S&W 625 Model 1989 45 Colt with TWO Cylinders? 45 LC and 45 ACP?

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RogerA

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Local here to me, a guy has for sale this S&W 625 model of 1989 45 Colt with two cylinders, one in 45 Long Colt and one in 45 acp. Did S&W make this model, or is this a custom gun? Is 1200 a good buy or just nuts? Includes box and papers. Thanks!
 
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I am unaware that Smith & Wesson ever made a dual cylinder gun like that, so it’s likely custom. The model of 1989 was mostly made in .45 ACP, so the Colt cylinder was likely added and hopefully, fitted.

Do you know the dash number, I.e. 625-3 or whatever?

A pic of the box label would help, too.

1200 is not bad at if the gun is in good shape. 625’s with boxes can go for 1000 easy.
 
huthike said:
I am unaware that Smith & Wesson ever made a dual cylinder gun like that, so it’s likely custom. The model of 1989 was mostly made in .45 ACP, so the Colt cylinder was likely added and hopefully, fitted.

Do you know the dash number, I.e. 625-3 or whatever?

A pic of the box label would help, too.

1200 is not bad at if the gun is in good shape. 625’s with boxes can go for 1000 easy.
Click to expand...
The gun is on Texas Gun Trader in Lakeway Texas, near Austin, if you want to look at it.
 
By definition, a model 625 of 1989 would have been in .45 ACP.

A standard .45 Colt cylinder would be too long to fit into the frame window, but a .45 ACP part could have been reamed to accept the longer rounds (as in the model 25-3 125th Anniversary commemorative). It would just accept a factory length .45 Colt, no longer bullet rounds.
 
murphydog said:
By definition, a model 625 of 1989 would have been in .45 ACP.

A standard .45 Colt cylinder would be too long to fit into the frame window, but a .45 ACP part could have been reamed to accept the longer rounds (as in the model 25-3 125th Anniversary commemorative). It would just accept a factory length .45 Colt, no longer bullet rounds.
Click to expand...
So a 45 Colt round, and not a 45 Long Colt. Is that correct? Thanks.
 
RogerA said:
So a 45 Colt round, and not a 45 Long Colt. Is that correct? Thanks.
Click to expand...

No one really knows how .45 "Long" Colt (LC) originated, as there is no .45 "Short" Colt, but .45 LC is the same as .45 Colt.

The cartridge collectors will probably have a good laugh, but my theory is possibly the "Long" was attached to the name to differentiate it from the .45 S & W of the Schofield, the same diameter but shorter in length than the LC, both of which were US Army issue. You obviously wouldn't want to get a supply of LC that would not chamber in your Schofield. Pure speculation on my part however.
 
murphydog said:
No one really knows how .45 "Long" Colt (LC) originated, as there is no .45 "Short" Colt, but .45 LC is the same as .45 Colt.

The cartridge collectors will probably have a good laugh, but my theory is possibly the "Long" was attached to the name to differentiate it from the .45 S & W of the Schofield, the same diameter but shorter in length than the LC, both of which were US Army issue. You obviously wouldn't want to get a supply of LC that would not chamber in your Schofield. Pure speculation on my part however.
Click to expand...

In short that's the common explanation from reputable published gun writers, with additional complicating factors added. :p

-excerpt from "All American 45s (45 Auto, Colt & Schofield)" article, Handloader #325-

"Naturally, the "short" S&W.45s would fit in "long" .45 Colt chambers, but not vice versa. Inevitably, some army units received S&W No.3 .45 "Schofield" revolvers but got "long" .45 Colt ammunition for them. It was a typical government boondoggle. Therefore, around 1876, the decision was made to only furnish "short" .45 S&W ammunition for all (then in-service) revolvers."

.
 
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A couple of questions come to mind:

1. As I recall, the bore diameter for .45ACP is .452, while the bore diameter for .45 Colt is .454. The 625 of 1989 was a .45ACP, so would have a .452 barrel. Is the difference not enough to worry about?

2. The 625 cylinder would have been sized for using moon clips. Boring one out to chamber .45 Colt doesn't take into account the issue of the thickness of the moon clips that would be missing when shooting .45 Colt. How would one guarantee proper ignition since I would think that the firing pin would be too short to reach the primer on the .45 Colt adequately?
 
"1. As I recall, the bore diameter for .45ACP is .452, while the bore diameter for .45 Colt is .454. The 625 of 1989 was a .45ACP, so would have a .452 barrel. Is the difference not enough to worry about?"

I can't remember what year it was, but when Colt brought out their 3rd generation SAA's, the bore diameter was standardized as .452. All the Colt "clones", as well as the S&W M25 .45 Colt are all .452 bore diameters.
 
Borderboss said:
1. As I recall, the bore diameter for .45ACP is .452, while the bore diameter for .45 Colt is .454. The 625 of 1989 was a .45ACP, so would have a .452 barrel. Is the difference not enough to worry about?
Click to expand...

As I recall, most gun manufacturers standardized .45 Colt at .452" post-war.

Anecdotal history has it that S&W problems with oversize throats on the model 25-5's, when first introduced, was because the cylinders were made to pre-war dimensions while the barrels were made to post-war dimensions. Don't know if that's true, but I had an early 25-5 and the throats measured .458" - .460" - the ones that didn't go through the target sideways, patterned like a shotgun.

Adios,

Pizza Bob
 
625 LC

S&W made 2 625s in 45 LC! Product code 100930 is a 625-5 with a 5" heavy barrel marked "625 Classic" with 1550 made for stocking dealers in 1993. The next is product code 130045 which is a 625-7 with a 4" pencil barrel and one of the mountain gun series of 1996. A cylinder for the LC guns is longer than the ACP cylinders. However, if you had a LC cylinder cut for full moon clips the 45ACP rounds would fit using full moon clips.
jcelect
 
The distance from the rear of the cylinder face to the front of the recoil shield is much greater in the S&W .45 acp's than any other cartridge, in order to accommodate the moon clips. A cylinder chambered for .45 Colt and fitted to a 25-2 (ACP) will be shorter than a 25-5 cylinder in order to interface with the much longer barrel butt of the former. Additionally, the frame lug on the dash-2 is further forward, so for the extra cylinder to fit its rear edge must be beveled to properly fit the lug.
 
If you type "625" in the search bar you'll come up with the ad easily.

The ad states that the .45 Colt cylinder is currently installed. If that's accurate, then it looks to me like a .45 ACP cylinder was machined to accept the .45 Colt, because the cylinder length appears to be no longer than a standard 625 cylinder.

There's no product code or model number noted, and the barrel isn't marked 625 Classic, so I doubt this is one of the models jcelect cited in his post.

The price looks fair to me so long as the gun is in excellent overall condition...
 
Beemerguy53 said:
If you type "625" in the search bar you'll come up with the ad easily.

The ad states that the .45 Colt cylinder is currently installed. If that's accurate, then it looks to me like a .45 ACP cylinder was machined to accept the .45 Colt, because the cylinder length appears to be no longer than a standard 625 cylinder.

There's no product code or model number noted, and the barrel isn't marked 625 Classic, so I doubt this is one of the models jcelect cited in his post.

The price looks fair to me so long as the gun is in excellent overall condition...
Click to expand...
If an ACP cylinder was chambered to LC you will need to be very careful with BOL because of the shorter ACP cylinder. You will probably be limited to light 45 cal bullets because of this length. An easy tell on the 45ACP N frame guns is the gap from the front of the cylinder window to the front of the cylinder, not the BC gap! This gap is easily seen when compared to any other N frame gun!
jcelect
 
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After all the discussion here, and all the great info, I have decided to not pursue the pistol. Thanks guys.
Roger
 
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