45 Colt boolits in 45 ACP revolver?

[DonMountain]

I have a 1917 S&W military revolver chambered for the 45 ACP. The cylinder is much longer than the 45 ACP cartridge, so I was wondering if anybody had tried using heavier, longer boolits designed for the 45 Colt to use up some of this space? What sort of loads might work for a 300 grain boolit as opposed to the normal 230 grain 45 ACP boolits? And 45 ACP boolits are normally sized at .451 and the 45 Colt boolits are sized to .454 or so. Why the difference? I haven't slugged the barrel or cylinder yet.

[Reload3006]

Look up 45 auto rim I think you will find what your looking for there.

[smkummer]

I have loaded Lyman's 454190 255 FP bullet to a longer oal in a 45 auto rim case with good results in my 1917 Colt.

[Dale53]

I use an NOE clone of the Lyman 454424 bullet sized to .452" for my two 625's (a 625-6 and a 625-8). You need to size the bullets to fit your cylinder throats (you can pretty much ignore the barrel).

If your revolver is an original 1917 keep in mind that the cylinders were not heat treated and the cylinders are a bit "tender". No heavy loads for those revolvers. Elmer Keith's recommended loads for the original 1917's have proven to be a bit TOO MUCH. However, if you use the data for .45 Auto Rim in the Speer manuals you will find very useful data for their 250 gr SWC that will not exceed the pressure limits for your revolver but will allow a useful power level for that revolver. They show their 250 gr bullet reaching 842 fps within a limit of 16,000 psi.

Dale53

[340six]

I shoot both the 45acp and 45 - 255 FP colt in my 1911 but i sze them to 452
I also shoot all them out the ruger wheel gun