.45 Colt v. .45LC cowboy load

Seburiel · Post by **Seburiel** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:46 pm

here's my item of curiosity:

I understand that the .45 colt and the .45 long colt are the same dimension ammunition, my question is, will a .45 LC Single-Action Army clone (like the Ruger Vaquero, Beretta Stampede, or Taurus Gaucho) handle the .45 Colt JHP load? I understand that +p's are a no-no, but I was wondering about normal pressure JHP loads.

HighVelocity · Post by **HighVelocity** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:32 pm

Commercial 45 Long Colt ammo is not loaded anywhere near as hot as it could be due to all the old guns out there that can chamber the cartridge.

Winchester "brown box" 250gr lead flat nose Cowboy Ammo averages 730fps out of my 4 5/8" ruger Vaquero and 722fps from my 4" S&W 25.
Collins Cartridge in Conroe http://www.cccammo.com sells a 250gr Gold Dot 45LC loading (not +P). I have some but have not yet chronographed it.
I was told by Art Collins that it averages about 900fps from his 7.5" Blackhawk.
I fired a cylinder full from my 25 and they were pretty soft shooting. Hopefully, I will get some chronograph numbers soon.

I would not fire any +P rated 45 ammo in a New vaquero. Old models were really beefy and based on the Colt Peacemaker. New Models (stamped right on the gun) are based on the Colt Single Action Army which is a lighter frame and not a strong as the old model.

Greybeard · Post by **Greybeard** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:40 pm

Quote: "Collins Cartridge in Conroe http://www.cccammo.com sells a 250gr Gold Dot 45LC loading (not +P). I have some but have not yet chronographed it. I was told by Art Collins that it averages about 900fps from his 7.5" Blackhawk. I fired a cylinder full from my 25 and they were pretty soft shooting. Hopefully, I will get some chronograph numbers soon. "

These are some of my notes from playin' with 7.5" SRH a month or so ago. "Collin Cartridge Co. Reloads .45 Colt 250g? XTP 839 fps"

Definitely XTPs, not Gold Dots I shot. 3 rounds put into 4-gallon (thin metal) bucket of sand and recovered. Only about 6" of penetration and zero expansion (nada, none).

Much different scenario with .454 Hornady loads of 300 grain XTP at around 1,540. So much expansion that none of them exited bucket either.

Mike1951 · Post by **Mike1951** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:58 pm

Seburial wrote:I understand that the .45 colt and the .45 long colt are the same dimension ammunition, my question is, will a .45 LC Single-Action Army clone (like the Ruger Vaquero, Beretta Stampede, or Taurus Gaucho) handle the .45 Colt JHP load? I understand that +p's are a no-no, but I was wondering about normal pressure JHP loads.

First, to pick a nit, .45 Colt and .45 Long Colt are the same round. The 'long' is sometimes added descriptively to distinguish .45 Colt from .45 ACP, but .45 Colt is the proper name.

The loads mentioned so far are within the range ok in the revolvers you mentioned. However, anything heavier should be restricted to Ruger Blackhawks, OLD MODEL Vaqueros, Redhawks, and the carbines. Do not shoot heavy .45 Colt loads in the NEW Vaquero or any other Colt SAA clone.

JohnKSa · Post by **JohnKSa** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 12:50 am

From "Sixguns" by Elmer Keith

"Today we often hear the .45 Colt Peacemaker cartridge referred to as the .45 Long Colt. 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."

Mike1951 · Post by **Mike1951** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:24 am

The only shorter load I was aware of was the Schofield load for the S&W break tops.

Do you have any more info on the Remington load referred to?

Thane · Post by **Thane** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:59 am

IIRC, there was an "in between" load, with the .45 Colt rim and the .45 Schofield length. It was supposed to be usable in both firearms.

No idea as to ballistics. I would imagine that it duplicated the Schofield in that respect.

Seburiel · Post by **Seburiel** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:50 am

Thanks, all! I appreciate it!

Mike1951 · Post by **Mike1951** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:09 pm

Thane wrote:IIRC, there was an "in between" load, with the .45 Colt rim and the .45 Schofield length. It was supposed to be usable in both firearms.

No idea as to ballistics. I would imagine that it duplicated the Schofield in that respect.

You remember correctly.

While the Schofield ammunition would likely fit into a clean .45 Colt revolver, black powder fouling could prevent its chambering.

To fit both Colt and Schofield revolvers, a round called the .45 Colt Government was improvised with the Schofield length and the .45 Colt rim. It was still problematic, as the smaller rim did not always extract reliably in the Schofield revolvers.

The ballistics shown in Cartridges of the World are 255LRNFP/28gr FFFg/800fps.