.45 Cowboy Special in .45 S&W revolvers?

[Biermeister]

Has anybody tried the Cowboy Special in .45 Schofield revolvers. I have had god luck with them in my R&D/Remington conversions but have yet to try them in my 1872 Open Tops in .45 S&W.

[Dick Dastardly]

AJ will chime in here, but your Schofields fit 45 Colt guns.  Cowboy 45 Special fit 45 Colt guns.  Schofields are longer than C45S.  Yup, they'll fit.  Now, how they shoot depends on what you load 'em with.

DD-DLoS

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy!

It'll do just fine!

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[Biermeister]

Thanks, for the replies Steel Horse & Dick Dastardly. I knew they will work in the Open Tops. I was just wondering if someone had tried them in the Open Tops and could share their results. Have a great day.

[Adirondack Jack]

They tell me the Cowboy .45 Specials work just dandy in the "schofield" chambered guns.

[Montana Slim]

Loading/firing should be fine...but you'll note that .45 S&W brass has (or should have) a larger diameter rim than .45 Colt. Using .45 Colt diameter head ammo (I believe .45 Special has the .45 Colt diameter rim), could allow the extractor to slip off..this can be a PIA to clear, BTW.

I'd suggest getting a few empties to test extraction before going all-in.

Best,
Slim

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Don't modern .45 Colt case have larger rims than the originals?

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Yes, Sir Chas. (Slightly)

Also, all of them I've seen (new ones, NOT old) have a small groove cut into the body right above the top edge of the rim.  This allows extractors to get a better and deeper grip on the case rim - without really weakening the brass.

[Adirondack Jack]

Loading/firing should be fine...but you'll note that .45 S&W brass has (or should have) a larger diameter rim than .45 Colt. Using .45 Colt diameter head ammo (I believe .45 Special has the .45 Colt diameter rim), could allow the extractor to slip off..this can be a PIA to clear, BTW.

I'd suggest getting a few empties to test extraction before going all-in.

Best,
Slim

A pard has a pair of Schofields (I think his are Ubertis, but might be S&W) and they run the C45S cases just fine.

[SFT]

They work just fine in any .45 chambered revolver, using Black or smokeless.
In fact that's all I shoot in my revolvers and conversion cylinders that are in .45 LC.

[Biermeister]

Finally!! Fired .45 Cowboy Special out of my Open Tops!! Used the EPP 150 grain bullet, 3F APP at about 15 yards, 10 rounds, could cover the shots with a beer can. Someone else could probably do better. Very little recoil and accurate and hits point of aim.
    Has anybody used 150 or 160 grain bullets with Trail Boss, Tight Group or Unique? Haven't found any data for those bullet weights in .45 auto rim?

[Dick Dastardly]

45ACP data will be real close.  Case volumes are very similar.  Since you're shootn' 'em in open tops, I'd start on the light side.

FWIW, that bullet with a compressed charge of FFFg (1.3cc) runs 950fps out of my ROAs with Kirst Konverter cylinders.  And, talk about accurate?  I've shot 3" 50 yard groups with it.  I can't hold any better than that.

DD-DLoS

[Adirondack Jack]

Finally!! Fired .45 Cowboy Special out of my Open Tops!! Used the EPP 150 grain bullet, 3F APP at about 15 yards, 10 rounds, could cover the shots with a beer can. Someone else could probably do better. Very little recoil and accurate and hits point of aim.
    Has anybody used 150 or 160 grain bullets with Trail Boss, Tight Group or Unique? Haven't found any data for those bullet weights in .45 auto rim?

Howdy.  With 150 or 160s and smokeless in C45S cases, the best ticket is FAST powders.  The idea is to get the powder burning and pressures up to the required minimum before the bullet starts to move.

You can easily use .45 ACP TARGET or BULLSEYE competition data because the case volume is the same.  You can also safely use middle of the road data for 180 grain bullets with 150s and 160s, and will end up very close to minimum, as lighter bullets generally require more powder for the same pressures.  I don't care too much for Trail Boss, have not used Titegroup, and find Unique works OK for rather zippy rounds, but the rounds can't be slowed too much.

I like 700X a lot, it is a fast powder, and 4.2 to 4.4 ought to do nicely.  3.5-4.2 of Bullseye is a good start, and 4.0 to 4.5 of Red Dot works nicely.  Note, I TRY to load for accuracy, not necessarily for the very lightest possible load. Some find a little lighter load is acceptable, even as accuracy opens up a little bit.

[SFT]

I use a 230 gr. round nose bullet and 4 grains of Trail Boss.
About 13 grains by volume WEIGHT of Triple 7 2fg is my smoke and boom load with the 230's as well.

[Adirondack Jack]

I use a 230 gr. round nose bullet and 4 grains of Trail Boss.
About 13 grains by volume of Triple 7 2fg is my smoke and boom load with the 230's as well.

dang, the 77 load is light. I use 13.2 grains WEIGHT with anything up to a 230, and have only used a lighter load (11) with a 120, using a walters wad under it.

[SFT]

Sorry, my fingers got away from my brain, it is 13 grains by weight, not volume.  My gaff, sorry for the misinformation.