The .45 "Long" Colt........

I might as well post my view on the 45 colt vs 45 long colt controversy:

My first revolver (don't ask me why) was actually a S&W 460 VXR. I had no intentions of shooting 454 casull, because, whats the benefit? I figured I would start with 45 colt, get used to the revolver, and then shoot 460s later.

I went to wal mart to look for 45 colt ammo one day. The attendant for the ammo / hunting section asked "what do you need" I reply "45 colt" he says "yes sir" and hands me a box of 45 acp. I say "no no 45 colt for a revolver" (although many many revolvers were made to fire 45 acp) he says "ohhh, you mean 45 LONG colt". He presumably was confused for 2 possible reasons, one, its 45 acp, as in Automatic Colt Pistol or perhaps Colt made so many 1911s, that you would call the round a 45 colt because they are so intertwined. Also, 45 long colt because its longer than 45 acp (who knows what people are thinking). I'm not saying that makes sense, but you can never assume what another man is actually thinking at any given time.

My opinion on this matter, and on clips vs magazines is the old saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Odds are, even among a gun crowd, you could be out numbered by the long colt guys or the people who say they have a glock pistol clip. When I'm at a gun show, and walking around, I will ask for say a luger or colt clip, but when I sell, my item is a magazine. You aren't going to change what is popularly spoke in regards to these topics, and truthfully, you could confuse someone. Its just not worth it. If someone ASKS you, its different. When you're in the retail setting, you have to speak THEIR language to better accomplish YOUR goals.

And just because you (anyone) know there wasn't really a 45 short colt, and you know that the 1911 uses a magazine and the garand uses a clip, it really doesn't mean you know anything. When someone gets on a soap box about those subjects, I'm not impressed with their knowledge. Maybe you can impress non-gun people with such talk, but there are many more important things to know and understand.
 
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I'm an old goat and thought I had seen it all but......people actually get angry about something like this?

My blood pressure was 120/70 today and there's a darned good reason for it. I blow off things like this and don't worry about it.

There is a .45 LONG Colt because folks like me want to identify it from other cartridges like the .45ACP.

It's like the "30 ought 6" but that's another story.

Flash
 
Win 73 - I own ten .45 Colts. Some are marked "45 Colt" and some are marked "45LC" - even the same manufacturer (Uberti) marks them differently, depending on the model. Unless the Wal-Mart clerk is a CAS shooter, I wouldn't fault him one bit for not knowing the difference. My understanding of the origin of "Long Colt" is a bit different than your own - that when the .45 Schofield was proposed as a serious competitor to the .45 Colt for use by the Army, and was (officially or otherwise) adopted by some units, "long" was added to minimize confusion since the Schofield cartridges, being shorter, can be fired in Single Action Armys, but .45 Colts are too long for the Schofield cylinders. Similarly, I suppose, though I've never read of anyone actually screwing up on this one, feeding Schofields into an 1873 Winchester is certain to cause problems.
 
It's funny what people will beat you up over. Long Colt or just Colt. Magazine vs clip. I think the worst beating I ever took was over "automatic." When I was a kid/youngster I never heard the term "semi-automatic." It was an "automatic." If you were talking about a machine gun it was a "full automatic." A 1911 was either a "45 Automatic" or an "Army Colt." A Browning A-5 was a "Browning Automatic." Nowbody ever questioned what you meant. I don't care if Browning made a dozen other semi, or full automatic firearms, a "Browning Automatic" was an A-5 Shotgun. I knew it was a semi-automatic only because Jack O'Conner said it was in Outdoor Life. (And I believe he just pointed out that "technically" it was a semi-auto.) But you can bet I wasn't going to try to tell my Grandfather that. :D

Oppps. That might start another debate. :D
 
The first Colt Government Models said "Colt Automatic" over ".45 Caliber." It didn't say semi-automatic and it didn't say "1911." The ones they made for the government were 1911s, then 1911A1s. The ones they made for civilian sale were just "Government Models." ACP stands for Automatic Colt Pistol.

Beware of imitations and patent infringements.
 
My understanding of the origin of "Long Colt" is a bit different than your own - that when the .45 Schofield was proposed as a serious competitor to the .45 Colt for use by the Army, and was (officially or otherwise) adopted by some units, "long" was added to minimize confusion since the Schofield cartridges, being shorter, can be fired in Single Action Armys, but .45 Colts are too long for the Schofield cylinders. Similarly, I suppose, though I've never read of anyone actually screwing up on this one, feeding Schofields into an 1873 Winchester is certain to cause problems.
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That is my understanding. In my post I was saying perhaps what the wal mart guy was thinking, not what I know about the subject.

2000 posts!!!!!!!
 
Holy cow. Well, I guess if you're married your wife doesn't have to worry about where you are...

That's something like 7 a day, 365 for 12 years.
 
That's something like 7 a day, 365 for 12 years.
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mike-irwin (noun) - a person who is completely dedicated to something for great lengths of time. The Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda who didn't surrender until 1974 was a real mike-irwin.
 
My understanding of the origin of "Long Colt" is a bit different than your own - that when the .45 Schofield was proposed as a serious competitor to the .45 Colt for use by the Army, and was (officially or otherwise) adopted by some units, "long" was added to minimize confusion since the Schofield cartridges, being shorter, can be fired in Single Action Armys, but .45 Colts are too long for the Schofield cylinders.
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The problem with that is that the .45 Schofield was commonly called one of several things, but it was never called the .45 Colt or .45 Short Colt. It doesn't make sense that anyone would have to come up with a way to avoid confusing two cartridges with different names.

Elmer Keith (and other sources) explain that in addition to the .45 Colt and the .45 Schofield, there was a third round, distinct from either of the other two. It was headstamped .45 Colt and apparently sold in boxes with similar markings.

It makes a LOT of sense that that people would distinguish between the two identically marked rounds by asking for the long one or the short one.

The link below contains more information.

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/taylor/45_short_colt.htm
 
The problem with that is that the .45 Schofield was commonly called one of several things, but it was never called the .45 Colt or .45 Short Colt. It doesn't make sense that anyone would have to come up with a way to avoid confusing two cartridges with different names.
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Do you think it could be that back in those days, people called it "45 long" or "45 short" not even knowing one was made for Colts and one for S&W? In other words, the full "45 long colt" came later?

Good point about that 45 S&W scholfield though, it does not go the opposite way.
 
I think they called the short .45 Colts, .45 Short Colt, and the long .45 Colts, .45 Long Colt. :D

I've never seen any reliable or period source that confirms the .45 Schofield was ever called .45 Colt with any adjective involved.
 
I've never seen any reliable or period source that confirms the .45 Schofield was ever called .45 Colt with any adjective involved.
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I don't know if you misunderstood my question: I was trying to say what if those cals were known as "45 short" and "45 long" ONLY and no one really cared one was S&W and one Colt. In other words, was it was popular nickname at the time for the cartridges? Then perhaps, since Colt developed the 45 colt, people added "Colt" to 45 long? I'm not say that is what happened, but we also have no idea what the cals were popularly referred to as in 1875 for example.

I think they called the short .45 Colts, .45 Short Colt, and the long .45 Colts, .45 Long Colt.
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Well we got one box of short 45 Colts left, we sold out of 45 short Colt. For long 45 Colts we are all out, and 45 long Colt doesn't exist! :p
 
I was trying to say what if those cals were known as "45 short" and "45 long" ONLY and no one really cared one was S&W and one Colt.
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There were three different cartridges of differing lengths, so simply using short and long wouldn't be sufficient to distinguish them all.

I think they called them by what they were marked with the addition of any adjectives required to distinguish between different cartridges with similar markings.

As an example, nobody, these days, gets confused and calls the .38Special the .357Magnum Short, or the .38S&W the .38 Special Short. They call them what they're marked and then add on whatever adjectives they need to explain completely what they want.
 
What did they call the cartridge for the Colt 1909 model .45 revolver? Wasn't it unique even though the .45 Colt fits and fires in it?
 
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