .453". The casings are once fired brass from fiocci and are head stamped G.F.L. .455. I am going to use winchester small pistol primers, Lee carbide die set. I am looking at a starting charge of 6.1 grains of blue dot powder, useing the lee powder dipper that came with the dies. (I will check against my powder scale). The bullets I have available at this time are .452"-.455", and are a hard cast lead cowboy profile (flat nosed) weighing in at 250 grains.
If all, any or none of this is acceptable I would truley apprecciate any further advice from some one more expirienced than myself. This is my first attempt at any reloading and I could use all the help I can get.
Many thanks in advance,, Harold