Good evening folks:
I reside in NYS and I am new to the forum, unfortunately I come with a concern or what could be a problem. Today I took to the range my recently purchased Model 25 (45 LC) revolver. Accidentally my son loaded 1 round of 45 ACP and fire it, afterwards the cartridge was removed and after a bit of scolding on my part I proceeded to try to load the correct ammo.
Unfortunately it would no go past a rim line inside the cylinder. While there is no bulging of the cylinder or any signs of physical damage of the frame I still cannot load the 45 LC.

The revolver recycles the trigger and hammer fine, the cylinder revolves fine I just cannot load the 45 LC ammo. I am very concerned for this is what I call one shot fiasco and I paid dearly for this gun to have it damaged beyond repair.

Any thoughts would really be appreciated please.
Sincerely
Lou (basque1)

Run a bore brush through the 6 charge holes of the cylinder...problem should go away.

Simply firing a .45 acp in a .45 colt cylinder would not cause a cartridge to cause any damage.

How did you remove the .45 acp casing? Hopefully with a pencil or similar item....screwdrivers are a BAD tool for this.

Randy

Does the .45 LC load into the other 5 holes with no problem?

What exactly do you mean when you refer to "Unfortunately it would no go past a rim line inside the cylinder"? The rim of the cartridge should rest on the face of the cylinder; it should not "go past", as there is no recess for it.

I would clean the chambers with a bore brush, and the face of the cylinder and under the extractor star with a tooth brush, and then check again.

I do not think there is any damage to your gun.

No it won't load on any of the holes, albeit only one round was fired we were able to remove the cartridge without a problem

Ok I will try that and let you guys know tomorrow.
Thanks
Lou

You sure your gun isn't a 45ACP?

Are you 100% sure it's not chambered in 45 ACP? Maybe something wrong with that one cartridge? Seems really strange.

Something tells me you have a .45 ACP cylinder in that gun.
Do all the holes have that same ridge line approx 3/4 of an inch
in from the end?

Must be at least a 45ACP cylinder.

Can you post a picture of the chambers?

"Unfortunately it would no go past a rim line inside the cylinder. While there is no bulging of the cylinder or any signs of physical damage of the frame I still cannot load the 45 LC."
If he only loaded one 45ACP round than it could not have affected the other five chambers. Can you load a 45 Colt round into any of them?
If not, than you most likely have a model 25-2 which is chambered in 45 ACP/Auto Rim.
When you swing the cylinder out, what model is stamped into the frame in the crane area? 25? 25-2? 25-5?

I can't imagine a way shooting one 45acp round in your revolver could possibly have the effect of not being able to shoot 45 LC in the other 5 chambers of your M25

Are you sure your revolver has a 45 LC cylinder?

Any chance it's a 45 acp ?

I posted this in the New Member page where you also posted this problem:

Like shooting .38SP/.357, the byproducts of combustion from the shorter cartridge, adhere to the side of the charge hole, slightly reducing the diameter ahead of the case mouth, and that can interfere with loading the longer cartridge.

A good cleaning with solvent and a brass bore brush should open it back up.

Ok I just put a wire brush with Hopes #9 cleaned up and no good the round will not fully load inside any of the 6 holes. I micrometered the hole on both sides and there is no difference so it tells me that there is no bulging . The edge of the cartridge of the round is precluded by the ring inside each holes... This is super strange and frustrating!!!!��������. I will post a picture soon

This certainly sounds like you have a .45 ACP, not a .45 Colt. Will .45 ACP cartridges load in all chambers?

__________________
Pisgah

Is it a 25-2 or a 25-5?

25-2 [.45 ACP] , 25-5 [.45 Colt]

There might have been a run of 25-5's sold with both cylinders.

What is stamped inside the yoke?

If it's a .45 Cot cylinder a .45ACP round probably would have been too deep in the chamber to fire. My guess is that you guys are correct and he's got a .45ACP cylinder and the round head spaced on the case mouth.


OP - Were you able to load .45 Colt rounds in that cylinder prior to the "one shot fiasco"?

__________________
Don't kiss smiling dogs!

Yes I will try to load the pictures now, Bu the way it says 45 CAL on the barrel and it was sold to me as 45 LC

Attached Images

	S&W MOD 25 45 CAL#1.jpg (78.6 KB, 603 views)
	S&W MOD 25 45 CAL#2.jpg (100.0 KB, 672 views)
	S&W MOD 25 45 CAL#3.jpg (78.9 KB, 640 views)
	S&W MOD 25 45 CAL#4.jpg (73.6 KB, 568 views)
	S&W MOD 25 45 CAL#5.jpg (73.6 KB, 549 views)

Here is one more picture

Attached Images

	S&W MOD 25 45 CAL#6.jpg (75.0 KB, 506 views)
	S&W MOD 25 45 CAL#7.jpg (60.5 KB, 530 views)

25-2 I just saw that in the serial number...

But by the same token when I bought the gun I tried a round in the chambers without firing it and it fit perfectly fine this is really weird!!!

Have you ever been able to shoot 45 Colt out of it? I don't think 45 ACP would fire in a LC cylinder. I'd bet $100 you've an ACP cylinder on the gun. It doesn't matter what the barrel says or how it was sold, its not to hard to swap out a cylinder. You might be able to get a refund or exchange.

OK, well if you keep it, the ACP ammo is much cheaper than LC.

Your gun is a 25-2 and is chambered for 45 acp. NOT 45 colt. You need to use 45 acp ammo in moon clips or full moon clips for it to function. A 45 colt cylinder is longer (except fot the 25-3 models. Not only will a 45 colt not chamber in your cylinder it would also have .030 excess head space if it did. You can also use 45 auto rim ammo in it without the clips as auto rims have a thicker rim than 45 colts and a much shorter case.

Go back to the gunstore, tell them they misrepresented the gun,
get them to drop off some $$$$, then go buy some moon clips and
45ACP and have some fun. Your going to enjoy it.

Well if ya need to get rid of it real cheap let me know, real cheap.

Well, it's a 45 cal revolver.

It's pretty obvious that it's a 45 acp cylinder.

OP is trying to use the wrong ammo.

Nothing bad about 45 acp. It's not 45 LC, but who cares in such a revolver?

I suspect OP has a 45 acp cylinder

Nothing bad about that: just not what OP thought he had.

If you stocked up on LC ammo and need something to shoot it with, you might like a classic design.

Yes they load fine but when I push the ejector rod it does not grab the rim and i must tilt the gun upwards to unload them .

Thats why you need moon clips.

You also want to get a moon clip tool, like this one.

Deluxe Moon Clip Tool

Ok I gather that I do have a 45 ACP AND I will keep it, however, I bought 200 rds of 45 LC that I can't return nor use. Can I have 2 cylinders in this gun ? And exchange at will?

Typically no returns on ammo. Might sell it.

Skip to the one minute mark to see moon clip loading into a 25-2.

If you purchased the .45 LC ammo from the same place you purchased the handgun then the error was with the seller and they should take the ammo back!!

Rich

Thats one sweet gun. You'll be glad you kept it.

PM me your address and I will mail you a few moon clips to get started.

__________________
I need ammo, not a ride.

You will NOT regret keeping this true gem!!

My 25-2 is tied with my dad's K-38 4" bbl duty gun for being my favorite.( Actually ALL of my Smith revolvers are tied for being my favorite!!)

Get some moon clips and have a blast....as far as the 45 Colt ammo....surely a fellow member will offer to relieve you of that.

Randy

You clearly have a 45 acp.

That's great!

These headspace on the front edge of the cartridge, not the rim (back) of the cartridge.

Rim clips were developed to facilitate extraction and ejection of the case, not to facilitate accuracy.

Your revolver is almost certainly a great shooter.

45 acp can be loaded to levels comparable to most 45 LC loads.

Your revolver will accommodate such loads, although they provide little benefit compared to ball ammo.

Thanks man that settles it is an ACP. I wish I could have both cylinders 😎

Your son used the correct ammunition.
Maybe he should be scolding you instead of the other way around.

Well, I wasn't there, and we've had at least one recent thread about the wrong ammo and moon clips. I understand that people often aren't completely familiar with the function of a pistol they just bought, but I suspect this pistol was boxed up with a couple moon clips, which should generally elicit a question or two . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

That **** is unnecessary.

Maybe the OP got lucky. .45 ACP is not only cheaper than .45 Colt ("Long Colt" is not an official term), it is not easily confused with .44 Magnum brass when sorting for reloading, nor when loading the revolver (ouch).

Model 25s are made in both calibers, frequently in stock, but you'll have to decide whether to keep it or exchange it somehow. The dealer can't sell a return as new, but price is something you can negotiate.

Personally, I'd keep it and save the .45 Colt experience for SAA pistols and Cowboy Action stuff, along with a lever gun in the same caliber. Moon clips are inexpensive, quick loading, and easy to manage with the right tool (Deluxe Moon Clip Tool).

Basque1: You can have a convertible gun with cylinders for both .45 Colt and .45ACP, but you will have to find a cylinder for a 25-3 and probably modify it slightly to clear the cylinder stop stud in the frame. I made such a conversion recently to a M1950 S&W Target using a cylinder that I bought off this site.

__________________
Tom
1560

Basque:

Your Model 25-2 is a very highly regarded revolver.

You can have an auxiliary cylinder in .45 Colt modified to fit your .45 ACP revolver but it will be expensive and require a good bit of gunsmithing unless you can do the work yourself, as S&W made very few guns in .45 Colt before 1977 and you would have either find a .45 Colt cylinder from a pre-1978 .45 Colt (very scarce) or modify a cylinder from .38 Special or .357 Magnum or have the front end of a Model 25-5 or later cylinder already in .45 Colt shortened to fit into your gun. My guess is that you could buy an existing .45 Colt S&W for less than the cost of conversion.

The beginning of this thread kinda upsets me.

Here we have a guy who wants to get into a nice revolver and doesn't have a bunch of knowledge.

Obviously the sales person who sold it to him was either not very honest or not knowledgeable when they should have been.

I do like that once the problem was narrowed down, many went out of their way to post help, like videos, offers of moon clips.

AS stated a 45 colt cylinder can be fitted or made for this gun. A 25-3 cylinder would be easiest to convert, just turn a .030 cut about .030 deep onto the rear outer edge of the cylinder so it clears the frame lug that keeps the cylinder from moving back when ejecting. A later 45 cylinder would need this done as well as about 0.10 cut off the front of the cylinder so that it cleared the barrel shank by about .004 to .006. A 357 cylinder would need the cylinder cut for the lug and the chambers reamed to 45 colt. All would need the extractor star, checked for timing function and possibly adjusted for fit on the yoke. A good smith can do it. Takes time money and the gun in had to make sure it fits and functions correctly.

I used to have a couple convertible cylinder guns, but went to what I feel is a "better way". I take a regular 45 colt cylinder or ream a 44 mag cylinder to 45 colt then mill a recess cut in the rear of the cylinder to allow for the moon clips, then in the case of a using a ACP frame cut the frame lug to clear for the cylinder. This allows for the use of 45s in clips and leaves a 0.030 ledge for the 45 colts to head space correctly.
This is the cylinder for my stainless dual 45.

Oh forget about about he is already, "thanks Dad for making me feel like **** ;-))
He is cool with it
Lou

Correct and it should have been advertised as such, I have been shooting for many years so with that confidence I purchase the ammo as such!
Lou

Wow, at this juncture I will keep it as is buy the moon clips and enjoy, I am selling the 45 Colt ammo, however!