.45 acp single action cylinders gimmick or godsend

[OrangeCat]

Been looking around at the Single action revolver market and locally it seems to be still pretty dry but I have found a couple of Piettas, in .45 colt and with included .45 acp cylinders.

Seeing as how long colt is vaporware but acp is actually fairly available what is the general opinion of the hive mind on these conversion cylinders? Do they just sit in a box and gather dust or are they an excellent way to keep shooting? Anyone prefer using the acp cartridge over the original colt chambering?

 

[wcwhitey]

I have wondered about this myself. Interested in the comments.

 

[shootstraight57]

Since I can no longer find .45 LC I have been shooting the .45ACP quite often. I have a Colt Combat Commander in .45ACP. Makes it easier to pick up ammo for both.

 

[UncleEd]

I more or less fell into the .45 Colt
those many years ago. I bought
a dual cylinder Blackhawk to
shoot .45 ACP but it wasn't long
before I started reloading and
discovered I liked .45 Colt better.

Had the BH not featured the ACP
cylinder I wouldn't have bought
the gun.

 

[Fyrstyk]

I have a Black Hawk with both the .45 LC and the .45 ACP cylinders. I use the ACP for indoor target practice and the LC for woods walks. The LC is loaded up for taking game, the ACP just for target practice cause it is cheaper to load and brass is easier to get.

 

[Barry the Bear]

.45 colt needs to be reloaded to be fully appreciated unless you have more money then sense, I actually have seen a fair bit of .45 colt lately. a .45 ACP in a revolver can be run hotter than most autos can handle, I'd have no problem using a warmer loaded swc in an ACP casing to take a deer or hog

 

[Tallball]

I bought this one NiB something like ten years ago.

I see 45acp in stores regularly these days, but not 45 colt. Until recently my FiL used to reload 45acp, but never 45 colt.

Thus I have used the 45acp cylinder over 90% of the time.

It's more accurate than I am with either caliber.

IIRC, you have to readjust the sights a little when you switch calibers, but that's to be expected.

Ruger Blackhawk 45 Convertible

• Tallball
• Apr 20, 2020

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Godsend:

Ruger Blackhawk.

Gives options, there is no cons, only pros.

 

[ontarget]

I reload for both. In these days of component shortages, the 45 ACP is a lifesaver. The brass can be easily found with either large or small primers so if all I can get are small primers, no big deal.
If I find a 45/45 combo revolver I will snag it quickly.
It's always good to have options in these trying times we live in.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Cant comment on the interchangeable cylinders but i have a revolver made for 45 ACP and its a lot of fun to shoot. Its plenty accurate, even at 103 years old.

 

[.45Coltguy]

I in fact have a Pietta 1873 "Gun Fighter" with both cylinders. The .45 acp is a bit snappier out of a revolver, no gas operated loss of power[?] and is about as accurate as my 1911 mil-spec,
It's a combo to have. Still, that .45 Colt just delivers! No flies on the .45 acp in the Pietta tho.

 

[Master Blaster]

I have a .45 Blackhawk, I shoot the .45 acp cylinder way more because I load more .45 acp for other pistols and revolvers. It is very accurate as well.

 

[MikeJackmin]

I like mine. 45acp is nice in a single action.

You can even use a 1911 mag as a sort of speed loader!

 

[Pat Riot]

I asked Ruger to make me a .45 ACP cylinder for my New Vaquero. I like it but they could have done a better job finishing it. Every once in a while the ratchets hang up in the pawl when cocking…or the pawl hangs up in the ratchets. I will have that fixed.

It’s really neat to have, but I wouldn’t call it a godsend. The cool thing is 230 grain ammo matching mil specs hits point of aim.

 

[SDGlock23]

I've had my share of .45 Colt + ACP "convertible" Blackhawks and it's a great idea, even if it's not always put to good use, it's a neat idea for sure. The .45 Colt is more traditional for the style of gun so maybe shooting ACP in one is off-putting to some, maybe it's not. I like them generally speaking.

 

[IlikeSA]

I shoot the 45 Colt cylinder a lot more than the ACP, but I do have a coffee can of ACP loaded up. I've underloaded my ACP rounds for my 1911 before and it was nice to shoot them rather than use the old hammer style bullet puller.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I posted on the other thread, but I will post here too.

I bought my Ruger Blackhawk convertible 45 Colt/45 ACP brand-spanky new in 1975. I seem to recall it cost $125 back then. I will be completely honest, I was not even interested in the 45 ACP cylinder and tried to buy the revolver without it. Of course I had to buy the entire package. So I have been shooting 45 Colt since 1975. It was the first cartridge I learned to hand load about 20 years ago. Regarding 'vaporware' (and by the way the name of the cartridge is 45 Colt, not 45 Long Colt), if you learn to load the cartridge yourself, you can shoot it all you want, so it is not 'vaporware'. Yes, I have a good supply of brass, primers, powder and bullets because I have been loading the cartridge for so long. I never even fired the 45 ACP cylinder until just a few years ago, I am just not interested in 45 ACP single action revolvers. I have a bunch of S&W 45 ACP Double Action revolvers, but that is a different story.






I have about a dozen single action revolvers chambered for 45 Colt. My old Blackhawk is the only one that has a 45 ACP cylinder.

So I guess you could say I don't much care about 45 ACP single action revolvers.




P.S. No, the Ruger 45ACP cylinder is not for sale.

 

[Seedy Character]

I have a Vaquero with both cylinders. Since it is the New Model and smaller than the Blackhawk, I tend to shoot mostly ACP. it is fun.
Especially when we have a Wild Bunch match.
Carrying 1911 and SA using them some cartridge.

However, I am searching for a Blackhawk with both cylinders. When I get one, the Vaquero will be sold.

 

[3Crows]

Can Ruger fit a .45LC Blackhawk with the .45ACP extra cylinder? I wonder? Because, yes, I think it a useful thing. That way I can fed my Blackhawk from my stash of .45ACP ammo. Yes, I reload for .45LC. I have also gotten a small supply of HSM Bear loads in the LC and a good amount of HSM Cowboy. Both shoot great but still, I would enjoy being able to use the more commonly available .45ACP.



3C

 

[halfmoonclip]

There was an extensive article in one of the gunzines about .45 'Short' Colt cartridges, that mentioned the Schofield, and the cowboy folks had a cut down ACP size case, to reduce volume. Yeah, it's technically a .45 Colt, but throwing in 'long' won't end life as we know it.
The .45 Colt round is easy to load, but the case volume was a challenge before Trailboss, if more modest loads are what you want. . Using light charges of more dense powders will create major velocity changes, depending where the powder is in the case.
If you really like to shoot .45 Colt, ya ought to load your own.
But for flexibility, or for non reloaders, the ability to shoot ACPs would really be handy. For reloaders, standard .45 ACP loads would work as well.
There may be a change in POI, but if bullet weights and velocities are similar, it shouldn't be a big change.
Love both calibers, but cannot shoot them in the same gun in my case. Did just get a double action .45 Colt.
Moon

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

I have a Ruger Old Model Blackhawk .357/9MM, plan on getting a 45 ACP cylinder for my Remington M1875. Shooting is recreation, anything that adds to the fun is worthwhile, IMHO.

 

[drobs]

Not that you should but you could:

 

[Fyrstyk]

Can Ruger fit a .45LC Blackhawk with the .45ACP extra cylinder? I wonder? Because, yes, I think it a useful thing. That way I can fed my Blackhawk from my stash of .45ACP ammo. Yes, I reload for .45LC. I have also gotten a small supply of HSM Bear loads in the LC and a good amount of HSM Cowboy. Both shoot great but still, I would enjoy being able to use the more commonly available .45ACP.

View attachment 1057140

3C

I recently read that Ruger will no longer fit an extra cylinder to a SA revolver that wasn't sold as a convertible to begin with.

 

[Tallball]

I bought a random 9mm Blackhawk cylinder from ebay and it happens to fit my 357 Blackhawk just fine.

If it hadn't fit and functioned properly, I would have just sold it for about what I paid.

 

[huntsman]

I’ve owned a Blackhawk 45 convertible since 2012 and by far it’s had more acp shot through it than Colt.

I’m not a reloader and the gun was bought for Whitetail hunting, before this recent ammo insanity I would buy AE for $38.00 a box (that’s double acp) to shoot .45C but gave that up.

So I have BB thumper loads for hunting and woods carry but plinking and around homestead carry is .45acp.