STARLINE BRASS 45 S&W BRASS /500

STARLINE BRASS 45 S&W SCHOFIELD BRASS /500

45 Schofield is similar to the 45 Colt. Differences include head diameter approximately .010" larger, case length is 1.090" to 1.100" compared to 1.273" to 1.283" in the .45 Colt. Substantially less internal capacity for shooting light loads in most 45 Colt guns with no modifications. You may need to tune extractor on some lever action rifles, or decrease diameter of the ratchet on the cylinder by .010 to accommodate the larger head diameter in Ruger Vaquero and Colts. Also increases magazine capacity in rifles. 

The .45 Schofield or .45 Smith & Wesson is a revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson for their S&W Model 3 Schofield top-break revolver. It is similar to the .45 Colt round though shorter and with a slightly larger rim, and will generally work in revolvers chambered for that cartridge; the converse is not true, since the .45 Colt case is longer. US government arsenals supplied .45 Schofield cartridges for the Schofield revolver and the Colt Army revolver to simplify their armament needs.^[1]

The .45 Schofield cartridge was shorter than the .45 Colt. It could be used in both the Schofield and the Colt 45 Peacemaker, but the .45 Colt was too long to use in the Schofield. As a result, by the 1880s the army finally standardized on a .45 cartridge designed to fire in both revolvers, the M1887 Military Ball Cartridge. The M1887 was made at Frankford Arsenal, and was issued only to the military. It had the shorter case of the Schofield and the reduced rim of the Colt round; as it was short enough to fit the Schofield, and its rim was not needed for the rod-ejector Single Action Army, the M1887 would fire and eject from both revolvers.^[3]

Synonyms[edit]

• .45 S&W
• .45 S&W Schofield
• .45 M1877 ball revolver