Convince me I need a .45 AR wheelgun

[Rodfac]

If you don't plan to carry it as a CC gun, S&W's superb Model of 1955 Target would be a good choice...and assuming that you don't screw up the bluing, it'll be worth as much as you paid for it down the road. Mine is a pristine model, bought from a local dealer back in '88 for the paltry sum on $325...came new in the box, presentation case with all the tools too.

As a shooter, it's right up there at the top of the list...prefers 200 gr LSWC's of the H&G #68 style and cast from more or less pure ww's. 1" at 25 yds is the standard they set, and it'll do that with some of Sierra's 230 fmj's. It's trigger is old school S&W light and I've garnered a few 'possibles' at 50 yds with it, in my NRA Bullseye days.

Expensive? Hell yes, but worth it if you treasure a truly beautiful target gun, there are none better.

YMMV, but it'll do for me. Rod

[Ramjet-SS]

I just recently purchased a S&W TR 45 revolver purchased 500 rounds of rimmed 45 loading a Nosler 185 Gran HP just really enjoy shooting that gun and it is accurate.

[Rick B]

Buy a dual cylinder Stainless 51/2” Ruger Bisley 45 Auto, 45 Colt. Williams in Illinois has limited runs every year. Send the 45 Auto cylinder to Doug and have him shorten the back of the cylinder the small amount necesssary to accommodate rhe rim thickness Of the A.R. case. Then you can shoot 45 Auto, 45 Auto Rim and 45 Colt in the same revolver.

[ShooterAZ]

Mine is a 5" S&W Model of 1989. My favorite boolit for it is the RCBS 185 SWC BB. The bevel base is a bit of a pain to lube, but the boolit is so darn accurate in my gun that I don't care one bit. I load it over 4.5 gr of W231 in AR cases for a pleasant shooting, very accurate target load. I crimp for it using the Redding profile crimp die.

[Golfswithwolves]

Lyman's 452423 bullet is a good reason to have a .45 ACP/AR revolver. This thing has a HUGE meplat on it, and it looks like a flying beer keg.

[Dale53]

Buy a dual cylinder Stainless 51/2” Ruger Bisley 45 Auto, 45 Colt. Williams in Illinois has limited runs every year. Send the 45 Auto cylinder to Doug and have him shorten the back of the cylinder the small amount necesssary to accommodate rhe rim thickness Of the A.R. case. Then you can shoot 45 Auto, 45 Auto Rim and 45 Colt in the same revolver.

Rick,
I have a Williams SS Ruger Bisley .45 ACP/.45 Colt Convertible. I reamed both cylinders to .4525”, then had my local pistolsmith, Jack Basham, do a trigger job and Free Spin Pawl. It now shoots like a bullseye gun regarding accuracy.

However, instead of having the cylinder altered for the .45 Auto Rim, I just load up Starline .45 Cowboy Special cases for that purpose (I already had the cases). Of course, the cylinder alteration works perfectly well, also.

I must state, of course, that these Convertibles then become SUPERB all around (from mild to wild) revolvers.

FWIW,
Dale53

[9.3X62AL]

Lyman's 452423 bullet is a good reason to have a .45 ACP/AR revolver. This thing has a HUGE meplat on it, and it looks like a flying beer keg.

I just landed one of these Lyman 452423s at NCBS last week. I am having a lot of trouble talking myself out of a 45 ACP wheelgun. I did have a S&W Model 25-2 x 6.5" in the early 1980s, and it was a pleasure to reload and shoot for, though its throats were REALLY wide-cut.......on the order of .455"-.456". These days I know how to work around such issues--in 1981, I had just begun casting and had much less savvy, and got tired of mining the lead that coated the bore and throats when .452" castings transited wide throats and allowed lead crud to plate the bore. Jacketed bullets were an accurate delight, but a revolver that can't run castings doesn't stay around here for very long--so down the road it went.

I wouldn't mind finding either a "JM" or "TRR" Model variant. The Model 23s and 26s (and their non-numbered precessors) are WAY out of my price range on a fixed income. Truth to tell, the currently-produced S&W 45 ACP rollers are about as high as I can afford to go. I am not allergic to the Hillary Hole S&Ws, though I consider the lock a superfluous solution to a non-existent problem. The practical side of my mind tells me that a Ruger or Uberti convertible single-action (45 Colt/45 ACP) is a better and more stalwart platform for the venue. With any luck at all, the cylinder throats will be undersized and I can have Doug finish building the revolver via throating and end-cutting to fit the AR brass.

Which prompts a question--does the Blackhawk loading gate have sufficient clearance for the Auto Rim flanges? Also--Starline ad copy mentions the need to relieve clearances on cylinder ratchets to accommodate the 45 Schofield brass in the 45 Colt chamber of the Ruger Blackhawks and Vaqueros--does the 45 ACP cylinder need similar attention?

[Thin Man]

I have held an appreciation for big bore revolvers since the '60's. Probably the first I bought would have been a S&W 1917 (too long ago to recall) and I was hooked from then until now. These revolvers deliver reliability, power and accuracy (with appropriate loads) at minimal cost without ear splitting blast or shoulder separating recoil. Currently I have 7 or 8 of these in S&W 1917, Colt 1917 and Webley MK VI (cylinder was already shaved when it came my way). None of them are for sale, and I may add another one or two if they suit me. That last statement reminds me of the S&W 1917 a lgs had taken in to sell a few years ago. It was mechanically tight but had been refinished, the bore was totally smooth without rifling (original to the frame, same serial #) and appeared to have been polished inside, and it wore the finest set of stag grips I had ever found on a S&W N-frame. It came home with me for cheap money due to the slick bore. I planned to have another barrel reduced to 3", front sight replaced, and install it on this frame to make an "old school" belly gun when I found a vendor who was selling his last few new production 3" barrels (complete with front sight) for the S&W 1917. I bought one of those barrels and dropped it into the frame, indexed the sights and set the flash gap. At the range this revolver delivers groups on par with the 5" models. Yes, I love the 45AR brass that allows solid boolits or shot loads into the cylinder for versatility. I load the Speer 45 Colt shot capsules with #12 shot in this revolver when I travel to the deer camp as that area has it's own share of snakes. I find a lot to like about the 45AR brass and caliber and little to dislike. If I need to drive a bigger nail I pick up a bigger hammer. Used as designed the 45 auto/AR chambering has served us well for over 100 years and I find no fault in that.

[Rick B]

The only item that needs to be addressed in regards to converting a 45 ACP cylinder in a Ruger Blackhawk is the back of the cylinder face itself. Plenty of room for the rim in the loading gate and no issues with the ratchet. In the case of the cylinder I had shortened, your only dealing with removing .030+. Does not take much to convert one of these to 45 Auto Rim. This single action 5 1/2” revolver in a Ransom Rest will shoot very small groups at 50 yards with a M&P 200 grain hollowpoint and a load of Bullseye.

[NoZombies]

My 625-8 has convinced a number of people of their need for a revolver. It shoots almost any load into 1" groups at 25 yards, and does so without a lot of fuss, noise or recoil. I don't live in brown bear country, so I feel well armed with a .45 acp revolver on my hip in the woods.