.45 Long Colt

[tooldummy]

I was in a Gander Mountain over in Terre Haute today and a gentleman mistook me for a knowledgeable reloader. He asked me about loading a .45 Long Colt, and of course I didn't have a clue. The reloading manuals were right there handy, so I tried looking up some data for him. I looked (quickly, may have overlooked it) in the Lyman and Nosler books and didn't find anything except some on the .45 Colt. We looked at some of the lead he was trying to pick from and noticed some was .451 or 3 and I think the other size was .458. Wish I had an inkpen to write the diameters down now. He said he had internet access and I suggested he go home and come here and ask you all for some help. But my question is I never noticed that much difference in the diameter of lead before. Is this common?