Model 25-2 chamber tolerance

[Ignatz]

Numrich Gun Parts shows a 625 cylinder for around $58.00. Would this drop in a 25-2? or would more 625 parts be needed? It might be a way to get the .452" throats reasonably priced.

 

[Milo Talon]

Glad I've been reading these postings.I've been thinking about trying to trade my 686-4 for a 25-something in 45 Colt.Guess I better back up and re-think this.

 

[cp1969]

It wasn't only S&W who made cylinders with huge throats. My early New-model Ruger Blackhawk had the same problem--.457 diameter throats and a .452 barrel.

I fought that thing for about ten years before I figured out what was wrong. FWIW, jacketed bullets will not upset enough to seal the chambers. I found this out when shooting a load of 20 gr of 2400 with either a 255 gr. cast bullet or the Hornady 250 gr. JHP. With the Hornady, I could see a huge fireball when I shot. With the LSWC, nothing. Finally figured out it was gas escaping around the jacketed bullet.

Factory .45 Colts had (and may still) a hollow base bullet that would expand to fill these huge bores. Maybe that had something to do with the factories decision to ream the cylinders so large.

 

[n4zov]

I bought a new M25 about 1980 or so and it was absolutely the most inaccurate handgun I have ever owned. It was even worse than the Grendel P10, and that is saying quite a lot! I tried everything from GI match ammo to 185 grain target ammo and I loaded at least two dozen bullet/powder combinations and bullets of three diameters. At 25 yards from a rest it would group into about 12" with a "good" load. At the same time, I had a Model 1950 target that would tear the x ring out of the target under the same conditions. I knew nothing about measuring cylinder and barrel dimensions, so I soon sold that piece of junk. Certainly S&W knew they were producing a handgun that was supposedly of target quality and did not even offer plinking accuracy. There was no excuse for producing a gun like that especially since S&W had previously produced almost identical guns that delivered superb accuracy. I learned from that experience that just because it has the Smith & Wesson logo stamped on it does not mean you are buying quality.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

Factory .45 Colts had (and may still) a hollow base bullet that would expand to fill these huge bores. Maybe that had something to do with the factories decision to ream the cylinders so large.

Yes, factory loads still have the hollow based bullets, and they run .456" from Winchester, and .455" from Remington, the same as they have been from the beginning.

Remember, the original .45 Colt had a .454" bore, and did so until the mid 20th century, so ammo manufacturer's were using bullets that were slightly oversized until the bore size was standardized at .452" to go along with the .45 ACP's dimensions. However, the factories were reaming throats to accomodate the larger diameter bullets, and were extremely slow to get on board with cutting new reamers to the proper dimensions like they finally did at S&W when they went to the ABC 1234 serial system. I suppose that they were cutting reamers to around .457"-.458" to get possibly get more wear/use out of them, and as they wore down, the throats were still cut at .455"-.456"

It took a lot of complaining from customers to get them to do it even then, though they had known for quite some time that they had a problem.

S&W even offered to retrofit a new cylinder with the proper throats in any 25 that was sent back for quite a while once they got the throat issue under control. They no longer offer this service (though they will fit a new style cylinder/ratchet for a price).


What's worse, a lot of manufacturer's are still using oversized chamber reamers cut to maximum SAAMI specs that allow the case to bulge up just in front of the case head, which makes brass last nowhere near as long as it should, and causes difficult extraction at times, even with the anemic factory loads. I hear Ruger has finally addressed that, but they hadn't a couple years ago when I bought my last Blackhawk. I haven't really had an issue with that in my 25's, though I have in several older/early 29's.