Colt SAA .45 ACP Cylinder Question

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kevinh

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Hey everyone,

I've got a question. How exactly does a .45 acp cartridge sit or fit in a Colt SAA .45 acp cylinder with out a moon clip?
Someone is asking me and I do not know the answer.

I know this is probably easy to understand but I've seen a webley and it needed moon clips.


Thanks so much everyone for your time and help!
Cheers,
Kevin H.
 
Same way as it fits in a .45 auto. Case mouth contacts a shoulder in the chamber.
 
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I think a better question is:

"Why bother with a .45 ACP cylinder at all, if you have a .45 LC cylinder for a Colt SAA or Ruger Blackhawk?"

I can see them used with half moon clips in double action revolvers, but they seem to have no advantage in a Single Action where you can shoot .45 LC already.

Unless you have a gazillion rounds of .45 ACP squirreled away to shoot.
 
Half or full moon clips would be worse than useless in a Colt/Ruger single action. The cylinder would have to be removed to reload. The half moon clips were a clever development in 1917, allowing .45ACP ammunition to be used in the M1917 S&W and Colt revolvers.
 
I think the purpose of a 45acp in a SAA would be to make a 45 lc antique status
You could load and reload the same as 45 lc
 
tiriaq said:
Half or full moon clips would be worse than useless in a Colt/Ruger single action. The cylinder would have to be removed to reload. The half moon clips were a clever development in 1917, allowing .45ACP ammunition to be used in the M1917 S&W and Colt revolvers.
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If you were referring to my comments, I did say "double action revolvers" work well with half moon clips.

When I said "they have no advantage in a single action revolver", I was referring to the .45 ACP round and not the half moon clips.

If you were even able to use the half moon clips in a single action revolver, it would simply prevent ejection of the empty casings and would be quite silly. Also, there isn't enough clearance at the rear of the cylinder for the rounds and clips to fit.

The WW1 Colt New Service and S&W New Century revolvers of 1917 had the cylinders specially rebated at the rear to permit the use of half moon clips loaded with .45 ACP rounds. Later war surplus Webleys also had their cylinders rebated by importers to permit the use of half moon clips and .45 ACP rounds because .455 Webley and .455 Colt ammunition was more expensive and less easily found.
 
1873shootist said:
If you were referring to my comments, I did say "double action revolvers" work well with half moon clips.

When I said "they have no advantage in a single action revolver", I was referring to the .45 ACP round and not the half moon clips.

If you were even able to use the half moon clips in a single action revolver, it would simply prevent ejection of the empty casings and would be quite silly. Also, there isn't enough clearance at the rear of the cylinder for the rounds and clips to fit.

The WW1 Colt New Service and S&W New Century revolvers of 1917 had the cylinders specially rebated at the rear to permit the use of half moon clips loaded with .45 ACP rounds. Later war surplus Webleys also had their cylinders rebated by importers to permit the use of half moon clips and .45 ACP rounds because .455 Webley and .455 Colt ammunition was more expensive and less easily found.
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.45ACP works fine in Single Actions as full moon and half moon clips are unnecessary.

The clips are only used to assist ejection of fired cartridges in DA revolvers.

Unless you have a poorly chambered revolver, a very early colt 1917, or a new multical Redhawks, 45acp will chamber and fire in a DA cylinder, you will just have to poke them out like a single action.
 
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In a conventional single action revolver, with an ejector rod, whether the case is rimmed or rimless is irrelevant. Either the case mouth or the case rim can maintain headspace.
There is no reason not to use such a revolver in .45ACP or 9mm. Ruger has made single actions with two cylinders, .45Colt and .45ACP, and .357Magnum and 9mm. There is a catch if cylinders are swapped frequently - the ballistics are different, and sight adjustments are going to be necessary.
 
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