Still fighting my .45 Spencer

[Johnson Barr]

  Sorry Gents I have been away from the shop and unable to get the mould info as asked. My Armi Sport feeding problems have come down to bullet nose shape. See the attached pic. On the left is a 200gr. RNFP common casting that works well in revolvers and vertical lift carrier rifles; Henry, 1866 and 1873. The short (nose to crimp groove) distance binds during lever cycling in my Spencer carbine.
 After several years of frustration, not to mention disassembly of the action parts and polishing, it seems this binding issue is caused by the magazine retainer bar dropping so low into the receiver and that it binds-up on the bullet nose of the next round out of the magazine.
  I found a cast bullet from Budget Bullet, www.bulletmen.com that worked better. (center pic) It was still 'jiggy' on the first couple of rounds out of the magazine. It is from an old Lyman .44-40 (.427) mould and has a longer more gentle ogive with a thin driving band. Distance from nose to crimp groove is longer than the standard RNFP. In fact it is just long enough not to clear the mag tube in Henry,'66 and '73's and does not to feed properly but it worked more better in my Spencer. Budget Bullet is no longer around and I do not have the Lyman bullet mould number that they used.
  On to pic #3 on the far right. This from mould #43-222F made by www.accuratemolds.com and as I ordered it casts .428" diameter bullets before sizing and lubing to .427". Distance from nose to crimp groove matches the Budget Bullet but has an even more gentle ogive radius and also a smaller meplat diameter.    IT WORKS!!
  I was able to run 7 dummy rounds from the magazine through the action with absolutely no binding at all. Feeding is smooth and reliable. I loaded 100 rounds and will be shooting them at tomorrows monthly match. Back with a report later.
  Accurate Molds offers quite the selection. If you're looking for a .45 caliber try matching length and nose radius that I used in my .44 Russian. Their site has excellent line drawings with dimensions for each mould they make. Slug your bore and order .001" over your barrel groove diameter for cast lead bullets.   

[Hair Trigger Jim]

Johnson Barr, I'm curious since you're sizing to .427: what's the groove diameter on your .44 Russian?

[Trailrider]

  Sorry Gents I have been away from the shop and unable to get the mould info as asked. My Armi Sport feeding problems have come down to bullet nose shape. See the attached pic. On the left is a 200gr. RNFP common casting that works well in revolvers and vertical lift carrier rifles; Henry, 1866 and 1873. The short (nose to crimp groove) distance binds during lever cycling in my Spencer carbine.
 After several years of frustration, not to mention disassembly of the action parts and polishing, it seems this binding issue is caused by the magazine retainer bar dropping so low into the receiver and that it binds-up on the bullet nose of the next round out of the magazine.
  I found a cast bullet from Budget Bullet, www.bulletmen.com that worked better. (center pic) It was still 'jiggy' on the first couple of rounds out of the magazine. It is from an old Lyman .44-40 (.427) mould and has a longer more gentle ogive with a thin driving band. Distance from nose to crimp groove is longer than the standard RNFP. In fact it is just long enough not to clear the mag tube in Henry,'66 and '73's and does not to feed properly but it worked more better in my Spencer. Budget Bullet is no longer around and I do not have the Lyman bullet mould number that they used.
  On to pic #3 on the far right. This from mould #43-222F made by www.accuratemolds.com and as I ordered it casts .428" diameter bullets before sizing and lubing to .427". Distance from nose to crimp groove matches the Budget Bullet but has an even more gentle ogive radius and also a smaller meplat diameter.    IT WORKS!!
  I was able to run 7 dummy rounds from the magazine through the action with absolutely no binding at all. Feeding is smooth and reliable. I loaded 100 rounds and will be shooting them at tomorrows monthly match. Back with a report later.
  Accurate Molds offers quite the selection. If you're looking for a .45 caliber try matching length and nose radius that I used in my .44 Russian. Their site has excellent line drawings with dimensions for each mould they make. Slug your bore and order .001" over your barrel groove diameter for cast lead bullets.

Glad you could find a good solution. I do have to ask: What is the diameter of the meplat (flat on the nose)? If it isn't at least .210", I would try to find one that is. And BE SURE your pimers are seated BELOW the surface of the case, so as to prevent a mazazine explosion. With the magazine in the stock next to your face, that could ruin your whole day!

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[El Supremo]

Thanks, Trailrider:

The Accurate bullet #43-222F drawing on Catalog page 18, shows a .180" meplat.

I recall someone, maybe here, sharing that when IN the magazine, the rim OD vs case
mouth OD result in the nose laying in the magazine a bit below the centerline. 
I would not rely on that aspect to prevent primer contact. 
Dropping rounds into the magazine tube, even gently, and varying angles during cycling should be safety concerns. 
I tested meplat to primer contact for a couple other larger meplat bullets.
Using unloaded, but primed semi-dummy rounds with a dab of lipstick on the meplats,
was not diagnostic. Maybe another medium would leave a visible mark.
Just my two cents.  Smiles.
El Supremo/Kevin Tinny

[Johnson Barr]

  As cast mine measure out 0.193" meplat flat diameter. A visual bullet nose to cartridge base primer match-up has the meplat on the outer edge of the primer radius. Considering the primer anvil is primer face centered I see no issue with magazine detonation. I don't drop rounds into the magazines of my Spenser or my Henry. I always load with the muzzle down range and horizontal then slide the rounds in one at a time before engaging the magazine follower. If you see the drop method used please find something to hide behind.
  Yesterdays match had mixed results. Of the six stages only the first and last stage shot with the new bullet profile ran flawlessly for seven rounds cycled through the magazine along with a three round reload through the butt to finish the 10 round stages. Stages 2 thru 4 were experimental mixes of the new bullet (right side pic) and the previous Budget Bullet profile (center of pic). The Budget profile failed to cycle when loaded as first and last out of the magazine while cycling the lever briskly. Jiggling, shaking and cussin were for naught. On stage 2 I pulled the mag tube follower and dumped the rounds into my belt pouch and reverted to 'single-shot-repeater' mode.  The remaining .44 Russian Budget loads will be set aside for my new Uberti American to digest.