45 Colt

[KnotRight]

Kicking around the idea of getting a Colt 45 single action. Really do not care if it is blue or SS. Not sure why I want just like the caliber. Problem is that I do not any ammo.

Looking also the pros and cons of this gun.

 

[mohavesam]

wrong section. Try Revolvers for starters.

 

[Marshal Too Sweet]

Let me say "Welcome to the Forum". I sent you a PM.

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!
It's possible you are considering a "WTB" ad for a 45 colt.
You are new here, and we can easily overlook your post being in the classifieds.
As noted, you may get a lot more information in the revolvers section.
But, I'll say this.
The 45 Colt caliber is VERY versatile if you reload. Mild to wild. And, if you throw in a convertible cylinder, (45 acp,) you will enjoy even more options.
A 45 Colt can be used for plinking, target shooting, SASS competition, hunting & just about most handgun applications you can think of. I own several, & it's one of my favorite calibers. Just got another one last week. (I had a choice of a gift, from a longtime friend, and he offered me a NM Single-Six convertible, a 6-1/2" NM 41 mag Blackhawk, & a NM Blackhawk, 4-5/8" 45 Colt. The 45 had plastic ivory looking stocks that were not in good shape. They had busted where they had been overtightened, and he had glued them to the gripframe,) it was missing a g/f screw, it also had obvious cold blue re-touching. I chose the 45 easily over the others even though I enjoy both the 22's & the 41's.
If there is a downside,,, it's that you might want to or need to have the chambers in the cylinder of the 45 Colt "cleaned up" or "uniformed." Quite often, especially if you shoot cast lead bullets, the cylinder throats are a bit undersized. Many of us check our 45's, then ream the throats to a uniform .4525 diameter. If you don't have the tools, we have a member here (cas) who can do it for you and it's not expensive. In almost all cases of throat reaming, the gun's accuracy improves noticibly.
So, undersized throats would be the only downside to most of us.
Now, if you do not reload, then the 45 Colt is very limited in ammo selection. The other downside. But, reloading easily overcomes this.
Go to the Revolver section, the Reloading section, and the Smithing section & find stuff on the 45 Colt to assist you in your decision.

 

[tsubaki]

KnotRight I looked a couple of weeks ago in Bryan, Bulloch and Chatham County at 14 places that sell firearms and there was no Blackhawk to be had in 45Colt but there were a few Colts and clones. There has been one listed for a few weeks in the Tell-n-Sell for sale in the St. Marys area I believe.
Let us know what you find!

 

[KWYJIBO]

As Contender said, factory loaded ammo is quite limited, but worse yet (in my opinion) is its price. You will pay about $40 per box (50 rnds) for ordinary loads. Acutally, this is what they call "cowboy action" loads, meaning lead round nose bullets at low velocity for minimal recoil. About the only other offering I've seen are the +P loads from Buffalo Bore, which can only be safely fired in Ruger Blackhawks, T/C Contenders, etc. These are even more expensive, like about two bucks a pop. I have not seen much of anything in between these performance extremes.

As noted, however, the cartridge is very versatile when you load your own. There's a good selection of bullets available, and quite a few good molds too, if you decide to make your own bullets as well as loading the cartridges.

I find this cartridge easy to reload and fun to shoot. I have a convertible Blackhawk (45 Colt and 45 ACP), so I could shoot the high power (+P or "Ruger-only") loads if I ever feel the need. So far, I've just been loading low- to mid-powered rounds, including many with my own homemade cast bullets.

If you like modern, transfer bar actions, Ruger New Model Blackhawks and Vaqueros are both widely available in 45 Colt--some folks will criticize you if you call it Long Colt, but there's really nothing wrong with the term. Old model Blackhawks also came chambered in this cartridge, and there are still quite a few available at reasonable prices, in conditions ranging from "beater" to "ANIB collectible."

If you like a more traditional model, the Colt Single Action Army is still produced in small numbers. They are expensive, but very nicely made, and some purists insist on owning them. US Fire Arms also makes (or did until recently) high quality copies of the SAA. As you go down in price, there are lots of decent clones from Uberti, Beretta (also with transfer bar), Cimarron, etc. I have an Uberti that cost me $350 brand new, and it shoots just as nicely as my USFA, although the finish is not as nice.

That may be more info than you were looking for, and probably a lot of stuff you already knew. In summary: 45 Colt = a cool, versatile cartridge. Guns that shoot it = plentiful and diverse. Ammo = too expensive to buy, but lots of fun to make.

 

[Frank V]

KnotRight

Welcome to the forum.

Pros & cons of the .45 Colt???
Pros: it's a great cartridge & loaded to at least two levels. One level is the Colts & clones, the other is Ruger, & some will add rifle levels too.
The Ruger level is for the larger Blackhawk ( super Black hawk) size frame. The Colt level is for Colts & the clones, Cimerron etc.
Even in the Colt level which is somewhere around 750-850fps it's still a pretty effective cartridge.
It's a very historic ctg. dating back to 1873. It's a lot of fun too, usually very accurate & easy to shoot in the Colt loadings. The Ruger level becomes a bit harder to shoot as the recoil is a lot more. It is a very popular ctg. which means usually there are lots of choices in ammo & components.

Cons: Right now ammo is hard to get, I think this will even out one day.
It takes more lead & powder to run a .45 Colt than say the .38 Special & even the .44 Special.
There is a bit more recoil with the .45 Colt than ctgs such as the .38 Special & some say it's harder to shoot well.
Some say it's not as accurate as other ctgs. I don't find this to be true in good guns.
I'm not sure there are any more cons?

Anyway good luck in your search & let us know what you decide.

 

[pisgah]

Pro: If you reload, it is the most wonderful cartridge in the world. (Go ahead and argue. I won't listen! :D )

Con: If you don't, it gets danged expensive, fast. :shock:

 

[Arisin' Wind]

You can't go wrong with a 45 Colt.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Pro= Great cartridge...
Con= I only own 11 single actions 1 DA revolver and 4 leverguns chambered in
.45 Colt.

 

[Rclark]

Looks like it has been well answered.... Of course I have to say my piece....

What's not to like about the .45 Colt? I can't think of one thing that is a 'con', because the 'con' for high priced factory ammo is simply to reload your own :) . Load up some cases with BP or a substitute and back in the 1800s again.... The .45 Colt cartridge and the Single Action go together like peanut butter and jelly... Can't possibly have one without the other. What can I say, it does everything I need a cartridge to do in the big bores from mild to wild and just fits me right down to the ground. Camp, trail, fishing, hunting.... Perfect.... I may not have found the 'perfect' pack'n pistol yet (hope I never do) ... but it is sure to be in .45 Colt whatever is turns out to be. I guess that means I like the o' peacemaker/equalizer in .45 Colt.

 

[KnotRight]

Thanks for the information. I did find some 45s at Bass Pro but if I get one I think that I would be leaning towards the Ruger BlackHawk. Not much difference in price. I currently have a Ruger Super BlackHawk in stanless and a BlackHawk 22/22 mag in blue. Think that I would like the BlackHawk with the 45 Colt and 45 ACP cylinders. Also, I think that the 5.5" barrel would be the one. The Super BlackHawk is a 7" barrel.

I used to reload many years ago and sold all my reloading equipment. Got a few friends that said I could use theirs but if I do decided to start reloading I will have to buy about 7 different sets of dies.

Ruger Guru, not sure that I was wanting to post that I was wanting to buy one but more interested in what people thought about the 45 colt.

 

[Frank V]

I think most of us really like the .45 Colt!
It's a great ctg. or it wouldn't have survived since 1873!! :lol:

 

[shaffe48]

One thing not mentioned here is the frame size. I think most Ruger single actions (like all currently in production) have the large frame even if they are .357/.38. But there are some .357/.38 out there though in medium frame, like some earlier Rugers. In general, .3XX handguns will be smaller framed than .41X hand guns. If I ever go to bear country, I might consider a .45, for one, because they can be loaded light for self defense or you can get buffalo bore/heavy handloads that are as powerful as a .44 mag.

If you are also asking about single action, I have both Ruger singles and doubles. My single is a single six which I like, but its manufacture is a bit (lot actually) more complex than the double actions. Plus double actions can be shot, well, in double and single. Double is mostly good for self defense where you are shooting less than 7 yds. Past 10 yds, you will probably want to cock the revolver anyways.

 

[pisgah]

The New Vaquero .45s are built on the smaller SAA-sized "medium" frame. They are plenty strong enough for the peppiest "standard" .45 Colt loads (anything OK for a Colt SAA) , but not desiged for use with the magnum-level loads suitable for the Super Blackhawk-sized frames of the New Model Blackhawk and Bisley .45s.

 

[Rclark]

The New Vaquero .45s are built on the smaller SAA-sized "medium" frame. They are plenty strong enough for the peppiest "standard" .45 Colt loads

And more than peppy.... Brian Pearce's son took a black bear with one of the medium frame convertible flattops. See the latest handloader for details. The bullets certainly didn't bounce off the hide.... Easily handle Tier 2 loads.

Here is something to ponder when loading your .45 Colt revolver ....

Brian Pearce .45 Colt Tier 1, 2, 3, loads
Taffin on the .45 Colt

On the warm side :

Ross Seyfried on the .45 Colt
.45 Colt Dissolving the Myth... Linebaugh

For woods, I like the 13.0g of HS-6 under 255-270g SWC mentioned at bottom of the Linebaugh article. It is a Tier 2 load according to Pearce. Shoot in my medium frames.

 

[popplecop]

I have the BH Combo 45 C & 45 acp., very hard to beat this combination. Mine has a 4 5/8ths in. barrel, makes one fine SA revolver to carry. Use the .45 acp for plinking and might hunt some with the .45 C. Problem right now is finding a set of 45 C. dies that I want. Do have a friend that loads for it on his Dillon so okay for now. I would look hard for this particular Ruger Blackhawk.

 

[sourdough44]

I have the 45 Colt in a Blackhawk & Redhawk, both shorter barrels, 4.2".4 5/8" or so. I also have the 45acp cylinder for the Blackhawk. I like the shorter barrel for any kind of carry. I reload, but mostly shoot mild loads. If you see a gun you like I'd get it, the rest will follow.

 

[skip]

I have a bunch of .45 Colts..I love them..had seven, then sold two, then bought one, the sold one and bought one...I reload

 

[ElToro]

my 4 5/8 stainless blackhawk .45C is my backup hunting gun here in CA. others go when camping but shes in the camping rotation as well. very diverse caliber and you can still find them at "reasonable" prices

140 years of planting bad guys and taking game... its gotta be doing something right...

 

[tuner]

KnotRight: If you are looking for a Ruger Single Action in .45 Colt I have a friend in Savannah who has one for sale and has advertised it in the Penny Saver, talked to him last week and he still had it. It is a 7.5 in Barrel Balckhawk, adjustable sights and in very good shape. If you are interested send me a reply or post your email address here and I will get the contact information off to you.

 

[SAJohn]

Here is mine with the 5.5" barrel which has almost perfect balance. The Super Blackhawk hammer is a useful addition.


With mine the cylinder bores were spot on from the factory. I made and installed an extended hammer plunger, hence no ring around the cylinder. :)

I don't have a picture but the grip panels are now black eagle walnuts.


Using Unique and 250 grain bullets I have a 750 fps load that groups 1.5". For hunting T-Rex, I shoot 325 grain lead bullets using lots of H-110 gun powder at 1200 fps.

 

[Rodfac]

Here's mine with some home made grips...had to have cylindersmith open up the chamber throats to .4525....as they were undersize as shipped by Ruger...ie. .450 to .451. After the cylinder modification, I get sub 2" gps with mine...a fun gun to pack here on the farm. Best Regards, Rod

 

[Rclark]

Since there are a few pictures here is a couple of mine...

Here is my original Vaquero and a BH in .45 Colt. Enjoy them a lot. I use the BH for all my load testing. I like the 5 1/2" barrels.



And a New Vaquero is .45 Colt

 

[pricejunix]

Wow very nice photos of your 45colt sir, good looking gun just like a brand new,, that was really interesting gun sir.

 

[Arisin' Wind]

 

[Thumbcocker]

I have 2 convertibles. The acp cylinders are scary accurate. The Colt cylinder have broken my heart. Different molds, cylinder reaming, trips back to Ruger and they still won't shoot inthe same league as a .44 mag or special. I appreciate the history of the cartridge but I won't buy another .45 Colt. Save yourself the headaches and get a .44 mag. Handload midrange or shoot specials for general work and magnums for hunti

 

[smith1961]

.45 Colt is awesome. IIRC the Virginian Dragoons (not the Hammerli) were Beefy framed and could handle "stiff" BH/Contender loads. Anybody verify this?

 

[pisgah]

My .45 Colts. Bisley Blackhawk, Hartford (Rossi) Rifle (24" octagon bbl.), Uberti Flat Top Target. Between them, I can go from mild-as-mother's-milk to giant-slayer.

 

[eveled]

If you don't reload the consider the .357, you can also shoot .38 special. Ed