In the day, 45s were called many things progressively. 45 Colt, 45 S&W, 45 Long Colt, 45 Government and there were NO 45 caliber lever action rifles. The case was a baloon head, the head would have simply been ripped through by an ejector and jammed the rifles. S&W had made the mistake of using proprietary cartridges in their shorter frame/cylinder breaktops. The US procured the revolvers and their ammunition. Noone seemed to think it mattered that Colts could use both forms, short and long 45s and the S&Ws could ONLY use the short 45s. The supply system often sent the long 45s to units armed with S&Ws and effectively disarmed them. This is why the S&W 45s became obsolete besides double action revolvers coming into use. The CAS shooters began reusing old single actions for sport in the 80s. The 45 cartridge case had evolved and 45 caliber levar action rifles were invented/created. The reason was that many Colts, Rugers, Hawes, Great Westerns, Hammerlis/Interarms and EMF/IAR and other importers were mostly in 45 Long Colt. When ASM-Armi San Marcos and Uberti began manufacturing their breaktops, they added the extra length to them so that they could shoot the far more available 45 Long Colt. 44-40 was easily handled in the same length cylinder. I have herd that ASM made 38-40, 44-40, 44 S&W, 44 Russian, 44 Colt, 45 S&W and 45 Long Colt versions. Uberti made similar claims in advertising. Uberti now produces 38 Specials. The ASMs were dangerous to shoot. They had universally defective latche and flew open when fired. The ASM manufactured S&W clones quickly became gunsmith specials and can still be found NIB for cheap prices. I think they are POJ wallhangers but, some have been modified and they work. The S&W clones are not compatible with black powder. There was a quack gunsmith who said he could modify them to run with black powder. The revolvers were butchered, ruined and dangerously altered. Be wary when buying used S&W clones. The only ones I suggest are Navy Arms/Replica Arms and current Cimmarons.
