Those Mysterious Forty-fives

[sheepherder]

Interesting...I pulled out POTW and looked up developement of the 45 caliber auto - This is a quote -

Model 1905 .45 Automatic

"...The 45 rimless round, which was developed for the new pistol, turned out to be less powerful than was really needed, and this was to lead to the .45ACP cartridge, though this round was still some years off when the 'Model 1905' appeared..."

I looked through HMOCC and could not find any reference to the .45 rimless round...But this reference in POTW does lend credence to an earlier .45 rimless cartridge...

Here's an Internet site with a 'history' of the .45 Auto Cartridge -

http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/histor...ge_History.htm

One interesting comment in one of the .45 cartridge sites was that the .45 ACP round was developed from a cut-down 30-03 case (not 30-06)...I had never heard of that round...(But I've read about it now)...

Interestingly [to me], I made 44 Automag cartridges out of commercial 30-06/.308 Remington brass back in the 80's or so; cut to length and seating the 44 bullet...I would hazard a WAG that the M1906 .45 cartridge was made the same way (either from a 30-03 case or the then-new 30-06)...(It is also possible to make a .45 ACP cartridge by cutting down a 30-06/.308 case the same way)...

In this thread, Mike Irwin states -

The .30-06 cartridge was created by shortening the neck of the .30-03 by .07". No other changes were made to the brass itself.

It seems the 30-03 [cartridge & chambering] was only used in military rifles in those three years [1903 - 1906], when the 30-03 chambered rifles were recalled and the barrels were shortened (at the breech) and the chambers re-cut...for the 30-06...

Fascinating stuff...