You have an interesting animal....
It's a Zoo here...maybe an Orphange...maybe both...
The tapered chambers with no headspacing shoulder meet the description of early Colt .45 ACP cylinders to a "T". The fact that you can close the cylinder when it's loaded with cliped .45 ACP rounds pretty well confirms what it is, unless someone made some major modifications on the back end. It would also explain the serious headspace issues when you shoot .45 Colt with anything other then black powder. In a later cylinder .45 Colt rounds wouldn't chamber because of the .45 ACP headspacing shoulder.
Makes sense to me...yes...just as that.
I suspect the barrel blank started life as one intended to be used in one of the .455 Eley revolvers being made for the Brits. It ended up in a M1917 because with a war on nobody cared about small details.
Likewise...makes sense...just as that.
You should throw this piece of obsolete junk away, and I have just the trash barrel...
I am so fond of it though!
Lol...
Truely.
I made a fine Shoulder Holster for it in 1990, used to carry it that way, as well as carry it when wearing Trousers which had substantial-enough front Pockets.
I was just young and naive, and had not realized how aweful the relationship was, of Bullet diameter for .45 ACP, to Cylinder Bores and Barrel diameter.
Now that I do know, I seek to remedy those issues.
So what are your options? (Beside the above which on my part is wishful thinking).
You are going to have a very hard time getting larger then .454" bullets to go into a .45 ACP case without expanding it at the mouth.
Yes...I will have to see on that, if the Cases wil permit it without cracking or other troubles.
I was also thinking of using 'Heeled' hollow-base Bullets, to help make up for it.
A Heeled, hollow Base Wadcutter, of say, 230 - 260 Grains, would be an interesting Bullet in itself.
Since the gun has been reworked to the point where it has no collector's value, I would obtain a new barrel blank with a .452" bore and have a gunsmith or machinest turn and thread it to fit the frame. Cut it to any length you want, and add a new front sight. This would solve a lot of issues, and the .452" diameter is correct for both .45 ACP and current .45 Colt bullets.
True...but my Cylinder Bore's farther ends are still .457...which would make for some nasty blow-by during those early interior Ballistic phases.
Or, I could see about having Hollow Base Bullets...of course...
Another alternative for a handloader is to trim .308 or .30-06 rifle cases to .45 Colt length, neck ream, and load them using regular moon clips. If you want you can make the cases full-cylinder length, and seat your wadcutter bullets flush with the front of the case. You might have to ream out the taper at the front of the chamber(s), but you would have less to worry about when it came to throat diameter vs. the barrel's bore - either original or replacement.
Could I anneal regular old .45 ACP Case lip areas? If finding them to resent being expanded as-is?
I want all the FPS I can get with Mr. Snubby, so alleviating Bullet to Cylinder Chamber fit and Blow-By and Forcing Cone issues is on my mind.
If I had to, I would make a Mould for Casting a Heeled, slightly Hollow Base Bullet, of entirely 'flat' or even hollow front Meplat, for this Revolver to enjoy...even seeing to it the Bullet Front has a deep "X" aspect for encouraging a generous quadrofircation when encountering resistence of a Target material
My interest is largely for Carry anyway, since that was my intention in acquiring and making it mine to begin with.
These things are indeed in earnest!
With these little issues ammended, it would be a wonderful Carry piece, and, no slouch for performance...especially with the Full Moon Clip .45 ACP, finessed to suit it.
If I managed to see 865 FPS with a less than ideal size Bullet, and 10 Grains of 'Unique', albeit, in an unsuitable Cartridge Case kind, a right fitting Bullet ought to be a little better even, either allowing a reduction on Powder charge equivelent in .45 ACP, for being in the mid 8s, or, as may be.
So, as the old saying rightly goes - "How you gunna keep them back on the Farm, after they seen Pear-eeeeee?"
Lol...
Now, also, your Idea of using .30-'06 Cases, modified to suit...that notion has a lot of appeal to me.
As you mention, it would allow me the use of the Full Moon Clips, and, I could make them to a length which would allow me to have a Powder Density factor, similar to that of .45 Colt.
This is very appealing...though it would reauire a Heeled Bullet, if I were to insist that my Bullets will fit closely to the Cylinder Bore's .457-ish diameter.
This would alleviate any worries of things being 'pinched' during the let-go phase of early events.
Otherwise, the only other way I can image to reconcile the Cylinder Bore to Bullet diameter question, is to have a short case, as the .45 ACP Cases are, and, to abide some blow by while the Bullet and case enjoy a nice let-go phase, happening in the middle and generous enough diameter of the mid section of the Cylinder Bore, prior to the Bullet passing through the close tolerance of the farther end of the tapering Bores, to go onto the Forcing Cone, etc.
All in all, this is become a really interesting subject or consideration.
I sure am enjoying and grateful for your conversing with me Olf Fuff..!
Thank you!