45 LC and 45 ACP

[gutterman]

I own a 25-5 in 45LC-can I shoot 45 ACP's in it using moon clips?

[Art Doc]

Think about it.

[gutterman]

I'am guessing it's a headspace issue--haven't had the opportunity to shoot a 45 ACP revolver.

[tennexplorer]

You can send the cylinder off and have the rear of it machined to add clearance to accommodate the full moon clips and then you can shoot .45ACP and .45 Colt. TK Custom in Illinois is one company that does the work.

[Smee78]

Yep, I had Mark at Pinnacle-Guns.com: Pinnacle High Performance Custom Gunsmithing do my S&W 625MG and now I shoot both.

[Old Corp]

I HAVE done it, but not in the conventional manner.
Standard half-moon clips loaded with ACP's will not allow the cylinder to close.
Many years ago, I had an old S&W 2nd Model H.E. that had started life as a .455 British service revolver. It had been re-cut to accept .45 Colt like so many have been.
It did OK with mild .45 Colt ammo, but being young, hardheaded and poor I wanted a way to shoot ACP's out of it.
My stepfather, who was a lifer at IBM and had some machining skills, used some existing half moon clips I had as a template and began making thinner versions out of some sort of spring steel.
Not bringing the gun to work, it was a try-this-and-see series of attempts to arrive at the correct thickness for cylinder closure and fitment of loaded rounds against the face of the recoil shield.
Finally got it right, and he made up a couple dozen of the ultra-thin half moons and I shot ACP's out of that gun for years until I got rid of it in a trade.
One I wish I'd kept.

[amazingflapjack]

Suggest that, if you have the conversion done, as I did, you consider using 45 Winchester Magnum brass loaded to a moderate 45 colt level. I started with low powered loads and worked up with great results. The 45WM's are basically longer, heavy duty ACP's, and work perfectly in ACP moon clips. I will now probably only shoot 45 colt out of this gun out of necessity!

[Mickey D]

How about using .45 auto rim?

[STCM(SW)]

Or do as I did and have a second cylinder fitted.

[max]

TK Custom can mill your cylinder so that you can fire both.

[Muley Gil]

Originally Posted by Mickey D

How about using .45 auto rim?

The AutoRim cartridge has a rim that is the same thickness as .45 ACP in clips, which is too thick to chamber in a .45 Colt cylinder.

[amazingflapjack]

was that the long distance between the bullet and the forcing cone caused accuracy problems for me, and even though it has .451 throats, I just could not find a combo that would seal well enough to produce decent FPS rounds; accurate, but in the 700+ range from a round that produced apx 1000 fps out of a 1911. The 45win mag's loaded to 45 colt levels really worked. They are only an 1/8 inch shorter than the colts, and provide quick reloads in moon clips, and no cases trapped under the extractor ala 45 colt/25-5. This combination made the gun for me. Pinnacle did my work, and I had them do several other things while there. It is now one of my favorites.