I've a couple of 22-4 .45acp revolvers (one 5-1/2", one 4"), that I'd gotten to be shooters instead of flogging some collectable M1917. I'd wanted an M1917 for years, kept searching for, contemplating on, but for whatever reason, always ended up passing, or dragging my feet and they sold before I decided, etc. (Nice ones were more than I was interested in investing in, and the easily affordable ones were, usually rougher than I'd want to deal with.) But, I kept keeping my eye open...
The other evening, there was a gun advertised as a 1917 .45acp, looked a little rough in the pics, thought it might've been a Brazilian as the price was low, but I thought it'd do to mess around with, not being collector-worthy, so okay, got it shipped to my FFL and picked it up yesterday. And, here's where it got interesting. It's not a M1917. It's a .455 HE2 that had the cylinder cut to fit .45acp w/ moon clips. So, a cut cylinder, still not 'collectable', will be okay to shoot a bit. And the pictures were a bit misleading: it's nowhere near as rough as I expected it to be. Sure, it's got its share of nicks and scratches, some bluing missing, but it's honest wear. I've started cleaning it up a bit. (It had a burr where the backstrap meets the butt, I stoned that off; and the lanyard was frozen, a drop of PB blaster followed by some 3in1 oil, and it's freed up now. There was a little rust under the stocks, I stoned it off too).
Here on this site, I've now been wearing out the search tool, reading up. I'm getting up to speed on the fact that the HE2 .455 cylinders weren't heat-treated the way the M1917 ones were. Seems what would have been a better conversion would've been to have been gone w/ .45LC, as its chamber pressure would be more inline w/ the .455, and that the acp pressure is the 'proof' pressure for the .455, so, I really don't want to go using commercial .45 acp rounds in it. (Doesn't appear that it has an swelling, but, I don't want to be the one on whom it bursts while in my hands, so....). But since the cylinder is cut, I can't just switch to using .45LC now, as the pin probably wouldn't reach the primer.
So, I'm pondering options.
A) Start reloading. Use .45acp brass but load at .455 pressures. But that's a whole other kettle of fish.
B) Locate a replacement cylinder.
B1) Will a M1917 cylinder fit a HE2? It appears identical in dimensions to my 22-4 cylinders. Either a new cylinder (though its bluing wouldn't match), or if I could find a M1917 cylinder, as it would be heat-treated, I could then proceed with using regular .45acp safely, correct?
B2) OR, find yet another .455 cylinder, and have the chambers adjusted for .45LC, and go with reduced cowboy loads to be safe.
C) Other alternatives? I'm open to suggestions. Overall, I'll still put more rounds through the 22-4's, they're both fine shooters. (I'm used to .45acp (also run in 1911s).) But I don't want to just stick it in the safe and never use it, I want to 'get it up and running'. I've not found commercial 'reduced load' acp rounds, that would be a simple solution, if such existed. If plastic moon clips are used, can you clip a .45LC shell into it, using the clip to position the casing so the primer gets struck? I don't think that'd work, as it'd leave a portion of the back of the case proud of the chamber's lip; but, if I could use .45LC in this cylinder somehow, that simplifies things, too.
Suggestions, comments, caveats, all are welcome.
Regards,
The other evening, there was a gun advertised as a 1917 .45acp, looked a little rough in the pics, thought it might've been a Brazilian as the price was low, but I thought it'd do to mess around with, not being collector-worthy, so okay, got it shipped to my FFL and picked it up yesterday. And, here's where it got interesting. It's not a M1917. It's a .455 HE2 that had the cylinder cut to fit .45acp w/ moon clips. So, a cut cylinder, still not 'collectable', will be okay to shoot a bit. And the pictures were a bit misleading: it's nowhere near as rough as I expected it to be. Sure, it's got its share of nicks and scratches, some bluing missing, but it's honest wear. I've started cleaning it up a bit. (It had a burr where the backstrap meets the butt, I stoned that off; and the lanyard was frozen, a drop of PB blaster followed by some 3in1 oil, and it's freed up now. There was a little rust under the stocks, I stoned it off too).
Here on this site, I've now been wearing out the search tool, reading up. I'm getting up to speed on the fact that the HE2 .455 cylinders weren't heat-treated the way the M1917 ones were. Seems what would have been a better conversion would've been to have been gone w/ .45LC, as its chamber pressure would be more inline w/ the .455, and that the acp pressure is the 'proof' pressure for the .455, so, I really don't want to go using commercial .45 acp rounds in it. (Doesn't appear that it has an swelling, but, I don't want to be the one on whom it bursts while in my hands, so....). But since the cylinder is cut, I can't just switch to using .45LC now, as the pin probably wouldn't reach the primer.
So, I'm pondering options.
A) Start reloading. Use .45acp brass but load at .455 pressures. But that's a whole other kettle of fish.
B) Locate a replacement cylinder.
B1) Will a M1917 cylinder fit a HE2? It appears identical in dimensions to my 22-4 cylinders. Either a new cylinder (though its bluing wouldn't match), or if I could find a M1917 cylinder, as it would be heat-treated, I could then proceed with using regular .45acp safely, correct?
B2) OR, find yet another .455 cylinder, and have the chambers adjusted for .45LC, and go with reduced cowboy loads to be safe.
C) Other alternatives? I'm open to suggestions. Overall, I'll still put more rounds through the 22-4's, they're both fine shooters. (I'm used to .45acp (also run in 1911s).) But I don't want to just stick it in the safe and never use it, I want to 'get it up and running'. I've not found commercial 'reduced load' acp rounds, that would be a simple solution, if such existed. If plastic moon clips are used, can you clip a .45LC shell into it, using the clip to position the casing so the primer gets struck? I don't think that'd work, as it'd leave a portion of the back of the case proud of the chamber's lip; but, if I could use .45LC in this cylinder somehow, that simplifies things, too.
Suggestions, comments, caveats, all are welcome.
Regards,