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Post by merc on Sept 17, 2019 16:12:41 GMT
What is the difference in the .45 Colt and the .45 Long Colt?
IF THIS IS YOUR FAVOURIT FORUM TOO! Post your opinion below PLS. Your gun friends in here like to know!
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Post by Admin on Sept 17, 2019 16:15:25 GMT
No difference.
The problem comes from the introduction of the .45 ACP round with the 1911 pistol in 1911. Prior to that, the rimmed cartridge for the Peacemaker had been called the .45 Colt, and it still is. But the Colt 1911’s rimless cartridge got the designation .45 ACP meaning “Auto Colt Pistol”. But then when a customer walked in to buy ammo and asked for .45, to be sure of which round was actually being requested, folks started referring to the revolver cartridge as “The Long Colt”. But it’s never been a formal name... just a descriptive clarification of which .45 you’re talking about
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Post by oldhippy on Sept 17, 2019 16:24:03 GMT
Based on the slightly older 44 Colt round, this new cartridge used the same rebated heel type bullet. It was named the 45 Colt and all was right with the world. ... The Colt shooters could easily use the shorter Smith & Wesson cartridge, so the quartermasters began referring to the Colt round as “45 Long Colt”
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Post by magnum on Sept 17, 2019 16:50:32 GMT
The Long & Short of the .45 Colt by Jim Taylor
The debate over whether there is a .45 "Long" Colt cartridge is an on-going one that has been active for probably 75 years. Elmer Keith alluded to the arguments many years ago when he wrote "...Some newcomers to the game claim there is no such animal, but if they had shot the short variety that Remington turned out in such profusion before, during and after World War I they would see there was some basis in referring to the .45 Colt as the .45 Long..." (Sixguns, page 285)
As far as I know there have never been any .45 Colt cartridges headstamped "Long" and though I have reports of old cartridge boxes marked "45 Long" I have never personally seen any. Mr. Keith referred to them from time to time as "long" Colt's (with a small "L"). If you have ever seen the short Colt .45's you can understand why.
The Winchester .45 Colt's that Paco and I have came from Shootist Keith Owlett who gave them to us a short time before he passed on. The cartridge box is deteriorated and I have it put away now - at least what's left of it. But it is plainly marked ".45 Colt Government". The headstamp on the cartridges is ".45 Colt" ...BUT these are SHORT .45 Colts! The headstamp is the same as the longer .45 Colts, even down to the "W" on the primers.
These are not S&W or Schofield cartridges. The rim diameter is the same as the long .45 Colts, which is smaller than the Schofield rim diameter. These are true .45 Short Colts. The cartridge is listed in Cartridges of the World on page 306 as ".45 Colt - .45 Colt Government".
I can visualize someone walking into a hardware store around the turn of the last century and asking for a box of .45 Colt's. As the clerk pulls down a box the customer says, "Not the short ones. I want the Long Colts!" and the name ".45 Long Colt" came down to us as a "user-applied" name, not a factory name.
While I can't prove it, I believe the usage was common since Colt had factory cartridges like the .32 Short Colt, .32 Long Colt, .38 Short Colt, .38 Long Colt, .41 Short Colt and the .41 Long Colt.
I pulled one of the .45 shorts apart and weighed and measured it. The case is 1.1" long. The powder charge was black powder, approximately 28 grains. The bullet weighed right at 230 gr. and was lubed with a white chalky-looking substance. I fired one from my Ruger 7 1/2" barreled .45 and it went through the chronograph at near 750 fps.
The following week I went out in the hills and called up a nice large coyote and shot him with the .45 short. He ran to within 10 feet of me, responding to the call. I pulled the gun up and shot, hitting him up through the right shoulder and spine, dropping him instantly. The little pointy bullet did not damage the pelt at all. I was able to tan the hide and make a nice looking wall hanging from it.
He was probably the last critter on earth ever killed with a short .45 Colt!
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Post by bazooka on Sept 17, 2019 16:59:34 GMT
I have a 45 Colt Ruger Black Hawk and I have loaded these rounds with max charges of H-110 and hard cast 230 and 300 gr bullets at speeds of 1200- 1300 fps. They are not for the faint of heart. Today I use 4 3/4 Uberti Cattleman revolvers with standard 45 Colt 250 gr bullets at 800-850 fps, and they will go clean through a deer at 50 yards and keep going. My point is simple at 25 I shot hot loads, at 46 I don't. For I figure with age comes wisdom and have learned by trial and error putting a 250 gr bullet in a animal accurately is better than firing heavy loads inaccurately due to massive bone jarring recoil.
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Post by torpedo on Sept 17, 2019 17:02:43 GMT
I don't care what the magazines say; I've done the chrono work and I can easily surpass my hottest .44 Mag 240gr load with a hot 250gr .45 Colt load. (H110 for .44/LilGun for .45) .454 Casull is kind of like a Special/Magnum Type thing. For instance I have enough cause volume in a .44spl to load just as hot as a .44 mag load with the right powder, so the case doesn't really NEED to be longer, but it keeps the more powerful magnum load from being chambered in a Special firearm. Same goes for .45LC/.454. I can easily load .454 Casull power factors in standard .45 Colt cases. In fact using LilGun i already currently do this. The main reason for the longer Casull case was to make sure these hot .45 rounds don't end up in something like a Colt Single Action.(much like we wouldn't want a hot .357 mag to fit in a little 642 airweight .38 special.) Strong action .45 Colts such as the Ruger BLackhawk and most lever gun actions can already handle .454 Type loads in .45 Colt cases, so it was not a necessity to create the longer case it just gives a safety margin.
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