1917 Colt .44 Magnum

[beagle]

Well boys, it's snowing here and time for a story from the past. I was born in a little town in NC. As a teenager, I was always interested in guns, The local Gulf service station owner was a gun trader and I always stopped by his place in town to see what he was hawking. One day, I stopped in and he said, " I got a Colt .44 Magnum". Now this was about 1960 and Anacondas were in the distant future. I said no way. He proceeds to haul out this revolver and it was a Colt. A Colt M1917 .45 ACP. I proceeded to educate him but he was insistent. He opened the cylinder and it was loaded with .44 Mag ammo. I looked and the tips had been hogged off the lead bullets so they would fit in the cylinder and allow it to close. He said I've shot it and it really shoots good and really bellers,
I thanked him but told him I wasn't interested and moved on.
Got to wondering about that. It's my theory that the .429" bullet in the .452" chambers and barrel allowed pressure to escape past the bullet and prevent blow up of that old gun. Figured as long as he'd traded guns he'd be more savvy than that. Guess the Lord looks out for those that are ignorant and foolish.
You all stay warm./beagle

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Yes-- a good story! My guess is that your theory is correct about why the revolver didn't blow up, but I'll also guess that a person wouldn't get away with it too many times. Sometimes "blow ups" aren't spectacularly catastrophic. Just a blown cylinder or badly cracked frame might be enough to convince the owner to retire the piece.

[35 Whelen]

Well boys, it's snowing here and time for a story from the past. I was born in a little town in NC. As a teenager, I was always interested in guns, The local Gulf service station owner was a gun trader and I always stopped by his place in town to see what he was hawking. One day, I stopped in and he said, " I got a Colt .44 Magnum". Now this was about 1960 and Anacondas were in the distant future. I said no way. He proceeds to haul out this revolver and it was a Colt. A Colt M1917 .45 ACP. I proceeded to educate him but he was insistent. He opened the cylinder and it was loaded with .44 Mag ammo. I looked and the tips had been hogged off the lead bullets so they would fit in the cylinder and allow it to close. He said I've shot it and it really shoots good and really bellers,
I thanked him but told him I wasn't interested and moved on.
Got to wondering about that. It's my theory that the .429" bullet in the .452" chambers and barrel allowed pressure to escape past the bullet and prevent blow up of that old gun. Figured as long as he'd traded guns he'd be more savvy than that. Guess the Lord looks out for those that are ignorant and foolish.
You all stay warm./beagle

I grabbed my 1917 S&W and an old W-W .44 Magnum Lubaloy factory cartridge. It fell right in and the cylinder rotated easily and freely when the hammer was worked. SAAMI o.a.l. for the .44 Magnum in 1.610" (Little know (realized) fact- It's 1.615" for the .44 Special).

https://i.imgur.com/q94cfczh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BXOIuZ1h.jpg

The mouth of the case did fit fairly snug in the throat of the chamber. I know (according to Brian Pearce) that these old 45 ACP revolvers are rated for +P (23,000 psi) ammunition, I just wonder if the case having to be expanded to fit the ACP chamber would use up the extra 13,000 or so psi of pressure? Probably not!

Thanks for the interesting story!

35W

[Outpost75]

Great story but I like my Ruger Vaquero .45 Colt/.44-40 "squeeze-bore" better. 8-)

[Thumbcocker]

He should have gone to Vegas and put his life savings on red at the roulette wheel.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Bazoo]

Great story but I like my Ruger Vaquero .45 Colt/.44-40 "squeeze-bore" better. 8-)

I ain't heard bout it,if you don't mind sharing again.

[beagle]

Don't think he ever got past the city limits except for service calls. He'd have been lost as a billy goat in a shopping mall in Las Vegas./beagle

QUOTE=Thumbcocker;5045553]He should have gone to Vegas and put his life savings on red at the roulette wheel.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

[Outpost75]

I ain't heard bout it,if you don't mind sharing again.

Comes under the category "Kids don't do this at home!" Original Ruger Vaquero .45 Colt cylinder timed and indexed in my .44-40 Vaquero, which also has huge forcing cone large enough to accept a .45 bullet without shaving...

272417272418272413272414272415

[Bazoo]

Thanks for sharing outpost. Interesting the accuracy. I spect the accuracy was poor with a 44-40 cylinder?