caliber interchangability

[stressed]

OK, so I have a .45 colt revolver, and i'm curious if .45 auto rimmed can be fired through it?

And if .45 auto rimmed can be fired through it, then .45 ACP can be fired with moon clips correct? And if .45 ACP can be fired with moon clips, then .45 GAP can be fired with moon clips?

Reason being, is I have a bunch of factory seconds HST .45 GAP collecting dust, and a .45 colt revolver.

 

[Willie Sutton]

"No" to the first question makes answering the second question set irrelevent for you.


Willie

.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

45 Auto Rim was developed as an alternative to the 45ACP in the S&W and Colt Model 1917 45ACP revolvers. These revolvers had extra space at the rear of the cylinder to accommodate the thickness of moon clips. 45AR was ballistically the same as 45APC, but the rims were extra thick to take up the extra space at the rear of the cylinder. 45 Colt has a rim that is nominally .060 thick. 45AR has a rim that is nominally .090 thick. In order to chamber 45AR in a revolver chambered for 45 Colt, the rear of the cylinder needs to be relieved by .030. IN doing this, the gun will then have too much space behind the cylinder for 45 Colt.

The rounds in this photo, left to right, are 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 45ACP, and 45 Auto Rim.

 

[StrawHat]

If you have a revolver chambered for the 45 long Colt, you can use 45 long Colt, 45 S&W, and now the 45 Cowboy Special.

If your revolver is chambered for the 45 ACP, you MAY be able to use the 45 AR. I have two revolvers that use the ACP round and they do NOT accept the AR round. Nor will they work with the 45 GAP.

 

[56hawk]

No to the auto rim, but yes to the GAP. You just need to get your cylinder machined properly and use the right clips: http://www.tkcustom.com/content/machine.asp

 

[stressed]

Thanks guys. I suppose if a cylinder is drilled further down, you can just use a .30 spacer to fire .45 colt. Or just get a spare cylinder and machine it. I have 1200 rounds of GAP .45 HST and if I can't sell it I want to use it. What is the size on GAP .45, can it be pulled and reloaded in a .45 colt? Hmm.. 230gr HST .45 colt... I'd push it at GAP velocities for proper expansion.

 

[BlindJustice]

+1 for Driftwood

Also the diameter of the .45 Colt is a tad
bigger in diameter - if you had a Ruger
Blackhawk, with a .45 Colt and a .cyl. in
.45 ACP - the ACP Cyl. could be converted to
shoot Auto Rim

Why not buy a Glock in .45 GAP ?

I have a S&W 625 .45ACP/.45 Auto Rim

I had a box of .45 GAP - it had the price sticker over
'GAP' so I loaded them up in Full Moon clips and shot
them - they all went bang.

O.P. what make is your .45 Colt Revolver?

R-

 

[stressed]

Blind justice, it's a cylinder conversion for an 1860 Army. I did fire a mag of this .45 GAP though a .45 ACP para warthawg 1911 I used to have. Oddly enough it actually was one of the few times the gun went through a full mag without a failure of somesort.

 

[StrawHat]

Without a lot of work, you will not be able to use rimless rounds in your single action. And even with a lot of work, I am not sure it will function the way you would like it to. There is a big difference between machine a cylinder for a double action revolver and doing the same operation on a single action revolver.

For your conversion the cartridges that will work, with no alteration to the cylinder, are the 45 long Colt, the 45 S&W and the 45 Cowboy Special.

 

[stressed]

StrawHat, thanks for the heads up. I'll stick with my cowboy action loads.