45Colt in a semi-auto pistol??

[Frohickey]

Aside from the lack of market demand, is there anything stopping gun designers from making a semi-auto pistol chambered in 45Colt?

Case length of the 45Colt is the same as the case length of the 44Magnum 1.285 inches.

 

[Handy]

No.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I'm sure it could be done; I'm equally sure it would last about ten minutes in the market: long enough for three reviewers to list the main features and take pictures of the .45 long Colt semi-automatic and the Single Action Army side by side.

 

[Gerald McDonald]

I think I read years ago that rim size was a problem with some ammo, may have been rim strength, cant remember for sure. Something about tolerance evidently varied considerably over the years it has been manufactered.
Gerald

 

[JohnK]

LAR might have chambered the Grizzly for the 45 Colt for a while (very vague memories of such). They made it in 44 Mag and 45 Win Mag so they should have been able to make a 45 Colt version if they wanted to.

There isn't a lot of rim for the extractor to hook on, but there isn't on a 38 Super either.

 

[stans]

The rim on the 45 Colt round is a bit on the thin side and might be prone to breaking.

 

[RON in PA]

Rimmed cartridges and semi-auto pistols are not a good marriage. Even the 32 ACP which is semi-rimmed can have problems. Why the need for an overly long, black powder era 45 cartridge when there is the 45 ACP and 45 +P.

 

[Alvin Hammer]

Not only are there 45 ACP and +P, there is also 45 Super and 450 SMC.

 

[Porter Rockwell]

.45 Colt Antoloader?

Hello, no such animal was made but the .45 Winchester Magnum in the LAR can be loaded to equal most of the published Ruger .45 Colt levels (300s@1300fps).
The .45 Super/.451 Detonics/.460 Rowland/.450SMC are interesting high pressure loadings but none can hold a candle to the .45 Colt or the .45 Winchester Magnum.

 

[seeker_two]

Yes, it could be done---but why?

JMB designed the .45ACP to put .45Colt power into an auto pistol design. Seems like sacrelige to undo his work...

 

[M1911]

Yes, it could be done---but why?

Exactly. The .45 Colt is a very long cartridge, which would result in a gun with a very large grip and low capacity. An interesting technical challenge that would create a relatively pointless gun.