Shooting 455 eley Revolver

dixda

dixda

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
192   0   0
Location
Kamloops B.C.
I shot my old Colt New Service for the first time yesterday.



What a hoot! I didnt have any 455 ammo made yet, so I used some light 45 ACP (cast)bullets that a Bud made up. It makes a respectable bang and a big hole. Because there's a rim difference issue, I had to use a pen to extract a couple of the cases, the rest fell out when I tipped the cylinder up. I have the brass from Buffalo Arms and will be loading lots when my dies get here. KD
 
I am confused, you just dropped .45 ACP in the cylinders? Maybe next time use your friends .45acp dies to load some rimmed cases. (until your dies arrive)
 
david doyle said:
I am confused, you just dropped .45 ACP in the cylinders? Maybe next time use your friends .45acp dies to load some rimmed cases. (until your dies arrive)
Click to expand...


Yes, the 45 ACP dropped right in the cylinder. The loads were 230 gr cast SWC bullet/ 3.5gr Bullseye, and 250gr cast RN bullet/ 3gr Bullseye.
My friend is using his .45ACP dies to load some of my brass. The next time I'll get to shoot it is Thurs. at the indoor range. WOOHOO!KD
 
Something does not sound right here! You have a .455 Eley Colt New service and you are shooting .45 ACP cartridges in it? You do realize that these two cartridges ARE NOT interchangable! The .45 ACP may chamber on the >455 Eley cylinder but what is it headspacing on? AS my old man uses to say "The proper tool for the job and the proper ammo for the firearm!
 
I wouldn't load any hotter then that. Are you using 45 acp bullets or 45 lc bullets? ACP is a couple thou small for elly, on the bright side, you won't have any pressure problems. I load 250 grn 45 long colt bullets in fiochi brass, because thats what i've found. I've heard hornady is making some but havent' seen any yet:(
 
So the .45acp dies will work to load fiochi .455 brass? I have an Enfield MkVI, which I plan on getting dies for.
 
There are a number of problems with what is going on here. First, if the cylinder has been switched to a .45ACP cylinder then you can't shoot .455 Eley cartridges in it. .45ACP headspaces on the case mouth .455 Eley uses the thin rim. To use the extractor when shooting the rimless .45ACP, moon (full, half or third) clip(s) must be used. This in effect creates a very thick rim. Far thicker then the rim of the .455 Eley. The gap between the rear of the cylinder and the recoil sheild is to great for the .455 Eley. I think what is happening here is since the .455 Eley is slightly larger then the .45ACP Dixda is dropping .45ACP's into the cylinder. They are wedging themselves into the cylinder so that the firing pin can still hit the primer to ignite the powder. If the revolver has truely been converted to .45ACP the caliber marking MUST be changed to reflect that change! If it is .455 Eley USE THE PROPER CARTRIDGE. Just because it works doesn't make it right.
 
dixda said:
Yes, the 45 ACP dropped right in the cylinder. The loads were 230 gr cast SWC bullet/ 3.5gr Bullseye, and 250gr cast RN bullet/ 3gr Bullseye.
My friend is using his .45ACP dies to load some of my brass. The next time I'll get to shoot it is Thurs. at the indoor range. WOOHOO!KD
Click to expand...

Do NOT SHOOT .45acp out of your .455 Eley chambered gun!

.45acp has a smaller body diameter than .455...

While the chambers ARE often tight enough to support the rimless case you risk serious problems by having the case driven into the chamber "forcing cone" by the firing pin which could "crimp" the bullet into the case causing pressures to skyrocket.

This would probably be more likely with handloaded "roll crimped" cases.
 
Actually, if this is a conversion cylinder revolver, the 45acp cartridge is headspacing off the half moon clip, not the case mouth, but I agree with everything else that you said. There is no shoulder in the cylinder to headspace the acp on. On something like a S&W 625 you can just drop em in and fire becase there is a shoulder to headspace onto but it's a sucker picking em back out again, because, as you noted they don't eject. However there is such a thing as .45 autorim, and they will work with all these (45acp chambered) revolvers.


The Wizard said:
There are a number of problems with what is going on here. First, if the cylinder has been switched to a .45ACP cylinder then you can't shoot .455 Eley cartridges in it. .45ACP headspaces on the case mouth .455 Eley uses the thin rim. To use the extractor when shooting the rimless .45ACP, moon (full, half or third) clip(s) must be used. This in effect creates a very thick rim. Far thicker then the rim of the .455 Eley. The gap between the rear of the cylinder and the recoil sheild is to great for the .455 Eley. I think what is happening here is since the .455 Eley is slightly larger then the .45ACP Dixda is dropping .45ACP's into the cylinder. They are wedging themselves into the cylinder so that the firing pin can still hit the primer to ignite the powder. If the revolver has truely been converted to .45ACP the caliber marking MUST be changed to reflect that change! If it is .455 Eley USE THE PROPER CARTRIDGE. Just because it works doesn't make it right.
Click to expand...
 
The cylinder is not altered in any way. The ACP cases were taper crimped, not roll crimped, and were held in place by the shoulder of the cylinder. The ACP brass is .476 x .898, and the priming face was flush with the cylinder.
I don't plan on using ACP brass in the future, I just wanted to see if it would work, and it did.
Thank you all, for your valuable input. KD
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom