S&W 25 in 45 Colt

[mwx40x40]

Been reading some of the threads on 38 Short Colt and how accuracy did not suffer from the long cylinders and short rounds. Soooo, if I were to have a 25-5 in 45 Colt setup for moonclips in 45 acp would this be feasible? Would I get decent accuracy out of the 45acp in the Long Colt cylinder?

[vrmn1]

I have a buddy that had a Ruger Alaskan cut for moon clips, I will ask him what kind of accuracy he is getting with 45 acp.

[20nickels]

Not an expert on this (few people are), but I believe it has to do with if your gun likes .454 boolits or .451 (the new .45 standard). It has to do with the chamber dimensions as well as the barrel. Hope this helps.

Related link;

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=281653

1st post

[HighVelocity]

Not an expert on this (few people are), but I believe it has to do with if your gun likes .454 boolits or .451 (the new .45 standard). It has to do with the chamber dimensions as well as the barrel. Hope this helps.

Related link;

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=281653

1st post

Haha, small world. I am having a lot of fun with my 25. It's a lot cheaper to shoot 45 acp than 45 Colt. I've put a fiber optic FS on the gun since that thread, which I can actually see, hence accuracy was improved.

Gary J.

[vrmn1]

Been reading some of the threads on 38 Short Colt and how accuracy did not suffer from the long cylinders and short rounds. Soooo, if I were to have a 25-5 in 45 Colt setup for moonclips in 45 acp would this be feasible? Would I get decent accuracy out of the 45acp in the Long Colt cylinder?

I talked to my buddy with the Alaskan, accuracy with acp wasn't the best about 4" or so at 25 yards.

[David Sinko]

I tried this once with a 25-7 .45 Colt and would not recommend it. S&W .45 Colt chambers are very sloppy (at least mine was) and there was far too much room for the short ACP cartridge to wobble as it was being struck by the firing pin. It would sag in the moonclip just enough that 9 out of 10 would misfire DA and the accuracy was terrible when they did go off. So I feel it is not worth the effort. On the other hand, my Redhawk .45 Colt rebore has extremely tight chambers and such a conversion just might work but hell will freeze over before I ever consider any kind of moonclip conversion for this revolver. I have always felt that if you want a .45 ACP, get a 625. If you want a .45 Colt, get a Redhawk and a rebore of a .44 is definitely worth the money.

Dave Sinko

[HSMITH]

Some of the 25-5 cylinders had HUGE chargeholes in them, throats as big as .459"!! Be careful buying a 25-_ in 45 Colt.

[pskys2]

My understanding was the headspace/rim thickness is different between .45 colt & acp. Not allowing them to be set up like that. But I've never checked it out and it sounds as if it can be done.

So, if it's economy you'd probably be better off reloading. Maybe with Trail Boss?

If you're looking for a quicker competitive mix, then you can probably moon clip it and use .45 Schoefield cases. The shorter length makes for a better reload. Kind of like using .44 Russians in a .44 Mag. Call Tom at TK Custom and he can proably tell you what's what.

I thought about the .45 Colt/Schoefield thing in a 625/25 just cause I like those big fat .45 LONG Colt cases. Finally went with the .44 Mag/Russian and used it quite happily for several years, but someday! I fianlly bought into the .45 acp thing for revolver competition though.

[Paracco]

I had a Dan Wesson for some time in 45 colt. I did the moonclip conversion and the 45acp rims fit tight in my gun.

That being said, the large jump from the 45acp to the 45colt chamber throat is what kills the accuracy.

I ended up getting a 460 Rowland cylinder for it.

[mwx40x40]

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I will stay away from such a conversion.

For what it's worth , I also saw where Smith & Wesson is bringing the 25-5 back in 45 Colt with 6 1/2" bbl. I sure wish they would do the 25-2 in 45 acp with 6 1/2"bbl. I have an old 25-2, but I sure would like to see one with the proper cylinder bore , so it would shoot .451 cast bullets.

[vrmn1]

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I will stay away from such a conversion.

For what it's worth , I also saw where Smith & Wesson is bringing the 25-5 back in 45 Colt with 6 1/2" bbl. I sure wish they would do the 25-2 in 45 acp with 6 1/2"bbl. I have an old 25-2, but I sure would like to see one with the proper cylinder bore , so it would shoot .451 cast bullets.

They are doing a fixed sighted thin barrel copy of the 1917 so MAYBE JUST MAYBE!

We can hope at least.

[David Sinko]

Honestly now... how hard is it to use good reamers when boring out a .45 Colt cylinder? For me the .45 Colt is a custom proposition only. I don't think S&W really cares. They'll take whatever shortcut they can think of next. My 625 will bulge .45 Auto Rim cases with 255 gr. bullets and a roll crimp and the loads aren't even hot. I really don't care since I don't use .45 AR on a regular basis. But still, are such sloppy chambers really necessary? Or do they make them this way so you ruin your brass if you dare exceed their idea of the comfort zone? In my opinion the world's most advanced metallurgy can't compensate for such poorly executed workmanship. Oh, and let's not forget that $1000+ .45 ACP Heritage Series revolver that had the cylinders bored straight through. Whatever happened to those?

Dave Sinko