Please help if you can

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powderman

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I have a S&W New Model 3 with British proof marks. It is .45 calibre, and at first I thought it was in one of the British .45 cal pistol cartridges.

I have some .455 Webley cartridges that will chamber but the rim seems too thin and leaves a noticeable gap between the base and the recoil shield and I am not sure it would be safe to shoot with this cartridge.

I have some .44 Russian ammo. These chamber, and as you can imagine are quite loose, but the rim thickness is just right for my pistol.

I took a measurement as best I could from the back of the cylinder to the "step" in the chamber that the front edge of the cartridge case buts against and came up with 1.10". This seems too long for any of the .45 calibre British cartridges.

This makes me wonder if perhaps my pistol is perhaps chambered for the 45 Schofield cartridge. Unfortunately I don't have any .45 Schofield to test my theory.

I am hoping someone would be willing to send me an empty unprimed .45 Schofield case in a padded envelope. I would be forever grateful and pay for the case and shipping cost.

Please PM me if you can help.

Regards
Powderman
 
Schofield case is essentially a longer webley with a thicker rim. If you want to test for rim thickness just layer tape onto the back of a 455 webley until you get to schofield thickness. You can also get a 45 colt case and trim it to fit the oaL length. If my memory serves, 45 colt brass the rim is a smaller diameter but same thickness as schofield. The diameter shouldn’t matter in a revolver as long as it’s big enough to not fall through
 
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I had a webley no.5, surprise right? Haha
It was marketed as being able to shoot 45 schofield, 45 colt, 455 webley and 450 adams. You will be aware those have different rim thicknesses. It tended to pierce primers on irregularly on the 455 webley brass with the thinner rim, I’m guessing because the hammer would push the cartridges forward against the cylinder and the case would push back when it fired. I wonder if SW just sold the revolver as being able to shoot 455 but literally just made another standard 45 schofield one.
 
Webley No.5,

Thanks for your replies. I would think a .45 Schofield shipped to Great Britain was a special order. I doubt S&W would encourage unsafe use of their firearms. The .45 Schofield was an uncommon chambering in the New Model No.3, even in the US.

The .44 Russian case I tried has the correct rim thickness, but is too short to meet the "step" in the chamber.

Still hoping someone can send me an empty unprimed .45 Schofield case to try in my revolver.

Please help if you can.

Regards
 
powderman said:
Webley No.5,

Thanks for your replies. I would think a .45 Schofield shipped to Great Britain was a special order. I doubt S&W would encourage unsafe use of their firearms. The .45 Schofield was an uncommon chambering in the New Model No.3, even in the US.

The .44 Russian case I tried has the correct rim thickness, but is too short to meet the "step" in the chamber.

Still hoping someone can send me an empty unprimed .45 Schofield case to try in my revolver.

Please help if you can.

Regards
Click to expand...

The .45 S&W (Schofield) cartridge was designed by S&W specifically for the their #3 top break revolver. The US army bought a bunch of #3 revolvers chambered in 45 S&W. They were very common and not just by special order.
 
jethunter said:
The .45 S&W (Schofield) cartridge was designed by S&W specifically for the their #3 top break revolver. The US army bought a bunch of #3 revolvers chambered in 45 S&W. They were very common and not just by special order.
Click to expand...

It is my understanding that S&W Model 3's were top break revolvers with the barrel catch mounted on the topstrap and the Schofield models had the barrel catch mounted on the frame. The Schofield revolvers had a shorter ejector housing than most Model 3's with the exception of the Model 3 Russian Third Model which was made about the same time as the Schofield. The New Model 3 had an even shorter ejector housing.

The Model 3's were available in .44 rimfire and .44 S&W Russian. The .45 S&W Schofield cartridge was designed specifically for the Schofield revolvers. Most Model 3's were out of production by the time the .45 Schofield was introduced.

The New Model 3 had an even shorter ejector housing and was available in a variety of cartridges from .32 to .45 calibre. While perhaps not special order, a New Model 3 chambered in .45 S&W Schofield was uncommon in the US, even more so for a revolver shipped to Great Britain.

Your Webley WG in .45 Schofield must be a rare bird.

I am still hoping someone can send me an unprimed .45 S&W Schofield cartridge case to try in my New Model 3 with the British proofs.

Please PM if you can help.

Regards
 
powderman said:
It is my understanding that S&W Model 3's were top break revolvers with the barrel catch mounted on the topstrap and the Schofield models had the barrel catch mounted on the frame. The Schofield revolvers had a shorter ejector housing than most Model 3's with the exception of the Model 3 Russian Third Model which was made about the same time as the Schofield. The New Model 3 had an even shorter ejector housing.

The Model 3's were available in .44 rimfire and .44 S&W Russian. The .45 S&W Schofield cartridge was designed specifically for the Schofield revolvers. Most Model 3's were out of production by the time the .45 Schofield was introduced.

The New Model 3 had an even shorter ejector housing and was available in a variety of cartridges from .32 to .45 calibre. While perhaps not special order, a New Model 3 chambered in .45 S&W Schofield was uncommon in the US, even more so for a revolver shipped to Great Britain.

Your Webley WG in .45 Schofield must be a rare bird.

I am still hoping someone can send me an unprimed .45 S&W Schofield cartridge case to try in my New Model 3 with the British proofs.

Please PM if you can help.

Regards
Click to expand...

Are you able to get your hands on a 45 colt brass? You can trim that down to length and see if it fits, seems to be almost identical to the 45 schofield except for length, and the rim is 2 thou over sized in diameter but that should not matter.
 
LawrenceN said:
Are you sure it's not chambered in .44-40?
Click to expand...

Yes. It is definitely .45 calibre.

Diameter back end of chamber .480"

Diameter front end of chamber .453"

The length of the cylinder is 1 7/16" which would make it too short for a loaded 44-40.

Regards
 
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Maybe a .45 Auto Rim would work for it, I would send you some if I still had them, but i thinned the rims on all of mine to fit in the Webley MkVI.
 
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