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Post by bibbyman on Aug 29, 2013 16:47:00 GMT -5
Hi guys! I'm new here. But I'm not new anywhere else. I could fill a wheelbarrow with handguns and have been shooting handgun since before I could own them. Trouble is, if forgotten how to have fun with the "stuff" I have.
Despite all the handguns I have and don't shoot, I recently bought two consecutive numbered Uberti Cattlemen in 45 Colt 5.5 barrel. The idea is to get involved in SASS. Then I get the idea of getting ACP cylinders for them. ACP being a smaller case and more efficient with small loads of ffast powder.
Then I thought, why get ACP cylinders? Why not shorten 45 Colt cases to ACP length and use ACP seat dies, etc?
Has anyone tried this?
Would the long jump to throat cause a problem?
Would the case walls of the cut down Colt cases be too thick? Need to be annealed and reamed?
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Fowler
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 3,561
Member is Online
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Post by Fowler on Aug 29, 2013 17:30:03 GMT -5
That seems like a lot of work for no gain. You could get acp cylinders and run Auto Rim brass in them if they have the correct spacing for it or just run Scolfield brass in the 45 colt cylinder without changing anything.
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Post by mellonhead on Aug 29, 2013 17:53:16 GMT -5
45 Cowboy brass is what you are discribing. Not sure if its still available, but there was some info online for the brass and loads.
Toby
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Post by mellonhead on Aug 29, 2013 17:56:57 GMT -5
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Post by bibbyman on Aug 29, 2013 21:06:12 GMT -5
Well! The story of my life. Every good idea I come up with, someone beats me to it. I guess I'll wait and see about price and availability.
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Post by zac0419 on Aug 29, 2013 23:07:06 GMT -5
Welcome. I agree schofield brass might be close to what you are thinking about.
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Post by bibbyman on Aug 30, 2013 3:21:53 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome!
I've been doing a lot of reading now that I know that the Cowboy 45 Special exists. It fofills my thinking of a "Short" Colt 45 perfectly.
Apparently the brass is now not in production but soon will be.
The Schofield brass is only about 1/10" shorter than the Colt. The rim diameter is larger and may not fit all guns chambered in 45 Colt without turning down rims or modifying the cylinder. And it's pretty hard to find.
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Post by whitworth on Aug 30, 2013 6:16:10 GMT -5
I would just load the .45 Colt to light levels. Seems like a lot of work for the same end result. JMHO.
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Post by bibbyman on Aug 30, 2013 7:46:24 GMT -5
Very valid point. And likely what I'll do.
But I can see some benefits in the Cowboy 45 Special case for making up light loads with fast smokeless powder, be they small.
The case volume of the Colt is LARGE because it was designed for black powder. Small loads of fast burning smokeless is lost in the bottom. Sometimes people find velocity variations due to powder placement, back aginst primer, distributed along the bottom or aginst the base. The ACP case was designed for smokeless powder and has far less volume so small loads bulk up better and easier to detect double charges. Also, looking at the loading data, the ACP case is more efficient at burning powder and will produce the same velocity with a little less powder. At least that's what I've come to believe.
From what I'm reading, the SASS shooters love the case.
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shorty500
.327 Meteor
too many dirty harry movies created me!
Posts: 912
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Post by shorty500 on Aug 30, 2013 8:41:46 GMT -5
why bother with expense of either new cylinders or more brass to keep up with. stuff your standard .45 Colt brass with TrailBoss and you have what you seek!
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Post by bibbyman on Aug 30, 2013 13:43:54 GMT -5
See, that's why I'm here. I did it all why back when. When Unique was the way to go on most larger caliber revolver rounds. There were many other powders that may do better at a specific load, but Unique could be used for many things. I did know until recently that there is no more Hercules. I guess it's made by Alliant. I'll look up Trailboss and study up on it. (But I doubt if I find any loading data in my 40 year old manuals.)
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shorty500
.327 Meteor
too many dirty harry movies created me!
Posts: 912
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Post by shorty500 on Aug 30, 2013 15:27:01 GMT -5
trailboss is too easy when data is unavailable. check capacity to base of bullet. use 60% of that charge for starting load. never ever compress. makes for high density loads that when at the happy point for pressure/velocity burn clean, consistent and accurately. virtually impossible to overload. excellent choice for mild thru standard velocity area
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Post by bibbyman on Aug 30, 2013 17:50:59 GMT -5
I've been reading up on Trailboss and watched a video or two. Sounds about like a smokeless black powder. Is it light and fluffy? How's it stack up economically compared to say Unique? I seen 9 oz cans listed on online stores but were sold out, like most everything else.
I loaded up some 45 Colt for a Webley Mark VI using Blackhorn 209. Loaded 1=1 to black powder and said to work best when slightly compressed. It made some mess and some smoke but not nearly the mess of black. I left the gun and cases unattended for at least a week to see if rust or mold would form but I didn't note any.
( PS, just in case you think I made a mistake when I said 45 Colt, I didn't. Instead of cutting the cylinder back for 45 ACP, we cut it back just enough to account for the slightly thicker rim of the 45 Colt and deepened the chambers to 45 Colt length. I can't load heavy bullets and crimp in groove. I have to crimp over front band to keep the overall length short enough. )
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shorty500
.327 Meteor
too many dirty harry movies created me!
Posts: 912
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Post by shorty500 on Aug 30, 2013 18:19:14 GMT -5
6g of trailboss is a casefull under typical 250g bullet in the .45 Colt.
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Post by bibbyman on Aug 30, 2013 18:44:31 GMT -5
Wow! That's fluffy! In the picture I saw, it looked like kitty litter.
I've got an 8 pound keg and a couple of parts of small cans of Unique to use up.
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