45cs vs 45acp

[Boomstick Bruce]

So a guy at the range I practice at gave me 51 rounds of 185gn 45 cowboy special someone left behind. I test fired one from one of my 45 Colt Kirst conversion 58 Remingtons and was pleasantly surprised at the low to almost no recoil. I've been contemplating buying new cylinders and switching to 45acp for the same reason. Now that I've discovered 45cs, I'm rethinking that switch. I just bought a Lyman universal case trimmer off eBay and have a bunch of split brass to cut down and test out. 

[Catlow4697]

Try APP fffg powder and a .454 round ball with heavy crimp 

I don't use any filler  CATLOW 

[Bullett Sass 19707]

If you are cutting down 45 colt cases try one or two first.   As you cut off the brass case the case is thicker at the base than at the mouth.  The bullet will not fit well and the cases after loading may not fit in your chamber.  Bullett 19707

[Warden Callaway]

In my experience,  forget trimming 45Colt brass.   Starline has started making it and distributing it through their web site and most any other places that carry their brass.  The prices are right inline with similar cases. 

 

https://www.starlinebrass.com/brass-cases/45-Cowboy-Special/

 

 

[Beartrap SASS#57175]

28 minutes ago, Catlow4697 said:

Try APP fffg powder and a .454 round ball with heavy crimp 

I don't use any filler  CATLOW 

How much APP are you getting in that case?

[Catlow4697]

I just fill the case so the ball sits on top of app then crimp the ball just past half way

I use cut down 45 colt cases to cowboy 45 length 

Lots of smoke and no problem hitting the rifle targets

[Sarge]

Here's a tip if you are going to trim a lot of .45 Colt brass to Cowboy .45 Spl.  Make a jig out of hardwood that holds ten or twenty cases.  Cut the hardwood to slightly longer than the final trim.  Drill holes through the jig that will hold the .45 Colt cases.  I made mine to hold 10 cases, but you could make it hold as many as you want.  Using the jig, I cut the cases close to length with a band saw.  Then I final trim a a case trimmer.  I've not had a problem with case thickness.  They load just as well as my Starline brass.

[Catlow4697]

I use the 2 inch cut off saw from Harbor Frieght

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

I use C45Spl length cases in several Ruger revolvers.

 

I used to use cut off .45 Colt.  Worked fine.

 

Adirondak Jack then convinced Starline to make C45Spl cases.  They worked fine.  But I got case splits on them about 5 times more often than the sawed off .45 Colt cases, using exactly the same load.

 

Went back to cutting off .45 Colt.   Works fine.  I never find the case walls interfere with chambering when using a 0.452 diameter bullet.   I'm going to stick with the cheaper and more robust cut off cases.

 

Good luck, GJ

[Catlow4697]

I had a lot of odd brand head stamps so I used those to cut down

[Trooper Ozzy]

A  1.3 cc Dipper slightly proud with a 200 gr .452 RNFP works well in the shorter case for me. Remember 200 degree oven, some regular bullets on paper towels for a few minutes to melt the smokeless lube away. Finger lube with your BP only lube and assemble. FWIW I don't put an over powder wad in, just BP and bullet on top. If you like the load, various vendors sell the 200 gr bullet with BP compatible lube ready to go. 

[Warden Callaway]

Back when the supply of store bought C45S dried up,  there was a lot of interest in making them from 45Colt brass.  I had plenty of C45S brass but cut down about a dozen 45Colt just to see how much effort it would be. 

 

 

I was shooting the C45S in my Marlin 1894 and getting a lot of blowback.  I annealed the cases a couple of times now to help with this problem so maybe why I'm not loosing as many to splitting.  

 

As cheap as my time is, I'll buy new C45S brass before I cut down 45Colt. 

[SHOOTIN FOX]

I have the 130 gr Barnstormer bullets for the 45 CS case. It is the bullet originally designed by Adirondack Jack for this case. It is a hollow base truncated cone shape that helps eliminate blowback due to the hollow base skirt that expands on firing.

PM if you are interested.

[Cemetery]

14 hours ago, Catlow4697 said:

Try APP fffg powder and a .454 round ball with heavy crimp 

I don't use any filler  CATLOW 

 

Gonna give this a try.

[Marshal Hangtree]

I'll stick with the Starline brass.  High quality, very uniform.  Some of my Starline .45CS brass is on it's 10th reload with no signs of split cases.

[Eyesa Horg]

I had no issue with standard .452 bullets in cut down 45 colt cases. I now use Starline C45S cases and do have some splits with brand new brass. I still save cracked colt cases from the rifle to cut down when I get a bunch. I'm using a 160 grain bullet in the C45S case with 4.2 grains of Clays.

[Hollifer A. Dollar]

On 7/4/2019 at 7:36 PM, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

Went back to cutting off .45 Colt.   Works fine.  I never find the case walls interfere with chambering when using a 0.452 diameter bullet.

 

I use cut-down 45 Colt brass with 454 bullets - nary a problem loading them or chambering them in the guns.  Full case of Goex, 200 gn Big Lube bullet, Redding profile crimp die loaded on a RL550.  YMMV.

 

I bought the power drive thingie for my Lyman case trimmer.  Then I chamfer & deburr the case mouths with a Hornady dual-chuck power case prep tool.

 

Holler

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

PLUS ONE too Shootin Fox.

 

The 130Gr Hollow Base "Barnstormer" bullet is absolutely SUPERB in the C45S case (or cut down 45 Colt)