Replacment 1917 cylinder - Colt

[FinnMike]

Sorry for the Colt question. I've found a rough 1917 Colt at a good price for a cut-down - but some yutz bored the cylinder out to .454 - a 452 hardball drops clean through. Can a replacement cylinder be fitted easily?
Thanks,
Mike

 

[john traveler]

A 0.454" chamber throat may not have been bored out. Both COlt and S&W used old .45 Colt chamber throat dimensions for their M1917 revolvers. If the cylinder is .45 ACP it may shoot just fine with hardball.

 

[FinnMike]

Daggum, you are right. Just dropped a .452 through my SMITH 1917s....John Taffin replied the same. BTW I checked the rear of the cylinder and it has not been messed with. I'll pick this one up for my project. Thanks for the reply.
Mike

 

[cortez kid]

Not up to speed on what "hardball" is aside from the usual "ball" ammo description. Colt 1917's are bored straight thru to where a 45ACP rnd will pass clean thru. You NEED clips to fire it. The Smith can be fired without, but the extractor will not work without the moons. Is this what you are reffering too? If not I'd like to know also, since I have one of each.
kid

 

[Alk8944]

Originally posted by cortez kid:
Not up to speed on what "hardball" is aside from the usual "ball" ammo description. Colt 1917's are bored straight thru to where a 45ACP rnd will pass clean thru. You NEED clips to fire it. The Smith can be fired without, but the extractor will not work without the moons. Is this what you are reffering too? If not I'd like to know also, since I have one of each.
kid

Ball is the Military designation for what is referred to in the civilian world as Hardball, Full Patch, Jacketed, etc. Same thing. Strictly, the term Ball refers to any solid bullet/projectile for small arms. All it means is it is not hollow-point, soft-nosed, tracer, incendiary, metal piercing, blank, dummy, function test, proof, or any other type of special purpose ammunition. It can be frangible, jacketed or lead and still be properly referred to as "Ball".

Only the very earliest Colt 1917 revolvers were produced with cylinders that did not have the headspace shoulder, fewer than 5%, and most of those were subsequently fit with proper cylinders. Kind of a "Yes, but". In over 50 years I have never seen one in the flesh.

 

[FinnMike]

One final question: what was the bore diameter for the 1917 Colts? .452 or more? I can't slug the revolver since it is not mine yet.