Zaydok Allen
Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2011
- Messages
- 13,274
Hello friends and neighbors,
I mostly shoot handguns, and mainly revolvers. I really enjoy shooting S&W 460 magnum out of my X frame. Well, about two weeks ago I got really luck and found a rifle I've always wanted. I got a NIB Ruger No. 1 chambered for the same cartridge. It's a great companion rifle, and really nice looking.
Anyway, my question is if anyone knows if it is safe to fire 454 Casull and 45 Colt out of the gun, like you can with the 460 revolvers. My concern is head spacing. The 460 S&W mag is a rimmed, straight case. I assume that it uses the case mouth for head spacing like any straight walled rifle cartridge, and being a falling block design, the block holds it firmly in place. So being also straight walled and shooting bullets of the same diameter, the 454 and 45 colt cases shouldn't rupture and the bullets should travel down the tube with no problem. However, there would be a gap between where the bullet engages the riffling, and the lip in the chamber used to headspace a full length 460 cartridge. I'm not sure of the proper term for that lip.
So I think firing 454 Casull or 45 Colt would cause the bullet to hit the head spacing lip, and cause erosion, correct? I mean in a revolver there is the forcing cone that engages the bullet to the rifling, but this is more like trying to shoot 45 GAP, out of a 45ACP gun. With GAP being the shorter of the two.
I checked the manual and found no mention of it. I could email Ruger, and probably will, but I'm just curious what everyone thinks.
It logically seems like a bad idea as it will be asking a metal edge to take an impact that should not be doing anything but having expanding brass press up against it. Thoughts?
I mostly shoot handguns, and mainly revolvers. I really enjoy shooting S&W 460 magnum out of my X frame. Well, about two weeks ago I got really luck and found a rifle I've always wanted. I got a NIB Ruger No. 1 chambered for the same cartridge. It's a great companion rifle, and really nice looking.
Anyway, my question is if anyone knows if it is safe to fire 454 Casull and 45 Colt out of the gun, like you can with the 460 revolvers. My concern is head spacing. The 460 S&W mag is a rimmed, straight case. I assume that it uses the case mouth for head spacing like any straight walled rifle cartridge, and being a falling block design, the block holds it firmly in place. So being also straight walled and shooting bullets of the same diameter, the 454 and 45 colt cases shouldn't rupture and the bullets should travel down the tube with no problem. However, there would be a gap between where the bullet engages the riffling, and the lip in the chamber used to headspace a full length 460 cartridge. I'm not sure of the proper term for that lip.
So I think firing 454 Casull or 45 Colt would cause the bullet to hit the head spacing lip, and cause erosion, correct? I mean in a revolver there is the forcing cone that engages the bullet to the rifling, but this is more like trying to shoot 45 GAP, out of a 45ACP gun. With GAP being the shorter of the two.
I checked the manual and found no mention of it. I could email Ruger, and probably will, but I'm just curious what everyone thinks.
It logically seems like a bad idea as it will be asking a metal edge to take an impact that should not be doing anything but having expanding brass press up against it. Thoughts?