22-4 converted to 45colt

[hastings]

I have a 45colt MG, and a 45acp 22-4 Thunder Ranch. Without slugging the barrel, does anyone know if the bores are the same diameter. I was considering having the Thunder Ranch converted to 45colt by having someone install a 45colt MG cylinger and cutting the barrel down at the forcing cone end to accommodate the longer cylinger. Are 45acp bores the same as 45colt on S&W barrels?

If anyone has done this, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[lonecowhand]

Hi, I'm not absolutely sure on the Thunder Ranch special, but the older S&Ws such as the M25, 1917, 1950 or or original M22 in .45 ACP have shallow rifling compared to .45 Colt revolvers. The .45 ACP revolvers were meant to fire jacketed .45 ACP ammo, hence the shallow rifling. I think you might need to use very hard cast bullets in the .45 Colt so the rifiling would take hold. I have a 1950 .45 ACP and it is very accurate with .45 ACP jacketed ball ammo. When I reloaded with cast bullets, I couldn't keep them on the paper at 25 yards and some that hit were actually keyholing. That being said, I found some very hard cast bullets and those worked fine. Keith disucusses this at some length in his book "Sixguns". I think if it were me, I would probably leave the gun as is and try to find that Smith chambered for .45 Colt. Hope this helps.

 

[hastings]

Thanks, lonecowhand.

That is exactly the sort of info I was hoping to get. I appreciate the help, and will probably leave the 22-4 as is.

Hastings

 

[Missionary]

Good morning
Another fact is the Marlin Micro.Groove barrels. They will shoot Cast just fine as lone as the bullet is cast/sized about .002 oversize. Cast bullet fit is always more important than hardness.