45 Colt

[tinman]

this is similar to calling a utility pole a telephone pole....

You are correct...........they are just "phone poles".......unless there is a light on them, at which time they become "light poles"... :mrgreen:

 

[Old Dog Soldier]

If I ever take a test where that is a question I'm sure I can come up with the "correct" answer.......which is gonna be the same as is found in the textbook/study guide.
But as long as they hand me the correct caliber for the gun I intend to use them in......I don't really care.

Sound Wisdom !!!

 

[schloss]

My wife chewed me out for sounding "blustery" and embarrassing her know little, but nice guy, brother. I don't think it was my fault. One minute her brother was talking about types of beer and the micro- brewery not far from his house in San Diego, and the next thing I knew, he was asking me about handgun ammunition. I'm not kidding. :roll:
John, his wife Cathy, my wife and I had been sitting around the table, visiting. The conversation turned to types of beer and the new micro-brewery not far from John and Cathy's house. That's when John asked me if "Colt 45" could still be found up here in Idaho. I kind of stumbled when I told him; "Yeah, I think so. I never liked it very much though, so I'm not sure." John gave me a kind of puzzled look and said; "I was just wonderin. My boss has a Colt 45, and he told me he can't find bullets for it anywhere down here [in San Diego]"
According to my wife, I sounded "blustery" when I calmly said; "Oh, you mean 45 Colt. I thought you were talking about malt liquor."
I still don't think it was my fault that my wife's brother got all red faced because he made a 90 degree turn off the topic of conversation and I didn't follow. But maybe it was – maybe I drank too much 45 Colt in my younger years. :mrgreen:

I'm with you on this one.

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

What can really confuse the issue is when the Colt company calls the ammo .45 Long Colt.

Seeing as the folks at Colt invented it....I do believe that pretty much settles the argument......... .45 LC it is. 8)

AMEN!

 

[CraigC]

The Colt of today ain't the same Colt that invented the cartridge. Firstly, they don't even want or expect you to shoot their SAA's. Secondly, they don't stamp them "Long Colt" either.

The term .45 Long Colt is simply incorrect and nothing more than outdated slang. There were .38 and .41 Long and Short Colt cartridges but never a .45 Long Colt. Just the .45Colt. Originally, the "Long" was used to differentiate it from the .45Gov't. A cartridge developed by Army arsenals to function in both the SAA and the S&W sixguns, with the Colt's smaller rim but the S&W's shorter length. When you could actually encounter cases marked .45 Colt that were two different lengths. Had absolutely nothing to do with the .45ACP. Yet the slang has endured and these days, most people use it with zero knowledge of its history. Just so that gun shop and Walmart counter monkeys don't hand them a box of .45ACP. I don't get bent outta shape over what other folks do, I just don't use incorrect terminology to save the ignorant from a history lesson.

What does hit me like fingernails on a chalk board is when people refer to a firearm chambered in .357Magnum as ".38/.357". It's either a .38Spl (or .38 S&W Special) or a .357Magnum. Not both. Anybody with half a brain knows that most .357's function with .38's.

 

[BlackEye]

The most popular explanation for the misnaming is so that the shorter 45 Schofield rounds could be distinguished from the longer 45 Colt rounds.
Thus the name Long Colt.

To be very precise, the name of that cartridge was .45 smith & Wesson, and sometime just before WW I there was a short .45 Colt round, and also a round called .45 Colt Government.

Period cartridges:



Headstamps of those rounds:




Bob Wright

The headstamp of the long and short cased cartridges shown are the same designation. It seems no mystery that just asking for a box of 45s could get you the 'wrong' ones.

It's really a bit like 3 screw, never stamped on the revolver or marked on the box, but the term accurately communicates which model is in question.

 

[Mus408]

Now just when I thought I had it figured out...now confused! :shock:

 

[71shooter]

The headstamp of the long and short cased cartridges shown are the same designation. It seems no mystery that just asking for a box of 45s could get you the 'wrong' ones.

It's really a bit like 3 screw, never stamped on the revolver or marked on the box, but the term accurately communicates which model is in question.

Aside from the fact that, at least to my knowledge, short 45 Colt ammo hasn't been produced since well before WWII, "45 Colt" is the original designation for the original cartridge, and the "short" ammo came later. Therefore, we have 45 Colt and 45 colt short. I guess we could also argue, for argument sake, how to properly designate 45 short ammo, but like the original argument, very few will be swayed one way or the other, as we, as adults, are pretty much set in our ways and could care less what other folks think about how we choose to label the grand ole' 45 Colt.
I am just real happy to still have the freedom to own a couple guns, so chambered, and hunt and shoot them till my hearts content. Long live the 45 Colt/45 Long Colt! ( Yes, I said wrong, are you happy now? :mrgreen: )

 

[BlackEye]

That's all true. I was just saying I understood where the term Long Colt came to be, especially since long and short were terms used with other ammo. The existence of the use of 45 Long Colt itself shows it was used to identify the cartridge. This was before SAAMI.

I'm a bit puzzled at the way different camps set up this. We have terms of endearment for a lot of things we use daily, but freak out over the 45 Long Colt thing. Nam? Ma Deuce? Old Model. Kids vs children? Tommy Gun? Phone? The list is endless.

 

[5of7]

That's all true. I was just saying I understood where the term Long Colt came to be, especially since long and short were terms used with other ammo. The existence of the use of 45 Long Colt itself shows it was used to identify the cartridge. This was before SAAMI.

I'm a bit puzzled at the way different camps set up this. We have terms of endearment for a lot of things we use daily, but freak out over the 45 Long Colt thing. Nam? Ma Deuce? Old Model. Kids vs children? Tommy Gun? Phone? The list is endless.

Indeed. What you are referring to are colloquial terms and are nearly limitless in today's world.

The question is, are these colloquial terms valid? Need we worry about their multiplicity? Or would it be better to accept their emergence as just another indication of the evolution of the language? 8)

 

[ftr53]

Then there are the cutesy folks who call bullets "boolits."

 

[cadillo]

I'm more concerned with folks whose spelling and punctuation are so bad, that their meaning often cannot be construed. A lot of the posts here and the other forums are not clearly understandable, and so we worry about the validity of colloquial terms?

 

[CraigC]

Boolits is pretty silly. Grown men referring to firearms as winnie, remmie, shottie and maggie is a little much too. Thank God nobody has come up with a cutesy nickname for Colt, S&W and Ruger yet.....give it time. :roll:

 

[MaxP]

Boolits is pretty silly. Grown men referring to firearms as winnie, remmie, shottie and maggie is a little much too. Thank God nobody has come up with a cutesy nickname for Colt, S&W and Ruger yet.....give it time. :roll:

Colty, Smithy, Rugy?? :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[w5lx]

Language usage changes. Long Colt (LC) has become common usage. Many equate .45 Colt with .45 ACP. Don't let it bother you as long as the intended meaning is clear.

 

[w5lx]

Then there are the cutesy folks who call bullets "boolits."

How about the guys who refer to their guns in the feminine gender? "I bought her at the gun store and brung her home. She's a sweet shooter. I love her. I'll be taking her to bed tonight and putting her on the night table. She's really a beauty."

GAG!! :mrgreen:

 

[Mtneer]

Boolits is pretty silly. Grown men referring to firearms as winnie, remmie, shottie and maggie is a little much too. Thank God nobody has come up with a cutesy nickname for Colt, S&W and Ruger yet.....give it time. :roll:

My wife calls one of our Rugers, "Wooger," sometimes "Rugger," but usually "Spoiled Mutt." He's a very cute, 7-year old Cocker Spaniel. :mrgreen:

 

[Mtneer]

Then there are the cutesy folks who call bullets "boolits."

Yeah, "boolits" has a little bit of gag factor for me too. But I've never seen or heard it used anywhere except on these internet gun forums. I wonder why that is. :?:

 

[CraigC]

Because folks on a certain forum dedicated to bullet casting decided they needed a way to impose their moral superiority because they cast their own "boolits", while everybody else buys their bullets. :roll:

 

[Mtneer]

Because folks on a certain forum dedicated to bullet casting decided they needed a way to impose their moral superiority because they cast their own "boolits", while everybody else buys their bullets. :roll:

:lol::lol: That's funny! But you're probably right. Oh, well. If dedicated bullet casters want to look down their noses at me, fine. I used to cast my own bullets, but I grew too lazy in my old age.
That reminds me - I've got to log off this forum and get busy. I've been planning on ordering 800, .38 caliber "boolits" from RimRock Pellets.