Food for ammo thought.

I am a noob here, so if this has been discussed before forgive me.

We all know the S&W Model 52 is a very unique gun. It does wonderful with the HBSWC ammunition.

My question is why is their no HBSWC for the 45 ACP crowd ?  

Ron

My guess would be the shorter brass of the 45acp which could lead to case capacity & pressure issues. Ammo feeding might also be an issue.

Deleted.

Greetings,

Actually, some 45 ACP ammo is loaded with a slight hollow base.

Take apart a commercially loaded Winchester or Western 185grain wad cutter load. In the base is a dimple about 1/10" deep.

Just for grins, I purchased a Herter's 0.452 " swaging die that I will be machining a hollow base punch. The goal is to make full HBWC ammo for the 45 Colt.

Cheers,

Dave

I got half way there Dave. I thought it would be fun to shoot the big gun in a Reeves match without scaring everyone. But I settled for a 185gr FMJSWC. Going to be fun next summer.

I don't think a 45 HBWC loaded flush with the case length would feed correctly in my Springfield RO.  The S&W 52 was designed to fire the 38 special with a HBWC bullet flush with the case length.  I think the Pardini and Benelli pistols are similarly designed for the the S&W 32 long cartridge with a HBWC bullet.  I expect there are custom mold makers (NOE comes to mind) that would make a 0.452" HBWC for the 45 acp.  Never seen such a bullet - but it could be custom cast.

Now that you have me thinking about wad cutters I wonder how close to having the same case volume there would be if I loaded a FMJ upside down in a 45 case. I would think it would be very close to the same volume. Then I could have a boat tailed wad cutter with the same load characteristics as a 185 SWC in the ACP....Yea it's winter here too. I did make it to the range today. I was the only idiot there and my target kept blowing over in the freezing East wind. Almost made it thru 40 rounds before I gave up. At least I got to shoot the last day of the year.

Even a tire wouldn't hold the targets in place Happy New Year...

Some info:
http://www.smithandwessonforums.com/forum/reloading-bench/17913-452-full-wadcutters.html#/topics/17913?page=1

Bullet maker in the thread:
http://www.mattsbullets.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=71

This place has some spendy but unique bullets.
http://www.mattsbullets.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=71&products_id=296&zenid=g59pee9g3d6jmgjap2ei42v7p3

Great minds etc etc. I was posting this while you were also posting.

I shoot wadcutters in my 629, super accurate at 25, makes huge holes!!  Didn't realize anyone made them for the 45. Gonna have to get some.  Thanks for the link!!