45 Long Colt

It could very well be the gun, Wally. In 1998 I had a brand-new 5 1/2" .45 Blackhawk with two chambers bored not only off center-but, off-axis as well. It gave 14" 100 yard groups from ammo that had proved capable of 4", in a duplicate, non-screwed-up 5 1/2" Blackhawk.

I would go all over that cylinder with a good set of micrometers before I damned multiple bullets. If it checks out OK, have your cylinder throats reamed to a uniform 0.4525" and I'll bet your groups with all your bullets will shrink and round up nicely.
 
.45 Colt

Ruger replaced both cylinders (.45 ACP) and it shot much better. Each chamber is of the same dimension..as I understand it they make 'em better these days. That did help, however at X no. of paces shooting at a steel plate offhand...I can hit it with every shot with the Keith bullet and about 50% of the time with the 250 RNF. The Lee 250 RNF and 255 SWC are also very accurate in it but not the 454190. The cylinder throats are at .451"...I size the bullets to .252". I have also tried unsized bullets..makes no difference.
 
I've got a old model Vaquero Bisley model in .45 cal, polished stainless which is great. What's nice about it you can pump up the loads if you like. Can't do that with the new Vaquero.
 
I wanted to shoot .45 Colt, but all that was around was a SRH in .454Casull.
Those rounds are very expensive. Well .45 Colt has a similar relationship to the Casull that a .38 Special has to the .357 Magnum, so the SRH came home with me. I loaded up some Speer deep curls to the modern standard, and I must say, that ain't no cowboy load! I'll save the .454 s for Grizzly country.
 
I have a Uberti Remington M1875, great shooter and often a reasonably priced alternative to a real Colt or one the copies.
As far as ".45 Long Colt" goes-popular terminology vs factory of government designation.
 
I have a S&W Governor that shoots, among others, 45 Colt. If I'm not wearing my Ironman glove, the recoil from that little 2-3/4" barrel nearly takes my thumb off.

But I don't care. I love that cartridge. It's my favorite and easy enough to load light or heavy.

Waiting very impatiently for my Ruger Blackhawk 5.5" convertable to come in.
 
I have a black hawk in 45 Colt and it is a real joy.

If you can't find one just order one.

If you don't handload... you should start

Snake
 
I have a Cimarron Model P (made by Uberti, branded Cimarron outta Fredericksburg, TX) in .45 Colt that I like a great deal. Also have a Cimarron Thunderer that is fun to look at, but haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. Just moved to a new town, getting settled in and finances are tight. I also have an older pre-safety Rossi 92 in selfsame caliber, have had it out to function test, haven't worked on accuracy yet.

I like the caliber, big ol' heavy bullet. The price of even cowboy plinking loads is what pushed me to get a reloading setup. Now I just need to finish learning how to use it...

I say go for it.
 
I'm not a big fan of single actions. I've had 2 blackhawks that were great shooters. I could never get a comfortable grip on them. Currently have a Smith mountain gun which I love but can't shoot hot loads out of. Searched years for a Colt Anaconda but could never find one that didn't have oversize throats. What's a fella to do? I'd buy a redhawk but they are so damn ugly.
 
I'd own a Redhawk in a heartbeat though.
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I would too, but Ruger puts out almost no .45 colt Redhawks and they are close to impossible to find. Why freaking advertise the gun on your website when you barely even produce them, and same with S&W. It's just almost impossible to find new production DA .45 Colts, and almost as impossible to find older ones. Sure I can find .45acp revolvers from S&W no problem, but I just have no desire to own a revolver in .45acp.
 
.45 Colt

FWIW, I don't really care whether you call it .45 Colt or .45 Long Colt. I have only one, a New Dakota by Uberti. I like it.
 
I would too, but Ruger puts out almost no .45 colt Redhawks and they are close to impossible to find. Why freaking advertise the gun on your website when you barely even produce them, and same with S&W. It's just almost impossible to find new production DA .45 Colts, and almost as impossible to find older ones. Sure I can find .45acp revolvers from S&W no problem, but I just have no desire to own a revolver in .45acp.
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I just purchased a NIB SBH Hunter in 45 Colt last Thursday. I was 300 cheaper than I'd seen on gunbroker so it got moved up the "buy it now" list.
 
I just purchased a NIB SBH Hunter in 45 Colt last Thursday. I was 300 cheaper than I'd seen on gunbroker so it got moved up the "buy it now" list.
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Unfortunately the Super Blackhawk is a single action, which Ruger makes plenty of SA revolvers in .45 colt. Now if only they would get on the ball and start actually producing their Redhawk's in .45 colt like they advertise.
 
I started in CAS with .45 Colts and a Uberti '66 for my rifle. I shot that combo for several years but eventually went to .44-40 because it is so much cleaner using black powder. I still have the .45's. The .45 Colt is a fine gun-cartridge combo..
 
I have a Bisley Blackhawk. It will shoot anything mild to wild. These are some of my more tame hand-loads with 325 grain bullets at 1100fps. The hottest I load these are 1300fps.

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I always had a fascination with the 45 Colt. Growing up my greandfather kept one under the counter at his service station, and I know of two BG's it made wish they hadn't tried to rob the place. I have it in my safe now, but there is no way I would try to shoot it. He had it chrome plated some point, and also the indexing is out of alignment and the lands in the barrel are both for the most part non existant. I cannot even imagine how many rounds it has had through it nor what they were comprised of.

That said, I managed to find and procure a Redhawk in the 7.5" version not too long ago. I had been looking for one on and off for half a dozen years when this one showed up on Gunbroker. I made a bid and was lucky enough to win it. It came in the box still wrapped in the plastic, and no signs what so ever of a round ever being fired through it. To say I was happy would be an understatement.

Since picking it up I have shot cast rounds through it ranging from 200 through 310grs and found most every load to shoot well within tolerable limits, and most to shoot exceptionaly well out to 50+ yards. I have used both commercial and my own cast bullets with hardly any difference in accuracy, but I like the ones I pour MUCH better.

I complimented this fine revolver with a couple of the more traditional bullet molds like the Lee 452-255WFN and also a couple of the fine MP molds of the Keith type, the 640 design, and 45 270 SAA. All of these have shot VERY well and like what is pictured above in Sheikyourbootie's picture come with an assortment of HP pins which allow even more versitality over the standard solid version. Not that the standard solids aren't great they are, but adding in a HP to the noses and with the wide range of loads available for this caliber it makes it MUCH more intersting and formidable as well.

I do have my eye out for another one in this caliber I just haven't decided on which one. Quite possibly it will be another one in the Redhawk with the shorter barrel so my wife will have something a bit lighter to shoot, but with enough weight not to recoil so much on her. She shoots my standard RH's just fine from a rest, but she really gets going with the GP100's. So I figure if I am going to be in the dog house I might as well at least have something SHE can use to help shorten my exile.
 
A few weeks ago I picked up an "old" model Vaquero in 45 Colt, since then I've loaded some target loads and a few hotter "Ruger only" as well. Shoots great and I like that the 45 Colt is versatile, lots of uses and possible loads available depending on what type of shooting you are doing.
 
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