45acp(lead bullet) in 45lc chamber?

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1858rem

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was pondering this because 45acp are much more readily availible in my area, i am using a kirst konverter for 45lc but brass is hard to get ahold of right now, so would 45 acp fire well in a lc chamber with no ill effect? i planned on using low velocity cowboy loads and the shorter acp cases would make this part simpler too, so i guess im wondering if i could reload 45 acp with 255g lead for lc cases and still be safe?
 
.452 bullets in a .458 or whatever bore doesn't work well. Accuracy sux past 10 yards, you can get nasty blow-by leading, and I'm not sure your cases will hold the bullets securely enough.

And shooting ACP brass in a Colt blackpowder cartridge chamber (so-called "Long Colt", was never a real name for it) poses problems of keeping them from getting swallowed in the chambers. Colt brass has a relatively thin rim, so you won't have room to use moon clips of any sort without modifying your cylinder.

You don't have a chamber ledge for the casemouth of your ACPs to stop on.

If you can solve all those problems (relieving the cylinder to use moon clips without destroying your ability to headspace and eject "long Colts" could be problematical) for less $$$ than you would spend on a .45 ACP cylinder with proper headspace, then there would be *minimal* hazard from firing the undersized ACP brass in the fat and long chamber. Brass is pretty ductile and good at sealing gas. I've seen enough 9mms fired in .40 chambers laying around the range to be fairly confident of that.
 
I don't know what a "Kirst konverter" is, but unless it allows a .45 ACP cartridge to be held in a .45 Colt chamber without headspace problems, you will have misfire problems.

As far as the bullet size, .45 ACP bullets are the proper diameter for MODERN revolvers.

I own a Ruger .45 Colt convertible which includes an additional .45 ACP cylinder. With the .45 ACP cylinder installed, it shoots as accurately as it does with the .45 Colt cylinder installed.
 
And Grump, the .458" bullets are used in .45-70, etc., not .45 Colt. The modern .45 Colts use .452" lead bullets, just like the .45 acp. The older .45 Colts used a .454" bullet, but never a .458".

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
1858, 45acp and 45lc share the same bullet diameter. There would be no great safety issues with loading 45acp bullets in 45lc cases.(provided you can find correct data for the bullet weight you wish to run).
45lc have a longer bearing surface, than the 45acp because most 45lc ammo is used in revolvers.
This helps to keep the bullets straighter when moving from the cylinder into the barrel. As some revolvers may not expirience good alignment.
With modern weapons however, it maybe close enough, that accuracy is quite good at closer ranges, when using the shorter bullets in a revolver.

Sorry, i just re-read your question, i was assuming that you intended to load the 45acp bullets in 45lc cases. But as for loading 45acp rounds in a 45lc chambered cylinder, just make sure it is rated for the higher pressures of 45acp rounds. I know some of those conversion cylinders are. But if yours is not intended for that purpose, then I wouldn't attempt doing so. Though very light loadings for 45acp maybe below the 45lc pressures.
 
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Without "1/2 moon" clips or something similar to hold the 45acp in the 45LC cylinder the smaller rimless acp will just drop in the chamber. The gun has to be built to handle both from the get go, or altered by a good smith.
 
So what I am reading here is that you can get good accuracy with a 200 grain LSWC bullet that I typically load in .45 ACP into a .45 Colt cased fired through a MODERN Revolver chambered in .45 Colt (.45 LC). Correct?

What is an optimum bullet weight/design for target loads in a Colt SAA clone?
 
Boy, this is an old thread! But to answer your question, yes, you can get good accuracy shooting 200 grain bullets in the .45 Colt case. I do it all the time with a 200 grain RNFP that I load in .45 Colt brass for my Marlin .45 Colt Cowboy. I size my bullets to .452" and they're BHN 12 in hardness.

In the clones, you can go as light as 160 grain, or as heavy as 265 grain, depending on your load. I prefer the 200 grain bullets for all around shooting in the .45 Colt, since it takes less lead and is pleasant to shoot. It's also plenty accurate.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Boy, this is an old thread! But to answer your question, yes, you can get good accuracy shooting 200 grain bullets in the .45 Colt case. I do it all the time with a 200 grain RNFP that I load in .45 Colt brass for my Marlin .45 Colt Cowboy. I size my bullets to .452" and they're BHN 12 in hardness.

In the clones, you can go as light as 160 grain, or as heavy as 265 grain, depending on your load. I prefer the 200 grain bullets for all around shooting in the .45 Colt, since it takes less lead and is pleasant to shoot. It's also plenty accurate.

Hope this helps.

Fred
Click to expand...

I'm getting ready to start casting my own and thats exactly what I intend to do. I am only going to cast for one bullet, a 230gr, and I think I am going to be tumble lubing, so i am going to get the lee tumble lube bullet. I figure I can use this bullet in all of my .45acps as a target bullet, and also load it in my .45 colt as a target bullet. I normally load a 255gr in 45 Colt, so its not that big of a weight change, just a different profile.

I am hoping that I can use the top groove of the bullets lube grooves to put a mild roll crimp into with .45 colt.
 
I plan to try the same thing with my Lee 200 grn TL .452 bullet, in the 45 acp & 45 colt. I need it to get a little warmer to fire up my outside bullet casting. The Colt will be mostly loaded with the shorter 45 Schofield brass.
 
ljnowell,

My bet is you'll end up with more molds in the long run. I started casting around 1968, and was only going to cast for my .38 Special with one bullet. I was looking at my mold collection just the other day and there must be between 75 and 80 bullet molds and three casting pots there. Plus the big 100 pound pot and burner for smelting wheel weights and collected lead scrap and recovered bullets. I can cast for numerous calibers of handguns, plus several rifle calibers. (Need a bullet for the .577 Snyder?)

I think my hobby kind of got away from me somewhere along the line.............

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
ljnowell,

My bet is you'll end up with more molds in the long run. I started casting around 1968, and was only going to cast for my .38 Special with one bullet. I was looking at my mold collection just the other day and there must be between 75 and 80 bullet molds and three casting pots there. Plus the big 100 pound pot and burner for smelting wheel weights and collected lead scrap and recovered bullets. I can cast for numerous calibers of handguns, plus several rifle calibers. (Need a bullet for the .577 Snyder?)

I think my hobby kind of got away from me somewhere along the line.............

Hope this helps.

Fred
Click to expand...

Definately, when I get into something, I do it full-on! I am trying to get started on the cheap. I had a major back injury and surgery a year ago and I am on disability now. I spent over a decade as a mechanic, and at every job I saved wheel weights. I would guess I have approximately three or four 55 gallon metal drums of clip on lead weights. I never brought home any of the zinc weights, so they are all lead. Im not sure how many bullets that is, but once i start, I am afraid it wont be enough
 
ljnowell said:
Definately, when I get into something, I do it full-on! I am trying to get started on the cheap. I had a major back injury and surgery a year ago and I am on disability now. I spent over a decade as a mechanic, and at every job I saved wheel weights. I would guess I have approximately three or four 55 gallon metal drums of clip on lead weights. I never brought home any of the zinc weights, so they are all lead. Im not sure how many bullets that is, but once i start, I am afraid it wont be enough
Click to expand...
I'd say 1500 lbs. per drum, so multiply out by number of bullets per lb.

It's approximately 7.3 gajillion.
 
LJ, I experimented with loading a .45 Long Colt bullet- .452 185-grain RNFP cast lead that looked sorta like the 1-radius-ogive .45 acp bullet- in .45 acp brass for my pistols. They worked just fine, I just seated them so the crimp groove was just above the lip of the brass and applied a light taper crimp. They shot just fine. I wound up terminating my usage of this bullet because it really didn't get me anything over using the 230-grain 2-R-Ogive bullets I had been using. 185's can go faster than 230's but for paper punching and using cast lead, who needs to go faster?
 
I only have new 45Colt firearms and all take the .452" lead really well. I cast so having the right weight and size is not too much of a problem. Lee dies will cast bigger than nominal size so some that have the .454" cylinder throats may need to shoot them unsized, all depends on the gun.

As for the cases working, no, not going to happen. Now, you could have a neat firearm like I have that has two cylinders, one for 45ACP and the other for 45Colt. It's a Ruger 45 Convertible and man, is it a sweat gun to shoot!

My Puma rifle has had some really hot stuff through it too. Ruger only load type of stuff. None the worse for wear. Accurate with lead bullets too. Gonna go out and try some 230gr LRN that I cast up for the 45ACP and run it over some WC820 that I have.

Bullet size for both is the same in newer firearms.
 
I just bought some 225 grain lead flat nose bullets for my .45 Colt which will be fired in a USFA SAA (Colt clone). I figured it was a good compromise between the 200 and 255 grain bullets. I also will load some of my 200 grain LSWC in .45 Colt to try in this gun.

I know this was an old thread, but in lieu of getting a "Use the Search Function!" reply, I opted to post here.
 
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