Question about Model 25-5 barrel and chamber dimentions ?

[JMV366]

I have a chance to buy an early Model 25-5 .45 Colt (P+R) with
4" barrel.

I have heard reports that the earlier production guns had larger diameter chamber mouths or barrel diameters and accuracy was mediocre...?

Can someone provide more info on this issue...?

Is there an existing thread or any articles that discuss which diameter bullets should be used in the earlier guns...?

Regards,
JMV366

[quinn]

There are several threads on this issue. Roughly speaking, if the barrel is pinned, the throat diameter is the older 454. About the time the pin was deleted, the throat diameters were changed to 452. IIRC this was also about sn N900,000. I read that using cast bullets can solve any accuracy issues in the 454 guns.

[Lou_NC]

I picked up a 25-5 with 6" barrel about a year ago from a local seller. It belonged to his father, and the gun did not appear to have been fired outside the factory. I never owned a .45 Colt and was unaware of the chamber mouth concerns on these guns. I liked the gun and bought it.

So far I've fed it some mild loads using some 250gr LRNFP cast bullets that I bought from a friend (a fellow N-frame fan from my gun club). Accuracy has been good and leading has been minimal (no more than I get shooting cast bullets out of any of my other S&W revolvers). These .452 bullets will drop right through the cylinder mouths on all six chambers.

Bottom line is that I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 25-5 if it was a good specimen and the price was reasonable. If you're a reloader, you can certainly find .454 cast bullets from a number of sources without looking too hard (assuming you even need them).

What's not to like about this gun??



Good luck,
Lou

[Watchdog]

Originally Posted by JMV366

I have a chance to buy an early Model 25-5 .45 Colt (P+R) with
4" barrel.

I have heard reports that the earlier production guns had larger diameter chamber mouths or barrel diameters and accuracy was mediocre...?

"Mediocre" is a pretty nebulous term in my book. I'd want to see some range reports from qualified shooters before I made a buying decision based on opinions. I'd want to know about accuracy when fired offhand, not from a sandbag rest. I'd look back through previous threads here to see if anyone has any stats about accuracy with different loads/different bullet diameters, etc.

That said, if I found a really nice P&R 25-5, especially a 4-inch, I'd be really interested...depending, of course, on condition, etc.

[epj]

Just going off the top of my head here, I'm thinking .45 Colt factory loads use a larger bullet then the .45 ACP. I could be all wet about this. I had a 25-3 125 year anniversary model. The most beautiful handgun I have ever owned. Accuracy was worse than mediocre. I didn't know about throat dimensions in those days. If I had, I would have tried some larger bullets.

[ADP3]

Remington 250 grain RNL bullets run .454 to .455 diameter and work well in Model 25-5's. Winchester 231 and Unique gave me excellent accuracy out of 4" and 6" barrels. Be judicious and check reloading manuals for recommended loads. Also be advised that the cylinder wall from the bottom of the locking notch to the chamber is paper thin on .45 Colt N-frames. It is best not to "magnumize" S&W .45 Colts.

Best Regards,
ADP3

[Mike, SC Hunter]

I have a 25-5 that shot horribly and leaded badly with my reloads with 452 dia. bullets. I bought a .454 dia. mold & sizer and all the problems went away. Its as accurate as my other Smiths now.

[DR505]

If you handload, try RimRock Bullets...they will ship any diameter .45 Colt bullet that you specify. They are BHN about 15, so not too hard.

[Doug M.]

This has been discussed in several strings. At least one member has produced a pretty good treatise on the issue, but I cannot recall whom at this time. There was some variation in the earlier revolvers (before that N900000 serial # range mentioned above). Some were pretty close to .452, some, maybe most, about .454, and some really way out there; I think at least one member has mentioned .459 or some such silliness.

My understanding is that the original .45Colt spec was .454. Long before S&W made most of their 45Colt revolvers (at least the modern ones, from 25-3 and 25-5 on), that evolved to .452, apparently to match the 45ACP. For what ever reason, S&W's cutters were not correct for that. Some of the revolvers shoot well in spite of the problem; some shoot well with the .454s or other handloads measured to match the individual revolver, and some suck. One member has had his cylinder replaced by S&W in the past few months and I recall him being very happy with the outcome.

There have been several strings about this in the last few years, and a bit of searching should turn up enough strings to give you enough information to keep you reading a while, and once digested, the ability make a decent decision.

[series guy]

A really good shooting pal of mine bought one of the 125th year anniversary guns I fired in the presentation case. Accuracy was appalling. The cylinder throats measured .458. A 25-2 that I have had .454 throats and would only shoot Raineers with any kind of accuracy. This is just my personal feelings so take it as such but having to buy specially sized bullets and assemble loads that will only work in one gun can really take the fun out of things. When at the range it's not unusual to try out somebody's gun with ammo belonging to whoever brought some extra. We all load mild loads but do so with different powders and bullets. It would be less fun to have to keep ammo and guns segregated.

[5erdriver]

For what it's worth and this may help the OP in his decision, I recently purchased a LNIB pinned 4" bbl 25-5 S/N 828xxx with .452 throats.
My .452 plug gauge snugly passes through each one, the .453 gauge doesn't fit in any.
I had contacted the seller prior to the sale to take measurements and if he would guaranty me that all the throats were less than .453 then we had a deal.