Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
You are using the old High Contrast theme. We have installed a new dark theme for you, called UI.X. This will work better with the new upgrade of our software. You can select it at the bottom of any page.
Spokehandguns also did a number of K frame 44 specials, but Taurus has done both a 45 ACP and Colt in a Kframe size gun, the Tracker. I had a 4" 45 Colt and it was a nice gun, sold it to fund something else. I should have kept it and shortened the barrel to 3" and gotten some of the nicer wood grips that are out there today.
Several shops have done .44 Special K-Smiths (and Ruger Speed Sixes) but I forgot about the Trackers.
Taurus seems not now to be making anything but the ridiculous "Judge" with that bolt circle, though.
Deerhunter hit it on the head. The larger the cartridge, the thinner the forcing cone and cylinder walls get. I have a S&W 696, which is a great carry gun, but I wouldn't run heavy Keith loads through it.
Even for a .457" casing, you're making some compromises on the K/L frames. Even though it CAN be done, I don't imagine it being very durable in the long run.
The barrel threads on a .38/.357 K-Frame measures .542" O.D., not counting the gas-shield ring relief cut on the bottom of the barrel shank.
The barrel shank on an N-Frame measures .668", and it doesn't have a relief cut in the barrel shank weakening it.
By the time you cut the forcing cone in a .45 caliber K-Frame barrel, it would almost be a knife edge at the gas ring relief cut.
Further, the cylinder wall thickness on a .38/.357 K-Frame is about .083".
A .45 ACP case measures .476" at the head.
Subtract the .380" of the .38/.357 chamber from .476" and you have .096".
Divide that by two, and you have only .049" cylinder wall left, or only about half as much as on a .38 Special.
And you have seriously cut into the cylinder ratchet / extractor star on the other side of each chamber, which would make timing very difficult.
Bottom line = K-Frames are not big enough to chamber them in .45 ACP and have any safety margin or timing reliability left.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.