You've missed something in the discussion chain.
possibly, I do that sometimes. though I don't think I'm unique in that regard.
I went back and looked and I think it started here....
A Schofield in 45 acp cut for moon clips would be a Huckleberry......Love to own one like that.
then went here
I like that idea. Then they could make the cylinder and frame to the original length, with the option of using 45 Schofield or 45 Auto Rim ammo.
Which is the first mention of using .45 Schofield or .45 Auto rim in the same gun. This is where I think we began to go off track.
then it went here...
The firing pin might not reach a .45 S&W primer in a gun made for clips and Auto Rim.
And I responded to that, with this..
When you cut a cylinder for clips or to use the .45AR case, you cut it so the primer stays in the same spot relative to the breech face. done right, there is no extra "firing pin reach" involved.
and then it went downhill from there....
Looking back, I can see I was focused on the technical aspect of cutting the cylinder, and not the aspect of using .45 Schofield in a .45acp cylinder, which I should have brought up, then.
We went down the rabbit hole focusing on the thickness of the AR rim, vs 45 Scofield, and the clearance cut needed for that, and didn't look at the OTHER things involved.
For my part in digging the hole deeper, I apologize. Now lets climb back out, dust ourselves off and look at this again, trying to take in all the factors.
The first one being, a Schofield in 45 acp cut for moon clips...
I take this to mean the Schofield pistol in .45ACP, and made to be able to use moon clips.
This is entirely possible. And there are a couple of ways it could be done. HOWEVER, when you add in the idea of using .45 Schoefield ammo, AND/OR .45 Auto Rim ammo, things change and options diminish.
we are talking about a hypothetical gun at this point, and what will work depends on how the cylinder made. What I'm talking about here is both the chamber, and the clearance between the rear face of the cylinder and the recoil shield of the frame.
First, the chamber itself. Is it made with the headspace shoulder for the .45ACP or is it going to be bored straight through??? IF its made with the headspace ledge for ACP, can you even fit a .45 Schofield round into it? Isn't the Schofield case going to be too long???
Using the specs in my Hornady book, the Schofield case is .211" longer than the ACP or AR case. I think that would be an issue, unless you use a bored straight through cylinder.
Next point is that you can make a cylinder to use clipped ACP brass, without doing it the same way it was done in the 1917 S&W and Colt revolvers.
Also. it is possible to use the 1917 system, without the clearance needed to use .45Auto Rim cases. I have a gun that does that. Work fine with S&W half moon clips, works with the 2 rnd "baby moon"(?) will not work with any full moon clip I have found, and won't work with .45 Auto Rim brass. And, its just a matter of a couple thousandths of an inch.
My main point is that, if you make a gun to run clipped cases, it doesn't have to be made to use anything else, and expecting it to, absent the maker stating that it will, is, I think, false hope.
