Bullet diameter for Uberti SAA

[davelid]

Hi,

What have you found to be the best bullet for the Uberti Cattleman 1873? In my gun .455 chambers easily. I've heard some say that .452 only should be used on all modern .45 Colts. I know - I should slug the bore, but I am reluctant to do that on closed top revolver.

Thanks!
Dave

 

[rcmodel]

What fits the chamber throats on a revolver is more important then bore diameter.

I have used both .452" and 454" in mine, and got better results with .454".

But each gun is a rule unto itself.

Suggest you slug the throats and see what you got.

rc

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

First off, slugging the bore is easy. I do it all the time. If you want my instructions on how to slug a barrel send me a PM and I will be glad to send it to you.

Up until WWII the standard groove diameter for 45 Colt was .454. That's what .454 diameter bullets are really for. When the SAA was reintroduced after WWII (actually in the mid 1950s) 45 Colt groove diameter was changed to .451 so it would be the same as 45 ACP.

Pretty much, most modern manufacturers are pretty good at keeping their 45 Colt barrels to .451.

Chamber throats are a whole 'nother story. They can vary all over the place. I have a couple of 2nd Gen Colts with chamber throats around .455.

Ideally, chamber throat diameter will be the same diameter, or slightly larger than rifling groove diameter. You don't want much space around the bullet as it goes through the chamber throat, or hot gasses can squirt around the bullet and soften it as it goes through the chamber throat, a major cause of leading. You want a nice tight fit as the bullet goes through the chamber throat. Of course, we are stuck with whatever groove diameter the barrel has. If chamber throats are too tight, the bullet can be squeezed down as it goes through the throat, and then might not engage the rifling properly. Tight chamber throats can be opened up. But you have to live with chamber throats that are too big. The best you can do is choose a bullet that fits the oversized chamber throat pretty well, then have it be sized down as it passes through the forcing cone. But too much squeezing down is not good either.

Your revolver will tell you what diameter bullets it wants. Simply remove the cylinder and point it at the ground. Get ahold of some .452 bullets and some .454 bullets. Drop a bullet into a chamber. What happens? If the bullet drops right through, it is too small. If it hangs up and requires a gentle shove with a pencil to push it through, it is perfect. If it hangs up and requires a lot of force to shove it through the chamber throat, it is too big. Pretty simple. Try this test with both .452 and .454 bullets, be sure to try it in several chambers. The cylinder will tell you what diameter bullets it wants.

 

[Skinny 1950]

I bought a mould for a .452" round nose bullet to be used for 45ACP and now use the same bullet with 45 Colt, it has been working really well for me through my Uberti SAA.
I was ringing a six inch round steel plate at 27 yards the other day.
I tried the drop test with the bullet as per above post and they were a bit tight but I haven't really cleaned the chamber after the last shoot, my gun is the Antique finish version and it was made in 2008.

 

[davelid]

Thanks for all the information.

I rounded up some .452 lead SWCs and a JHP that I had for .45 ACP (all actually miked at .451) and some .454 lead RN (miked at .454). None would drop through the cylinder chambers, but the .451s went through with a light tap on a dowell. The .454s required a few sharp taps on the dowell with a plastic hammer, but went through. They were swaged down to .452 after exiting the cylinder. None of the bullets went more than ~ half way when I inserted them in the forcing cone.

Does this suggest I stick for .452s for the Cattleman? The .454s fire OK, but I have kept the loads pretty mild so far (7 gr Unique).

Thanks!
Dave

 

[tscmmhk]

Davelid,

I have an relatively new Uberti SAA .45LC and I have slugged the barrel and cylinder. For what it's worth, the barrel groove diameter slugs at .451 and the cylinder throat slugs at .452. I use .452 diameter lead bullets and they work great.

 

[davelid]

Uberti SAA Update

I finally rounded up some .452 (miked) lead bullets to compare to the .454s I was using. With 8 grains Unique behind the .454s and 8.5 grains Unique behind the .452s, both loads seemed OK. No pressure signs, easy extraction, recoil felt about the same. I did notice that the cases used for the .452 loads were much dirtier than those used for the .454s. Suggesting that the chamber throats were not sealing as well with the .452s? No appreciable accuracy differences, but I was shooting offhand.

 

[BCRider]

If your .454's are coming out at .452 after passing through the throats then it doesn't matter what size you use since anything bigger is going to simply be reduced to .452 by the throat before it moves into the forcing cone.

If you're after the utmost accuracy from the gun the conventional knowledge I've picked up from here and other forums on this stuff is to have a throat that is a thou or two over the groove diameter. That way you're feeding bullets into the forcing cone that will be swaged down to fit and seal well.

So it would seem that your next step is to slug the bore. Then see what the groove diameter is.