.45 ACP in .45 Long Colt 625????

[hillbilly]

Just a thought I had from reading another thread.

Is it possible to fire .45 ACP cartridges in a Smith 625 that is chambered for .45 Long Colt?

Would the moon clips for the ACP fit in the Long Colt?

Is this safe? Or even possible?

Just wondering.

hillbilly

 

[Robert inOregon]

Is it possible to fire .45 ACP cartridges in a Smith 625 that is chambered for .45 Long Colt?

No.

Would the moon clips for the ACP fit in the Long Colt?

No.

Is this safe? Or even possible?

Not possible.

 

[only1asterisk]

The revolver can be modified to make this work, $50-75 plus shipping. Accuracy may suffer with the long jump. A second cylinder can be fitted, but this is best done by the factory. Under previous management, they wouldn't do it (legal just in case someone says it isn't).


David

 

[Jim Watson]

I was surprised when a poster on TFL or early THR said he had a .45 Colt cut for clips and ACPs that shot very accuately.

If you have it done, be sure the alteration leaves some original cylinder surface for .45 LC to headspace on. That means you won't be able to shoot .45 AR, but I think that is a reasonable exchange.

But the short answer is still no. It won't work without alteration.

 

[Mannlicher]

A few years back, I had my gunsmith make a .45ACP cylinder for my S&W 25-5. He used a .45 Long Colt cylinder, shaving the back so the moon clips clear.

I have enjoyed exellent accuracy when shooting .45 Auto ammunition. Convertable are nice.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Well, kind of, sort of - - -

One of the questions asked was - -

Is it possible to fire .45 ACP cartridges in a Smith 625 that is chambered for .45 Long Colt?

The answer is not a categoric "No." It is technically possible, just highly unsatisfactory. A .45 ACP cartridge will go into a .45 Colt chamber, but lacking a rim or sufficient length to touch the end of the chamber, it will slide in too far.

If the ACP cartridge is chambered, the cylinder closed, and the muzzle pointed upward, the cartridge will slide rearward and rest against the breech. If trigger is pulled in this position, the firing pin would strike the primer and (usually, at least) fire the cartridge. The weight of the loaded round would offer sufficient resistance to make it work.

I don't know why anyone would WANT to do such a thing [noise making??), but it is possible. Actually, one could probably carefully bring the barrel down to horizontal and, if the round didn't slide forward, it MIGHT fire. No real weight holding it rearward. At very best, ignition would be uneven from shot to shot.

This is all very silly, of course. The NO answer is close enough to correct.

Best,
Johnny

 

[C.R.Sam]

Part of the unsatifactory bit ...

Likely the firing pin will drive the case forward, creating rather humungous headspace, allowing the primer to blow out and doin a number on whatever is to the side with pieces of crud and hot gasses.

Not safe.

Sam

 

[Jim March]

What if you took each 45ACP round, and put a snap ring on it? Not too annoying, as long as you have a snap-ring tool. You'd basically have "single moons" unconnected to each other. As long as you put 'em in with the snap ring holes AWAY FROM the ejector star, of course...and you'd have to take 'em off the spent shells to use 'em on other rounds.

Hrrrm. This might work with a 45LC Vaquero, no?

Snap rings look like this:

The top two are snap rings, the bottom is a circlip. Snap rings are inserted and extracted with a tool that looks like a pair of needlenose pliers, except the tips SPREAD as you squeeze. The ends of the "pliers" are round pins that go in the two holes and spread them apart. So they're actually easier to deal with than moons.

I'm puzzled as to why this hasn't been tried already...take an empty shell to a good hardware store and you could find one to fit.

 

[Pappy John]

With the snap ring in place I suspect that the case head would be too snug against the recoil shield for the cylinder to cycle. But I haven't tried it.

 

[Jim March]

Depends. Some snap rings are VERY thin...might work.

I don't think I'd use them for "serious business purposes", but let's get real here: let's say you have a 45LC Ruger SA, and you do REAL shooting (hunting or defense) with 45LC. All you need ACP for is cheapo practice if you're not a reloader, right?

If this works...hmmmm.

For that matter, what about 9mm in a 357 with snap-rings? Not as critical because 38s are cheap...

 

[Wildalaska]

You can do a moon clip conversion on your 625, I think


http://www.moonclips.com

WildmachineitoutAlaska