Colt 1917: 45acp and 45LC?

[mi2600]

The previous owner of my 1917 stated the chambers had been bored out so it would accept both 45acp and 45LC. Does this sound plausible?

[feralmerril]

No.

[SCone]

Sure.... an ACP will slide right in without any problem... won't fire, but it'll go in (and if it does go off, could be BIG trouble).

[Oyeboten]

My old New service 'Snubby' is like that, glad to accept .45 ACP with Moon Clips, glad to accept, chamber and fire .45 Colt.

Never had any problems with either Cartridge in it.

The Head space with these dual-45s in theory will be a little generous for .45 Colt, and, so, if the .45 Colt Cartridges fire reliably, fine, if not, stay with the .45 ACP.

No more to it than that.

What I actually ended up doing with mine, was to modify a bunch of .45 Colt Cartridge Cases for them to fit on to the Moon Clips, and, this is really fun, looks very cool, and allows a fast re-load...and took care of the Head Space aspect ( which never mattered on mine far as it reliably firing .45 Colt anyway).

[kenhwind]

Not only all of the above, but the 1917 in question would have excessive headspace of 0.030 in. if re-chambered from .45 ACP to .45 Colt.

[Oyeboten]

With mine, most of what inspired me to go with .45 Colt in Moon Clips, is that .45 ACP 'Hardball' bullets would exit the Barrel with hardly a hint of Rifleing impress...since they were well, too small in diameter ( unless hand loaded by with Lead Bullets, elected by me to be larger ).

And as all of my .45 Colt Cartridges are hand loaded by me, using .454 Bullets, those are large enough to fit the Bore/Rifleing well.

The Bullets I like best for the New Service Snubby are 230 Grain flat front Wadcutters, ( not that .454-ish soft Lead, 250 or 280 Grain flat front or DEWC Wadcutters would not be delightful also, if I had a Mold for making them or a source to buy them, ) since my interest with it was for inner-city urban Carry rather than for participating in 50 meter Olympic Slow Fire events.

[feralmerril]

I once converted a 1917 s&w to shoot both acp and 45 colt, but I had bought a .455 clyinder and had it rechambered to .45 colt. Also bought a new crane and had that clyinder fitted to it along with haveing s&w target sights added to it. It was a true convertable. Now if you want to fool with half moon clips and altered ammo maybe something might work, but it wasnt stated that way on the question. If no clips were involved the acp would just be batted forward in the clyinder with no step. Some may or may not go off. Maybe a round might lock up the clyinder with the barrel too. Lots of other things might also happen like a acp round bulging forward of the ejector and haveing to pound it out etc. Also the thinner rim of the 45 colt should give problems. It was easier for me to just say "No".

[rayb]

Just use 45 auto rim..... less pblms
rayb

[james47]

What bullet dia. should I be loading ( lead) in my Colt 1917. ACP with moon clips. I hate moon clips what a PITA I've tried two different brands and they are no fun shooting, I spend half my time fighting these things. Lately I just quit using the M.C. and have had very few FTF (one in fifty rds.) last time out. Light loads 452 dia. 200gr. Georgia Arms lead SWC, Win. 231 @ 5.5 gr. most cases fall right out of the cylinder some need help with a short wood dowel. Am I apt to do any harm with this system? Thanks

[kenhwind]

When I had my 1917 and then later a S & W M25-2 I used the Auto Rim case and actually like this cartridge for the .45 ACP revolvers.
Full moon clips are available.