Thoughts and Guidance on a .45 Colt Revolver

I have a Ruger Blackhawk, and i only fired it once.

Far more favored are the Colt New Service and the Uberti Cattleman.

I have a Smith 25-2, but I can seat bullets out to 1.555" which is close enough to a 45 Colt at 1.6" so there is no real difference.
I can't tell the difference when I am shooting between the 29-4 44 mag and the 25-2 45acp seated at 1.555", and my other various 45 Colts.

Also I have 45 Colt rifles and 44 mag rifles, and they feel the same when I a shooting them.

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@Dpris: I don't want to be argumentative or overemphasize a problem, but that type of jam can happen, although, as you point out, it is probably due to my poor skills and technique. But it can happen and the potential is there. Let me quote you from "Gun Test Magazine" where they reviewed a .45 colt, ruger redhawk in the oct 2008 issue.

"Another problem we encountered was during the ejection of spent cases.
We would push on the ejector but the cases would not fall free. Instead, the star would retract partially and lock on to the cases holding them suspended behind the cylinder. ...any double action revolver that resists rapid fire and a speedy reload is not acceptable. Accordingly, we flunked the gun."

As you said, I think you can mitigate this problem, but the potential is there, and I think the original poster should have that information as a data point. Personally, if all I had was a model 25, .45 colt sitting on my nightstand, I would not feel discontented or helpless and I would sleep just fine. However, we all have choices, and my choice for a .45 caliber defense revolver is a 625, .45 ACP (on occasion, that is. I tend to "rotate" my defense guns, and right now a .38 super is doing its duty.)
 
Hammie,
The potential for locking a case rim ahead of the extractor star exists with any rimmed revolver round in any swing-out/punch-em-out revolver.
I HAVE had it happen with a couple .38s in years gone by, when handled carelessly & lazily (trying to get the empties out without having to pick 'em up off the ground).

My background with DA revolvers goes back four decades, and my approach to extraction/ejection is from law enforcement training.
If you hold the gun with muzzle straight up & PUNCH that ejector rod straight down, you'll have to work very hard to end up with even a .45 Colt case rim inside the extractor star.

If you hold the gun parallel to the ground (or some shallow angle there-of) & fiddle it half-heartedly using the old-fashioned (and inefficient) thumb-on-the-rod method, you can stick a case inside the star on just about any caliber.

You quote Gun Test Magazine as an authority????
Geeze, guy.

"We would push on the ejector but the cases would not fall free."
Those people quite often have no conception of real life gun use in doing their evaluations and deriving their distorted conclusions.

They rejected the Redhawk because it resisted rapid fire and a speedy reload??????????
Do you have any idea how utterly brain dead that entire quote is?
It transcends idiocy and elevates it to new levels of sublime absurdity.

The concept & practice of punching the rod with the muzzle up was developed specifically to maximize ejection reliability in DA swingout revolvers, and it was widely taught to police beginning in the late 1970s/early 1980s, till autos took over.

You don't "push" the rod & expect brass to "fall out".
You want to do a quick & reliable reload?
PUNCH THE EMPTIES OUT, don't "push" them halfway & stand there dumfounded if they don't all drop clear.

I can duplicate a case inside the star jam with a gun with oversized chambers, and/or dirty chambers, in ANY revolver caliber. The .357 and .44 Mag revolvers I have will frequently hang one or more cases up if the rod's merely "pushed" slowly.
You NEVER count on empties dropping out, that's why ejectors were included with the guns at no extra charge, and that's why you use them aggressively.

Several guys on my PD carried the .45 Colt Model 25, right up till the Glock replaced revolvers in 1988.
I was a firearms instructor for several of those years.
Using the right technique, zero problems with extraction/ejection.
I can't recall anybody tying up the line or calling an alibi with a .45 Colt case lodged ahead of the star.

It's not a matter of "mitigating" a non-existent "problem", it's simply a matter of using the right technique across the board.

When our chief put out a memo with a cutoff date to transition to the new Glocks, I carried my 25-5 right down to the last shift before the "Show up with that gun tomorrow & be fired" deadline. I would have happily carried it till the day I retired, if they'd allowed it.

I never had the slightest concern over ejection or reloading.
Denis
 
I want to thank everyone who posted and even added pictures in some cases to assist.

I made my decision and purchased a Smith and Wesson Model 25-13 Mountain Gun in deep blued steel finish and Ahrends grips. The seller's pictures indicate it is in like new condition. I realize it has the "Infernal Lock" (play of words for internal lock), but I am OK with it.

I will provide pictures and a wooded field report after I have received it. Thank again all~ :)
 
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