I had not read the rule before. Thank you. The C45S is different both internally and externally than autorim, as mentioned above. It could easily be argued that the C45S is simply a source of brass for those wishing to use .45 Webley, as the .45 Webley, ALWAYS a BP round, never loaded in smokeless, shares the same case dimensions except for a very slight variation in length, and if one considers the interior volume rather than exterior length, is a very near perfect replica owing to to solid case of the C45S, whereas .45 Webley was balloon head, so the slight difference in length makes up for that. Since the .45 Webley was explicitly designed for use in Colt SAA arms for use by the British foreign service as an easement to the Webley-green contract, as well as in Webley-Green arms, it can further be argued that the use of such a round in any SAA or reasonable facimile, or any arm chambered in .45 Colt, would be possible then and now. Would that a ship entering port in San Franciso, after a trading run to India, happened to have aboard a quantity of .45 Webley ammunition however acquired (do ya think the Brits controlled their ammo any better than the US Army, which "lost" it at a hellish rate to theft or other diversion to civilian use throughout the period?) I can well imagine such ammo would simply be considered and used as "short Colt", a reasonable description, and it has been argued that no less than Elmer Keith was referring to it when he makes the argument regarding the term "Long Colt". EK says something about "Anybody who says the use of "Long Colt" is wrong never saw the Short rounds used in such quantities by the British in (WWI)". EK doubtless knew the .455 was a different case head, but the .45 Webley absolutely was a ringer for the Colt, save length, and as such might have been called "short Colt". .45 WEB was produced both in Britain and in the US by WRA CO and Remington from the 1870s to 1930s.
Since no readily available .45 Webley brass exists, any shooter wishing to use the round would have to source a .45 Colt case head round of proper length, either by cutting and reaming .45 Colt (still has the wrong headstamp) or by simply substituting C45S.
I've said about all I can say on this. I wish those wanting to use the round in NCOWS competition well, and would hope that this thread is preserved and presented to the folks that will need to decide.
I have submitted sample rounds to the judge.
I thank the members of the committee for their consideration in advance.
<<Jack>>