What a great TL and very versatile shooter.
A. You will also be able to shoot 455 Mk I and Mk II in the 45 Colt cyl. Although the 455 rime is a bit thinner than the 45 Colt, the long firing pin on these early Smiths will do the job and give reliable ignition.
B. Shooting 45 ACP in 455 chambers (they will work with clips when the cyl has been shaved for 45 AR) is controversial. .45 ACP is not a recommended conversion for the 455s because they do not have heat treated cylinders. The 455 Mk II ammo (also referenced as 455 Webley Mk II) is in the 14,000 pressure range and the 45 ACP in the 19,000 range to insure it would cycle the 1911 auto slide reliably. The 1917 S&W and Colt Army revolvers were designed for the ACP and have heat treated cylinders. I caution about the use of full load ACP with its factory loading of at least 21,000 units pressure. The increase of 7000 units over the 455 ammo’s 14,000 units pressure: 7000 divided by 14,000 = a 50% increase. And especially do not shoot +P loadings.
If you reload 45 ACP, just keep them in the 45 AR pressure range because 45 AR (Auto Rim) was designed for revolvers and is in the same 14,000 low pressure range as 455 ammo, thus perfectly safe.
I'm not aware of catastrophic failures due to using factory ACP in 455 cylinders, but that's not the issue. Accumulative damage to the cyl and revolver is the potential danger. Dimpling of the cyl notches from the chamber side of the notch is the first usual sign of over pressure loads and will eventually make cases impossible to extract and render the cyl useless.
C. There are three basic versions of .455 chambered Hand Ejector revolvers made by S&W under contract to the British for WW I. All three groups include some triple locks, but those in the 3rd group are actually 1st versions. “When” roll marked with the cal., they are roll marked only S&W 455 because all versions are actually reamed to also chamber the longer MK I cartridge per the British contract. Therefore the ‘book name’ references of 455 Mark II for all versions of S&W 455 chambered revolvers is a bit of a misnomer.
This is not be confused with the British revolver name “MK II” for the 455 Mark II HE – 2nd Model, which the British stamped MK II on the left rear frame of the revolvers and are known as such by them.
The WWI British contract Colt is marked ".455 ELEY", different than The S&W 455 marking.
Your TL is the 2nd version, ".455 Mark II Hand Ejector - 1st Model" below:
1. “.44 HE - 1st Model”, ‘Triple Lock’, chambered for .455: 812 factory reconfigured unassembled or unsold ".44 Spl HE 1st Models", often not stamped .455, original chamberings unknown but most or all were likely originally .44 Spl. For the British there are 666 #s1104 thru 10417 (obviously not all serial #s in this range were used for the 666). The extra 146 in serial range #s 9858-10007 went to the commercial market; 123 in England and 23 in the US [N&J pgs. 204-205]. These 812 .455 TLs were serial #’d in the .44 1st Model serial # range of 1 to 10007.
2. “.455 Mark II HE - 1st Model TL” in the new .455 British serial # range 1 to #5461 [H of S&W pg. 201] made 1914-15. Thus creating 63 duplicate serial #s with the 666 “.44 HE 1st Model TL” chambered in .455, 1st version above.
3. “.455 Mark II HE - 2nd Model” (sans extractor barrel shroud and 3rd lock), but with slightly larger cylinder/frame window dimensions from versions 1. and 2. above, the ".44 HE 1st Model Triple Lock" factory converted to .455, and the ".455 HE 1st Model TL" produced in .455, respectively.
The 2nd Model continued in the .455 1st Model TL Brit serial range beginning #5462 to #74755, shipped 1915-17.
By Feb 1916 724 were manufactured for the Canadians, chambered in 45 Colt, presumed for the RCMP [H of S&W, pg. 203].
Another 15 in 45 Colt were sold commercially in 1916.
The Canadian military also bought 14,500 .455 2nd Models [H of S&W, pg. 203].
And 1105 2nd Models were released for commercial sales in the US, shipped Dec 1917 to Shapleigh Hardware in St. Louis [S&W, N&J pg. 216].
“As the Brit contracts were finishing up in [April, H of S&W pg. 203] 1916, S&W found enough [44 HE frames and 455] parts to build 691 .455 HE 1st Model, Triple Lock frames [#2. above chambered in .455]. These guns will be numbered [late] in the .44 Spl serial number series. I have no idea why they were not just numbered in the .455 series. Perhaps it was .455 barrels and cylinders that the factory found, and they simply turned again to existing 44 HE 1st Model TL frames to use them up. They were sold commercially.” Lee Jarrett
D. These links are to threads that will help you with the various non-factory stampings on your 455:
Google images and definitions of British marks:
british proof marks - Bing images
Identify Hand Ejector Birmingham Marks - in the S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 forum of Smith & Wesson Forum.
This thread is located at:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-han...-new-post.html
11/3/15 “In April, 1916, the Factory found enough parts to assemble 691 Triple Lock 455s. They were assembled from April to Oct of 1916. They were numbered in the 44 HE series. All I have seen are numbered from the 12 to 14,000's. [sold in 1916 and 1917 - Many were sold to Shapleigh Hardware Co. and Simmons Hardware Co., St. Louis, MO]
Some letter as being commercial sales, but I have long suspected that S&W simply slid many into the last of the British shipments at the standard price for the 455-2nd Models. I say that because I have observed several now with Brit ordnance marks and/or commercial proofs.” Lee Jarrett
Questioning my 45 caliber Triple Lock
Linear Mode
