.44 Magnum or .45 Long Colt?

[Scribe]

In 1997 I, along with everyone else in the UK, had to hand in their pistols and accessories when the law changed. We were given some compensation but that is another story.
I kept about 500 empty .44 Magnum cases and a set of reloading dies with the intention of getting a lever action rifle at some stage.
I am now very taken with the Winchester ‘92 action, and the only problem is that for some reason finding them in this country in .44 magnum is almost impossible. .45 Long Colt is another matter, Rossi’s can be had in this calibre easily, either new or second hand.
I want the gun for range work out to 200 yards or so, but I will be reloading and intend to experiment at longer ranges. No defence or hunting planned.
Is the .45 , in a lever action rifle, as versatile as .44 magnum?
I could go for a Marlin or Winchester 94, but the ’92 is what I want. The other question is that bearing in mind all my .44 brass is at least once fired, some times more, and some of it is 15+ years old, am I worrying too much about changing calibre?
Any advice appreciated.

 

[gak]

I am a .44 person, but I would say if .45 is much more prevalent where you are, and are planning to reload anyway (.44 shines if you don't reload--or if you do too, but .45 comes into its own more in the latter arena)--you'd be in pretty good shape with the .45--your current batch of .44 brass notwithstanding. If you heart is set on the .44, good/used Interarms-era Rossis in .44 in the states are relatively easy to come by, especially the Interarms-era (the overtly Rossi-labeled ones). The only post-Interarms Rossis made in .44 Mag are EMF www.emf-company.com and Legacy Sports International (mostly known as Legacy or LSI or by the current crop's moniker "Puma," an old Interarms-Rossi name holdover for some years' models) www.legacysports.com . The former are hard to come by (read below) and the LSIs have had an unfortunate little flip-lever safety atop the receiver thanks to the lawyers, and indeed it seems like all new Rossi 92s are so destined from now on. You might be lucky and find the odd pre-safety .44 at EMF that hasn't been shipped yet. Finding a post Interarms .44 without safety is fairly rare (EMF and its distributors have not advertised the .44's widely--versus the .45 and .357--so the myth with buyers has been perpetuated that it doesn't exist. It does in all the EMF 92's variants--including octagonal rifles and a nifty saddle ring carbine--but the website, as usual, is very incomplete so inquire deeper including a hard copy price list that is more comprehensive than that on the website.

Also, if price is no object to you, it is relatively easy to find the excellent Browning 92 made in limited years (78-80 or 81??)...These tend to run about double that of the Rossi, with calibers running about 60% .44 Mag, 40% .357--my informal poll over time. Also in the more expensive department are newly-available Cimarron (from Armi Sport). Taylor's too from the same source but not in .44 Mag that I can see. If you're an originality buff, the EMFs and the LSIs (and Navy Arms www.navyarms.com , but alas no .44s) "corrected" the front site location on the carbines and it is now (for the past 4-5 years or so) in the original Winchester location just behind (toward the receiver) the front barrel band and not on the barrel band. So-non safety EMFs--again if you can find 'em--are as close to original as you can get aside from the Brownings. This is especially true with the EMFs with saddle rings, which emulate the more originally prevalent original Wins which were about 90% SRCs. Also in the more expensive department, newer Winchesters--also with safeties but at least in an unobtrusive and effective tang location--can be found too from a limited run just a few years ago. Btw, although it appears that all future Rossis (at least EMFs and of course LSIs) will have safeties, the .45s (and .357s) should still be easy to find for awhile without. Giood luck.

 

[FirstFreedom]

Is the .45 , in a lever action rifle, as versatile as .44 magnum?

YES. If you reload, and you said you do. The .45 colt can do everything the .44 mag can, and at slightly lower pressures and more bullet choices. The factory ammo just has to be dumbed down for old old guns, since it's not a modern-era cartridge. I'd definitely go for it.

 

[Dirty_Harry]

Dont quote me on this, but personally, I would not choose either of those for 200 yd work, and if I had to, definatly the .44.

 

[TPAW]

I want the gun for range work out to 200 yards

Neither the .44 or the .45 are 200 yard rounds. They are fine for brush work out to 100 or 125 yards max. Anything more than that I'd start looking for another cartridge......JMO

 

[Dirty_Harry]

Sry for the multiple post guys

 

[Fisher]

Neither the .44 or the .45 are 200 yard rounds

Ditto the statement above. If you just want to stay with either bullet size. You will have to go to a .444 Marlin or the 45-70 caliber to start reaching out to the 200 yard range. I have both these calibers in the Marlin guide gun and love them.

Jim

 

[roscoe]

If you really need to shoot out to 200 yards, I would at least get a 30-30, which rules out the 1892 in favor of the 1894.

Although, if you put one of those Lyman or Marbles tang sights on the 1892 and fire heavy .45 or .44 loads, you can lob 'em in there from pretty far away, like the old timers with their 45-70s. You can recreate that old 45-70 load pretty easily with modern .45 Colt ammo. The DoubleTap 335 grain .45 Colt load leaves a 16" barrel at 1650 fps. If you zero for 100 yards, you would have to hold over only 20.5" at 200 yards. And it still delivers 800 foot-pounds of energy when it gets there.

Come to think of it, that would be pretty cool.

As for versatility, I think the .45 is just as versatile, because there is a broad range of ammo, from mild cowboy stuff, to heavy loads from Buffalo Bore, DoubleTap, Grizzley, CorBon, PMC, etc.

 

[gak]

I agree with Roscoe and others that 200's getting out there (as a normal effective range) for the .44 or .45. But, I also agree with the choice of the 92 in general--certainly superior action over the 94 or the 73 that preceded it as a strong pistol-caliber action--it's just that you might dial down your expectations a bit on these rounds. Stick with 20" barrels for carbines (not 16" trappers--harder to come by anyway) for max range, and of course longer barrels available in "rifles" if they float your boat. Being top eject, the 92s (and older/pre AE 94s) do not mount scopes easily/well...I don't recall your mentioning whether or not you wanted to remain scopeless. To me the "point" of the handy 92 (and 94) carbines is to remain optically unadorned, but not all share my view on that.

 

[Hard Ball]

The .44 Magnum is by far the best choice.

 

[Scribe]

Thanks very much to all who posted. I have no plans to mount a scope, in fact I was pretty much going to leave it as issued and was looking at a 20" inch barrel.

 

[Ramcharger]

WHAT??????
NOT a 200 yard gun? No way. I shoot Marlins in .357 and a 45 Colt wery well at 150 yards all the time so 200 yards should be easy.
He said he didn't want to hundt with it. Just target work , fun shooting.

 

[JNewell]

May or may not help, but are you aware that Browning sold Miroku-made 92s for quite a few years? They were very well made. They come up regularly (here at least) as used guns but never last long - except for the commemoratives made for Browning's "centennial" which are usually premium-priced (and which the cowboy action shooters don't want because of the gold-filled commemorative legend).

 

[Rimrod]

Not 200 yard rounds?

Haven't you ever heard of Elmer Keith? He shot further than that with a .45 revolver. Even Jerry Michulek(sp?) shot his revolver at 300 yards on his DVD.

And Scribe said it wasn't for hunting. And since all their handguns were taken away there is no more crime in the UK so he doesn't have to use it for home defense.

 

[Ruger4570]

You can certainly lob a 45 or a 44 out to 200 yards. I had a Win 94 in 45 Colt that would do close to 1.5 inches at 100 yards. I loved it. Circumstances dictated I sell it. I would advise there are better cartridges for 200 yard shooting. I took a Coues Deer at 75 yards with mine and he just folded up. 200 yards, well if you are just talking target,, ok.. but I doubt you will be happy with the groups at that range. Just too far for a "pistol " cartridge. But that is just my opinion

 

[Scribe]

I've been out of town for a few days and have only just picked up your posts, so thanks for your input.
Rimrod, you are quite correct. Since they took away our pistols we law abiding subjects no longer are able to commit crime. If they could just find a way of depriving criminals of their guns, a more significant result would be achieved. For some reason the criminals just refuse to grasp that they aren't allowed to commit crimes with their seeming inexhaustable supply of illegal firearms. Where do them get them from?

 

[Rimrod]

Scribe...

The only way to get rid of criminals is to get rid of the laws that make them criminals.

The county sheriff here had a massive lay off claiming the county was in financial trouble. Which was partly true since he and several other county officials were under federal investigation for theft in office, not to mention the fact that he was trying to scare the voters into passing an emergency tax increase. Anyway, all the people in the outlying areas that have no other police protection were in a panic because crime was going to run rampant. But it didn't change the crime rate at all. Apparently all the criminals were already working at full capacity.