Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .460 Rowland Gang

Who has a .460 Rowland Setup for their pistol?

For those who don't know. Here is a good look.

https://www.460rowland.com/

or

https://clarkcustomguns.com/parts-category/1911/

and


http://www.realguns.com/archives/106.htm


I have had mine for a few years. I used the Clark Kit. Back to .45 ACP in 3 minutes.

They got some impressive ballistics for sure. That 960 is interesting too.

Gibby: Been shooting a 460 Rowland for a long time. Use the Clark conversion kit with compensator, recoil buffer and stronger firing pin spring as well as recoil spring to avoid battering your frame. The 460 Rowland gives you ballistics of factory 44 magnum loads in equivalent barrel lengths. AA7 is the best powder and Starline cases are very robust. The limiting factor is magazine length. That is why I use the 230 grain Penn lead flat point. Look up an article "Taffin Tests the 460 Rowland". He got 1243 fps with a 230 grain bullet and 1119 fps with a 260 grain bullet. I have chronographed 1370 fps with the Penn bullet and pressure tested AA7 powder recommended loads and have fired many rounds with no appreciable wear on my frame. Don't let anyone tell you a 45 Super is equal to a 460 Rowland because recommended loads for a 230 grain bullet gets you 1070 fps.Get a Mech Tech carbine conversion for 1911 in 460 Rowland. You will pick up about 400 fps in the carbine. Being a blow back action with a heavy barrel it is no lightweight but you can get a folding stock. Think of the 460 Rowland as a 44 mag for semiautomatic pistols and carbines.

Also, think of it as LOUD, Very Loud. I had a Clark .460 barrel in a Springfield Mil Spec, sold it because it was much too loud for a hunting round. Plenty of power, shot good, recoil was not bad - but the leaves fell from the trees and the ground trembled when I fired it. Would not be safe in areas prone to rock slides.

Just my impressions/opinion.

Mike

I like AA7 and Longshot. Both seem to work well in all bullet weights. I shoot 225gr hard cast and 230gr jacketed mostly. No need in my area to shoot heavier. Your right, the super can not compare. That compensator saves the gun. Plus makes it surprisingly controllable compared to a .44 Mag revolver. It works. I use a 20# recoil spring with everything you mentioned plus the Square bottom FPS. The Clark barrels are very accurate.

A .357 Magnum in a 4" revolver seems louder to me than the .460 .

I had a Sig 1911 with the Clark conversion installed and I had a S&W Model 25 .45 Long Colt that was converted to use moon clips and shot the Rowland out of it along with the ACP and LC rounds. That gun was a lot of fun. Great round in the auto but I like the 10mm better so it went down the road

If someone wanted to have built/build a 460 Rowland that went "bang" every time it was shot, was as foolproof as possible for a semi-auto pistol, what base frame and conversion kit would be recommended? The LAST thing I'd want is a pistol that was finicky about what ammunition it was fed, especially heavy-for-caliber bullets. Is there a magic 460 Rowland that can equal the reliability of a 44 magnum revolver? Because if there is, I'd be interested. This is an honest question from a large-cariber revolver user who would seriously consider a 460 Rowland that would shoot heavy loads with complete reliability.

John-

You might be able to get the energy close to the .44 Magnum, but the .44 will throw heavier bullets. 265gr is about the tops without loosing too much case space for powder. As far as reliability, I have never had any problems what so ever.

Clark recommends using only forged frames and slides. You can call them. They will tell you if the gun in question will work.

For my first Rowland, I used a Colt Gold Cup Trophy. Very, very accurate with the Clark conversion. They actually polished the comp to a greater degree to match the pistol's high polish.

Like Gibby, I never had any function/reliability issues with my Rowland on the Mil Sec Springfield. Uses the .45 ACP magazines, and no problems with them and this round. My only issue, as I've said, was the noise level caused by the comp, but Clark told me that taking the comp off will cause the recoil to beat the pistol to death in short order. The .460 was a blast - pun intended - to shoot, and accurate. After having issues with 10mm in a Glock, I felt much more comfortable shooting the Rowland. I certainly would not discourage anyone from trying it. I gave Clark a list of "pre-owned" 1911's I was considering for the conversion, and they recommended the Springfield over some much more expensive pistols.

Mike

Let me guess-

Kimber?

45 Super.......

The MECH TECH carbine conversion in 460 R is a fun gun. A little heavy but as the carry around on your ATV, nothing better. A drunk that had to look down the business end of it sobered up fast.

A lot of people enjoy the Super. I tried, but thought is was beating up the guns too much.

The compensator makes the difference. 230gr at 1350 fps using only a 20lb. recoil spring. Ejects the empties about 4 feet. Slide velocity in the designed range. No extra powered magazine springs. No limp wristing problems from using a heavy recoil spring. Much more control of recoil for follow up shots.

Gibby, yes Kimber was one they did not recommend. They didn't think much of my Taurus, either.

Mike

I'm not so sure about that...but your point is very valid; the .357 is part flash-bang grenade. But so are most magnum revolvers when loaded to potential. It's the nature of their slow burning powders and relatively short barrels. 4" and under in most any of the magnums can be pretty darned obnoxious. I won't shoot even one round out of one without hearing protection, not even while hunting. Doing so, I have been rewarded with tinitus which I will have for the rest of my life...wasn't worth it...even with my biggest trophy bear.

The model 25, like the Blackhawk should be limited to 30kpsi, and the .460 is a 40kpis round...you're leaving very little room for something to go wrong. And there are many who would say the 25 should be kept to 25.5kpsi.

Clark is very old school and doesn't like anything that isn't a forged frame.

And they have their reasons for that!

Mike

I do not own either, but I would spend my money on the Taurus before blowing a lot on a Kimber. The Kimber is in the Colt range in cost. No brainer which one to buy.