Most people that I've talked to agree with JF about the sound level. A bit louder than I expected to discover but that's life.

I won't be getting a Taurus Thunderbolt afterall since the sound level question has been answered. There are several reviews on them over on The High Road forum.

I've decided to play around with a Hi-Point .45ACP carbine when they come out. The price of the gun AND a longer barrel should be about the same as an unmodified Marlin Camp .45. Cheap, accurate, reliable and a no questions asked lifetime guarantee too.

I've been wanting to do the same,,,,
 

and any .243/260/308 bolt face rifle [Ruger 77 Mark II] will do,,single shot tho probably.
It would be the 'CB cap' of the 45 ACPs.
Lots of 45ACP ammo out there to play with, too.
I can't bring myself to spend the $$ for a 45ACP play toy,,,yet. I have the lathe and reamers,,just need a barrel.
Alan in GA.

Effectively, what you are going to produce is something similar to a Deslisle carbine.
Why not trying to do someting using a longer case , of similar volume as the 45 long colt to launch heavier bullets like a .458 500gr bullet? The 45 automag case for exemple? reamers and reloading dies existe and cutting down a 308 case is very easy to form the brass.
That should be more effective.And would look les ridiculus in a standard bolt action. Actualy you should be able to feed from it.

Regarding the barrel, a cut rifled barrel with a 1in 12 " twist should do.

ND

or the 45 Win Mag would work, too.
 

Had a Contender 14" barrel in 45 Win Mag,,it's loaded HOT in factory ammo. Would feed better, too.
But then I built a .458 American [.458 x 2"] on a short action Ruger 77 [open up bolt face, polish feed rails, grind and polish extractor lip, etc] ,,so I am still twidleing in the .45 caliber realm with not much direction. Might bring me back to the little .45 ACP again. Just thinking.
Alan in GA.

You're right, it would be more powerfull and have better range and I considered that. Lee makes some bullets molds that I like. 500 gr HP with a .443 BC, I've forgotton the BC for the 405 gr HP right now. These could used with soft lead and a gas check for good expansion at these low velocities so they would really thump game and should penetrate fine also.

I decided on the ACP because of the guns intended use. At 100 yards (the length of my property) the higher BCs arn't really necessary. For my game 230 gr HP bullets are plenty powerfull and I don't want any extra penetration for reasons of safety. Factory 45ACP 230 gr ammo is already loaded to the proper velocity and is cheap. Coyotes travel in packs so at close range I want a fast repeater and the Tunderbolt pump 45LC is a top eject which I dont prefer, I don't tend to like lever actions either.

Cartridge???????????
 

Hey Guys....I've been keeping an eye on this discussion for a while. Ironically I've been looking at a custom barrel in 45ACP for my Contender carbine but looking at the possibility of say 480 Ruger. I want to launch large bullets at subsonic speeds. The 45ACP is a no brainer since ammo from factory is subsonic.....the only thing stopping me going ahead is the idea of a 400gr 475cal bullet from the 480 Ruger at 1,000 fps! Question is would a 230gr 45 ACP bullet have enough energy to dispatch a hog at 75 yards???? I know 400grains surely would!

Hello to you guys, (I mean the three last persons that answered my post).
Here are some of my thought regarrding the subject:
If you are willing to use 45 acp, that is fine, the round is subsonic, the rifling twist is perfect for the 230gr bullet, the choice of bullets is great. Only ploblem, except the marlin rifle, and a few others (I have seen lee-enfield actions converted to take colt mag and feeding reliably, like a deslisle), your options are going to be prety limited to single shot . The contender barrel would be great for that purpose.
If you are going the contender way, than a barrel in 45 long colt is the way to go because you can launch heavier bullets(in the 45LC range) that WILL stabilise properly because the twist and the weight of the bullet MATCH.(twist in 45LC is arround 1 in 14 or 16 if Iam right).

Now if you had a barel in 45/70,here are the problems that ocur: the twist for that caliber is quite often 1 in 20, which is good to launch heavy bullets(400grains for exemple) at super sonic speed. But these same bullets would not stabilise at subsonic velocities in the same barrel.

So a barrel specialy made with a twist of 1 in 12" (more or less) would help to stabilise these bullets at subsonic speed.

Now, I do not like lever action either.
So I would go for the bolt action option.

I do not like beleted cases and rimmed case in a bolt action (also the belted can work very well).

I think that the ideal shape of the case would be a rebated case that would fit a standard bolt action face(.308), that would have a small case volume, similar to a 45 LC, a shoulder (20-25 degres for exemple) for reliable feeding, a good long neck to help hold these big long bullets (case neck lenght> bullet diametre).

Now I am not trying to reinvent the 458 socom, but almost. A 284 winchester case, shortened would be the idea, specialy with all the good quality brass available from lapua and hornady in 6.5x284.

There is another case similar to that idea called the 45 blaser. but its capacity is to large, it is design for supersonic speeds. but is gives an idea of what it would looks like.
have a look at :http://www.municion.org/45blaser/45blaser.htm


Of course, that baby needs a special reamer, a special set of dies, a custom barrel... etc
But having spent a lot of money in another projet in the past ( ruger 77/44, with silencer) and not obtaining the good results Beacause the twist and quality of the barrel where not up to it, made me think.

Let me know what you think.

ND

short rimmed cases,,bolt actions,,,
 

You made me think of one that already exists,,,the Rem 788 in 44 Rem Mag. It feeds, and is very accurate which means it must have the correct twist at least for the standard weight bullets.
I'm gonna make this interesting and cloudy up the waters even more: I want a .458" bore. I enjoy shooting paper patched bullets in a few rifles I've owned :45/70s, .458 WIn Mag [Ruger 77 Tropical], .458 American [.458 x 2"] in a Ruger 77 short action with a converted Ruger #1 barrel that was a .45/70 barrel [worked great]. I also had a Contender Super 14 in 45 Win Mag. I have envisioned a shortened 45/70 case as a new single shot pistol/carbine [Contender] round that would be the right powder capacity[?] case for a subsonic .458 bore barrel.
There are some "ready to patch and shoot" bullets for any .458" bore cartridge: the Speer 250 gr swaged SWC bullet meant for pistols of .451-.452" caliber. Any lead [soft] pistol bullet meant for the .451" bore ctgs patches GREAT up to about .460" for any of the .458" bore rifles/single shot pistols.
Here's my 'made for picture' 45/70 x 1.5" round I thought might get me into a .458" bore
Contender barrel allowing paper patching--->

Have you heard of the 458 socom? Uses 308 case head specs so 308 bolts would work. brass is available and reloading dies. It is mainly used in ar15 ,but
bolt actions rifles can be done. Problem is you can't get reamer for it. You would have to go thru the creator teppo jutsu and order a barrel.regards.

paper patch bullets for .458" bores...
 

here is the 250 Speer SWC swaged FACTORY bullet. Also one I recovered from an 8 pt buck after penetrating about 24" [entered rear of abdomen, travelled thru and out of chest,,entered and stopped by left front leg which was amazing to be able to recover the bullet!].
The middle bullet is a 325 grain meant for .45 Colt also. The last is a .358" meant for the .358 Winchester rifle I once had.
Alan in GA