Thoughts on converting 625 mountain gun 45LC to 45ACP?

[aterry33]

I have heard some folks say that you can convert a 625 in 45LC so that it will accept 45ACP in moonclips. What does this involve, having a gunsmith modify the cylinder chambers in some way? Is this a good or bad idea?

It seems like a cool idea, since you then have a revolver that can shoot both 45ACP and 45LC. However, I'd be wary of doing it if it had any kind of negative effect on the gun, i.e. accuracy.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[WhistlerSWE]

You buy an extra cylinder chambered in .45ACP from the factory. Might wanna have a gunsmith do the fitting, so that the star goes well on your particular gun and has a good timing.

 

[aterry33]

So the only way to do it is by replacing the cylinder? For some reason I thought you could "adapt" a 45LC cylinder to also fire 45ACP.

 

[robertrwalsh]

That's really about it. The revolver round headspaces on the cartridge rim, the semi-auto round headspaces on either the cartridge lip or on moon clips. The moon clips, are much thicker than the rim of the revolver round. The spacing would be completely off.

You could have the rear of the current cylinder machined for the moon clips but then the weapon would be usable ONLY for .45 acp.

 

[RufusG]

I have a 25-7 that a previous owner had cut for moonclips. It seems to work just fine with LC and ACP.

The moonclip recess is cut below the level of the rear face of the cylinder so ACPs will headspace properly. LCs still ride on the outside (unmachined) edge of the cylinder like they did when it was new.

 

[shovelwrench]

If you have your cylinder cut for clips, then buy LC + ACP clips, you can still shoot LC without clips, but not ACP without.


Welcome to TK Custom.com & Moonclips.com

http://www.moonclips.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=32&cat=.45+LC

Or you can buy a cylinder for ACP.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I stand corrected.

 

[tomcatt51]

Or you can buy a cylinder for ACP.

You can but the 45acp cylinder is quite a bit shorter and would require a 45 acp barrel or the 45LC barrel set back considerably.

 

[john traveler]

In my limited experience (four converted revolvers), the conversion is not a practical one for several reasons:

1. The excessive unguided bullet "jump" from the .45 ACP case to the chamber throats in the .45 Colt chamber gives mediocre accuracy. This was true in all four converted revolvers. They went from excellent .45 Colt groups to lousy .45 ACP groups.

2. The collector's originality of the gun is ruined.

3. The machining of the cylinder is critical. Done carelessly, the gun will be unreliable or unusable in both calibers.

A proper conversion requires a second cylinder, extractor rod, springs, collar, and pin. You will need to figure out how to make the frame lug fit both cylinders.

 

[Muley Gil]

"You will need to figure out how to make the frame lug fit both cylinders."

There was an article in an old Gun Digest where a S&W 1917 was converted to .45 Colt, using a second cylinder. The Colt cylinder had a groove machined into the rear of it so that the ACP frame lug could be used with both cylinders.

 

[Smee78]

I dont know about others accuracy but I had my Smith 625MG cut for moon clips (Mark from pinnacle) and it is great! The mach for moon clips does nothing to affect the accuracy of the original gun, so if you are shooting 45lc out of your 45lc gun, it will shoot just as good as it did before the conversion, so if your gun shot bad from the factory before the conversion it will still shoot bad after the conversion, but if it shot great before the conversion, it will still shoot great after the conversion as it has nothing to do with the orginal cal accuracy. As to the 45acp my gun also shoots them great, I use about the same weight in both 45lc and 45acp bullets so I dont have to adj the sights. I think it was a great mod to MY revolver, I dont care about collecting guns I wont ever shoot or what others think about it. YMMV

p.s. (You could have the rear of the current cylinder machined for the moon clips but then the weapon would be usable ONLY for .45 acp.) This is not true! The cyl still has area for the 45lc to space off of, the moon clip sits inside the cyl area, look here, Mark does excellent work http://www.pinnacle-guns.com/revolver.asp