S & W Model 25 in 45 Colt

[unspellable]

I have a Taurus Raging Bull in 45 Colt. Yes, Virginia, it's a 45 Colt, NOT a 454 Casull. It's marked 45 Colt and is a 6 holer compared to the Raging Bull 454's 5. I've seen one other example. I once had occasion to call Taurus about it and they denied making such a thing.

 

[StrawHat]

…25 March 1991 Talk with Doug Brassard S&W Customer Service

SAAMMI allows a rear diameter of .4862 nominal plus .004 and .4806 plus .004 for front of the 45 Colt chamber. When I asked him about the 45 Colt ball chamber throat diameters he said that they used to be .4545 to .4565 but now they were .452 . Smith and Wesson has its own standards for the barrel dimensions for the 45 Colt and they are : one turn in 20, 5 groove, lands .444 -0.0 + .0012, groove .451 - 0.0 + .0017. For the 45 ACP it is a 6 groove barrel, 1 turn in 15 inches, lands of .443 -0.0 +.0012 and grooves of .450 -0.0 and +.0017. Interestingly enough the SAAMMI specifications for 45 ACP lead bullets and jacketed bullets are different. Jacketed specs are .452 -.003 and lead bullets .453 -.003.

From 1917 until the early 21st century, S&W used the rifling and bore specifications for the 45 ACP that were supplied by the Army. Starting with the Model 22-4, the rifling changed to the traditional 5 groove rifling standard in all other calibers chambered by S&W. Not sure if it was influenced by Clint Smith or just happenstance, but the first ACP revolver I am aware that used the 5 groove rifling was the Thunder Ranch Model 22-4.


Kevin

 

[bangswitch]

A 4 inch 25-5 is pretty high on my wish list.

My wish came true.

 

[earlthegoat2]

The Colt New Service DA and its derivatives were primarily chambered for .45LC.

Dan Wesson made some large frame guns in .45LC too.

If we are talking all time, Taurus had the 450. The Titanium version is quite awesome. Plus a version of the Raging Bull was chambered in 45 Colt but is very uncommon. Colt New Service and Dan Wesson as you mention as well as the Colt Anaconda.

Smith 25, Ruger Redhawk, and the Charter mentioned above.

Also the rare Colt 1878, rare first and second models of Smith Triple Lock Hand Ejector.

 

[Frulk]

Since it's been mentioned in previous posts, I thought a picture would be appropriate for reference.

Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt.

 

[DMW1116]

I specifically left out any I knew of that Also fired 45 Colt. The flexibility of the 460 is nice but I wouldn’t want to drop one of those cartridges on my foot let alone hold a gun shooting one.

 

[jag1954]

One of my favorite combos, the Model 25 45 Colt and the Henry large loop side gate 45 Colt.

 

[Savage30L]

I have a Smith 25-7 with the bull barrel and unfluted cylinder. It has the best trigger I have ever encountered on any firearm. I'll post a pic later.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I picked up this 125th anniversary Model 25-3 last year. Complete with the fancy wooden case and the book by Roy Jinks.











According to SCSW, the Model 25 was the follow up to the 1955 45 Heavy Target revolver. The great majority were chambered for 45 ACP, not 45 Colt. 45 Colt did not become a regular chambering until 1977 with the 125th Anniversary Model, such as mine.

 

[Y-T71]

Howdy

I picked up this 125th anniversary Model 25-3 last year. Complete with the fancy wooden case and the book by Roy Jinks.

View attachment 1140712


View attachment 1140713

View attachment 1140714




According to SCSW, the Model 25 was the follow up to the 1955 45 Heavy Target revolver. The great majority were chambered for 45 ACP, not 45 Colt. 45 Colt did not become a regular chambering until 1977 with the 125th Anniversary Model, such as mine.

Beautiful revolver!
Cylinder looks too short to be .45 Colt though.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Beautiful revolver!
Cylinder looks too short to be .45 Colt though.

Nope.

Even though the barrel is simply marked .45 CALIBER, it is chambered for 45 Colt.

I am pretty sure all the 125th Anniversary models were chambered for 45 Colt.

 

[bangswitch]

Beautiful revolver!
Cylinder looks too short to be .45 Colt though.

When the M25 was first marketed, standard chambering was the .45 Auto, but they could be ordered chambered for .45 Colt. The .45C cylinder was longer, but the M25-3 and M25-4 have a cylinder the same length as the ones used for the .45 Auto versions and are called "short cylinder" .45 Colts. After the M25-5 was released, it had the same longer cylinder that earlier special order .45C guns did. From the M25-5 on, the series numbers alternate; M25-5 is .45 Colt, M25-6 is .45 Auto; odd series numbers from then on are .45 Colt, even series numbers are .45 Auto.

I would love to have one of those 125th Anniversary guns, and yes, all of them are chambered in .45 Colt, and all had a 6-1/2" barrel.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

The upper revolver in this photo is my Model 25-3 Anniversary Model, chambered for 45 Colt. The lower revolver is a Model 1955 Target, chambered for 45 ACP. I would have to get a caliper out to measure exactly how long the cylinders are, but as can be seen from this photo they are very similar in length.

 

[Y-T71]

Howdy Again

The upper revolver in this photo is my Model 25-3 Anniversary Model, chambered for 45 Colt. The lower revolver is a Model 1955 Target, chambered for 45 ACP. I would have to get a caliper out to measure exactly how long the cylinders are, but as can be seen from this photo they are very similar in length.

View attachment 1140737

Excellent!
Thanks for educating me!

Beautiful revolvers in this thread.

 

[bangswitch]

The .45 Auto cylinder measures 1.53" from front to back (as does the .45 Colt cylinder on the 125th Anniv ). The .45 Colt cylinder on all other M25 versions measures 1.67". 0.14" ain't much.

Look back at my M25-5 in post #28 and note how much shorter the forcing cone is than on the 125th gun, and how much closer the front of the cylinder is to the yoke area of the frame.

 

[DMW1116]

What barrel length is the one your looking at? Mine is a 8 3/8. My son can hit my steel 17x24 silhouette at 100 yards off hand. He's better with hand guns than i am.
View attachment 1140294

That looks like an awesome version, though for my purposes I think a 6" barrel would be better. I think one was a 4" or so and the other was used and 6" or so. I'm looking for a DA revolver. I have a SA Blackhawk in 357 Mag I really like and is card splitting accurate. I'm actually looking into about 3 different guns, but a DA revolver is one of them.

 

[DMW1116]

How is barrel length measured on revolvers? Is it to the back of the cylinder, front of the cylinder, or to the frame?

 

[SwampWolf]

Isn’t the Model 52 the .38 Master semi-auto?.

I think the pistol pictured might be a Model 952, chambered in 9mm. I've never seen a Model 52 pistol clad in anything but "Bright Blue".

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

How is barrel length measured on revolvers? Is it to the back of the cylinder, front of the cylinder, or to the frame?

Muzzle to front face of the cylinder. Actually, from the muzzle to the very rear of the barrel, but the barrel/cylinder gap should be small enough to not be significant. Barrel lengths are usually stated in fractions of an inch, so front of the muzzle to front face of the cylinder is good enough.

 

[DMW1116]

Ah, thanks. I saw a 3" barreled S&W 686 and thought that would be a good DA revolver, but it looked like the barrel was shorter than 3". That explains where the rest of it was. The Model 25 is also now on my list of options. I already load 357/38. Adding another caliber wouldn't hurt anything, especially one so versatile and long lived as the 45 Colt.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Since it's been mentioned in previous posts, I thought a picture would be appropriate for reference.

Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt.

View attachment 1140436

I see somebody else is an HO model train buff.

 

[Slamfire]

From 1917 until the early 21st century, S&W used the rifling and bore specifications for the 45 ACP that were supplied by the Army. Starting with the Model 22-4, the rifling changed to the traditional 5 groove rifling standard in all other calibers chambered by S&W. Not sure if it was influenced by Clint Smith or just happenstance, but the first ACP revolver I am aware that used the 5 groove rifling was the Thunder Ranch Model 22-4.


Kevin

My Colt New Service revolvers in 45 LC & 45ACP and S&W M1917 revolvers in 45 ACP have huge chamber mouths. They are not accurate with 0.452 cast bullets. Not particularly accurate with 0.452 jacketed bullets, but they will shoot tighter groups.

 

[StrawHat]

My Colt New Service revolvers in 45 LC & 45ACP and S&W M1917 revolvers in 45 ACP have huge chamber mouths. They are not accurate with 0.452 cast bullets. Not particularly accurate with 0.452 jacketed bullets, but they will shoot tighter groups.

Colts are not my thing so, no comment. But the S&W Model 1917s I have are all decently accurate with cast or jacketed. Your comment on the chamber mouths has me wondering. I will need to measure the throats on mine. I will post back when I do so.

Kevin

 

[Slamfire]

Colts are not my thing so, no comment. But the S&W Model 1917s I have are all decently accurate with cast or jacketed. Your comment on the chamber mouths has me wondering. I will need to measure the throats on mine. I will post back when I do so.

Kevin

One simply way is to try to insert a .452 jacketed bullet through the chamber mouth. If there is wobble, your chamber mouth is large! Hopefully you don't have one of those 0.458 diameter mouths I have read about. (Colt).

 

[StrawHat]

Pin gauges also work.

So does a slightly oversized pure lead ball.

For me, measuring is not the problem. Digging out the 1917s is the problem.

Kevin