.45 RIM ammo??

It's formal name is .45 Auto Rim. It was originally designed for revolvers that shot .45 ACP ammo. The rim eliminated the necessity for half-moon clips. Otherwise it is the same as .45 ACP ammo, except it is probably loaded lighter than modern ACP ammo would be (and usually with a lead bullet).

I'm surprised you saw some in a store as it is fairly rare these days.
 
I buy my .45 AR ammo online for my 25-2. I like it a lot. Don't care much for moon clips. But I don't shoot competitively.
 
during the world wars, there wasnt enough 1911s to go around, so smith and wessons were used with clips and 45 acp, and later the 45 auto rim was cooked up so you didnt need the clips
 
The .45 Auto Rim is still loaded by a few companies.
Black Hills has a load with a 250gr SWC at 704 fps.

Buffalo Bore has several loads.... They'll only cost you $1.70 per bang.

Standard pressure:
255 gr. Hard cast F.N. (850 fps/ M.E. 409 ft. lbs)
200 gr. Jacketed Hollow Point (1,000 fps/ M.E. 444 ft. lbs)

+P Pressure loads
255 gr. Hard cast F.N. (1,000 fps/ M.E. 566 ft. lbs)
200 gr. Jacketed Hollow Point (1,200 fps/ M.E. 639 ft. lbs.)

The +P loads should only be used in modern guns (post-war) in excellent mechanical condition.
 
.45 AR is becoming more common along with the increasing demand for revolvers chambered in .45 ACP (and AR) ammunition. The advantage, as other posters have noted, is that the AR rounds can be extracted without the use of moonclips. Personally, I don't believe that this benefit is worth the substantial additional cost for the AR ammo. I actually like moonclips. They load as fast or faster than a reload in a semiauto, like my 1911. They're much faster loading than with a speedloader and removing the spent casings is not a problem if you have a simple demooning tool.
 
Colt also made a lot of model 1917 revolvers chambered for the 45AR/45ACP. My old man has one of them. I am dying to shoot it, but we don't have any ammo yet. I just need to get the brass and some projectiles, and we'll be in business.
 
".45 AR is becoming more common along with the increasing demand for revolvers chambered in .45 ACP (and AR) ammunition."

Back around 1992-1993 Remington, the last maker at that time, put the .45 AR on "subject to available stock."

That's a nice way of saying "we're not making it anymore, it's obsolete, get over it."
 
Do NOT shoot .45 AR factory level or .45 ACP in those old Webleys that were converted from .455 to .45 ACP by shaving the back of the cylinder. Either the .45 ACP GI/Factory or the .45 AR factory generate almost twice the pressure the old .455 Webley was designed for, and some of the old guns have blown. And yes, that specifically includes the Mk VI as well as earlier Marks in the military series and all civilian .455/.450 revolvers.

Jim
 
.45 AR is becoming more common along with the increasing demand for revolvers chambered in .45 ACP (and AR) ammunition.
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Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe some of the newer .45 ACP wheelguns are being made specifically to use moon-clips. There isn't sufficient space between the cylinder and recoil shield for a .45 AR case head.

And while moon clips give you a faster reload, it's mighty satisfying to be able to fire a 255gr LSWC at 850 fps into a bowling pin at 20 yards and watch it hop off the table and take a lap downrange.
 
"There isn't sufficient space between the cylinder and recoil shield for a .45 AR case head."

How the heck does that work?

Manufacturer/gun specific moon clips?

The S&W style moon clips give the exact same head space as the Auto Rim brass.
 
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe some of the newer .45 ACP wheelguns are being made specifically to use moon-clips. There isn't sufficient space between the cylinder and recoil shield for a .45 AR case head.
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I believe the thickness of the 45AR case head mimics the 45ACP using moon clips. The whole reason the 45AR came to be, was because there were so many 45ACP revolvers left over from the war. The AR gave the many owners of these guns an option to use a rimmed round.

I also could be mistaken, but this is what I read when my old man asked me to look into his options for the 1917 revolver. We have yet to put anything into practice, however.
 
You can use .45 AR and .45 ACP (with moon clips) interchangeably in all S & W revolvers that are chambered for .45 ACP. As for those who believe that .45 AR is extinct as an ammo or about to become extinct, go check some of the on-line ammo retailers. They list it from more than one manufacturer, although, like most ammos these days, they are subject to backorders.
 
45 AR

Georgia Arms sells 45 AR.I have a local commercial reloader who makes it also.
that Buffalo Bore 255 Grain SWC sounds potent.
 
With .45 ACP, the round headspaces (supports) on the shoulder* and the clip is irrelevant to firing; it comes into play only on extraction. With .45 AR, the round headspaces on the rim, like all rimmed cartridges.

*Yes, I know about the early Colt 1917's.

Jim
 
"With .45 ACP, the round headspaces (supports) on the shoulder* and the clip is irrelevant to firing;"

Irrelevant to firing, but not to operation.

When you add the clip to a rimless round that, for operational purposes, negates the chamber shoulder's headspacing function and you then are concerned with the measurement from the rear cylinder face to the recoil shield, just as with a rimmed cartridge.

Too thick a clip, or a bent clip, and you have a no go situation and inoperable revolver.

Too thin a clip, then the chamber shoulder comes back into play.

From that standpoint, a revolver chambering rimless cartridges is unique in that it has two viable points at which headspace is correct.
 
Mike Irwin wrote, "When you add the clip to a rimless round that, for operational purposes, negates the chamber shoulder's headspacing function and you then are concerned with the measurement from the rear cylinder face to the recoil shield, just as with a rimmed cartridge."

Nope. In, say, a Model 1917 S&W revolver, the clip is too thin to affect headspace and the case still headspaces on the case mouth. The clip plays a role only in loading and extraction. The only time the clip comes into play as case support is in those early Colts and in converted Webleys, but it is not good because a revolver that uses the clip for case support may have ignition problems due to the springiness of the clip. (A bent clip can change things, but the guns that have chamber shoulders were intended to have the shoulder as the only support/headspace point.)

On later revolvers using clips with standard rimmed revolver cartridges, the cylinder is cut away for the clips so they sit below the level of the cylinder; enough of the cylinder is left to support part of the rim and headspace the cartridge in the normal manner.

Jim
 
Sorry Jim

Mike and I disagree on most everything handgun related. However, on this count
Nope. In, say, a Model 1917 S&W revolver, the clip is too thin to affect headspace and the case still headspaces on the case mouth. The clip plays a role only in loading and extraction.
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For the 1950, 1955, M-25 and 625 (1989 models), the clip pushes back the case head ever so slightly. This pulls the case mouth away from the shoulder of the chamber.

Can not speak for 1917 S&W or Colt.

Good Luck & Be Safe
 
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