ltwguns.com

Hello,

I've just picked up an old Colt New Service that was .455 Elay rebarreled to .45LC and parked. So, read NO COLLECTOR VALUE! I plan to do my own iterpretation of a Fitz special on it. I'm just wondering if .45 ACP could be shot from it? I've seen a few Revolvers that were touted to shoot .454 Casull, .45 LC, and .45 ACP. From what I understand the bore diam. is very close but the LCs groove diam. is deeper. Is this true. I may rebarrel it, but wondering if I'd need an ACP cylinder as well. Would it be safe to just drop a moom clip of ACPs in and see how she shoots? Thanks in advance.
__________________

_________________
"Walk softly and carry a big stick."
Theodore Roosevelt

Oh, the inhumanity. The barrels probably didn't vary on interior dimensions. If they did, it was probably due more to dimensional variance in production than anything else. The barrel is probably fine, which is a minor victory.

I'm confused on the conversion: a .45 LC barrel, on a .455 Eley cylinder? or barrel and cylinder to .45LC? Not that it mattersm, your choices are few and unpleasant.

The cylinder will be a hassle. If set up for either .45 LC or .455 Eley, you aren't going to fit a .45 ACP moon clip of any kind in the back. the .45LC/Eley rim is .060", the .45ACP and its moon clip runs .090" Then there is case length. The .45LC is on the order of .300" longer. The Eley is shorter, so using a chamber reamer may clean it up. It might not: Bullets were deemed larger back then for the .45LC/.455 Eley, so the throats may be as large as .459" Accuracy will probably suck on a converted cylinder.

If you machine the cylinder, you can't go back to .45LC if the experiment doesn't work. If you can find a .45ACP cylinder, and someone who can fit it, you're probably going to end up with as much cost as a replacement revolver. (As I recall, Colt cylinders don't just slip off the crane, so you'll probably end up buying a cylinder and crane set.)

Short answer: learn to load .455 Eley and enjoy it as-is.