Which revolver for first .45 Long Colt?

S.F. 1357

New member
A friend has just about talked me into buying my first .45 Long Colt. I know very little if anything about guns chambered for this caliber. Can someone suggest a good gun for my first purchase?
 
Well the first thing you need to do is learn the proper nomenclature for this caliber. But don't feel bad because even Ruger is wrong about this one. The proper name for the caliber is .45 Colt...not .45 Long Colt. The "Long" is just slang that came about as a result of the .45 Colt and the .45 Schofield (S&W) both being adopted by the army at the same time.

Now back to your original question: I recommend the Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt with polished stainless finish and your choice of factory rosewood or factory simulated ivory (white micarta) grips with 4 5/8" barrel. Cowboy ammo from Winchester or Black Hills shoots great in this gun and Winchester 225 grain Silvertips are deadly out of this gun for two legged predators. The Ruger will also tolerate some of the hot 300 plus grain hard cast lead penetrators from Corbon, Buffalo Bore, and Garrett.
 
Sundance,

Go back and research a couple of the threads on the arguments about the name .45 Colt vs. .45 Long Colt.

There WAS a .45 Short Colt, and it wasn't the .45 Schofield...
 
Ruger, Either a Blackhawk with adjustable sights or a Vaquero with fixed sights.

* Recommend also that those posting a recommendation for a brand use the color function to post in other than black. Leave the black text for the inevitable C vs LC flotsam.
 
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Colt Anaconda!!!! After getting my Anaconda, I sold off my other .45 Colts.

If you do decide to give money to the traitor Bill Ruger, I would avoid the Vaquero like the plague. The fixed sights on it really SUCK!!! The Blackhawk's sights are far superior.
 
See if you can find one of these.

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HAWES (made by J. P. Sauer & Sohns).
 
Colts are terribly expensive and if you can't shuck out the $1k plus bucks, then give consideration to the Ruger Vaquero. Rugers are very strong (if not the strongest) SAA revolvers around. While their "feel" is different from the Colt, you can still participate in a Cowboy Action Shooting Sport event with the Ruger. Oh, if you want more info on the latter, talk to Frank Tabor at Tabor Engineering in San Bruno. He's one of the top shots and has a team (SF Vigilantes). His # is 650-589-0505.
 
* Reccomend also that those posting a recommndation for a brand use the color function to post in other than black. Leave the black text for the inevitable C vs LC flotsam.

:rolleyes: I recommend that you learn how to spell recommend and recommendation.

Go back and research a couple of the threads on the arguments about the name .45 Colt vs. .45 Long Colt.

Mike, appreciate your wisdom and experience, but just because somebody said it on TFL doesn't necessarily make it fact.

There WAS a .45 Short Colt, and it wasn't the .45 Schofield...

And just because there was or was not a "Short" Colt does not make the .45 Colt the "Long" Colt. The .45 Colt is the .45 Colt period. Long has got nothing to do with it. Just a word some rocket scientist added sometime in the past to differentiate it between some other cartridge.

But I'll drop this because I don't want to hijack this thread or step on toes.

Get a .45 Colt and don't look back...GREAT cartridge.
 
.45 Long Colt's

There was a .45 Colt Short round. And there is ammo in collections that is contemporary to the early revolvers that is marked .45 LONG Colt. Of course there was the .45 S&W round as well AND a .45 S&W Special as well.

So it seems reasonable the correct nomenclature would be .45 Long Colt's.

FWIW

Chuck
 
Sundance,

FAR more knowledgable people than I have discussed the existence of the .45 SHORT Colt as a cartridge separate from
the .45 LONG Colt.

Mike Venturino springs firmly to mind.

I need to swing out to the NRA museum and library and do some research on this subject.

As a correlary, just because you THINK it doesn't exist, doesn't mean it didn't.

What I continue to fail to understand, though, is why some people's anuses immediately eat their underwear when the term .45 Long Colt is mentioned.
 
I will have to agree with the Ruger Vaquero or Blackhawk. I own the Ruger Blackhawk 45 Colt or ACP convertible. That gives me the best of both worlds in case I want to shoot the ACP in my revolver. The Ruger is a strong gun that will handle the hotter ammo. I haven't had mine long but I love the way it performs.
As for the debate about the word "long", I try to stay away from the nit picking. I don't think it is productive.
Jim Hall
 
Did I mention that I dropped this 4 posts ago...You guys really like to get in the last word don't you?

Did not...
Did too...
Did not...
Did too...
Did not...
Did too...
Did not...
Did too...

:rolleyes:
 
Ummmmm.......Maybe I'me missing something here. We all seem to agree that the .45 Colt, or Long Colt is an excellent cartridge.

That said, why get anal about whether someone wants to call it by EITHER of the two commonly accepted names?

Over on Glock talk, there was a mile long thread, very heated, because someone used the very commonly accepted term "clip" to refer to a detachable magazine.

We all know what a .45 Long Colt is, whether it's technically accurate or not, and we all know what a magazine is, even when someone calls it a clip.

Why get anal about it????? Leave the analism for senile dinosaurs like Cooper!
 
:eek:

Moving right along-The day I sold my Ruger Blackhawk 4 3/4" .45 Colt (or .45 Long Colt, or whatever you decide to call it this week-you know which cartridge I'm talking about) is the day I was sufferring from terminal brain flatulence.

The 4 3/4" Blackhawk is a GREAT revolver. At the time, it was probably the most accurate handgun I owned. I reloaded low-medium velocity plinking/target loads using the 185 LSWC bullet intended for the .45 ACP with Bullseye powder (sorry, don't remember the load and I don't reload anymore) and it worked great. Moreover, the mall ninjas to the contrary, the short RBH is a very good defense handgun loaded with the W-W Silvertip and because of its modern design, you can load ALL six charge holes. Just use another handgun for a New York reload, because the SA-style handguns don't load quick.

Good Luck with your selection...

Bob
 
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