45 Colt? Bad-ass round?

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Patton21

New member
Hey guys,
Is the 45 colt a powerful round? Can you load it to low and high levels? Also, how is the kick on strong 45 colt loads? Are we talking magnum level kick? Thank you.
 
In particular for a reloader with a strong gun.

454 casull / 460 top the 45lc.

I'm not aquainted with anything that tops the 460 (handgun specific).
 
The general rule of thumb for recoil is the higher the bullet momentum the higher the recoil. So a hot 45LC would obviously kick more than a 357Mag. Other issues affect Felt Recoil though, velocity, pressure, blast and flash. It is very subjective. The main problem with the 45LC is the availability and price of ammo. Most ammo available for it is weak Cowboy stuff which is slightly less powerful than 45ACP. This is mainly because many 45LC handguns can't handle the increased pressure and force of the hotter loads. So hotter loads are either reloaded or ordered online.
 
in it's original loading..the 45 colt is an impressive round....255 gr. bullet with 410 lbs. of energy...an the recoil isn't bad at all..I will eventually find and buy an SAA or New Service to enjoy this round with...
 
It would help your understanding if you bought a loading manual, or looked on line for .45 Colt loads. Checking through the archives here, and on other BBS will also shed some light on the subject. Trust me, its been discussed before.
 
IM Luger:
not really most of the guns availave for it are SA you know the old school guns

S+W 625 mountain gun, Ruger Redhawk KRH-45, and a load of Taurus revolvers are double action .45 Colt. There are also lever action rifles chambered in it. I carry a Taurus snubnose in .45 Colt at work all day. I dont have my permit so I dont cary it anywhere else.
 
You can get .45 Colt loads commercially with up to 305 gr. bullets loaded in them. Those big heavy slow moving projectiles will provide plenty of knockdown performance, and at shorter ranges (under 150 yards rifle, 75 yards, pistol) will outperform a hollowpoint round. Size and weight of the pistol has a lot to do with recoil. I've got a pair of 7" bbl. Schofields and a pair of 5" bbl. Rugers in .45 Colt, and they shoot just about the same, as the longer barrel in the Schofields make up for the more weight of the Rugers.
 
fisherman66 wrote " What's knockdown performance? "

And the answer is,
"The reaction that happens when you see the price of factory loaded 45Colt ammo". :D
 
.45 Colt? Bad-ass Round?

Yup. Can be when loaded to its potential. The .45 Colt can do what the .44 Mag can do and then some with 1/3 less pressure. Even in its bp pressure loadings it's a very good anti personnel and decent black bear round.

The only reason the .44 exists is because when Elmer Keith began experimenting with the .45 Colt, he ended up blowing up a SAA and decided to experiment with the .44 Special instead which eventually led to developement of the .44 Magnum.
Problem was the Colt guns weren't strong enough to contain the pressures of hot loaded .45 Colt cartridges. With the stronger modern revolvers now available the .45 Colt can be safely loaded up to its true potential with smokeless powders.

Do a search on John Linebaugh. He has written some interesting articles on the .45 Colt.
 
It's my understanding that the .45 Colt was originally designed to take down a horse. (Much bigger target than the rider:D ). And that was with black powder.

Dean
 
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