S&W 325 ? .45 acp/ar revolver -any good for cc?

Just wondering. Saw some stuff on one of these today and looked interesing.
Never was into the idea of .acp in revolvers,but..this seems decent enough.
Anyone have or use one? Esp. curious about for CC use-is it too big for this?

And what of .45 auto rim. One review had a guy firing some. Are they comparable to .45 acp?

The auto rim is just a case designed so that you can use it in a .45 ACP revolver without using moon or half-moon clips to extract the cases. The .45 ACP is rimless and without something for the extractor to catch, you'd have to punch them out with a dowel.

The .45 ACP is surprisingly accurate in a revolver considering that it wasn't designed for that. As far as using it for self-defense, there's no good reason not to. In fact, a .45 ACP revolver with moon clips is faster to reload than a revolver using a conventional speed loader. The .45 ACP is a proven-effective self-defense cartridge. In selecting a large-bore revolver for self-defense, I'd put the .45 ACP revolvers at the top of the list.

Oh, yeah...Almost forgot to mention; yes, I do own two of them and used to own another and there's nothing about them I don't like. Basically all the good points of any revolver with the added advantage of faster loading.

No need to sell me on the merits of .45acp been convinced of that for ages. Totally agree.
Just never considered one in revolver form before.
Is the 325 too large or heavy for concealed,or does it work out ok?

j4l said:

No need to sell me on the merits of .45acp been convinced of that for ages. Totally agree.
Just never considered one in revolver form before.
Is the 325 too large or heavy for concealed,or does it work out ok?

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I'm thinking it will depend on your build. Any revolver caliber that starts with a "4" is going to be plenty wide across the cylinder. You could always hit the gun stores and handle a S&W 29 or 629. Or, a Ruger Alaskan. Just hold it beside your belt and see how far out it goes. I did that awhile back; I just couldn't imagine the bulge wouldn't be noticeable. It was pretty dramatic on my body. On your body is the question, though.

A full-size, all-steel 1911 weighs about 38oz empty, maybe about 42 oz loaded, depending. You could just go to S&W's website and check the weight of the revolvers to compare.

Well was mostly just wondering if anyone out there was CC'ing w/ one of these.
The specs on paper are one thing, but no one around here has one to check out,in the flesh, at the moment.
Ive got a full-size .45 semi- at it's widest the whole thing is only as wide as my thumb-so im used to the nice,slim thing. Im sure that cyclnder width may be the deal-breaker or not.

One nice aspect of those Rhinos that are out now- very slim with the squared cyl.

Other than the fact that you live in Florida where you are currently not allowed to OPen Carry, why are you asking about the cc-ability of the 325?

If you like the idea of .45acp/AR in a revolver you will find a way to cc it. Who was it that said carrying was supposed to be comforting, not comfortable?

BTW, I own and carry a few 325s. Great little revolvers. If you folks in Florida ever ger Open Carry, go buy a really nice holster for it and make it one of your BBQ guns.

stay safe.

Well I intend my 845 for OC and for carry around the home.
Since we got shafted and are still stuck with CC, im considering options for that,that might be smaller-more fitting. All the better if I could keep it in the same cal. i have ammo for,etc.
Will probably go compact semi-but wouldnt mind seeing a rev.

Purse gun question...

I've been looking to get my wife into a real handgun for CC since she "Isn't about to OC"... She has been carrying a NAA Guardian in .32ACP which isn't what I would really trust her life to, given a choice.

I also want to get us all using the same ammo so when I start reloading soon, I'll only have to deal with 2 pistol calibers, (.45ACP and .380ACP).

She's had nothing but trouble with automatics and the other day she was able to shoot a revolver at the range (.38spl). Now, she's very interested in changing her EDC to a wheel gun due to simplicity of operation.

So, as a purse gun for a lady, (it's a CCW purse, not just a gun stuffed into a cluttered mess) what would you think of the S&W 325?

In that role, I imagine it would work well. Not sure how much recoil is felt in .45 from revolvers vs. semi's (almost none worth noting), but Id hope it would be less so than .38 or .357 from one.
Def. caliber advantage

Freedom First said:

I've been looking to get my wife into a real handgun for CC since she "Isn't about to OC"... She has been carrying a NAA Guardian in .32ACP which isn't what I would really trust her life to, given a choice.

I also want to get us all using the same ammo so when I start reloading soon, I'll only have to deal with 2 pistol calibers, (.45ACP and .380ACP).

She's had nothing but trouble with automatics and the other day she was able to shoot a revolver at the range (.38spl). Now, she's very interested in changing her EDC to a wheel gun due to simplicity of operation.

So, as a purse gun for a lady, (it's a CCW purse, not just a gun stuffed into a cluttered mess) what would you think of the S&W 325?

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A 325 is fairly large, and probably especially so for getting out of a concealed-carry purse pocket. (something like this http://magills.com/pgroup_descrip/3...ner+Concealed+Carry+Purse+-+Glacier/?return=? ) It can be managed. Just need to be willing to deal with all the aspects of a revolver that size.

Personally I'd recommend either bobbing the hammer or looking at something like the S&W Centennial (internal hammer) or Bodyguard (shrouded hammer) to avoid getting hung up when drawing from a concealed-carry purse. If she likes the .45ACP/AR round she can get the trigger worked on to reduce the amount of force needed to break the sear.

Taurus used to make the 445 Tracker, which is a 5-round .45ACP (not AR) that uses a moon clip they called a "stellar clip". 445 Trackers are pretty scarce, but www.moonclips.com and Midway (among several) offer the stellar clips.

If your wife is interested in .380 but is not pleased with manipulating a semiauto, you might assist her in looking into a Beretta 84/85/86 http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Beretta_80_Series_Pistols_-_"Cheetah" with the tip-up barrel. It eliminates most of the need ro rack the slide, and with the mass is not as "snappy" as some of the polymer .380s.

stay safe.

Dammit. For the last four days I keep being interrupted by thoughts about getting a .45 revolver.

Then, just to push it deeper into my consciousness, Handgunner magazine runs a little article on .45 revolvers.

Its your fault, J4L.