Max load for 45 ACP cases in Blackhawk with ACP Cyl?

[Single Six]

I'm discovering that 45 LC brass is not cheap or plentiful, so I'm thinking about getting an ACP cylinder and using ACP brass for all but the buffalo slayer heavy bullet loads. Input/thoughts?

Thanks

[jhrosier]

I see a lot of 45 Colt brass for sale on Gunbroker. You can probably get a thousand rounds of new brass for the cost of a replacement cylinder.

Jack

[Single Six]

Thanks, I'll check it out, hadn't thought to look there.

[Lefty SRH]

even if you buy Starline brass from Midway (500pcs for $90) thats stll cheaper than another cylinder. Personally i never got a lot of satisfaction from shooting .45acp in my Blackhawk. Shooting .45 colt is MUCH MORE FUN......

[Single Six]

I agree, but I think the ACPs loaded as heavy as you can get away with for accuracy loads might be kinda fun...I will of course still be shooting big Ruger only loads in Colt brass.

[Char-Gar]

Trying to soup up the loads in 45 ACP brass in a unmodified Ruger single action cylinder is a non-starter.

You will find these Ruger 45 ACP cylinders have a very wide headspace shelf for the case mouth. If you seat heavy SWC bullets out to leave enough powder room, they will have a hard time entering the long cylinder throat. They must be a thou or two or three smaller than the throat and even then you have to wiggle them to get them in. Very slow to load. You will soon get tired of doing that, and reverts back to bullets and loads that will drop right in. In short you will be back to regular 45 ACP loads.

You can of course try and push the red line with heavy powder charges in ACP cases with ACP bullets. That however is foolish in my opinion.

I have 45 ACP cylinders for several of my SA pistols and like them very much. I do stick to factory/mil spec loads in them.

[jmsj]

Single Six,
I had a similar situation a while back, lots of 45 ACP brass but not much 45 Colt brass. I bought a 45 ACP cylinder for my Ruger and fitted the cylinder and reamed the throats to .4525.
I have shot some Lee 452-255-RNFP loaded w/ 5.8 gr of Unique and a Wolf primer. This is a bowling pin load I got off the internet so this is not published data so you are on your own. This is a load that I developed for another pistol (Taurus 1911) and they shoot OK in the Ruger. Velocity averaged around 875 fps.
This is pretty close to standard 45 Colt velocities and is plenty hot for a 45 ACP. I would not want to go any hotter in the 45 ACP, just my opinion.
Good luck, jmsj

[Larry Gibson]

Single six

You've got it backwards. Use the heavier loads in the 45 Colt case where you have the powder capacity and there is plenty of proven load data for such use in a Ruger available. A hundred or two hundred 45 Colt cases will last a long time for such loads. The 45 ACP cylinder is very good for using lighter 200 gr bullets with it's much more efficient smaller case capacity for such loads using faster burning powders. Plenty of standard 45 ACP loads to keep you happy shooting or experimenting.

Larry Gibson

[higgins]

Single Six - If you did it properly, you would have to send the gun to either Ruger or a good gunsmith to make sure the cylinder is properly fitted, so add that expense to the conversion. If you got a .45acp cylinder it may or may not line up properly with the barrel, it could be too short or long ,etc. Notice that a factory-built Blackhawk convertible has the last three digits of the serial number engraved on the front of the cylinder. Good information to know if you're buying a Ruger convertible; I personally wouldn't buy one that had the wrong numbers or no numbers at all. BTW, I used to have a Blackhawk .45 convertible that was a pure joy to shoot with .45 acp SWC loads - very accurate and minimal recoil.

[lead chucker]

Char-gar is right. I did some experimenting with my BH 45 acp cylinder I bumped them up a bit with some unique with the lee 230 gr round nose. But accuracy wasn't there. If the driving band isn't flush with the case mouth or just a hair below it it won't drop in all the way. I use the lee factory crimp die and they drop right in. I love shooting my BH with the 45 acp cylinder its so cheap to shoot. It always gets to go with when I go to the range. It also works real well for bunnies when I'm out riding my four wheeler.