My .45 Special project....

[fortyshooter]

I have a Ruger New Vaquero Birds Head revolver in .45ACP and even though a real nice shooter something was missing.
That something was using ammo with traditional rimmed case heads. I have a couple other .45 ACP semi-auto pistols and wanted something different for the
Bird.
The .45 Cowboy Special brass was the solution and I started with some loads using Xtreme 255 gr. plated bullets at .452 dia.
I found that the loads would not fully seat due to the cylinder throats being on the small side at .451 diameter.

A little bit of cylinder throat honing brought them out to .4525 or just enough for the bullet to lightly push thru the throats.
Now using .45 Auto Rim load data I have ordered up some cast lead bullets from Matt's to also try...the 250 gr. Keith type that was designed for
.45 ACP/ Auto Rim in revolvers.
The .45 Special is what I will denote my Ruger Birds Head!

[JEBar]

most interesting project for sure .... looking forward to your range reports and comments as you work with your new 45

[North Country Gal]

Yeah, Ruger's are notorious for having tight throats. Not at all surprised you did some work to get what you want.

Love the 45 ACP in a single action like that. Lots of fun to shoot. Keep us posted.