Smith 625 Ammo Question

B

Billy Shears

New member
I apologize if this has been asked and answered a dozen times here already, but I did try to search and couldn't come up with anything.

Are .45 ACP +P & .45 AR +P ammo safe/reasonable to use in in the 625JM or should I just buy the 45 Colt Mountain Gun instead?

Thank you.
 
Haven't bought one yet to show pictures of. Was just curious about what I could shoot through it if I bought it. If and when I actually buy one I'll definitely put some pix up for everyone.
 
I have a model 25 in long colt, and am largely underwhelmed by it, and far and away prefer the .44 mag or even the 44 special. The JM which shoot the .45 ACP are nice, but if your going to use a revolver, it just seems to me that the six you have should be the best six you can deliver, and to me that is 44 mag.
 
What do you plan on shooting with that 625?

The commercial 45 Colt is a weak performer. You have to reload that cartridge to get good performance.
A 250 grain jacketed or lead bullet between 1000 and 1100 fps is more than enough to take down medium game. It'll do the trick on large game if you can get within range for an accurate hit.

The N frame will take loads of that level. It's when you move up to the powerful rounds that you start beating up the gun. 300 grain bullets at 1300 fps are going to beat that thing to pieces.

I was running 250 gran SST bullets over 26 grains of H110 and averaged 1327 fps in my 5" big Vaquero. The 300 grain XTPs went over 22 grains of H110 and averaged 1113 fps. Those are published Ruger Only loads for the 45 Colt.
Both loads are right in the middle of the 44 Magnum loads with similar bullet weights but run lower pressures.
They're a little high for a steady diet in an N frame. It's a lot of battering on that frame.
Drop them down a wee bit and they'd be solid performers for anythign you need to do.

As for the 45 ACP +P, you should be fine. You might be able to get away with 460 Roland loads but I'd suggest you get some input from the ammo guys on that one. The pressure is lower than a 44 but not by much.
 
What do you plan on shooting with that 625?

The commercial 45 Colt is a weak performer. You have to reload that cartridge to get good performance.
Click to expand...


255 @ about 1100 is probably about as high as I'd ever consider going. And then only for my more remote mountain hikes. I was just curious as to whether that would put undue strain on the weapon.
 
225 @ 1100 is pretty easy for that gun. When Speer was building their Ruger only loads they kept the pressure limit at 25,000 psi. They had 225 JHPs moving at 1300+ fps from a 7-1/2" barrel.
They also listed 260 and 300 gr bullets moving at 1100 fps at the same pressures.

44 Magnum runs 36,000 psi but uses different heat treatment for the cylinder.
 
You can safely shoot 45acp +P, any 45AR ammo, and 45 Super in your 625.

My 625-3 has had the chambers lengthened to shoot 460 Rolland.

It is highly unlikely you will encounter any factory 45acp, AR, or Super ammo that will hurt a 625.

Now with that said, the bad-er the ammo, the more wear you put on your revolver. A 686 S&W will last forever shooting 148 grain 38 Special Wadcutters. Now if you put a steady diet of 180 grain Full House 357 Magnum through the same 686, sooner or later you will start to notice things loosening up a bit. The 625 will react the same way. You can shoot standard pressure 45acp through it forever. I seriously doubt you will hurt it with 45acp +P. The 45 Super ammo being a good deal hotter may bring on some noticeable wear if you run a few Thousand rounds of it through your 625. I am sure I can hurt my 625 with a steady diet of 460 Rolland.

Bob
 
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