Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 A feller asked me if he could have his .45 ACP cylinder re-cut to .45 Colt so he could use either my C45S cartridge or Long Colt? Gun is a Taurus DA revolver, which I am told is close headspaced enough to run either round when headspacing off the rim. I don't SEE any reason why it can't be done. Do you? If it's doable, who would ya send it to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Only because I'm limited on knowledge of alot of our gunsmiths abilities, I do know that Lassiter is a top notch machinist and gunsmith. You might want to give him a call. I'm curious.....did Taurus leave enough length in the cylinder to hold .45 Colt stuff? ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex Jones, SASS 2263 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Probably could be cut but the rear of the cylinder could be an issue, i.e. there may not be enough clearance for the rims. If the Taurus revolver comes in 45 Colt then buying a cylinder (assuming the same outside dimensions) in that caliber and having it fitted would be a lot easier and cheaper. A good pistolsmith would be on the level of Bill Laughridge at Cylinder and Slide if the cylinder chambers were to be recut. It seems a lot of effort and cost for a Taurus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Howdy AJ The whole issue is how much space is there between the cylinder and the recoil shield. Every DA revolver chambered for 45 ACP that I have ever seen has about .030 of extra space between the rear of the cylinder and the recoil shield. This is to allow for using moon clips with 45 ACP. It also allows shooting 45 Auto Rim cartridges, which have a rim thickness of .090, in order to use up the extra space. I'm sure you are aware that the standard rim thickness for 45 Colt is .060. So if the headspace on the revolver in question is set up for a .060 thick rim, all that is needed is to ream out the chambers for 45 Colt. However, I really doubt that it is set up like that. With a DA revolver chambered for 45 ACP, if there is no allowance for moon clips, there is no way to eject the empties unless you poke them out with a stick. I doubt anybody would make one that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 AJ, I'm with Driftwood on this one. Most if not all DA Revolvers chambered in .45ACP are intended to run moon clips. No moon clip, no ejection. Lots of head space. Best test with this gun is to chamber your .45CS and check the head space. IF the .45CS will chamber. The chamber itself may have been cut with a shallow shoulder to prevent loading without the moon clip. Lots of little "what if's" to this one. Best answer without being able to fondle the gun is ..... ah maybe .. maybe not. Were I, I'd contact the manufacture for a swap out cylinder. Coffinmaker PS: You ever make any .44 Russian Snap Caps or ..... Would ya??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 I'm told by eyeball the cylinder is long enough, and that Taurus uses a special set up with the ACP, some very thin moon clips that make the taurus guns headspace too tight for the use of .45 Autorim, which led the Taurus faithful to discover the Cowboy .45 Special cartridge as an "ejector-friendly" way to use the gun without the moon clips. I expect the gun has a HAIR more headspace than a .45 Colt, but not a lot..... Presumably the firing pin has enough reach to make em work if not headspaced on the mouth, but I'm not sure of that either. The fellow I'm talking aboiut this with has little technical knowledge and doesn't reload, making any efffort to "remote tech" the situation less than confidence inspiring. He simply correctly laid a .45 Colt round beside the cylinder and found the cylinder long enough, then cut off a .45 Colt case head very short and verified the cylinder would turn with the Colt rim in the gun, but beyond that we're theorizing.... He asked about pressure, which is a non-issue for SAAMI .45 Colt rounds, or even modestly warm handloads, as long as .45 ACP pressures were respected.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 AJ, I'm with Driftwood on this one. Most if not all DA Revolvers chambered in .45ACP are intended to run moon clips. No moon clip, no ejection. Lots of head space. Best test with this gun is to chamber your .45CS and check the head space. IF the .45CS will chamber. The chamber itself may have been cut with a shallow shoulder to prevent loading without the moon clip. Lots of little "what if's" to this one. Best answer without being able to fondle the gun is ..... ah maybe .. maybe not. Were I, I'd contact the manufacture for a swap out cylinder. Coffinmaker PS: You ever make any .44 Russian Snap Caps or ..... Would ya??? CC, email or call me about the snap caps. I too think his best way around this is to have a .45 Colt cylinder fitted for the gun, which would allow use of Colt/C45S in one cylinder, and ACP with the original cylinder, (the gun is offered oin both acp and "long Colt", so Taurus can get him a cylinder), but he's looking for a truely universal set-up where he can also burn acp using he thin Taurus moon clips. Without a specimen of the ACP revolver in hand, I'd be guessing as well (thoughts run to how much headspace we talking about, even if it worked, would it be excessive, etc...... Maybe somebody's got one and maybe would be willing to try and figure this out with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Dog, SASS #20401 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Any updates on this issue? How does S&W handle it with their new Governor which they advertise to chamber 410, 45 ACP and 45 Colt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowhand Bob, 24229 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I recently received a response to a post over on CAS City concerning the Cowboy 45 special and was told that there will be a run of Kirst cylinders that will handle the Special and ACP interchangeably, least that was the way I understood it. At any rate contact Raven and ask him about it, not sure if he handles general gunsmithing now that he is so involved with Kirst?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sam, SASS #10915 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 AJ, Ask the guy to trim off the end of one of the 45 Specials to avoid it headspacing on the case mouth: then with the cut-off cartridge headspacing on the rim, take a feeler gauge to measure the space between the cartridge and recoil shield. That ought to give you some idea as to what you're playing with. Up to now, I also thought that all of the acp revolvers were cut with extra headspace for the half moon clip. I never handled one cut for the special clip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Taurus makes three frames that might work. The "Raging Bull" is .454, no problem. Their large frame DA revolver is made in .44Mag. Shouldn't be a problem with length there, and probably not rim spacing either. Their medium frame .45ACP, the Tracker uses a "Star" moon clip, and is a five shot. The same frame is used for their Model 450, a two inch, concealable piece. Think of a modern "Fitz Special". It's chambered in .45Colt. I would think that it wouldn't be much trouble to have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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