The 45 colt: Old but still useful?

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

IS THE 45 COLT STILL USEFUL?
The 45 Colt designed in 1872, makes this one old cartridge. The granddad of the Old West at one time was one of the most venerable cartridges known to man. Along came the magnums 357, 44 and then the colossal big bores 454, 460 and 500. With the advent and popularity of the big bore magnums surely the 45 Colt would die a slow painful death. Moving away from the original loads of blackpowder to the new smokeless powders the granddaddy of big bore cartridges Mr. 45 Colt demanded to extend its legacy of one of the most versatile big bores to date.

NEW AMMUNITION EXTENDS ITS CAPABILITY
With shops like Buffalo Bore improving upon this cartridge with the 225gr full wadcutter that hits like Thor’s hammer, surely to crush any bone or flesh in its way. To loads like the Sig Sauer 230gr V Crown Hollow Point designed for self defense. If you are into reloading and own a modern firearm like a Blackhawk or Redhawk you can experience the sinister side of the 45 Colt reaching 1000ft pounds of energy. Though one must be very careful and knowledgeable about this endeavor as the heavy loads will grenade older firearms like the Colt Single Action Army.

DIVERSE AND STILL RELEVANT
One can see that the 45 Colt is still very capable after 147 years of service and remains relevant to this day. Hunting, Self Defense and Cowboy Shooting it doesn’t matter, the 45 Colt is the softest shooting, versatile big bore of the 20th Century.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR-Ntgvx2mw&t=62s

If you shoot 45 Colt let's display the revolvers proudly in this thread.

 

[4V50 Gary]

Still a viable cartridge; especially in a modern DA revolver with a swing out cylinder.

 

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

I agree -- Also the new ammunition is extending it's capabilities. You don't have to stick with Cowboy loads. Both loads in this video is safe in any 45 Colt revolver.

 

[bedbugbilly]

The .45 Colt will be around for a long time. A variety of molds out there to cast various weights of bullets - I find the 46 Colt one of the easiest cartridges to reload. BP or smokeless - it's still a desirable cartridge for both pistol or rifl.

I much prefer mine out of a good SAA - but to each their own. A Ideal 454-190 traditional 255 grain RNFP gives me plenty of accuracy out to 50 yards with a dose of Red Dot - no need to hot rod 'em - whatever is in the way of it coming isn't going anywhere.

Yep - the 45 Colt is a good cartridge - kind of disappointed you didn't mention the 45 Schofield though - another good cartridge.

 

[T. O'Heir]

Preachin' to the choir.
Cowboy loads will do exactly what they were designed to do over 100 years ago. You don't need to hot rod the Colt for anything. The Hornady "Cowboy" load of a Cast 255 grain bullet at 725 FPS will do anything a cast Buffalo Bore 255 at 1,000 FPS will do.
"...makes this one old cartridge..." So's the .45-70 the gun rag writers have been trying to kill by spewing nonsense about magnums for nearly 100 years too.

 

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

Bedbugbilly

Stop giving my secrets away . That Ruger 454 Alaskan has had some work done to the cylinder to allow me to shoot 45ACP. Maybe there is a video coming shooting 45ACP, 45 Schofield, 45 Colt and 454 Casull Stay Tuned

 

[mk70ss]

One of my most carried and used rounds. Every time we trail ride, I carry a .45 Colt SAA.

 

[RickB]

.45 ACP in moonclips is my preference in DA revolver. You can go to .45 Super if you want more power, and still have the distinct advantage of clips.

 

[Mr.RevolverGuy]

.45 ACP in moonclips is my preference in DA revolver. You can go to .45 Super if you want more power, and still have the distinct advantage of clips.

Very familiar with moonclips and 45 Super a video on 45 Super https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEz57TZFo_8

I had to have the cylinder on the Alaskan machined to accept moonclips.

 

[Schlitz 45]

I just bought my first center fire revolver a little over a year ago-Ruger New Vaquero. It got me started reloading for it & I'm just now becoming proficient with it, I struggled just trying draw & fire 40' at a paper plate & keep all the rounds on target-something I can do without even thinking about it with a 1911. After settling in on a good load & a lot of practice I'm doing better & continue to improve-having a lot of fun.

And some of my "Lone Ranger" rounds in the rig

 

[LineStretcher]

I just recently went with a S&W Governor because I wanted a gun that could shoot the 45 LC but I didn't want to be restricted to that. The Governor will shoot the 45LC, 45ACP with moon clips or .410 2-1/2 handgun rounds. In my nightstand it's loaded with .410. Out on the range the 45 ACP's shoot decent but the .45 Colts shoot really well.

 

[44 AMP]

The Hornady "Cowboy" load of a Cast 255 grain bullet at 725 FPS will do anything a cast Buffalo Bore 255 at 1,000 FPS will do.

I disagree. For me, anyway, 300fps+ does make a useful difference.

Take a look at the Lyman manuals for the past 50 years +, and you'll find data taking the 250-255gr slug into the 900-1000fps range, using Colt SAA as the test gun. These loads are max but within safe limits for the Colt.

Question; when you say "Cowboy" load do you mean the load actually used by the cowboys, or the light load used today for Cowboy Action Shooting??? There is a difference. 725fps is about 10% lighter than what my books say (original) factory standard is.

 

[SIGSHR]

I have often wondered why the large bore revolver went out of fashion.

 

[Pathfinder45]

The 45 Colt in a single-action revolver is my first choice in a handgun; a must have, must shoot component of my outfit. Any other handgun can take a back seat.

 

[LineStretcher]

The 45 Colt in a single-action revolver is my first choice in a handgun; a must have, must shoot component of my outfit. Any other handgun can take a back seat.

That's interesting. I like the 45 Colt but I feel the .357 Mag is probably the most universal all around wheel gun. I just ordered a new S&W Performance Center 686 with the 5" barrel and seven round chamber. It's cut for moon clips and shoots 38 special +P and 357 mag. The .357 Mag is at the top of the food chain as a personal defense weapon yet still performs extremely well in competitions. I have just about all the other calibers and an older 686 but thought I'd treat myself this time.

 

[rclark]

Nothing wrong with the .357 ... but with the .45 Colt you don't have 'Magnumize' it to get good performance. A 250-280g bullet moving 900-1100fps makes a fine 'defensive' round for anything you might run up against... at least around here... Without the blast and noise of the peanut round. I'd rather stay subsonic, thank you, and just throw a bigger hunk of lead. I have .357s but they rarely see a 'magnum' load. I try to stay below 1100fps in all the cartridges I shoot from .32 to .45. As said above " Any other handgun can take a back seat { to a SA in .45 Colt } ".

It does come down to personal preference though in a lot of arguments one way or the other....

 

[Bimus]

I think the best part of a Colt single action and clones is cocking the hammer and hearing or feeling the clicks as every thing moves.

 

[Auto5]

Not to mention that's it's just plain fun to shoot.

 

[GeauxTide]

A 285gr RCBS SAA @ 1050 is accurate, comfortable, and penetration measured in feet.

 

[TruthTellers]

Hell yes it's still useful. Lot of factory options now available for ammo thanks to the .410 Judge and Governor popularity, lots of Ruger only options from Buffalo Bore, DoubleTap, Underwood, etc, and a great handloading cartridge.

I have a custom load that uses two round balls and the spread at 10 yards is one inch. Velocity is somewhere around 1100 fps. It makes for an effective short range load and one that people in California can get as .410 handguns are banned there.

For a single projectile, I'm really like 250 grain full wadcutters. Excellent penetration and enhanced wound potential vs LFN or LRN and doesn't rely on expansion like JHP's do.