1917 British .455

[Hondo44]

It is an excuse to have fun admiring your newly acquired S&W!

Exactly, and confirming you have a righteous gun with no mismatched parts.

If you can find a 45 mold for a hollow base bullet, like the original 455 bullets, you'll have the best fit for the bore. The hollow base flares out under pressure and fills the rifling.

 

[hanover67]

Does anyone have a mold number for a Lyman or Ideal hollow-base .45 mold?

 

[Hondo44]

Does anyone have a mold number for a Lyman or Ideal hollow-base .45 mold?

Yes, # 45468, 175 grain bullet. A good not too heavy bullet to keep pressures down.

 

[glowe]

For anyone who reloads or would like to reload the 455 cartridge, I would get a copy of the December 2016 Handloader magazine. There is a great piece on shooting 455 Mark II ammunition. Good information on reloading.

Since the original bullet was hollow-based, it is almost impossible to find a 265 grain Minie bullet. Lee makes a 298 grain bullet (90469), but casting this type of bullet can be a slow process. I have read much on replicating the original 455 loadings, but without the hollow-base bullet options, everything else is a less than perfect loading. You either have to go too heavy on the bullet, or use a solid base option. I have loaded lots of 455s and have not yet been able to duplicate the accuracy of the Ficcohi 455 Webley factory ammo.

 

[Jack Flash]

You may want to try the Hornady .454" 255 grain "cowboy" bullet:
Hornady Bullets 45 Cal (454 Diameter) 255 Grain Lead Flat Nose Box of

 

[Plutonius]

There is a seller on GB that sells 262gr hollow base cast bullets that work well for me. They are virtually identical to the original bullet.

Here is my reloads. I use Fiocchi Brass and the 262gr hollow base cast bullets. 4gr of HP-38 give me about 580 +/- 20 FPS. Those FPS numbers are out of my 2nd Model Hand Ejector with a 6" barrel.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

At that time, the .455 cylinders were not heat treated, so it would be a prudent idea to use only Cowboy or mild .45 Colt lead bullet reloads. To take it a step further on the side of caution, I use only 200 grain flat nose lead bullets in my older .45 Colt revolvers.

You won't hurt it with warm loads. I been shooting the old HE's for years with the same loads Elmer Keith loaded them with and I have not hurt one yet . They were not built for mild loads so what makes you think that's what you need to use in them now??

Eddie

 

[Sugar River]

There is a seller on GB that sells 262gr hollow base cast bullets that work well for me. They are virtually identical to the original bullet.

Here is my reloads. I use Fiocchi Brass and the 262gr hollow base cast bullets. 4gr of HP-38 give me about 580 +/- 20 FPS. Those FPS numbers are out of my 2nd Model Hand Ejector with a 6" barrel.

Couldn't find anyone selling these bullets on GB. Do you have his user name?

 

[glowe]

Nobody there selling 455 bullets or anywhere that I can find with 455 HB bullets for sale. I think the only way to get the job done now is to get a 455 HB mold made by RCBS, but Midway USA is out of stock so I have one on order from Buffalo Arms, but it has not arrived yet.

 

[Plutonius]

Couldn't find anyone selling these bullets on GB. Do you have his user name?

His name is Bill Benny. I purchased over 500 bullets from him. His e-mail is: [email protected]

 

[hanover67]

I found a 45468 Lyman mold, which casts .455 182gr hollow-base bullets with my range scrap alloy. I don't have a .45 sizing/lube die. The bullets are .455 as cast, and I tumble lubed them in Lee lube. I've decided on a starting powder charge of 4.5gr of 700X with this bullet in Starline .45 Colt cases.

I had an old pair of Herrett k-frame grips that I modified to fit the.455 HE. They don't fit exactly but they're good enough to shoot with. Now all I have to do is get to a distant range. Mine closed a year ago.

 

[hanover67]

A couple of images of the gun with grips

 

[lebomm]

Does anyone have a mold number for a Lyman or Ideal hollow-base .45 mold?

I have an old, framed Ideal mould chart on which the only .45 HB handgun bullet is #45468. It's a 2-grooved RNFPHB of only 170grains, presumably in No.2 alloy. Also probably long obsolete. Please let us know if you find something else.

Looks like a lot happened in the time I took to consult my chart and post a reply. Good luck and good shooting with your 182s. We're all waiting on your range report

Larry

 

[deadin]

Here you go........ .455" Webley Bullets|Webley Cast Bullets

Here's the Mold (RCBS)... I have 3 .455's and have been trying to decide whether or not to drop the $125 for the mold.
RCBS 1-Cavity Bullet Mold 45-265-RN-HB 455 Webley (455 Diameter) 265

 

[CptCurl]

About 5 years ago I started a thread about loading the .455 Webley for my Second Model. http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/220525-loading-455-mk-ii.html

Everyone was happy at that time because Hornady had a current supply of .455 brass and Graf & Sons had a current supply of special order Hornady swaged .455 bullets exactly to specs. I'm sad to say the Hornady brass has dried up, and the Hornady bullets seem to be gone also.

That RCBS mould looks like the way to go in the absence of ready-made bullets. The custom moulded bullets on Buffalo's website are just right for the Webley and will suit the man of leisure. No casting required! But they certainly come at a price.

Hornady still offers the 255 grain cowboy swaged bullet (.454" diameter). That probably is the best ready-made and inexpensive offering now.

Doesn't look like the Fiocchi ammo is available now. Does anybody know where any is in stock?

Best of luck!

 

[hanover67]

I don't know about Fiocchi ammo, but if I were going to try another case in my converted .455, I might look at .45 Auto Rim, assuming that the case rime will fit as well as .45 Colt. But, I also assume that would cause the same kind of cyminder ring problem shooting .38's in a .357 Magnum or .44 Specials in a .44 Magnum would create. For the time being I'm sticking with .45 Colt.

 

[Muley Gil]

The rim on .45 Auto Rim is much too thick if your .455 has been converted to .45 Colt.

 

[glowe]

. . . Here's the Mold (RCBS)... I have 3 .455's and have been trying to decide whether or not to drop the $125 for the mold . . .

Glad this thread came to light again. I did purchase the mold and dropped a line about it in the Reloading section for any who might be interested.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/506300-455-bullet-mold-works-great.html

 

[bmcgilvray]

I shoot a Webley Mark IV revolver. I laid in a quantity of the Fiocchi .455 ammunition some years ago, as much for obtaining the cases as for shooting purposes. I was very disappointed with the quality of the brass cases. They are thin and brittle. Thee to five cracked upon initially firing the factory loads and handloading durability is dismal.

I've read of good things about Fiocchi brass and have experienced it myself, with other cartridges in their line. This .455 stuff is dreadful though.

A shooting friend in the UK once supplied me with the Mountain & Sowden cases and I have quantities of them. This is pretty well an "everlasting" case. I've had no issues with repeated loadings with these cases.

Both Mountain & Sowden's cartridge case production and his handgun shooting career were shut down in the 1997 UK handgun ban.

I'm still vexed about both!

 

[glowe]

. . . I laid in a quantity of the Fiocchi .455 ammunition some years ago, as much for obtaining the cases as for shooting purposes. I was very disappointed with the quality of the brass cases. They are thin and brittle. Thee to five cracked upon initially firing the factory loads and handloading durability is dismal . . .

I have reloaded Fiocchi brass multiple times and they works flawlessly in my best condition 455 but splits a few in another gun. I measured the chambers and found my best example to be .476" and the chambers measure .485" in the one that splits brass.

Quite often splitting cases is due to someone trying to smooth out the chambers and enlarging them in the process. Check your chamber dimensions and see what you get??