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45 Cowboy Spl Brass vs 45 ACP Cylinder


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You can order a 45 ACP Cylinder from EMF for around 165.00 +Shipping 

Or 

You can by Starline 45 Cowboy Spl Brass on GB for around 38.00 +Shipping for 100 ct 

 

What is your thoughts ?

 

 

 

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I thought about ACP cylinders for my Uberti Cattleman 45s, but I converted my Marlin 1894 over the shoot the 45C45S so just shot it in my Cattleman and other 45 Colt handguns.

 

308875946_ColtSAA45ColtnewcolorcaseJune172021.jpg.ef0d06c7866c80f32bd885f6dfdefd7e.jpg 

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I just trim down used .45 Colt cases and they run fine in all my .45 Colt handguns - no neck thinning needed.  Cases last longer before cracking than the ones Starline make, as well.  I figure my used .45 Colt donor cases cost me 5 cents per and I can convert about 50 an hour in my spare time.

 

Either way, running a .45 auto cylinder or C45Spl cases, you will be 100% handloading exercise.  Not much ammo factory made.

 

Probably a good chance a new cylinder will also need a little tuning to make it time just right with your existing gun.  So leave some room in the budget for fitting. 

 

I have a Ruger with both cylinders - I have shot the .45 Auto cylinder maybe twice in 50 years.  And I load a ton of .45 auto cartridges.  Just don't enjoy shooting the Blackhawk that way.

 

good luck, GJ

 

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45 ACP Head Spaces on the case mouth.  C45S Head Spaces on the case rim.  Actual head space for either is the same as the ACP cases stick up out of the chamber to the same height as C45S.  The only advantage to the 45 ACP cylinder is the lack of space between the case mouth and the throat, eliminating lots of bullet "jump."  I found little if any difference in accuracy or function when shooting C45S in 45 Colt chambers.  Ergo, unless you just want to run 45 ACP cases in your single action, adding 45 ACP cylinders is most likely a waste of money.

 

Oh, and 45 Barnstormer won't chamber in a 45 ACP Cylinder when loaded normally.

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Personally I went with the 45 cowboy brass with the theory of I can still shoot colts, or cowboys without changing anything. As a bonus I got a carrier for my rifle from bill English to shoot the cowboys in my rifle.

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38 minutes ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

 

45 ACP Head Spaces on the case mouth.  C45S Head Spaces on the case rim.  Actual head space for either is the same as the ACP cases stick up out of the chamber to the same height as C45S.  The only advantage to the 45 ACP cylinder is the lack of space between the case mouth and the throat, eliminating lots of bullet "jump."  I found little if any difference in accuracy or function when shooting C45S in 45 Colt chambers.  Ergo, unless you just want to run 45 ACP cases in your single action, adding 45 ACP cylinders is most likely a waste of money.

 

Oh, and 45 Barnstormer won't chamber in a 45 ACP Cylinder when loaded normally.

Those barnstormers were fun to play with. Too bad they aren't available anymore. 

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Thanks for all the responses. 

I knew I could cut down my split 45 colt brass .

But I like to keep a minimum of 4 or 5 hundred round loaded for everything I shoot .

And I did not want to wait that long for split brass lol.

I have hundreds of 45 ACP 200gr rnfp already loaded for my 1911's .

So that why I have the debate of 45 Spl Brass or 45 ACP Cylinder. 

The nice part of 45 Cowboy Spl I can shoot them in all my 45 Colt guns not just having cylinders for just two guns.

The things we have to deal with as Cowboy Shooters :rolleyes:

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9 hours ago, SHOOTIN FOX said:

45cs will not fit in a 45 acp cylinder if that is your intention. It is a rimmed cartridge.

I have four .45 acp Birdshead Vaqueros that shoot C45S just fine. They are .45 acp ONLY, not convertibles.

 

5 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

A .45 ACP cylinder will also not allow you to use .45 Autorim.   The only known revolver where this is not possible!

... ? I'm not reading something right, I guess. The thicker rim of the AR cartridge won't allow it to work in a single action .45 acp revolver, of course, unless the cylinder has been shaved to use moon clips, and you would have to remove the base pin & cylinder to reload the acp's.

 

BirdsheadGripsX4.thumb.jpg.9afc650c078e098c1a156b965af516dd.jpg

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1 hour ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

I have four .45 acp Birdshead Vaqueros that shoot C45S just fine. They are .45 acp ONLY, not convertibles.

 

... ? I'm not reading something right, I guess. The thicker rim of the AR cartridge won't allow it to work in a single action .45 acp revolver, of course, unless the cylinder has been shaved to use moon clips, and you would have to remove the base pin & cylinder to reload the acp's.

 

BirdsheadGripsX4.thumb.jpg.9afc650c078e098c1a156b965af516dd.jpg

Beautiful Lady's  :wub:

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I've got an old 3-screw Blackhawk with 45Colt and 45ACP cylindecs. The ACP cylinder won't chamber the C45S because the cylinder comes all the way back to recoil shield.  

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4 hours ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

... ? I'm not reading something right, I guess. The thicker rim of the AR cartridge won't allow it to work in a single action .45 acp revolver, of course, unless the cylinder has been shaved to use moon clips, and you would have to remove the base pin & cylinder to reload the acp's.

 

On a Colt or S&W 1917, or a shaved Webley, you can use .45 ACP or .45 Autorim.

With an SAA in .45ACP, you cant use .45 Auto rim because the gap between frame and cylinder isn't big enough.   No need for clips with the SAA if the gap was big enough, and you could still use ACP.  

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I don't know why people keep saying 45 cowboy specil wont fit in 45acp cylinders  ?

 

Never asked that question

 

The question is, 

Should I buy a 45ACP cylinder and shoot 45acp cartridges in my Colt gun or Just buy 45 Cowboy Spl and shoot them in the 45 Colt Cylinder  ! 

 

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I have a NMV that is convertable but...like Garrison Joe I have used the acp cylinder once to see that it worked. The only way I justify the extra cylinder is if a 'covid' type ammo shortage ever happens again I could use 45 acp ammo if I ran short. Kind of an expensive back up but it is fun to have.

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No experience with the ACP cylinders, but I've been shooting the C45S in my clones and open tops for several years now.

With the ease of making the brass and the C45S brass being commercially available, my vote would be using the Special in your existing revolvers.

Of course, YMMV.

Choctaw

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10 hours ago, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

I don't know why people keep saying 45 cowboy specil wont fit in 45acp cylinders  ?

 

Never asked that question

 

The question is, 

Should I buy a 45ACP cylinder and shoot 45acp cartridges in my Colt gun or Just buy 45 Cowboy Spl and shoot them in the 45 Colt Cylinder  ! 

 

I think it depends on if you are already reloading for 45 ACP or not and how much 45 acp brass you already have. If you are starting from scratch on 45 acp then I would probably just buy the Cowboy Special brass.

 

If you already have a bunch of 45 acp brass and you feel comfortable fitting a new cylinder to your revolver (my understanding is that they are not always just drop in) then I'd likely go that route. 

 

Hindsight is always 20/20 but I sometimes wonder if I should have just got Vaqueros chambered in 45 ACP and an 1873 setup to shoot it as well. I would have had to mess with 45 colt/45 cowboy brass and bullets and dies etc. Especially since I am already shooting Wild Bunch as well. 

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22 hours ago, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

Should I buy a 45ACP cylinder and shoot 45acp cartridges in my Colt gun or Just buy 45 Cowboy Spl and shoot them in the 45 Colt Cylinder  ! 

 

 

Do you shoot 45acp in other pistols?  1911? Glock? Whatever else?

 

I do 45acp for smokeless, also same load for my 1911s. I load 45cbwy spl just for black/subs.   My converter is the Kirst.

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If you had the 45 ACP cylinders and large primers became unavailable,  you could use some of the 45 ACP cases which use the small pistol size primers,. If you load the  ACP cases to match Cowboy Special loads and then tried to shoot them in a semi-auto 45 you could have a lot of malfunctions because the loads are too light.  The Cowboy Special cases in the Colt cylinders is similar to shooting 38 Special in a .357. . Some rifles will work with the Scofield cases, but not the CS  without having to modify the rifle. Some revolvers, especially Rugers, do not like Scofield brass.  There are some positive and negative points to which ever way you go. 

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Well Heck, Rooster,

 

We all just got carried away.  Just shoot Cowboy 45 Special cases in your existing 45 Colt chambers.  They will work just fine in 45 Colt chambers.

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What he said - whoever heard of a thread that stayed on topic for more than three replies? :lol:

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On 7/10/2024 at 9:51 PM, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

...Just buy Cowboy 45 Spl and shoot them in the 45 Colt Cylinder  ! 

Fixed that nomenclature error.  But, by all means, YES!  And, don't be chinsie... buy a 1,000!  then when others complain they can't get any... you can be smug.

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I have shot Ruger OMVs in .45 Colt since 2005.  I started shooting the Cowboy Specials about 2015.

I am now looking at buying ACP cylinders since I have piles of ACP brass left over from shooting IPSC before cowboy.

My ACP brass is half large primers and half small, eliminating a concern about primer shortages.

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On 7/12/2024 at 10:34 PM, Griff said:

Fixed that nomenclature error.  But, by all means, YES!  And, don't be chinsie... buy a 1,000!  then when others complain they can't get any... you can be smug.

I don't understand your statement  .

Did I piss in your Wheaties somewhere ?

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I bout a 45 acp Ruger but got a 45lc cylinder to match my other 45lc gun I never bought the 45 acp for cowboy. I am not sure why you would want to shoot 45 acp. Instead of 45lc cowboy load??

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W Willi

 

It's all about internal volume, which equates to ignition efficiency, flame propagation and burn characteristics.  When shooting reduced loads, the 45 ACP case is much more efficient than a cavernous 45 COLT case.  It's physics personafied.  That is also the primary reason the Cowboy 45 Special case was developed, with the same internal volume as the 45 ACP.  Both of which are very efficient with reduced Black Powder loading as well. 

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4 hours ago, Wild Willi said:

I bout a 45 acp Ruger but got a 45lc cylinder to match my other 45lc gun I never bought the 45 acp for cowboy. I am not sure why you would want to shoot 45 acp. Instead of 45lc cowboy load??

Much smaller Case .

Much Cleaner Burn .

Less Recoil .

What's Not to Understand?

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8 hours ago, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

I don't understand your statement  .

Did I piss in your Wheaties somewhere ?

The C45S is properly titled "Cowboy 45 Special", not 45 Cowboy Special, or other often misstated titles.  Yes, 45 Cowboy Special trips off the tongue a little easier.   And, no, you didn't piss in my Wheaties, but I do value accuracy in firearms and the written word, hence my oft critique of the use of 45 "Long" Colt to describe the iconic original round chambered in the Colt SAA.  Both the cartridge and it's primary developer, Adirondak Jack deserve the respect of using it's real name.  And yes, I also encourage folks to buy more than they may initially think will be sufficient of most any supply item...   Brass doesn't go "bad"... but certain configurations of same (like .44-40, C45S, 45 Colt), may become scarce from time to time... having plenty on hand steels a person from being caught short-handed.  If you ever catch me using the word "caliber" in reference to a cartridge, feel free to hoist me on my own petard.

 

Your knowledge of firearms and ammunition, like many others on this forum, is outstanding, and a constant source of good information... I don't consider myself among those, but do have the belief that those possessing such knowledge have it on their shoulders to be accurate in their use of terms in order to effectively educate those of us trying to absorb said knowledge.  We are then more likely to correctly repeat what we learn, rather than pass on mis-information.  Something I strive for all my own communications, here and elsewhere.  (Admittedly, I'm not always successful, but, that still doesn't absolve me of my duty to try).

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On 7/10/2024 at 8:47 AM, slow poke gear said:

Personally I went with the 45 cowboy brass with the theory of I can still shoot colts, or cowboys without changing anything. As a bonus I got a carrier for my rifle from bill English to shoot the cowboys in my rifle.

Slow Poke;  How do you fit 'dem Cowboys in your rifle?  Are they still wearin' their boots?

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Now i don’t care what you youngsters call it I been shootenut for over 40 years and was not a kid when I started. And the felt recoil or 45 lc is  less than 45acp. Cowboy loads even less. Then you take into account rimmed cs rimless then that’s another consideration 

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13 minutes ago, Wild Willi said:

Now i don’t care what you youngsters call it I been shootenut for over 40 years and was not a kid when I started. And the felt recoil or 45 lc is  less than 45acp. Cowboy loads even less. Then you take into account rimmed cs rimless then that’s another consideration 

Then I take it that you haven't shot a 45 Colt with 38+ grains of BP behind a 250 grain bullet

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