Club Obi Wan

FYI, those who have a .455, one of the current gun magazines has a blurb in it about a new company named Graf and Sons who are offering the .455 ammo. For those who shoot this awesome caliber, I thought you might like to know about this new vendor/source. Don't have any further contact info at this time other than the name of the maker.

happy shooting

Hey Doc, Graf and sons is located in Mexico,MO and they've been around a while. I have not seen an add for them in a long time. Are they manufacturing their own ammo now or are they wholesaleing Fiocchi or some other brand of .455? Seems like when I had an FFL on file with them, they did go off heavy into loading components and ammo after they sold all their 'preban' "assault rifles". I think the last thing I ordered from them was some .454 caliber lead round nose hollow base bullets to load my own .455 Webleys. Good to hear their still around. regards,hanson.

My impression from the blurb was that they were doing it in house and it was new ammo. There wasn't a lot of detail, but that's how it sounded.

dr. tyree wrote:My impression from the blurb was that they were doing it in house and it was new ammo. There wasn't a lot of detail, but that's how it sounded.

That would be nice. I bought 200 rounds of the Fiocchi ammo for my .455 and it has to be some of the worst stuff I've see. It shoots accurately, but its very dirty and it not uncommon to find a few bit of unburned power. It looks like I'm gonna be buying some .455 reloading dies when I have some extra cash.

Lee dies can be had for @$22 or so for .455.

I really like Lee's carbide dies. The quality is excellent and they are easy to use.

The only problem with reloading the .455 is finding good data and bullets.

You should probably use a light load with a fast burning powder. Winchester 231 is a highly regarded .45ACP that is supposed to be very clean burning. I have had good luck with it in my autos. I seem to always have some unburned powder in my older revolvers, but I think this is due to the 4"bbls and modern ammo for at least a 5"bbl. Also, it may be time for a new barrel and tune up. I have one going on as we speak. I use .454 diameter lead bullets with a hollow base, hoping the bullets base will expand to better engage the rifleing. Also, remember that the .455 is a big, heavy bullet going around 600' too 800 fps. It doesn't take but a few grains of modern powder to get it going. Lots of people think 'I'll use more powder and it will increase the velocity'-not exactly, after a point the lead bullet starts melting as it goes down the barrell, leaving lots of @#$% in the barrel.regards hanson.

Good points hanson. However, my .455 is unconverted with a 6.5" barrel. Thats why I was a bit less than satisfied with the ammo. However, it does shoot well. The accuracy of my 90 year old HE2 is darn near as good as my brand new Mountian Gun.

When I got into reloading 8 or so years ag, a friend recommended Hodgdon powders. I'm currently using Hodgdon Clays for shotgun, .38 Special and .44 Special. Its also recommended for the .45acp, but I'm still working on getting my hands on one of those. I use Hodgdon's H110 for my magnum pistol calibers. I've had one person (a well kow gunsmith) reccomend that I just use a light .45ACP load for the .455, but I don't like the idea of messing around like that with out some good data to start with.

Lee used to send an instruction booklet and some load data and a volumetric scoop with applicable conversions to different powders with ther dies. You can always write to the reloader guy in American Rifleman for guides on the pressure curve. I think most of the light .45acp loads would be ok. When I get back, I'll try to find my load data for you. regards hanson.

You know, I had forgotten that Lee gives you a powder scoop with their dies. Take your time on the data. I'm getting ready to head back to school, so I won't be doing any reloading for a while. Thanks for the help.

Don't worry, I have already worked 34.5 hours this week(Sat.,Sun.,Mon.), with no end to it in the forseeable future. But, I won't forget.regards hanson.