.458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

[Bigwheels]

Hey, all. I have a friend that has had his Ruger Super Blackhawk reworked to a .458" dia. tube, & cylinder. He's wondering what that may do to his load. I thought virtually nothing. If anything he may need a slight powder increase to get the velocity back due to the increase of the chamber volume. And his brass may not last too long.
What Say You?

 

[bohem]

Re: .458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

He's going to need to start shooting different bullets now.

45 pistol bullets are .452 as I remember, the 45 caliber rifles are 458, so he's going to need to start shooting heavy rifle bullets or start casting his own lead and sizing them appropriately.

Why did he go this route?

 

[GSPKurt]

Re: .458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

Completely different bullets. He probably ruined the gun.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Why did he go this route? </div></div>

My thoughts exactly...

 

[Bigwheels]

Re: .458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

He went with this specifically so he could shoot heavy bullets, & shoot the same ones in both his pistol, & his 45-70 lever. Basically to conserve components.
We have the same pistols, but mine is stock 45 LC, & we both have used the Oregon Trails 360gr. with H-110 @ 1200 fps with very good results. He just wants to do the same with his in .458 dia & shoot the same in his lever gun.

 

[Winchester 69]

Re: .458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

He'll need to size with a .458 die. Once the brass is pushed out this little bit, no difference.

 

[Queequeg]

Re: .458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

Bigwheels,

Some cylinder throats are nearly that large as they came from the factory anyway! Your friend will need to get used to casting or swaging bullets and cases aren't likely to be long lived if they are resized in standard .45 Colt resizing dies. Is he planning to resize them in a .45-70 (90,or 110???)die?

What I don't understand is why the gunsmith who did this work didn't discuss this with your friend.

 

[BALLISTIC]

Re: .458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

What's wrong with a .452 360gr at 1200FPS? I think your friend wasted his money, and devalued his firearm.

 

[Bigwheels]

Re: .458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

I agree. He does some weird things to his guns, but he likes it that way.
He only sizes the top 1/4" of his brass anyway, & has had good results that way. Mr. Linebaugh himself is the guy that did the work for him, & I have to admit I'd like him to work my pistol too, just leave it a .452".

 

[DHDeal]

Re: .458 dia. for a moded .45 Colt?

Though I have never owned/fired a Linebaugh revolver, if he did the work, then he can definitely tell your friend how to feed it. Hell, he wrote the book on this type of thing.

I remember articles dealing with cases that looked like a shortened .458 WM (45-1.5"?). I do not remember what diameter the bullets were however.

Interesting to say the least this conversion, even though I don't get it...