Buffalo Bore 45 Auto Rim +P 255gr Hard Cast – Ferocious Deep Driving Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 45 Auto Rim +P 255gr Hard Cast is the heavy version of Buffalo Bore’s cast 45 Auto Rim, and the penetration figure is the headline. 255 grains at 1000 fps produces roughly 566 ft-lbs, and Buffalo Bore reports approximately 30 inches of penetration in flesh and bone. They state it is safe in any post war 45 ACP revolver in normal good operating condition. Twenty rounds per box, item 32A/20.

• Buffalo Bore 45 Auto Rim +P 255gr Hard Cast Overview
• 45 Auto Rim +P Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 255 Grain Hard Cast Flat Nose Bullet Goes So Deep
• Specifications
• Which Guns Take This Post War 45 ACP Revolver Ammunition

Buffalo Bore 45 Auto Rim +P 255gr Hard Cast Overview

The bullet is cast from a hard alloy with a wide flat nose. It does not deform on impact, so it keeps its full weight and its full 0.452 inch frontal area from entry to exit, which is where the extraordinary depth comes from.

The 45 Auto Rim case is simply a rimmed 45 ACP, created in 1920 so that the 1917 service revolvers could be loaded and extracted without half moon clips. That rim is the only meaningful difference, and it means this ammunition works in any 45 ACP revolver with no clips at all.

Buffalo Bore loads the Buffalo Bore 45 Auto Rim +P 255gr Hard Cast above standard pressure. Their published guidance is that these loads will not harm modern 45 ACP revolvers, nor any post war 45 ACP revolver, and that they can be shot safely in any post war example in normal good operating condition.

45 Auto Rim +P Ammo Ballistics

The published chronograph figures come from four real revolvers. A 6.5 inch Smith and Wesson 1955 Target gives 1070 fps, a 5.5 inch Model 1917 gives 1043, a four inch Mountain Gun gives 1031, and a 2.5 inch scandium Model 325 gives 945 fps.

Those work out to roughly 648, 616, 602 and 505 ft-lbs. Even the lightweight 2.5 inch scandium gun is producing more than a standard 230 grain 45 ACP load does from a five inch pistol, which says something about what a heavy bullet does in a revolver.

But the number that defines this load is 30 inches of penetration. That is far beyond the twelve to eighteen inches usually considered ideal for defence against people, and it puts this 45 Auto Rim +P ammo firmly in the field and woods category rather than the carry one.

Why The 255 Grain Hard Cast Flat Nose Bullet Goes So Deep

Thirty inches of penetration is not an accident, it is the entire design goal of a thirty inch penetration revolver load. A hard cast bullet with a wide flat meplat keeps its shape, keeps its weight and keeps its frontal area, so none of its energy is spent deforming and all of it goes into travelling forward.

That behaviour is what you want against a large animal and what you emphatically do not want in a house. A 255 grain hard cast flat nose bullet will pass through almost anything you shoot with it, which is an asset in the backcountry and a liability with neighbours nearby.

The flat nose also decides the quality of the wound rather than just its length. A round nose of the same weight slips through and leaves a narrow track. A flat meplat crushes and cuts, so the hole is full calibre with sharp edges the whole way.

And it transforms what an old revolver can do. A Model 1917 or a Model 25 was never a powerful gun with factory 45 ACP. A thirty inch penetration revolver load turns the same gun into something you could reasonably carry against a black bear.

Specifications

Which Guns Take This Post War 45 ACP Revolver Ammunition

Read Buffalo Bore’s guidance carefully. They say this will not harm modern 45 ACP revolvers nor any post war 45 ACP revolver, and that it can be shot safely in any post war example in normal good operating condition. Post war and good operating condition are both doing real work in that sentence.

Note that many Model 1917 revolvers are pre war rather than post war. Buffalo Bore chronographed this load in a 1937 production 1917, but their stated guidance is post war, so if your 1917 dates from the First World War or the interwar years, have a gunsmith confirm its condition before you feed it +P.

This is not a house load. Thirty inches of penetration means the bullet exits and keeps going, and then through interior walls. If you want a 45 Auto Rim load for home defence, choose the expanding jacketed hollow point in the same line instead.

Confirm your point of impact. A 255 grain hard cast flat nose bullet at 1000 fps shoots quite differently from the 230 grain ball these revolvers were regulated around, and it will usually print higher at twenty five yards.

Thirty Inch Penetration Revolver Load Availability

This post war 45 ACP revolver ammunition is in stock and ready to ship from MAG5 Firearms, a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Ammunition orders ship to most states, and local customers are welcome to pick up in the shop. If you need case quantities or a standard pressure alternative to this 45 Auto Rim +P ammo, call us and we will check what our distributors have on hand.

Manufacturer details are on the Buffalo Bore site. For the same bullet at standard pressure, see the 45 Auto Rim 255gr hard cast. For an expanding bullet, compare the 45 Auto Rim +P 200gr JHP, or browse our full ammunition selection.