Not me, I used Lyman 457125, 50-50 wheel weights and lead, unsized.

The trapdoor was designed to shoot a .458 diameter bullet grooved bullet, 1.1 inches in length cast from 16-1, and could have a hollow swaged in the base that would be deep enough to bring the weight of the bullet within specifications, but not so deep as to affect accuracy.
They will shoot paper patch, but it's a pain in the butt to keep the bore clean enough for accurate shooting.
If your rifle is an infantry rifle, the Saeco 1881 bullet is a good choice, carbine look for a good 405 gr bullet with lube groove's sufficient to carry enough lube to keep the fouling manageable.

I loaded a few Lyman 405 gr bullets for our Trapdoor matches one time thinking of reducing recoil.  It was a looser    Not accurate enuf for match shooting    Results were so poor compared to the big Lyman, I did not put any time or effort into working with the bullet.   This was in the days before Quigley Down Under.  Bullet choices were limited as were custom mold makers.

You need to slug, any TD, before getting a mold. The groove diameters are all over the place. Usually very large.

The Lee 450 gr mold is a excellent bullet for these rifles, if the groove size will allow for a .458 bullet. They have wide lands and the bore riding nose, of that bullet, loves it.

Frank

Good information Arnie, thanks.

Have to get my buddy to slug his TD.

Mine will shoot a clean 200m highpower target with either lymans 457125 or a Postell seated to engage the rifling a touch when you close the breach, 215m primer, .060 fiber wad and enough Swiss 1 1/2 to have about 1/16 compression. Trapdoor has quite a bit of caming power. I wipe between shots with a delrin rod from the breach end.

Gunfunpow wrote on Jan 5^th, 2019 at 12:10am:


In replying to the OP's original question, your 1889 trapdoor was designed around the 500 grain armory bullet, grooved and inside lubricated, sometimes called the 1881 bullet. Approximately 5% tin, (NO antimony). This bullet by Accurate Molds closely duplicates the original  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
If original military-style ammunition is fired in your rifle, the rifle will shoot to the sights at specified ranges. The best way to produce duplicate military ammunition for your rifle is to follow all the steps and procedures outlined by Spence Wolf in his book,  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) Even though the long nose of the bullet is considerably under bore diameter, when ammo is prepared as per Spence's instructions, 1:20 alloy, the nose bumps up to bore ride for about 3/4 of it's length, as proven by bullet's I captured in deep snow many years  ago.  I can hit a 14" gong at 350 yards over and over again with this load in a Model 1888 trapdoor, with only a blow pipe between shots

Prior to the transition to the 500 gr bullet in the 1880's, the arsenal bullet was a 405 gr grooved lubricated bullet *with a small hollow* in the base to aid expansion. This bullet is reasonably close to the current Lee bullet mold here (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) (Note, Lee offers the same bullet as a double cavity, but it is NOT a hollow base)