The .45 Colt

I make no attempt to hide it, the .45 Colt is my favorite cartridge and sixgun and has been for over 40 years. As much as I like some of the other calibers I would just as soon use the .45 for hunting, long-range shooting and plinking at all ranges. It will do the job for about anything including self-defense and defense of home, family and country. If forced to use only one caliber sixgun, this would be it for me.

The .45 Colt - both the cartridge and the sixgun - was introduced in 1873 and served the military as it's main sidearm for some 17 years. The original loading consisted of 40 grains of Black Powder and a 255 gr. bullet and produced over 900 fps muzzle velocity. Tests I have conducted with original loads as well as handloads in the old balloon-head cartridge cases have demonstrated the accuracy of those velocity figures. Until the advent of the .44 Magnum the .45 Colt in it's factory loading was preferred by many over the .357 Magnum, especially by those who traveled in big bear country.

The Colt Single Action Army Revolver is a fairly simple firearm consisting of only a few moving parts. This was one of it's selling points to the men on the frontier. In 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia it was described as "...combining strength and simplicity of action; not liable to get out of order; readily taken apart and easily cleaned; having entire changeability of parts, with a high order of finish ...." That the description was not just marketing hype was proven by the continuous production of the Single Action Army from 1873 until 1941 when declining sales combined with WW II halted production. In spite of its "On Again - Off Again" production over the years, you can still buy essentially the same gun today from Colt .... a testimony to it's design, style and appeal. And of course there are the copies - again testifying to the same thing.

The .45 Colt cartridge probably grew out of the .450 Adams cartridge invented by the British. Known variously as the .450 Short or the .450 Revolver, it was developed around 1868 and was the first centerfire handgun cartridge used by the British Army. The British used the .450 until 1880 but it was fairly popular in the US and was loaded commercially here until around 1940. The cartridge case was a little short stubby thing that held 13 gr. of Black Powder under a 225 gr. bullet. The case is shorter than a .455 Webley. Looking at the .450 Adams, the body and rim of the case look like the .45 Colt and it is easy to see how by lengthening the case the Colt cartridge could have been born. Both cases have the same body diameter (.476" to .480") and both used bullets of the same diameter.

Some of the early .45 Colt cartridge cases were of the "inside primed" type... that is, they were centerfire, but the primer was contained inside the case head and was not visible from the outside. These type of cartridge cases were normally of the "folded head" variety. The rim of the case was folded, and the case was so thin a separate piece was crimped in place inside the case, reinforcing it so it would hold the pressure. Looking at an inside-primed cartridge from the rear, it looks quite like a rimfire. I have seen .45-70 Government cases of this type also. I understand many early center-fire cartridges were of the inside-primed type.

Later cases were of "balloon-head" construction. Stronger than the folded-head, they still were much weaker in the case head than the modern solid-head cases. Early balloon-head cases could blow the rims off with higher pressure loads or when the cases were weakened by use of mercuric primers. This is one reason Ruger started counter-sinking the chambers on their early .45 Colt single actions. At that time there were still balloon-head cases being reloaded by some handloaders.

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left - solid head right -balloon head	balloon head factory loads

In 1936 Elmer Keith had this to say about the grand old cartridge: "...Up to the advent of the .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson I considered this cartridge loaded with 40 grains of blackpowder by Remington, as being the most powerful and most killing factory load obtainable in revolvers." (Sixgun Cartridges and Loads)

Properly loaded the .45 can be used for anything from mice to moose. And you do not need to load fire-breathing, earth-shaking loads to do it. The 260 gr. Keith semi-wadcutter will shoot end-to-end through most deer when fired at moderate velocities. The caliber has enough punch just as it is without worrying about expansion. It starts out as large as most are trying to expand to. Just punch a nice hole in and one out and if it is in the proper spot, you have meat.

My favorite powders in the Colt SAA .45 are Unique and 2400 though lately I have been burning an awful lot of 700X. At the CSA II I used the Cast Performance 265 gr. WFN over 6.0 gr. of 700X and was able to whang the 300 yard gong once in a while with my old First Generation Colt. The heavy .45 slugs do not need a lot of velocity to reach out quite a long ways.

In the Ruger's and the custom 5-shot guns the .45 Colt can be loaded up to exceed the .44 Magnum by quite a lot. It is not my intention to cover that ground here since it has been done quite well by many others. What I am saying is that at standard Colt pressures and velocities the old cartridge will do the job! In all the high-power, high pressure, ultra-heavy bullet testing and shooting we do we often overlook the fact that the .45 Colt with a 260 gr. bullet at 900 to 1100 fps will work very well.

I once shot a Corsican Ram from about 50 yards using a Colt Single Action .45 and the Keith 260 gr. SWC over 18.5 gr. of 2400. Dad was standing to my left, downhill, about 30 yards from me and about 20 yards in front of the ram, who was eyeing him. At the shot the ram folded. Dad said the bullet strike sounded like a hardball being hit real solidly by a bat. The bullet took the ram on his left front shoulder and exited behind his right ribs. The shot was video-taped and while you cannot hear the bullet strike you can see the ram drop at the shot and hear my Dad yell "You got him!"

I have used that load on deer, pigs, dogs, coyotes and burro. It has never let me down.

Some people complain about getting 2400 to burn clean in the .45 Colt. I have found that heavy bullets help, but so also do proper size dies. One problem getting powder to burn cleanly is lack of proper bullet pull. To get good bullet pull the cases should be sized small enough that they help hold the bullet. That, along with a good heavy crimp, helps ignition and proper burning of the powder.

The sizing die should size the cases down far enough that you end up with an inside diameter of around .448". I use a tight carbide die and it gives me an ID of .447" to .448" on my cases. Then, instead of using a neck expander, I use a tapered plug that only "bell mouths" the cases. I open the mouth of the case just enough to get a bullet started. This produces a loaded cartridge that is "stretched" over the bullet tightly. If you "shine" the case by holding it under a bright light you can see what appear to be ripples where the grease grooves/ bullet bands are.

This not only aids bullet pull and cleaner burning, but it also reduces the chances of a bullet jumping the crimp, when done in conjunction with a heavy crimp. I normally seat the bullets in one operation, then go back and crimp them all using a Lee Factory Crimp Die.

1. The rims are small and can be pulled off, bent or otherwise damaged. In a gun that has recessed chambers this can keep you from seating the cartridge all the way into the chamber or affect the headspacing and make the case drag when you try to rotate the cylinder.

2. Light charges of fast-burning powders do not take up much case capacity, leaving room for an accidental double-charge. ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR POWDER CHARGES BEFORE SEATING THE BULLETS WHEN HANDLOADING!

3. Barrel diameters / cylinder throat diameters... Apparently the .45 has always suffered from over-size and under-size chambers and bores. Elmer Keith wrote about this in the 1930's saying that some of the early Colt's had bores as small as .450" and as large as .456". He said chamber throats varied just as much. It seems that even today we encounter similar problems at times.

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cartridge dimensions	chamber dimensions

When I started shooting the .45 Colt there were no heavy bullet loads available. Even the handloader did not have much choice unless he had a mold specially built. For heavy-bullet loads I started out using the old Lyman #457191 .45-90 rifle bullet since it was about the only one that would work easily. That, and Elmer recommended it. He said it was one of the most accurate bullets he ever used. I find it still is, even today.

But with all the fine heavy ammunition available, I find myself shooting a lot of the old loads.. the Keith SWC and the old Lyman #454190 round nose 255 gr. factory bullet... both at 800 to 900 fps. They are pleasant both as to noise and recoil, and they will get the job done.

For Cowboy Action Shooting I prefer the old full-power Black Powder loads. If you have never shot any you surely do need to try them. You will see the oldtimers were not underpowered in any way. They make the .45 Colt come alive.

Still one of the best after all these years, may my grandchildren and great-grandchildren be able to enjoy it. Long live the .45 Colt!