Colt N/S Revolver

[Jim]

I picked up my New Service revolver Friday morning. Upon very close inspection I discovered it was originally chambered for the .455 Webley cartridge! However, the cylinder chambers are bored straight through. I dropped a .45 ACP round in one of the chambers and it slid right out the front end. I'll loose a little pressure with that, but it also opens the door for a little experimentation with other cartridges.
Had a rather bad scene at the pistol range Saturday afternoon. I was shooting 230 FMJs out of .45 Colt cases and one squibbed on me. I heard that distinctive "pop" and knew I was in trouble. Sure enough, there was a 230 FMJ lodged in the barrel about 3/4" back from the muzzle. I cut the handle off a wooden cook spoon, held the barrel in my hand and lightly tapped my new homemade ramrod with the wooden handle of a hammer. The bullet backed down the barrel and came out. BTW, the load that squibbed on me was WC820. Made me mad and scared me, too. If I hadn't heard that telltale pop, I could have been in big trouble.

[mtngunr]

I don't know what loads you were trying for, but my opinion is that jacketed stuff is ONLY for highest velocity......jacketed stuff sticks too easy for anything but......

[MT Gianni]

Would you mind sharing the load data? Were there any unburned powder kernals present? Do you suspect primer failure or missing powder in the reloading process? Thanks, Gianni

[Dale53]

Early in my shooting experience, I had a squib situation with the .44 Special with my first attempt in using ball powder (H110, as I remember). The load was ok. It was a book load. However, I got one or two squibs (with bullet stuck in the barrel) every cylinder (well, I just tried two cylinder fulls to make sure it wasn't a fluke).

I studied the problem and read what was available (mostly Elmer Keith) and came to the conclusion that my sizing die was not sizing down my cases enough to give necessary case/bullet tension to "start the fire" properly with hard to ignite ball powder. I had been using nothing but Bullseye or Unique and had nary a problem before. I started measuring and had my suspicions confirmed. Elmer had made a point about the .44 magnum requiring serious case neck tension for proper burn of slow burning powders.

I bought an RCBS carbide die set (man, they cost REAL money "back in the day") and there was NO Lee Precision to beat the high prices. However, it turned out that it was money well spent. My case neck tension was MUCH greater with the new RCBS dies (replaced a Pacific steel die set) and I have since fired thousands and thousands of loads and have not had a "blooper" since. Sometimes, we just get lucky...

At any rate, slow burning ball powder (in fact, slow burning powders for the caliber) should not be reduced below very narrow parameters. They also REQUIRE serious case neck tension. Elmer and others have reported that the I.D. of the case should be in the neighborhood of .425" for a .430" bullet. Some have suggested even more radical dimensions. I believe that .004" less than bullet diameter is absolute minimum in pistols and revolvers with slow burning powders but YMMV...

Dale53

[Jim]

Dale,
Great info and VERY helpful! Thanks, Bud!!

Jim