.45 Schofield Ammo

Started by Dead Eye Dave, January 10, 2008, 11:54:34 AM

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Dead Eye Dave

I understand that you can use .45 Schofield in a SAA.  Are there any advantages to this at all?  I have heard the recoil is less but wonder if this is true.

Thanks in Advance

DB

p.s.  Just a shout out to all on this forum.  Ya'll have been very helpful.

Grapeshot

Quote from: Dead Eye Dave on January 10, 2008, 11:54:34 AM
I understand that you can use .45 Schofield in a SAA.  Are there any advantages to this at all?  I have heard the recoil is less but wonder if this is true.

Thanks in Advance

DB

p.s.  Just a shout out to all on this forum.  Ya'll have been very helpful.

Yes.  The .45 S&W Schofield cartridge can be fired out of a SAA chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge.  The original loading was for 28 grains of Black Powder and a 230 grain Lead bullet.  Examples of this cartridge as loaded by Frankfurt Arsenal also has a 250 grain bullet loaded in it as well.  Either loading has less recoil than the 35 grain Military loading of the .45 Colt Round.

Depending on what you plan to do with it, the cartridge is better suited for reduced charges than the .45 Colt cartridge as it is shorter and makes better use of reduced smokeless loads than the longer Colt cartridge.
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Deadeye Don

Interestingly the 1873 SAA made for the military was orginially issued with 45 colt, but in the militaries infinite wisdom they decided 45 Schofield was "adequate" for the military as it cost less to make and weighed less to carry.  So shoot away with 45 Schofield and you will actually be quite historically correct in doing so.  Regards.  Deadeye.
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Trailrider

Howdy, Pards,

The only caveat with modern .45 Schofield brass made by Starline is that the rims are about .001-.002" thicker than most modern .45 LC brass, and the Berretta Laramie is NOT manufactured to accep the Starline brass and still allow the cylinder to rotate!  :(  Some Laramies may accept the thicker rims, however, so your mileage may vary.  Shooting .45 Schofield in a Colt's SAA is the same as shooting .44 Specials in a .44 Magnum, or .22 Shorts in a .22 Long Rifle!  The only problem may come in having to clean the chambers after extensive shooting or you may not be able to chamber the regular .45 Colt cases due to the fouling in the throat area!

BTW, Adarondak Jack's .45 Cowboy Specials have rim thicknesses similar to the .45 LC, and the even shorter case (with capacity like the .45 ACP/.45 Auto Rim) lends itself to easy chambering in both the Laramie and Colt's, Schofield, etc.

Of course the advantage to the .45 Cowboy Special is when shooting reduced smokeless loads is the much smaller internal capacity compared with the .45 LC.
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Driftwood Johnson

Howdy

Yeah, generally speaking you can shoot 45 Schofield from any revolver that is chambered for 45 Colt. Bullet diameter is the same, case capacity is less, so with low powered loads you get a more efficient burn on your powder. If loading your own you MUST use a reduced powder charge over what you would use with 45 Colt, because the same charge in a smaller volume case will generate MORE pressure. Pickings used to be mighty slim looking for 45 Schofield loading data, but more is available now.

There are a couple of other caveats, and like Trailrider sez, they are related to the rims of the Schofield. 45 Schofield rims are nominally about .008 larger in diameter than 45 Colt. This does not cause a problem in most revolvers, there is usually enough clearance for the larger diameter rims. However I have two 'original' model Vaqueros that do not like the larger diameter rims. Because the cylinder ratchet teeth are of a different design than on a Colt, the larger rims cause a little bit of interference when chambering the rounds. Also, on my R&D conversion cylinders for my 1858 Remingtons, the counterbores for the rims were not large enough to accept the larger diameter rims, and they had to be opened up to accept 45 Schofield rounds.

Other than that, Colts and most replicas should not have a problem chambering or shooting 45 Schofield rounds. My favorite load is a 200 grain J/P 45-200 bullet over about 28 grains of FFg Black Powder. Shoots very mild from my Remmies.
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North Bender

Driftwood (or others) can you point me to a source for .45 Schofield smokeless load data?  My manuals don't list the round.

Driftwood Johnson

Howdy Again

my copy of Lee lists loads for 200, 230, 250, and 255 grain lead bullets. Not as many loads as many other cartridges, but enough to get started. My 13th edition of the Speer manual lists cowboy loads for 225-230 grain bullets. Again, not a whole lot, but enough to get started. My 2nd edition of the Lyman Pistol and Revolver Handbook did not list any loads for Schofield, but it came out in a new edition last year. I have not bought it yet, but I paged through it in a store a few months ago and I seem to remember 45 Schofield was listed.

IMR puts out a free handout and lists a few cowboy loads for 45 Schofield using Trailboss, for 200, 230 and 250 grain lead bullets. And Hodgdon puts out a free handout of Cowboy Action Data and lists a few loads for 45 Schofield with 200, 225-230, and 250 grain lead bullets. The data is out there. It is not as prolific as some other calibers, but it is out there. You may have to hunt around a little bit though.
That's bad business! How long do you think I'd stay in operation if it cost me money every time I pulled a job? If he'd pay me that much to stop robbing him, I'd stop robbing him.

Ya probably inherited every penny ya got!

North Bender

Thank you sir.  My Lee manaul is Somewhere around the house ... Lyman #48 doesn't cary this cartridge.

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