I recently acquired a M25-2, S/N:S2277XX which is chambered in .45acp (using moon clips) or .45 Auto-Rim. My question is this; If I were to have the ridge inside the cylinder holes reamed out, could I fire .45 Colt, or do I need a new, dedicated cylinder? Also, what would be the approximate ship date of my revolver? Thanks in advance!

Why not just look for a M25 chambered in .45 Colt? Your revolver dates to 1962, if it's in good or better finish, no way would I go reboring, honing, etc. the cylinder bores and ruining whatever collectability it has.

.45 Colt has thinner case rims than .45 Auto Rim, so there would be a slightly wider gap on your cylinder between it and the recoil shield. The Colt cases might have issues with intermittent FTF because of light strikes from the extra slight distance the firing pin has to move to properly punch the primer, and the cartridges would have a bit of room to move back and forth in the chamber.

.45 Colt rims measure 0.060", .45 Auto Rim measures 0.090".

If you can find a .45 Colt "short cylinder", you maybe could swap them out, but the standard .45 Colt cylinder is longer than the .45Auto cylinder and you'd need to recut the forcing cone, which would then make .45 Auto cylinder too shorter to work in the gun. Here is my M25-5, which is factory chambered for .45 Colt. Look carefully at the length of the cylinder and the space between the rear of the cylinder and the recoil shield.

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Hair Trigger, I am in agreement with you regarding the destruction of a collectable revolver with a "Bubba Job" on the cylinder. I also thought FTF would be a potential problem due to light primer strikes after taking some measurements. My question was a "thinking out loud" moment. Thanks for the information.

Not suggesting the mod, but the FTF 45 Colt problem can be eliminated by using 45 Colt full moon clips available from TK Custom. I use them quite successfully in my M1917 modified by a previous owner.

I bought my Model 25-2 new in 1982. It came with a spare cylinder from a Model 25-3 so it will fire 45 ACP or 45 Colt cartridges. Nowadays Model 25-3 cylinders are impossible to find. But on the good side, Model 25-3 revolvers are easy to find, as are Model 25-5's.

I recommend you leave that one alone, and find one chambered in 45 Colt. You might end up with a collection!

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S&WHF #946
S&WCA #3824

I would trade you one of my .45lc for your .45acp.




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Having done quite a few 45 colt conversions, I believe reaming an ACP cylinder deeper is the very worst way to do it. I have never tried the 45 colt clips, which would have to be pretty thin. I am a firm believe in either have multiple guns or a 45 colt cylinder cut for moon clips.

There is on relatively cheap and easy way to go, that I did to a 325. Fit a 45 colt extractor to your ACP cylinder, ream it to 45 colt depth and then thin the ends or each arm flush with ACP cylinder. Then 45 colts will headspace properly on inner part of extractor and 45 acps will work in old style 1/2 moon clips

45 colts

3 acp in 1/2 moon and a coupe 45 colts all in same cylinder

I also have a 25-2 that has a fitted extra cylinder for 45 Colt. I think the length would preclude using long 45 Colt loadings, but the factory stuff I shot worked fine. I bought it used.

This is new to me, how would I know if the cylinder was a 25-3? I’ve often wondered how this got made. I have not lettered it, but I pretty sure it’s not a set from the factory.

The 25-3 Cylinder is a little shorter than a Model 25-5 so it will interchange with a Model 25-2. SAAMI spec ammunition fits and works perfectly. Some reloads may be too long but SAAMI spec rounds fit fine.

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S&WHF #946
S&WCA #3824

How many times are we gonna "flog this dead horse" of a topic??? (That's besides the fact that it's a bad idea.)

C'mon folks! There's a search tool on this forum for a reason.
Use it!

If you find a short 25-3 cylinder or have the face of a 25-5 or later 45 colt cylinder machined off to the correct length you will still need to file the face of the frame lug back about .040 for the cylinder to work as the colt cylinder is that much longer to the rear than the acp cylinder.

All it takes is a small machine shop or money.

In all actuality if there were absolutely no redundant questions, it would be kind of sparse around here.

Pluse new members with under 100 posts seldom have the forum and search functions figured out. Heck, I know how they work and sometimes have problems finding stuff that I know exists.

Chill

Hey 6string, sprinkle some Baby Powder in your jockstrap and enjoy the ride!

The factory built 200 of the predecessors of this gun in 45LC. The 45LC guns were built on the 1950 45 Target Model (light barrel) over a few years! I am sure that one of these guns today would be very expensive! Plus, these guns retained the shorter cylinder, so your loaded ammo needs to be held to light bullets or the bullets needed to be seated much deeper. Keep your 25-2 and find a 25-5, you will probably be money ahead and have less headaches!
jcelect

Actually that is a typical misperception shared on the internet by folks who have never touched or owned one. Any ammunition that meets SAAMI specs works fine. There might be some handload combination that would give trouble but so far I have not run into that.

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S&WHF #946
S&WCA #3824

I have made 45 colts about every way there is, short cylinders fit to acps, colt cylinders recessed for acp in full moons plus the method above. I have both a lathe and a mill and it only cost me time and materials

BUT, the best method is get one in both calibers.

I finally chose to get a bunch of 45 colts and a bunch of 45 acps. I still have 2 dual caliber guns the 3255 above and this sweet heart modified 1917 that has a long 45 colt cylinder recessed to fire acp in full moons

Ed Harris wrote up an elaborate dual caliber 1917. The .45 LC cylinder was a rechambered .357 with a step turned at the rear to clear the frame lug.

Ya, you can cut a step in the back of the cylinder also. Did that to one. I think someone bought that off me. I would have to look in my ice cream pail full of big bore cylinders to see if I still have it. If you take the frame lug back the acp cylinder slops back that .040 when you eject, but because the center pin hits the dimple in the side of the recoil shield as you close it there is no other effect.

I do have a variety of spare 45 colt cylinders and barrels for some odd reason. LOL

This is from about 4 or 5 years ago, the pile has been added to with only one subtraction, somebody really wanted the 4" stainless gun which had a colt cylinder recessed for acp in moon clips.