I need a wheelgun recommendation

K

Kirk Keller

New member
Hello everyone. I'm looking for a defensive wheelgun in .45 Long Colt and would like something with a 2-3 " Barrel. I would like to tap the august wisdom here for some solid recommendations (Tam, you're input is welcome too :D). Price is not an issue at this point. One hint, I don't like Taurus.
 
Welllll...why that caliber?

In .44Spl, there's more choices.

S&W has done some N-Frame .45LCs, those are the only other DA .45LCs I'm aware of. Everything else is Cowboy, which if that's what you're into, cool. Factory SAs with that short a tube...I think Cimmaron/Uberti ships something like that?

Heh. For $500, some guy on gunsamerica I think it is has had a Ruger SuperRedhawk in .45LC (custom jobbie!) available *forever*. He can't unload it. Might have something to do with the 10" barrel but hey, you could always chop it :).

That's actually not as crazy as it sounds. There's a smaller round-butt grip available for the GP100 that will fit the SRH. The .45LC/454 SRHs can eat out of .44Mag N-Frame S&W speedloaders. Chop the barrel to 3" (about in line with the frame extension), add a custom front sight...would make for a DAMNED interesting (not to mention weird) carry gun :D.
 
.45 Colts

As mentioned by Jim S&W had some 3" bbl. with full underlug N frames that came out about 2-3 years ago as I recall. They came with round butt finger groove wood grips.

Another possibility is to find a Colt Anaconda and have Magnaport do their 2.5" bbl. snubby conversion on it. I think they either have a picture of one on their site or it was a gun of the month some time back in American Handgunner.

A number of people will cut the barrels on the Redhawk such as Ham. Bowen, Gary Reeder but don't know if they will go down to 3". I don't think Dan Wesson ever offered anything shorter than a 4" bbl. for the 745. As the barrel and shroud are threaded at the end trying to cut one of these would be complicated.

Now for a one off idea. If you could find an old High Standard Crusader revolver you could have that barrel cut to 3". This would be a pricey albeit unique way to go. It had a unique segmented gear driven action. The gun looked somewhat like a S&W.

The problem with all these is that with 6 shot cylinder the gun is quite large in width and makes concealment hard. The only one the would be relatively small is the Taurus and the similar size model in .357 holds 7 shots so one must assume even it is about L frame size.

Jim T.
 
If you are looking for a single-action, Ruger has just released the Vaquero in 45LC with a 3-3/4" barrel, with either the color-case hardened finish, or glossy Stainless Steel available.

I have the Sheriff's Model short barrel in .357, and to me, it is the most "fun gun" that I have to shoot.
 
S&W offers the Model 625 45 ACP Revolver with a 3" barrel. I have the 5" heavy barrel & it's the most accurate gun I own. (1 hole group at 25 yds.) Why do you want the 45 Colt? The rims are thin & sometimes tear off when extraction. That's why hardly anyone is making a D.A. in 45 Colt. S&W does make a "Heritage" series from their custom shop, but you will pay over $1,200.00.
 
hitinthexring - Don't mean to flame you, bro, but I've been shooting the .45 Colt for 54 years, and have never had a rim tear on extraction. The modern rim is .060", the same as the .44 Magnum, and the brass, temper and web thickness are comparable as well. If you are quoting hearsay, it probably stems from an old "balloon head" case. These were folded down from a brass cylinder, in manufacture, and were considerably weaker than modern cases, but still only blew or stuck in a chamber when loaded too hot, or were fired after they were so old they had weakened. They haven't been made for years. The limiting factor nowadays, in .45 Colt loads, is the strength of the gun, and the thckness of the chamber walls. Gentleman mentioned Hamilton Bowen. If you have the green, and want to go hot in a .45 Colt DA, get Ham's .45 Colt "Alpine" model Redhawk, with his five-shot cylinder. This will handle 1200 fps+ loads, if your hands can take it. My .45 Colt carry is a 625-6 Mountain Gun, loaded to 900 fps with 255 gr. SWCs, or 1100 fps with 185 gr. JHP. The 3" barrels have little real carry advantage over a 4", and don't balance in the hand as well, IMO.
 
This number exceeds your barrel lenght by an inch or so. I think it is the cat's meow. The four inch barrel is long enough to squeeze a little more energy from the standard .45 Colt loads and short enough to pack comfortably, even conceal if you desire.
cbmg45.JPG


These S&W Mountain Guns are tough accurate and durable. Tough enough to shot the junior law rockets loaded by Corbon or Barrett on a limited basis and plenty durable to shoot milder .45 Colt +P forever.

I agree on your caliber choice. If you go to the link below and do some reading your eyes will be opened to the .45 Colt. I will make a statement based not only on reading but on person experience and testing both on the range and the hunting fields. I have owned, loaded for, hunted with, and target/chrono fired .45 Colts, .44 Mags, .41 Mags, and .454's.

If the guns are equal, anything the .44's can do the .45 Colt can do with less pressure and a shorter barrel.

http://www.sixgunner.com/linebaugh/dissolving.htm

Buy whichever .45 Colt you like, single action or double. S&W did build some 3" .45 Colts for Lew Horton and some surface from time to time. Personally I do not feel over burdened with the extra inch of barrel.
 
45 Colt

Walosi, Thanks for the info. I read an article about the weak case rims in a gun mag a while back. Also, in my experience, I had a new Starline Brass 45 Colt case rim tear off when belling the case mouth. That's why I believed the article. As for availability, I would also like to see more modern D.A. revolvers in 45 Colt.
 
hitinthexring-

Starline is my .45 Colt choice, also. Couple of years back, I garnered some brass headstamped for Midway, but I believe it may have been made in Mexico (they did not specifically state their .45 Colt brass was Mexican, but the offer followed closely on the heels of some that was). I had the identical incident you mentioned - expander/casemouth plug jammed (either set too deep, or this case was a tad long) and cracked the rim when I "bumped up" the press handle. I check ALL of my new brass for flash holes (one Starline without one, out of 2,000-2,500) but I only check case length on a few out of each batch. All that said, I've found far more defective .38 and .357 cases, across the board, than I ever expect to find coming from Starline. I consider my 625-6 to be about the minimum in strength for defensive carry loads, but that leaves a lot of room for boom. I once was able to get 200 of the 230 gr. Hydra Shock bullets, and used the Lyman Manual loads to get a 1000 fps load. Two problems...(1) I've never been able to get another batch of these bullets, and (2) They were so accurate and so much fun to shoot, they only lasted though one range session. I have no qualms whatsoever about carrying handloads for CCDW, and highly recommend the .45 Colt (170-odd years of history proves this out). I keep hoping for renewed popularity for this cartridge, and that the ammo manufacturers will follow CorBon's lead and offer some serious defensive fodder.
 
tAURUS MAKE A NICE 5 SHOT SNUBBIE IN 45 LONG COLT

My buddy has one ands it is a handfull with full loads. He carries it a lot with his american derringer in the same caliber as backup in summer. Never had a problem has used it for a number of years now. I like it. I plan to get one of the new Trackers in 41 magnum
this summer some time(after I get that pair of model 10 skinny barrels that have been calling my name all year!) neat gun. Stainless or titianum your choice.:)
 
Tamara's Laws of Internet Gun Forums:
Law Number Seven:
If: someone asks for a gun recommendation, and specifically excludes Gun X in their request, due to it being too heavy/big/small/expensive/cheap/ugly/powerful/wimpy,
Then: within 5 posts, someone will recommend Gun X.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Everyone

Lots of good recommendations... except the Taurus. :D I appreciate the input. I still haven't decided what to get and will let you folks know which one I pick.
 
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