This past weekend, myself and my son shot a newly acquired .455 Hand Ejector Second Model. The handgun is mechanicly sound and locks up tight. I was using Hornady 455 Webley MK-II ammo. The problem is, every casing bulged to the point of becoming non-ejectable. I had to force all casing from the cylinder. Can anyone give me a possible reason for this. The rounds fit tight upon loading and the cylinder has not been modified. Added photos show the buldged casings, the cylinder and the cylinder with 45 lc inserted.





All help is greatly appreciated.

Grey2393

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NYSP

Are you sure it hasn't been whizzed out to accept .45 Long Colt? There should be a "step" about 2/3rds of the way in the chamber if it's original.
Sound almost as if you have a deformed chamber. Any chance of some close-ups of the fired brass?

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Sounds like all six chambers exhibit the same problem.

Any chance of trying ammunition by another manufacturer? Perhaps you got a batch of ammo w/ bad brass(?) Otherwise, it has to be a chamber issue.

Do the chambers look clean, straight, and reasonably shiny or are the chambers rough looking? It's probably had a lot of corrosive rounds shot through it.

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You're shy a few manners.

I think that's what I meant to say..

I was thinking that someone may have botched all charge holes in trying to "convert" it.

I also like the idea of "polishing out" any pitting or corrosion from corrosive priming and getting just a little to aggressive in the process...

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Sure would be interesting to see whether or not a .45 Colt cartridge would fit each chamber, then whether the cylinder would close easily.
Seems most likely to be a caliber conversion, as deadin suggested.
Best of luck.
I do enjoy shooting my .455 HE 2nd which had been converted to .45 Colt before I purchased it. It shoots very well.

I believed what the man said in his original post, although I'm sure anybody could make a mistake.

The main differences between a .455 Webley case and a .45 Colt case are length and rim diameter, neither of which would cause case bulging. (Like shooting a .38 Special in a .357 Magnum; you wouldn't expect the .38 case to be bulged).

The outside case diameter for a .45 Colt case is 0.480" per both Hornady and Speer. I have some Hornady .455 Webely Mk II rounds, and their cases measure 0.475" outside diameter. I don't think such a slight difference would cause the problem described above.

I'm more inclined to agree with the theory that someone went nuts with an electric drill, attempting to do some deep cleaning or polishing free-hand. (IE, without the benefit of any jigs or presses.) Or the chambers are corroded pretty badly. Or a previous owner bulged all the chambers firing too hot handloads(?)

Pictures of the bulged cases and the chambers would possibly help in diagnosing the problem.

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You're shy a few manners.

Photos added to assist

Grey2393

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NYSP

Well, it doesn't look like it was converted, but it does look like there has been some pretty heavy "cleaning" (buffing) trying to get rid of the pitting/corrosion.
I'm not exactly sure what you can do in this case....

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

I concur with Dean's diagnosis. The only thing you might consider -- and I don't know if this is even possible with the amount of steel left -- is to bore them out to a larger diameter and then sleeve them to restore the original straight chamber walls.

The challenge, of course, lies in the depth of the cylinder stop cuts. There is precious little steel left between the bottom of the cut and the inside wall of the associated chamber in the best of circumstances. I don't think you would want to make the connection between the two spaces, even if you are going to put a steel liner in to restore the chamber.

Definitely a project for a good gunsmith if you want to undertake this kind of repair. If you do, you might want to see if chambering it to take .45 Colt would be of any interest to you. Pressures are still low and the round is a little more powerful. Good luck as you explore solutions.

EDITED TO ADD AFTERTHOUGHT: Might be cheaper just to find a used cylinder. It doesn't have to be pretty if the gun is just a shooter anyway, but if you wanted to make the gun pretty you could start with a replacement cylinder and then refinish the whole thing.

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David Wilson

That's a strange one. I've shot the Fiocchi stuff several times in my Canadian .455 with no problems whatsoever. Your brass looks just like my .32 longs after shooting in the Russian Nagant.
As to the other post about sleeving, there is VERY little room between the notches and the inside of the chamber in a .45. This couldn't even be considered as an option.

I don't see how that much metal could have been removed by an accidental, overly ambitious cleaning, either. That's quite a bit of metal.

This might be a bit of a stretch, but could it have been reemed out to one of the other obsolete British cartridges? .476 Adams something-or-other? Just a thought.

If it was a bulge problem from hot handloads, I would think you would see it, but maybe not.

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Chris
SWCA #2243 SWHF #292

The chambers look bored out to me as I see a shadow line where the chamber step used to be just short of the current step. The chamber at 6 O'Clock definately looks bulged at the cylinder stop notch. Bulges can be difficult to see. Look along the outside of the cylindeer toward a strong light and rock the cylinder so that you look alternately through the charge hole and the outside of the cylinder. You will see the shadow.

Hi:
Oversized chambers. I have seen the same type case bulged with a .38 S&W cylinder that has been reamed out to .38spl.
Jimmy

That might be the best option, if you can find one.

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You're shy a few manners.