45colt or 44 mag

smokin54 I read your attached articals

And I am impressed with the stupidity that some people (Sir not you) will go to. If some one wants to push a wheel gun to 55,000CUP with a Long colt case and gun, fine by me. The 45 LC is a great round loaded in what most companies consider resonable loads, and that includes the ones for contenders and rugers.
Pushing them 15,000 cup over what is considered max pressures for 44 mag to me is crazzzzzy.
A 315 gran bullet at over 1500 fps. Thats got to equal 30 to 35 grans of H110 or more. I have pushed 44 mag to over 28 gr with a 240 gr bullet and with mag primers I got primer flatning, which to me is a sighn that the pressure is to high, and thats no where near 45,000 cup. so if some one is pushing that round that hard I would bet that the primer is as flat as befor it was shot.
Lets face it here, were getting up toward rifle pressures in a straight walled case I diddnt see in the article about what primers were used but I think that rifle would be best but will a hand gun firing pin have enough power to reliably set one off, I dont know. I do know that a contender will but a wheel gun???
 
Ozzieman
You are right about this being a great place to exchange thoughts , info and all .
What kind of pressure do you think you were running with over charging your 44 mag by nearly 15% , I would think you were in the neighboorhood of 52K ?
The straight walled pistol cases like the .454 casull , 500 and 460 smith each operate 15000 cup over the 44 mag levels of pressure. The 454 uses small rifle magnum primers and I am not sure what the Smiths use . There are alot of wheel guns chmbered for the 454 and I dont hear of misfires because of light strikes .
Now dont get me wrong the 44 mag is a Fine cartridge but the 45 colt in a strong gun will do anything the 44 mag will .
 
Either one will do you fine. If you are not reloading anytime soon go with the .44 Magnum. I have a Redhawk in .44 Mag with a 7.5" barrel that is magna-ported and scoped with a Burris 2X. No issues with it being ported and the scope, didn't notice a noise increase either. I do not shoot it other than to sight in or while hunting deer though.

Hunting loads for the .45 Colt will be tough to find, everyone that carries handgun ammo will have .44 Mag though. The .45 Colt will do anything the .44 Mag will do (and then some) with less pressure when loaded properly. The Smith and Wesson's won't handle the .45 Colt +P stuff from Cor-bon, Buffalo Bore, PMC's 300 JSP +P+, Grizzly Cartridge etc. The Ruger's will (Redhawk, Super Redhawk, Super Black Hawk, Bisley Hunter's, Old Vaquero's), not sure about the Freedom Arms, those are nice though, I will have to add one to my collection one day. CDNN Investments have SS Redhawk's in . 45 Colt for $399.00 with factory scope rings included.

The Linebaugh articles posted above are a must read if your interested in .45 Colt's for hunting. If he doesn't see a problem with the cases, it probably isn't an issue if your using Ruger's. Get whatever feels best, the .44 Mag is probably your best bet since you don't reload. I'm using both this year though and I don't reload....yet. Good luck, let us know what you decide.
 
Porting........

With porting it seems that the noise is also directed back towards the shooter. The perception is that they are much louder.
 
Smokin,
I'm glad you displayed that article. It really tells the truth about the .45Colt.
I have always been partial to the .44mag since it was my first handgun when
I turned 18. I have since aquired 9 .44's over the years and have been
handloading for my .44's for over 12 years now. About 4 years ago I got
interested in the .45Colt and started researching the modern loading data and the claims that it can do everything a .44 mag can do. So, I bought
a Ruger Vaquero, some brass, dies and bullets. I can now tell you from
experience that I like the .45Colt better. With the same loads (300 grain
bullet, CCI mag primer & 25grains of H110) the .45Colt is not as loud, has
less muzzle blast and is more controlable to shoot. I now have 3 Vaqueros
in .45Colt. One is a Birdshead model 3 1/2" that is my fanny/backpack carry gun in Montana that shoots my full power loads just as nicely as my 5 1/2
and 7 1/2 Rugers.
 
convention vs insanity

5.5" Redhawks all:

41 w/215g LSWC = 1500fps, but easy-shooting.

44 w/300g LFN = 1400fps but no fun.

45 Colt w/335g or 360g Cast Performance beautiful bullets = ouch, but very interesting terminally, ay?
(Can still remember the chrono session when I hit the screens five-of-six. Yes, flinch :D )
 
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