New 460 Rowland Project
Greetings everyone. New HHI member here (but not new to handgun hunting), so I hope this is in the right place.
I am in the process of converting one or more of my S&W 625s to 460 Rowland. Rather than mess with the original cylinders, I purchased new cylinders to ream to this caliber. I am not totally sure on how to approach this. I know 4D rents reamers, but I am unsure about what pilot to request since I am doing cylinders instead of barrels.
I could possibly just send them somewhere to get reamed, but am unsure of who does this (and does good work).
Another thought is to just shorten the 460 Rowland brass by a 1/16" and load them up to Rowland specs. I would still have the thicker web in the case, but they would chamber in a standard 45 acp cylinder. Since they are going in a revolver, seating the bullets a little further out is not a problem if that's necessary to maintain powder space, although crimping requirements might conflict with this. Thoughts?
I shoot and use 45 Super in these guns regularly (as well as in my HK semis) but would like the 44 mag ballistics from the 460 Rowland available in case I can ever draw a good elk tag.
I would welcome thoughts and ideas on this.
Great to be here amongst like minded crazy handgun hunters with off the wall ideas. Some of y'alls projects are really cool and I am enjoying the pics and stories! Thanks.
Wow, thanks so much Roy. Excellent info. It is good to know that the Super brass matches the Rowland brass in strength. That may save me a lot of trouble.
The cylinder is arriving today (supposedy), so I don't have throat measurements yet.
I handload of course and am not looking for absolute screamer loads. Although I use jacketed 230 gr for deer, I tend to prefer heavy, sharp shouldered cast bullets for larger game (anything above whitetail) and I always want an exit hole for sure. Sounds like I can get there with the Super brass most likely. There is no danger of me mixing these heavy loads in my standard 45 semi-autos as I don't shoot cast bullets in the autos. But they are all HK USPs and a Mark 23 that are ok for limited 45 Super use anyway. I can and do shoot jacketed 45 Super in them in limited amounts.
I believe your Blackhawk is a sturdier set up for 460 Rowland than my 625s are. But I like double action revolvers and have 3 625s already. LOL.
If I do decide to take the plunge I will send the cylinder to Clarks for reaming, but again sounds like I probably don't need to.
Thanks so much for the detailed response.