RNC, so am I but, and this is just a guess, the .45colt works so well in the lever action rifle, why bother. I know it is not that the .45 is rimless because Marlin made a .32 for years and was a very popular rifle.
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Just think of how many .45acp you could get in a tubular magazine!
Back in the old days when lever guns were popular for general shooting and plinking, not just hunting, most .45 ACP ammo was of the round-nose FMJ configuration.
That bullet style would be dangerous to use in a tubular magazine with the round nose of one bullet resting on the primer of the cartridge in front of it. If the gun's recoil, or just dropping the weapon, caused the round to pop--- chain reaction! Every cartridge in the mag will go. Ka-Boom !!
By the time .45 ACP hollowpoints and lead semi-wadcutters became popular, the American people didn't really want lever guns anymore. They wanted semi-auto carbines. And besides, it would be a real liability risk for a manufacturer to sell a tube-magazine gun that isn't safe to use with copper FMJ bullets when such a bullet style is still very popular (even if other choices are on the market).
Yes really.Really?
I've heard that at some law enforcement shooting range, one officer dropped a bag of loose ammo from waist-height to the concrete floor, and one round's primer was detonated by smacking against the rim of another cartridge.
The rim of a cartridge is wider and less pointy than a spitzer rifle bullet.
I think there would be an issue with a .45 acp FMJ round, and even more risk with a smaller-diameter round like 9mm or .32 or 7.62 Tokarev / .30 Luger.
But not for a FMJ bullet from a .40 S&W, since that has a flat tip made to simulate the profile of a HP bullet anyway.
Well, I'm about to make your day.
WV Gunsmith Cody Conagher makes a conversion Lever Action Rifle that permits the use of Flat Nosed .45 ACP bullets in a Lever Action rifle. http://www.codyscowboyshop.com/
In this case, he starts with a Uberti .45 Colt 1873 rifle.
Removes the barrel and recuts, threads the barrel for .45 ACP.
Next he modifies the carrier by adding a spring loaded flap. This keeps the shorter .45 ACP cartridge from going too far back.
I own one and it shoots great. I use if for SASS Wild Bunch matches.