Been reading all I can find about cast bullets... For my SBHH .45 Colt, do I need to slug my barrel first, or can I just go out and buy some .452 diameter bullets???

Jim

in the sbhh, any .452 bullet should be fine. in older firearms there may have been some variations in the throat area, but you should be ok in the ruger.

Thanks Bisley!

Jim

I would not worry about the barrel but you may want to check out the cylinger throats. My RBH 5.5" .45 LC would shoot jacketed bullets well but casts were giving me fits. This was because the cylinder throats were tight...essentially swaging the bullet as it passed through the cylinder which sort of undersized it before getting to the bore. By having Stan Debick open the throats it made a world of difference. The gun will now shoot cast bullets into less than 2" at 25 yards using the irons (which I am not the greatest with).

What Dan said is a possibility, but for now I'd just grab some .452s & shoot it. See if there is an accuracy problem before you worry about it. Remember, you may ahve to play with loads a bit to find one that shoots well, even with a perfectly set up gun.
That said, Dan's burned up a WHOLE LOT MORE powder than I have, so I'm not disagreeing with him.

I took the digital calipers to the cylinder throat yesterday and it measured .450. Went to the range with some cheap Ultramax cowboy ammo today and she's looking kinda' promising. Next week I will have my 2x scope so I will be able to clearly judge the performance. I am horrible with iron sights...

Jim