Colt .45/.22 Conversion Kit

W

Wire EDM Guy

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A friend of mine was complaining that practicing with his .45 was getting a little expensive even with handloading. I told him I had a conversion kit that would allow him to shoot .22's with his pistol. He said "Wow you have an Ace Conversion kit?" I was a little confused because I didn't remember the name Ace, but I told him he could borrow it. When I stopped by with it, he really went nuts. He says," That's an original Colt conversion kit, not an Ace. I've only ever read about those."

I guess my question is; Is this some kind of a collector's item or something? It's still in the original box with the Colt logo on it. It has a polished blued finish with Gold Cup adjustable sights and instructions for assembly and disassembly. The end of the box says Colt conversion kit, uses 22 long rifle ammunition. For use only on Colt Govt. Model 45 and Colt Super 38 automatic pistols. It also has the original price tag of $94.00 on the box. I probably bought it about 1975.
 
Yes, those early conversion kits have some collector value. I have never let that stand in the way of shooting one.

Actually what you have is the Colt .22/45 Conversion Kit, not the Colt Ace. The original Ace had a special slide and springs but did not have the "floating chamber". It is a nice gun but does not have enough recoil to begin to simulate the .45. The Service Model Ace has the floating chamber, a normal size slide, and greater recoil. The drawback is that a high level of cleaning and maintenance is required.

The Colt conversion kits are of the SM Ace type. Some conversion kits made today use an ultra light alloy slide and do not have the floating chamber.

BTW, Colt also made a very rare unit called the .45/22 connversion kit, to convert Service Model Ace pistols to the .45.

Jim
 
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