.45 ACP Special??

[sunday bill]

It appears to be fact that, FOR USE IN REVOLVERS:

* the 45 Colt can be safely and efficiently downloaded by using the shorter .45 Schofield or Adirondack Jack/Starline's even shorter .45 Cowboy Special

* the .44 Mag can be done the same way by use of the .44 Special and .44 Russian

* likewise the .41 Mag/Special

* the .357 Mag can safely utilize shorter .38 Special, .38 Long Colt, .38 Short Colt

* The .327 offers the .32 H&etc., etc......and you know the rest of the examples and some I probably left out.

My question: since I just successfully snapped some of the shorter .45 G.A.P. empty brass into RIMZ .45 ACP moons, stuffed'em into the cylinder of a 625 and cycled the gun, I'm just wonderin if anyone has used the shorter .45 G.A.P. brass to safely and more efficiently load .45 ACP "Special"-type ammo for use by recoil challenged folks (like my better half) in 45 ACP revolvers.

Although this brass is by no means common in my neck o' the woods, it seems to me this brass may also serve well for working up reduced loads for use in WWI-vintage .45 ACP-chambered firearms.

Anyone have thoughts???

Yeah, this snow has caused me to have a little time on my hands, so if this has already been discussed, please just point me toward the threads and I'll go back into my igloo.

Thanks, Rich

 

[Beans]

Yes you can. I purchased a box of .45 GAP to play with. It shot great in my 1988 625.

What I found was altho the cases worked in my steel moon clips they were looser then the 45 ACP cases because the extractor grove is smaller in diameter.

In reloading the .45 GAP I used regular .45 ACP dies and a .45 GAP shell holder in my single stage press. I wasn't going to reload enought of them to spend more monies on a Dillon setup.

The best information I could get on the internet was that the CC was about the same as the .40 S&W.

So I loaded the .45 GAP rounds accordingly using 185 Gr LSWC bullet.

Fun and interesting but not worth my trouble considering the lack of .45 GAP cases in my area, I only have 50 cases. The accuracy was good, I did not run them over the chorny as I wan't going to use then on a regular basis

I then went back to using my regular .45 ACP cases and the target load of
3.9 Grains of Bullseye and either the 185 Gr or 200 gr LSWC cast bullets.

A link to an article by Charles E Perry on reloading the .45 GAP
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_5_51/ai_n13469649/

 

[scattershot]

No reason it wouldn't work, but with everyone being knee deep in .45 ACP brass, I think it would be cheaper to develop a powderpuff load in that, maybe using Trail Boss or something similar.

 

[Fishslayer]

I've used some pretty light loads in the standard .45ACP brass for my M1950. No problems, though I'm actually not far below published minimums. The recoil in that big hogleg is hardly noticable. My 22/45 has more with Mini Mags...

Hadn't considered that there might actually be a use for .45GAP but somebody's come up with one...

 

[sunday bill]

I never laid eyes on a 45 GAP case until I found 9 of'em while searching a box of 1000 ACPs for small primers.

Hadn't considered reloading the GAPs as far as realizing the Rockchucker would require a different shellholder and no, a XL650 .45 GAP caliber conversion kit ain't in my future, either.

scattershot, ref. your light load thoughts, I've loaded several 5 lb. jugs of Trail Boss in my wife's 38 Long Colt cowboy handgun loads and think it's grand for target loads in the 44 Special. However, for whatever reason, I can only milk minimal accuracy out of the little Cheerios in a 45 ACP case. I've got a very early Colt's .45 ACP that I love to shoot and don't care to punish and wouldn't mind having an acccurate poof load for it.

Beans, thanks for the input and the link. If I collect a couple hundred GAPs, I'll send'em your way if you want.