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.45 Cowboy Special Brass


Hard Cash

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Where can I purchase new .45 Cowboy Special Brass?

 

How much difference is there between the Cowboy Special and the Schofield?

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No where at the moment, I believe. If you have a Schofield case compare it against a 45 acp case, as the CS and the acp are the same length.

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Slim is correct. At the moment, new Cowboy 45 Special brass is unavailable. There "was" someone suppose to be picking up the business from Ms Cubbie, but to date, no cigar!

 

Also correct, just hold a 45 ACP case up against a Schofield case and instantly see the difference. C45S brass is a really good cartridge for our game. Just hope someone finally brings it back.

 

Coffinmaker

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Hard Cash, the Schofield is a fine case for our game and is what I used until Adirondack Jack made the CS available years ago.

 

If you're unfamiliar with it, the rim is larger than a .45 Colt. Because of this, it won't work with some pistols, especially those with rebated cylinders. The other thing is you may need a different shell plate or holder than .45 Colt, depending on your press.

 

I keep my stash in reserve in case my CS brass wears out and can't be replaced.

 

Good luck!

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Will American Cowboy Ammo be selling just the brass?

I have been shooting the 45 CS for several years using a 160 gr bullet.

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Will American Cowboy Ammo be selling just the brass?

I have been shooting the 45 CS for several years using a 160 gr bullet.

 

+1...

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It looks like it may be one of those deals where you have to purchase their loaded ammo, in order to get the cases. Not the best scenario, but that may be the only way of getting the cases. Has anybody contacted them directly as to case availability????

 

RBK

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I won't say I won't buy loaded ammo to get the cases - but I won't. There, I sad it. I'll go back to 45 Colt if I can't get C45S brass at a reasonable price. I have 500 new Starline 45 Colt cases just in case. Plus several hundred used cases. I'd maybe get ACP cylinders for my Cattleman revolvers. I've got a lot of those cases too and they're still available in abundance.

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I can't believe that this would be their plan. To spend the kind of money it took to acquire the head stamp and rights to the name, then to offer it only as loaded ammo is ludicrous. The biggest market or perhaps only market is the CAS reloader. people just shooting a 45 have no interest in this sort of ammo, in fact they probably tend to go the other way.

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In another post I remarked that the sad story of the C45S has been one poorly timed mistake after another. Its best chance for survival was missed when Starline passed on picking up the case. Had someone sat down and written out a plan to kill this as a product, well we have been watching the script painfully unfold! As much as some of us have loved it and praised its merits as a Cowboy round and a great case for BP loading, it was never more than a tiny niche market. Starline would have almost had to offer it as a customer service product while those marketeers that pinned their hopes of quick profits on the short fat case have only dug a fast grave for it.

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If you look at Starline's line of products, they have a lot of obsolete and odd cases that can't have much sales volume. The C45S surely has to have enough market to support it. They could have sold a lot at the price they charge for 45 Auto Rim, for a comparison.

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In the long run it might behoove me to buy two spare cylinders and have a gunsmith convert them to use the auto rim cases. Anyone purchasing their cases from Starline would have to charge a mark-up price anyway and after a few decades I might break even!!! Next thought, what type of bolt work would be required to use the .45 auto-rim in my '73?

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Last time I was in Franks Gun Shop they had 50 or 100 new CS45 cases. This is a local gun shop near where AJ used to live. It's not many but take what you can get, maybe they'll ship to you. 518-883-5053 is their #, tell them Diane Schena told you about it. Good luck.

 

Roper

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In the long run it might behoove me to buy two spare cylinders and have a gunsmith convert them to use the auto rim cases. Anyone purchasing their cases from Starline would have to charge a mark-up price anyway and after a few decades I might break even!!! Next thought, what type of bolt work would be required to use the .45 auto-rim in my '73?

It was a close decision to buy ACP cylinders or C45S brass in the first place. I don't shoot classic cowboy so I think I could just shoot ACP cases. Not so in my Marlin. I could go back to 45 Colt.

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Hello all

I am excited to let you know that American Cowboy Ammo

Is shipping Cimarron Firearns loaded ammo using the 45 SPCL

case. The round will use a 180 grain bullet.

It a wonderful round. Been shooting it for a couple months while they were

Fine tuning the final load.

We expect to receive the first shipment mid-week!

Will take phone orders starting Tuesday morning.

Will try to report back later this evening with pricing.

Will ship via UPS Ground.

stay tuned

A D

Joe Neumann

Cimarron Firearms Co

FBG, TX

It's Tuesday yet ain't it?

 

I sent an email to American Cawboy Ammo asking about brass last evening. I got a quick response. "Thank you for contacting us. We will get back to you as soon as possible.".

 

Anybody else know anything?

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I converted a Marlin to run the C45S figuring it'd be easier than doin' an ACP conversion for WB. Between AJ & Miss Cubbie I picked up 2,000+ of the C45S, I also picked up 400 trimmed 45Colt cases to C45S length from a shooter quitting shooting. But, since the announcement of someone else buying the rights I decided that the C45Ss will only run thru my Colts SAAs... where I can keep the brass! The rifles, both Cowboy and WB will stick with the 45Colt. Hopefully they'll last till I'm a Gran' Patron!!! ;)

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I emailed American Cowboy Ammo and told them I was interested in 45 CS empty brass and was told they would get back to me "if empty brass becomes available."

 

That doesn't sound very promising to me.

 

I agree with what Goody said: "I can't believe that this would be their plan. To spend the kind of money it took to acquire the head stamp and rights to the name, then to offer it only as loaded ammo is ludicrous. The biggest market or perhaps only market is the CAS reloader. people just shooting a 45 have no interest in this sort of ammo, in fact they probably tend to go the other way."

 

Maybe if enough of us ask for the brass and nobody wants the loaded ammo, they will get the idea to sell the brass.

 

-tex fiddler

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Just my 2 cents.

 

It is possible to trim 45LC or 45 Schofield brass to 45 cowboy length. Have been doing it for many years and well before I had heard of the description of 45 cowboy.

 

In anticipation of those who might question using good 45LC/45 Schofield brass to make 45 cowboy ... I agree. In my case I made use of well-used 45LC/Schofield brass with neck splits. Ah ... neck splits ... eventually all brass will get there. Trimming split-neck cases to 45 cowboy makes good use of otherwise useless brass. A downside: the trimmed brass is already well used and doesn't have the remaining life of new, factory brass.

 

When reloading the trimmed cases, I used 45ACP dies with the correct 45LC shell holder. A mild load for 45 cowboy is a modest charge of Bullseye or Unique and a 160 grain bullet. Very light recoil , especially in the heavy pistols chambered for 45LC, but it takes down the steel targets with sufficient authority.

 

Still, the trimming is tedious and I count myself among the other good Pards on this thread who would like factory brass for 45 cowboy. Starline Brass and others: are you listening?

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The C45S surely has to have enough market to support it. They could have sold a lot at the price they charge for 45 Auto Rim, for a comparison.

If you have some data to back this up, I'm sure Starline would like to see it. Perhaps it's a business opportunity, perhaps not. I'm not being sarcastic at all, I'm just reluctant to presume I know where money can be made without any facts or knowledge of the industry and associated costs.

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Without me looking around and trying to figure it out, what are the differences in the 45CS and the 45AR?

Believe the only real difference is rim thickness with Auto Rim being thicker (regular rim plus thickness of moonclip used with ACP case)

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Without me looking around and trying to figure it out, what are the differences in the 45CS and the 45AR?

Approx .22 thousands difference in rim thickness, Auto rim is .082, 45 Colt is .060

These are the minimums, some auto rim case rims will go up to .030 thicker than Colt rims

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If you look at Starline's line of products, they have a lot of obsolete and odd cases that can't have much sales volume. The C45S surely has to have enough market to support it. They could have sold a lot at the price they charge for 45 Auto Rim, for a comparison.

C45S may be Trademarked so to make it you would have to get the owners permission. Would explain why there only seems to be one source.

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With the proper equipment, it would be an easy thing to trim the excess thickness off the 45 Auto Rim. I could do a hundred in an hour on my lathe easy enough. However, you would then have to deepen the primer pockets by the same amount.. That COULD possibly present a problem, unless you could buy an end mill of the correct size to do it. If the end mill is available in the correct size, then that would be an easy operation also.

 

SO. If and If and if, but it could turn out to be fairly easy. I would certainly give it a try, if I had a few cases to experiment with. I at this point do not have any cases, but if someone would send me a few, I certainly will give it a go and see how it would work out.

 

RBK

 

PS: I am of the opinion that in order to control the proper case wall thickness, the only case that would work properly for this is the Auto Rim cartridge. Wall thickness will increase on shortened 45LC and Schofield cases, which would not be a good thing. RBK

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If you have some data to back this up, I'm sure Starline would like to see it. Perhaps it's a business opportunity, perhaps not. I'm not being sarcastic at all, I'm just reluctant to presume I know where money can be made without any facts or knowledge of the industry and associated costs.

Starline produced some large amount for Miss Cubbie and she sold it down to whatever was left when she sold the rights to the name. Marketing and advertising it was pretty much word of mouth here on the Wire. That should give a company like Starline a clue as to the potential market for the case. Think how many more might be sold if it were a catalog item for them and available through their normal distribution channels like MidwayUSA, etc.

 

At every match I shoot, someone at the loading tables question me about the case. Not that every one of these people would be potential customers but it just shows a lack of exposure the case has gotten even in the SASS community.

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With the proper equipment, it would be an easy thing to trim the excess thickness off the 45 Auto Rim. I could do a hundred in an hour on my lathe easy enough. However, you would then have to deepen the primer pockets by the same amount.. That COULD possibly present a problem, unless you could buy an end mill of the correct size to do it. If the end mill is available in the correct size, then that would be an easy operation also.

 

SO. If and If and if, but it could turn out to be fairly easy. I would certainly give it a try, if I had a few cases to experiment with. I at this point do not have any cases, but if someone would send me a few, I certainly will give it a go and see how it would work out.

 

RBK

 

PS: I am of the opinion that in order to control the proper case wall thickness, the only case that would work properly for this is the Auto Rim cartridge. Wall thickness will increase on shortened 45LC and Schofield cases, which would not be a good thing. RBK

 

Would it be possible to cut the excess off the back side of the rim?

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Thanks. So I guess if one were committed to shooting a shorter case they could always remove material from the cylinder and go with the 45AR. But there would be no going back to 45 Colt in that instance. I do wonder what keeps someone from ordering whatever the minimum is from Starline? If the C45S name is trademarked, then why would you not be able to head stamp 45 Cowboy, 45 Short Colt, 45 Special, etc.?

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I just conducted an experiment in cutting 45 Colt brass down to 45 Cowboy. I have a cheapO Chinese mini lathe. I took the shell holder for a Lee case trim tool and chucked it headstock. ( The shell holder is the kind with shaft to attach to power tool.) I installed a C45S case in the holder and adjusted the cutter tool to a little longer than the case. I then put the 45 Colt case in the holder, ran the tail stock up until it entered the case mouth and cut the case. The result was a shortened case with a substantial burr on the inside. I ran a file over the mouth before removing it. I removed it and took pocket knife to remove burr on inside of mouth. I then removed it and hit it a couple of twists a Lee chamfer tool.

 

I measured the wall thickness down to as far as my 200 grain bullets would seat and it came out .012. The C45S came out .011. I cranked them (2) through the Dillion 550 and they loaded like C45S cases. There has been people that say they have done this and then others say it can't be done because the walls of the 45 Colt case thickens too much in the bullet seating area. Maybe it depends on the case?

 

I'm sure improvements can be made to the process. I'm going to pick up a Lee 45 ACP case trim gauge to get a controlled final length without having to measure.

 

I'm sure the process

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Would it be possible to cut the excess off the back side of the rim?

Yes, it is possible and probably the better way. I can send pics later of a jig you could use in your lathe to do so. If shortening 45 Colt brass is working for you, though, that is probably best. Save all of the slightly split or damaged Colt cases and make what you need out of them!

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