45 caliber target revolver

B

Bill Daniel

New member
Aside from the fact I already reload 45 ACP is there any advantage or disadvantage to a 45 ACP target revolver over say a 45 LC. This will be for a variety of target sports Bullseye, Silhouette, Bowling Pin.

Thanks,
Bill Daniel
Life Member NRA
 
For some of the shooting you mention fast reloads could be important. A .45 ACP revolver with moon clips beats nearly any other wheel gun for speed of reloading.
Like you, I reload .45 ACP. Since I have thousands of brass, dies, and bullets for the caliber, I'd choose it over a .45 LC, unless a really neat LC revolver came along.
 
>>This will be for a variety of target sports Bullseye, Silhouette,
>>Bowling Pin.

Bullseye = 45 ACP
Silhouette = 45 Colt
Bowlling Pin = 45 ACP for fast moonclip reloads. Otherwise a 45 Colt is an excellent choice.

Just my opinion.

justinr1
 
Regarding the .45ACP for silhouette, well, it depends. If you're shooting NRA Hunter Pistol, then IMHO, the .45ACP will range out to 100yds in an accurate revolver just fine. It's way more than adequate to tip the rams over with almost any hit. If you're talking about IHMSA, trying to topple 50lb targets at 200m, then I don't think the .45 Colt is gonna be any great shakes, anyway. I'd go with the ACP. Cheaper and more widely available ammo and components.
 
The 45 ACP is definitely the way to go for target, shooting costs, accuracy. I have a S&W 625 that is more accurate than the Kimber Gold Match ($1,200.00) I USED to own. The DA action is so smooth out of the box, it feels like it was customized. I have no problem with the 10-yd. plate rack in 4.40 sec. & 50-yd. 4 inch steel plates.
 
My 45LC SA is slightly more accurate than any of my 45acp revolvers. That said, the 45acp revolvers are more accurate than ANY of my semis in any caliber.

Now if only open carry became the norm so I could wear this rig all day.

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My Model 25-5, with extra cylinder for .45 ACP handles all these shooting chores well. I think it is most accurate with the ACP, but the power is most definantly with the .45 Colt.
 
You can always rechamber your S&W 25/625 to a 460 Rowland and get 44mag performance while still being able to plink with 45acp or 45AR.
 
Bill,

I haven't participated in any of the sports you mentioned, so I won't comment on them, but I did own a 625 recently.

I was sold on the "lightning reload" idea of the moonclips, but was very disappointed when I got the revolver. It seems that on my Mountain Gun at least, the chambers were very tight and it was very difficult to reload it fast, since every casing had to be oriented just right for the whole thing to enter. I found it so frustrating that I sent it back to Smith for an action job and to get the chamber mouths bevelled a little for easier entry.

Well, it improved speedloading immensely, although I'm still not sure that it was any faster than just using a speedloader for rimmed casings. I still had to jiggle the moonclips sometimes just like I would a speedloader to get the cartridges to fall in. It certainly wasn't fast enough to warrant dealing with the stupid moon clips, which were not too aggravating given the right tool but just represented an extra step between loading and firing the gun.

In short, I sold it and am looking for a .45 Colt, which I feel is much more versatile in defense and hunting scenarios.

Incidentally, the moonclips weren't one bit any easier to carry on my person than a speedloader would be, and were susceptible (although it never happened) to being bent, unlike a speedloader.

Hope this opposing viewpoint helps, but keep in mind I'm not a competitor like the guys above.
 
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