Howdy All,
Just took delivery on a near perfect .45 Colt with .458" cylinder throats. Seems a bit large for a .452" bullet. Any thoughts.
Cheers.
Dave

Unfortunately all too common. You can re-cylinder the gun or use it like it is but you will run out of chamber room (probably) if you try to use cast bullets big enough to fit the exit bores. A hollow-base soft lead bullet of .454-.456” diameter might be your best bet. All I can say for sure is “good luck.”

Any thoughts? Yes, shoot it before you get weird about cylinder throats. Many shoot very well, right from the factory. I used a .454 diameter 255 grain SWC over enough powder to get to 850-900 fps to drop a lot of deer.

Never measured the throats.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

I agree with Kevin.
My M25 shoots very well with .454 lead bullets, even though they fall through the cylinder. Never felt that it was inaccurate.
I have a Ruger flattop convertible and it’s cylinder throats are to tight, go figure. Colt SSAs are known for oversized throats too i think.
Shoot it first, then decide.

I used .456" cast bullets when I had a couple of early 25-5s.

I got lucky. I got one a while back and while I was looking I used a poor mans pin gauge (a .45 acp FMJ bullet) and dropped it into each chamber of my likely suspects. All six of them held the bullet in the mouth of the cylinder just past the ogive. Mine shoots quite well, better than I can hold.

Do you reload? Do you cast your own bullets? I bought 2 new molds for casting after buying my 25-5 with .457 throats last year.

A 25-5 cylinder throat thread appears here almost once a month. Lots of good past info.

Personally, I switched to 0.454 255 grain boolits and it made mine a tack driver.

Funny thing, though, all my other Colts shot better as well. So, thinking I would have to make special ammo for the 25-5, I simply standardized on a different load.

Just shoot it and see what she does.

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213th FBINA

My pre 29’s and 29 no dash guns are in the .432/.433 cylinder range and shoot great with .430 cast.

I had a 25-3 that was oversized like yours, with .452 cast it shot mediocre 4” groups at 25yds.

All about expectations or handloading to accommodate. If you can get you cast size to within a couple thou of cylinder bore size…I think it will be good.

Obtain a 29-3 cylinder and have it fit with proper 45 Colt dimensions.

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ken
SWCA #1959

I suffered thru a 25-5 decades ago for that complaint. A friend had similar which shot 25 yd bullseye targets fantastic; Mine did not. Now days I only consider .41 caliber, .44 spcl/mag revolver, or .45 ACP in a semi auto/ striker.

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"Don't Give Up the Ship"

Test fire it before jumping on the road of having a Model 29 cylinder rebored and fitted. Some of those Model 25's with oversize throats are inaccurate, many shoot just fine and that could be more related the internal dimensions of the barrel where it is threaded into the frame. An over-torqued barrel will create a constriction in the barrel, which will reduce the diameter of the bullet, then you have a slightly undersized bullet rattling down the remainder of the bore. That can be a source of accuracy and barrel leading issues.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Shoot it. I have 25-3 and 25-5 both
Shoot better than I can hold them .

I had a 4" 25-5 and my .460" pin gauges fell thru. I was lucky to get 6" groups with .456" bullets at 20 yards from a rest. So, there is some truth to the rumors, but as mentioned, shoot it first before you start down a rabbit hole.

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Todd