Playin’ Favorites: .45 ACP / .45 Auto Rim Sixguns

That was written by Walter Winans in 1919. Now, one might easily ask just who Walter Winans is and why we should care. Winans was one of the greatest revolver shooters who ever lived, setting many records in the 1880s using, among others, an S&W Model #3 with black powder .44 Russian loads. His first book, published in 1900, The Art Of Revolver Shooting, is a true classic. The above quote came from his second book, The Modern Pistol. What happened in between is not too hard to guess. In 1911, the United States Army adopted the .45 ACP Government Model, and Winans, being very forward-looking, considered the day of the revolver over.

Intersection

Something did happen just before Winan’s second book was published, which actually served to blend the new service pistol and the old reliable sixgun. When our troops marched off to Europe in 1917, we simply did not have enough 1911 Government Models to go around, nor could we produce them fast enough.

An engineer at S&W came up with the idea of using half-moon clips to be able to adopt the rimless .45 ACP to revolver use. S&W chambered their Second Model Hand Ejector to the service cartridge as did Colt with their New Service. Both models had 5½” barrels and are known as 1917 models. The half-moon clips not only provided proper head spacing, they also allowed easy extraction of the empty cases as the .45 ACP had no rim for the extractor to contact. In an emergency, it was possible to fire the .45 ACP in an S&W 1917 as the mouth of the case would contact a ledge inside the cylinder. This did not work with the Colt as the first guns were bored completely through. Without the half-moon clip, the Colt 1917s were useless.

After the war, many 1917s became surplus and were available to the shooting public. Half-moon clips can be bent or lost, and it takes time to snap loaded cartridges into place. It’s also difficult to remove empties without proper tools. In 1920 Remington added a rim to the .45 Auto cartridge case and quite appropriately called the new round the .45 Auto Rim. Now those 1917 sixguns worked just like any other revolver.

Today, we have clips that hold two, three, or six .45 ACP rounds as well as several very handy tools for placing cartridges in and out of these clips as well. For those who prefer the rimmed case, Black Hills offers .45 AR loaded ammunition, and excellent brass cases for reloading are available from Starline.

Clip Considerations

There is no doubt a .45 ACP sixgun, along with a supply of loaded full moon clips, make for extremely fast loading and reloading if one has a way to carry the extra loaded clips easily. Personally, for everyday use, I prefer the .45 Auto Rim. I load the brass cases just like any other, normally with 250-grain SWC bullets, and crimp them into place. I also often used standard .45 ACP rounds in my sixguns without the clips. Results depend upon each individual sixgun. If the chambers are cut accordingly, the unclipped .45 ACP loads will shoot just as accurately as the same load placed in clips or using the .45 Auto Rim cases. Do not expect this to be routine — some revolvers will allow the .45 ACP to move forward as the hammer strikes the firing pin resulting in either misfires or poor accuracy.

Some History

When it comes to .45 sixguns, S&W has produced many more chambered in .45 ACP than .45 Colt. Thousands upon thousands of 1917s were produced both for the military and the commercial market. In 1950, the Model 1917 was upgraded to the 1950 Target Model with a 6½” barrel, followed by the 1955 Target with a heavy bull barrel, target hammer and trigger and target stocks. The standard Model 1917 became the 1950 Military. In the 1950s, surplus Model 1917s, which saw service in both wars, were available for ridiculously low prices, at least by today’s standards.

I had a 1917 S&W, which saw a lot of use with military hardball ammunition. Unfortunately, I let that original 1917 S&W get away. However, several years ago, a friend gave me one that had been re-barreled with a 1950 Military barrel, so it is just like new. The 1950 Military became the Model 22, and recently, S&W resurrected the Model 22, fitting it with a 4″ barrel complete with an enclosed ejector rod, which was not present on the original Model 22. It is a most practical self-defense sixgun, whether used with .45 ACPs in moon clips or with .45 Auto Rim loads.

About 30 years ago, I acquired a 1955 Target; however, not being a target shooter per se, I turned it into an everyday sixgun by having the barrel cut to 4″ and a new front sight installed. I have often said this is just about the perfect self-defense gun if someone is willing to become proficient with the use of full moon clips. The 1955 Target is almost as heavy as the .44 Magnum Model 29, so it is very pleasant to shoot with .45 ACP/.45 Auto Rim loads.

In 1994, Lew Horton offered the perfect solution in the Model 625 Springfield Armory Commemorative, which is a Mountain Gun of sorts; it is all stainless steel with a tapered 4″ barrel. Both of these 4″ sixguns work just fine with .45 ACP rounds without clips; of course, each empty case must then be picked out separately as there is no rim for the extractor to contact.

In the late 1980s, S&W brought out two stainless steel, 5″ heavy underlugged .45s; one chambered in .45 Colt and the other in .45 ACP. They are both Model 625s. They are also superbly accurate and easy to shoot. Jerry Miculek often uses the 5″ .45 ACP in exhibition shooting and has performed some incredible speed shooting using full moon clips for reloading. I tested both versions in the late 1980s and subsequently purchased both of them. They are simply two of the finest double-action .45 sixguns ever produced.

Double Actions

When it comes to double action .45 ACP/.45 Auto Rim sixguns, favorites are very easy to pick as they basically mirror my .45 Colt double action picks. When it comes to double actions, I am mostly partial to 4″ sixguns, so for everyday packing/self-defense use, my hands-down favorite is the S&W stainless steel “Mountain Gun” or Springfield Armory Commemorative. If I’m going to do a lot of shooting or use heavier than standard loads, I would go with the 4″ S&W Model 25-5.

Single-Action ACP

One of the neatest things about single-action sixguns chambered in .45 Colt is how easily they become .45 ACP sixguns with the addition of an extra cylinder. Moon clips are not necessary, as each cartridge case is removed with the ejector rod. Ruger has been offering a Blackhawk Convertible for nearly 40 years. When I purchased the first .45 Blackhawk to hit my area, I didn’t even realize it came with an extra cylinder. When I finally installed the ACP cylinder and fired those first six rounds, I was amazed at how accurate it was; I’ve been a fan of .45 ACP auxiliary cylinders ever since. Both my Freedom Arms .454 Model 83 and the .45 Colt Model 97 have been fitted with .45 ACP cylinders. As expected, they are wonderfully accurate and easy to shoot. None of these cylinders will accept .45 Auto Rim loads, however. Somewhere along the line, I came up with an old Christy .45 ACP cylinder for a Colt Single Action, and it not only fits my 4¾” .45 Colt New Frontier, but it also works just fine with .45 Auto Rim loads.

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