I looked at a Model 25-5 last night. Gun was in excellent condition with a little blue wear at the muzzle. I would have called it 98%, the seller called it 95. Four inch barrel, target trigger and hammer, but Magna stocks. Pinned barrel, although the S/N (N763xxx) put it at 1980, if I read the book right. No box or papers.

I read in anothe thread something about the -5's having a longer cylinder than the older guns? Did I get that right? I have no plans at all to try to shoot "Ruger loads" out of anything, not even a Ruger, so no worries about that. I'm old and don't like recoil. And there was something about bore size variation? Again did I get that right?

I've got a box of 45 Colt ammo that needs a gun.

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John 3:16 .

I don't know about cylinder length, but I believe some of the earlier 45 Colt Smiths had large cylinder throats versus bore diameter. At some point I think Smith corrected this but I don't know where. I'm sure others much more knowlegeable about this model/chambering will pipe in with more detailed information.

Speaking personally, my .45 ACP 1955 Target has .455-.456 throats, but shoots my .452 bullets just fine. Apparently each gun is a rule onto itself.

The first .45 Colt N frame was the M25-3. This gun had a .45 ACP length cylinder. Basically a rebored M25-2 cylinder. A lot of .45 Colt ammo was just to long to work in the gun, so they came out with the M25-5.

Some of the early M25-5 (maybe the 25-3 too, I don't know) had oversized cylinder throats. While these guns still function fine, the accuracy leaves something to be desired, unless one mics the throats and loads appropriatly sized bullets.

While the 25-5 throat problem was fixed prior to the deletion of the pinned barrel, many recommend getting a non pinned gun to be sure it doesn't have this problem. At least if you are not able to mic the throats prior to purchase.

I own two M25-5s, a 4" and a 6". Both are pinned. both shoot just fine with any load I have used. I never bothered to mic either of them.

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Formerly know as Lucky Derby