ive heard that the 45acp is not a good candidate for a lever action rifle because its rimless. but isnt the 35 remington rimless, and it has years of sucess in lever action rifles.

the short length is a feeding problem for actions designed for longer ammo.

Another problem with the 45 ACP as a lever action round, at least in tube magazine levers, is because the 45 ACP headspaces on the case mouth. That means it cannot be heavily crimped, which in turn means that the bullets are likely to be pushed further into the case under recoil in the tube magazines, raising pressures to unsafe levels and causing failure to feed.

The recently developed "45 Cowboy" cartridge is essentially a 45 Colt case shortened to 45 ACP length. Since it has a rim to headspace on, the rounds can be crimped and it evidently works well in appropriately modified lever rifles. 45 Cowboy brass is available from Starline. The 45 Cowboy is different from the considerably older 45 Auto Rim in that the Cowboy has the same rim thickness as the 45 Colt, while the 45 Auto Rim has a much thicker rim that mimics 45 ACP rounds mounted in 'moon clips' for use in 1917 Colt and Smith & Wesson double action revolvers.

The round nosed bullets of the ACP could be a real problem in a tube magazine. I have heard of AD's with round nosed bullets in .357 lever guns.
C.G.B.

45acp ammo can be crimped heavily enough to prevent bullet movement but it is done with a taper crimp rather than a roll crimp. 230 gr full hardball ammo at 820-830 fps for example.
Phil

Can't remember where I saw it, maybe Youtube, but there is a gunsmith who converts replica 1873 Winchesters to 45 ACP. They seem to work okay, just not my cup of tea...

Found it!

https://castboolits.gunloads.c...-45-ACP-Lever-Action