Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Colt 1917 45 ACP revolver loads

Hi all! I just purchased my first Colt revolver. It is a refinished Model 1917 in 45 ACP. Shooting ACP from a revolver is also new. I have ordered some full moon clips but don’t have them yet. Plinking ammo will probably be whatever I can find inexpensively, but I am looking for advice on a general outdoors load. Freed from the need to feed in a semi auto what sort of cast bullets would you recommend? Is this gun safe for +p loads in your opinion?
Thanks!

+P is fine. It's an all-steel, large frame, revolver. Same with the S&W Model 1917.

Buffalo Bore loads a duplicate of the Kieth .45 Colt load, using 255 grian Keith style, hard cast, lead bullets in Auto Rim cases.

Okay, I'm not finding it. Maybe they stopped loading that. They load something essentially identical, though.

Link

Notice they used a Model 1917 S&W as a test gun for this load. They are trying to tell you it's okay, without actually saying so. Any steel S&W or Colt revolvers made after 1900 are made of hardened gun steel. The large framed ones are no issue with +P.

Note: Buffalo Bore says these are stouter than +P, so they might accelerate wear and shorten the service life of the gun. Use at your own risk.

They have the same load, but only to about 850 fps, which is still significant power. Link

PS The S&W version doesn't require moon clips to shoot ACP. You just need a pencil to extract them. I think some of the Colts can be fired without moon clips, too.

Early Colts had to have moon clips or Auto Rim, later ones head spaced on case mouth like S&W. At least that is what I have always read. What I know is that a friend uses ACP's in his Colt 1917 and punches them out with a pencil as TRH said. He has some AR brass and some half moon clips also, but for range work the ACP and pencil is just easier. Uses what ever he has loaded up for his 1911's.

I disagree, the old 1917s are still over 100 years old now, and should be treated gently, as they deserve at that age. Heat-treating wasn't as good as it is today. If you want to shoot +P loads, get a Smith 625 or a 25-2. Let the geezers enjoy their century status.

basically what i was thinking but didn't post. i have a colt and a smith, they ain't seeing any P+ ammo.

Don't know about the Colt's, but S&W did not heat treat steel until 1919 or later. The Army did make it a spec for the 1917 S&W, so they were heat treated. I would not go to +P, the Colt's actions are not easy to fix now days. I used standard load 45 ACP's IE 880fps loads in my 1917 S&W.

My Colt doesn't like the moon clips. I use auto rim only.

Dan

I did find that my 1917 S&W shot better with moon clips than Auto Rim for what ever reason. Auto Rim is getting hard to find as well.

I don't have a 1917, but I can say that the 2nd portion of this post is definitely true. I have both a 25-2 and 625-2.

The AR bullet, 452423@ 240 grs with 7 grs Longshot.

I've also used the LBT 300 WFN with the same powder charge, but this is a custom bullet, not anything remotely commercial.

The Colt 1917 will also require a .454 diameter or larger bullet.

The Colt New Service in 45 caliber has more metal in the cylinder at the bolt notches and a larger bolt than any Smith 29 up to Endurance Package levels.

Everything I've ever shot out of a Colt 1917 is considered +P.

Within the industry there are a number of people that do not have great things to say about Buffalo Bore ammo. That includes the people who repair Smith & Wessons. I would strongly encourage you NOT to shoot BB ammo through a 1917. This has been a topic of conversation more than once.



Or you can TRH's advice..

Starline sells the brass.

I like how you cherry picked my quote.

This?

"Note: Buffalo Bore says these are stouter than +P, so they might accelerate wear and shorten the service life of the gun. Use at your own risk. They have the same load, but only to about 850 fps, which is still significant power."

I would listen to Mackay.

I have a box of .45acp ammo, dated about 1918 from memory. it's marked on the box about 650fps. I always kind of thought it was made for these revolvers rather than the auto.
i'm not gonna disturb it to run it through a chrony.

How did they have any idea the velocity of rounds back then, lacking the technology?

They could use a wheel chronograph which had been in use since the 18th Century or a ballistic pendulum.

Two wheels of paper set a known distance apart were spun at a known rotational speed and the bullet fired through them. The angular difference between the first and second bullet holes would tell them how long it took for the bullet to travel between them.

The ballistic pendulum used a suspended weight on a lever with a tape of some kind which would record the maximum movement of the pendulum. They knew the mass of the bullet and mass of the pendulum and could then calculate how much speed was required to move the pendulum that amount.



Probably not the equals of an Oehler 35 but they got the job done close enough...