Let me first say that I am not a reloader, I am a firearms and ammunition dealer. With that out of the way... I have a customer asking me if it is possible to reload Extreme Shock 45 cal. ACP bullets into 460 casings. Again, I have no experience with reloading so I don't have the slightest clue. He is wanting these for personal protection when he is carrying this gun concealed (yes... concealed... he's a BIG guy. Body builder type.). He is afraid that normal Hollow Points will penetrate all the way through and cause additional casualties. The Extreme Shock bullets are .451", I know this is smaller than the normal .452" of the Long Colt bullets normally used. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

.460 what? I mean what exactly is the chamber marked, I can think of at least 3

First of all welcome to HuntingNut

Yes you can use the 45 acp bullet in the .460. But why in the world would he carry a 460 sw for concealed is beyond me. My brother owns one these from smith & Wesson and it"s just to big for ccw. Plus I don't think you have to worry about normal shock as I can guarantee you that if you use one of these at full throttle, even throttled down you will do lots of damage.

Its a 460 S&W. I asked him the same question Omimivision1. He has plenty of other guns to carry, but this is his new toy and he likes to carry it. I have seen him carrying it and it is completely invisible with the size of his frame! He fires this gun with one hand at the range... that will put his size into perspective. Thank you for the input. I will pass this information on to him and the reloader I have been using. Is there anything special about loading the ACP into the 460 casing that I should inform them about?

Yes, the 45acp bullet is not designed for the higher velocities of the 460sw.

When I decided to try some "defensive" loads for my .44 Mag I picked a decent 200 grain hollow point and loaded it to make 1100-1200 ft/sec. Lighter bullet to reduce recoil and velocity enough to insure expansion. The problem I see with the .460 is that you've got a lot of case to fill and I'm not sure what powder you can use to do that.

By the way, I've seen mixed reviews on those "Extreme Shock", I think I'd stick with a Speer or Hornady JHP.

For starters...Tell him to get some .45Colts!!! They should work just fine! And be alot more realistic for Personal Defense use. But tell him to be very aware that there will be deposits left in the front of the chambers much like a .38Special in a .357RM. And accuracy may not be that good due the difference in the velocity that the gain twist in the .460 uses.

Basically what the .454Casull is to the .45Colt. The .460Smith is to the .454Cas. They are meant to use .454 bullets as I recall not the typical .451-.452's that the ACP uses. A good serch of the die makers website should confirm or totally disprove what i have said here. If I am wrong then so be it! HE HE!! Sure wouldn't be the first time.

YES they will both go down the bore. However depending on which die set is used it may not be made for this bullet diameter. Basically don't use a .454" diameter bullet in a .45ACP die! You may crush the case. And don't use a .451-.452" in a .45Colt or .454Cas die set as it won't "crimp" the bullet right. I tried this using a .45ACP/.45Colt/.45AR die set. As long as I used .451-.452's it worked fine! I then got a .45Colt die set and could not get the .451's to fit tight. They basically fell right to the top of the powder charge! THEN; I figured out what happened! DOPE! HAHA!

My guess this will fade away and he will tire of it soon! That is ALOT of weight to hang in a holster/scabbard.

I am glad somebody got it I was thinking of the Rowland being an auto nut in that case it would be fine

Arron! I guess I totally overlooked the obvious solution with the .460 huh! Good call!

By the way, I can load .45 ACP, .45 Auto Rimmed, .45 Win and .45 Colt with my Hornady die. I guess I could load .454 Casull and .460 S&W too IF the sizing die is long enough inside. Looks like .45 GAP would work too.

Yeah you can! But the Hornady die set is made to use .451-.452"ers! It does not resize the case correctly for .454"s!!! I tried it! The cases got smashed!!!! Even with belling the case mouth! That is what I meant when I said be aware of the die set. .45Colt dies use the .454" diameter bullet. and thus resize for that size of bullet. TRUST ME! I have a Lee set for the Colt and the same die set as you in the Hornady die set. Ilike them both. I do however DESPISE! RCBS pistol dies! They use a bass ackwards method of settingthe crimp BEFORE you set the bullet depth! That is too strange for me to grasp. So I try not to use RCBS pistol dies. I have even given away brand new sets when I figured this out! Always go with the shorter case as you can always back it out a touch to make it work with the longer cases of the same diameter. Well you get the idea! HAHAHA!!!! Nice to be useful once again on here!!!!

Not sure about the GAP! But the other way GAP on up; yeah should be do-able.


Oh and one question Mike. Why did you not just buy some .44Specials????

Gentlemen,

I have a 460 S&W and:

1. You can carry it concealed if you're big enough.

2. You can load it with 45 ACP bullets. There is no problem with the die sets (at least with my standard 460 S&W dies), excess velocity, etc. Actually, they shoot pretty well.

Who made the die set??? As I am curious to know if they have been made for .451's. My Lee .45Colt set will not work with .451's. Only .454's. Unless of course they made the cartridge use .451's HMM? Interesting.

I shall have to do some more "looking" now. HE HE HE!!!!

Either Redding or RCBS made it. I don't have the dies right in front of me but I remember it's in a green box.

I've loaded .454" bullets for the .45 Colt using these dies so...

Can you get 1200 ft/sec with a 200 grain bullet in a .44 Special? I haven't looked yet.