.45colt or .45 LC?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Electricmo said:
I had a polite conversation with a long time gun owner the other day about .45 Long Colt revolvers. He was convinced Long Colt was different from .45 Colt. I told him he was wrong . He told me I was wrong. Problem is I’m right. Thanks to the ammo manufacturers there is a lot of misinformation out there. This confusion is only going to get worse with the first time gun owner and the ammo shortage. Not all .45 calibers are created equal. The ammo and gun manufacturers are clouding the issue with their stamping also. Here’s a case in point. .45 colt stamped on the barrels of Uberti pistols is correct. However it will chamber .45 long colt ammo . Why they started marketing ammo as such is beyond me.
Click to expand...
——
It goes back to Army procurement in the 1870’s. The long.45 US Army was for the Colts revolver and the short .45 Army was for the S&W revolver. At one point both were issued. The shorter.45 S&W would fit both revolvers but only when the wider rims were made smaller. The S&W .45 had to operate with an extractor while the Colts rim only had to hold the cartridge in place. There have been reams of paper devoted to the subject. I will check my stack of old magazines. I know I have at least one that was published recently.
 
Electricmo said:
I had a polite conversation with a long time gun owner the other day about .45 Long Colt revolvers. He was convinced Long Colt was different from .45 Colt. I told him he was wrong . He told me I was wrong. Problem is I’m right. Thanks to the ammo manufacturers there is a lot of misinformation out there. This confusion is only going to get worse with the first time gun owner and the ammo shortage. Not all .45 calibers are created equal. The ammo and gun manufacturers are clouding the issue with their stamping also. Here’s a case in point. .45 colt stamped on the barrels of Uberti pistols is correct. However it will chamber .45 long colt ammo . Why they started marketing ammo as such is beyond me.
Click to expand...
Oh sure. Easy to explain. But try finding a box of .32 Police or .38 New Police these days.
 
Just curious -- what's the case for a .45 Long Colt, rifle or revolver? Is it mostly nostalgia? or does it offer something unique? I always thought it was a classy but low pressure / slow moving / fat bullet situation, good mostly for up-close gunfightin' with a six-shooter....
 
tark said:
Let's start a "clip or magazine thread" ;););) Pretty sure 45 Colt is the proper designation, as there is no such thing as a 45 short Colt.
Click to expand...
I thought the magazine was where warships stored munitions. Now I am confused. :(
 
upptick said:
Just curious -- what's the case for a .45 Long Colt, rifle or revolver? Is it mostly nostalgia? or does it offer something unique? I always thought it was a classy but low pressure / slow moving / fat bullet situation, good mostly for up-close gunfightin' with a six-shooter....
Click to expand...

Oh not at all. In the correct firearm one can load .45 Colt ammunition that is a pussycat to one that will trouble a T-Rex. It is a fantastic cartridge, but really only versatile if you reload your own ammo. You should check it out.
 
I said long colt until I knew better. I don't hold it against anyone if they say either but it hurts my ears a little to hear "Looooooooooong colt".
It's not a common cartridge for casual enthusiasts/new shooters (my first handgun was a Taurus SA in 45 colt) but if they can't figure out what cartridge to buy for it , tough luck. Really it's a handloaders cartridge more and more . with such a wide variety of specialty 45 colt offerings (buffalo bore, underwood, Garrett . + uncle bubba sometimes ) I'm sure they get into the wrong guns and do damage.
I think they should call the heavy loadings that aren't suitable for saa and clones looooooong colt and 13k (or whatever) psi cowboy loads can be called 45 colt. Problem solved

Screenshot_20210215-215027~2.png
That's what I'm talking about!:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Obturation said:
I said long colt until I knew better. I don't hold it against anyone if they say either but it hurts my ears a little to hear "Looooooooooong colt".
It's not a common cartridge for casual enthusiasts/new shooters (my first handgun was a Taurus SA in 45 colt) but if they can't figure out what cartridge to buy for it , tough luck. Really it's a handloaders cartridge more and more . with such a wide variety of specialty 45 colt offerings (buffalo bore, underwood, Garrett . + uncle bubba sometimes ) I'm sure they get into the wrong guns and do damage.
I think they should call the heavy loadings that aren't suitable for saa and clones looooooong colt and 13k (or whatever) psi cowboy loads can be called 45 colt. Problem solved

View attachment 978339
That's what I'm talking about!:thumbup::thumbup:
Click to expand...
Interesting. Made for the Redhawk but not the Blackhawk.
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
——
It goes back to Army procurement in the 1870’s. The long.45 US Army was for the Colts revolver and the short .45 Army was for the S&W revolver. At one point both were issued. The shorter.45 S&W would fit both revolvers but only when the wider rims were made smaller. The S&W .45 had to operate with an extractor while the Colts rim only had to hold the cartridge in place. There have been reams of paper devoted to the subject. I will check my stack of old magazines. I know I have at least one that was published recently.
Click to expand...
So was the S&W revolver also referred to as a Schofield? Or is that something else entirely? Great post BTW.
 
OK, once we settle the hash of people who talk about 45 Long Colt, can we go after the people who use BOTH a decimal point AND the word caliber to describe a cartridge? Like .22 caliber, or .38 caliber? It drives me nuts. In reference to small arms, a "caliber" is 1/100 of an inch. So you can have .320 inch, which is how the British do it, or 32 caliber, but not ".32 caliber", because that would be .32 of 1/100 of an inch. Get a clue, people!

(With artillery it's all different. There, "caliber" is used to specify barrel length as a multiple of projectile diameter. A 5-inch 38-caliber gun has a barrel that is 38 times 5 inches long, or 190 inches. It does NOT fire a shell is 5.38 inches in diameter, a mistake I have seen published authors make.)

Once that is done, then it's on to the people who call one cent coins "pennies". How I long to use a .45 caliber Long Colt on them!
 
Last edited:
I have guns chambered in 45 Colt, 45 ACP, and 460 S&W Magnum and that is all I need to know.

I do not need to worry about the other 45 caliber handgun cartridges.
 
billtool said:
So was the S&W revolver also referred to as a Schofield? Or is that something else entirely? Great post BTW.
Click to expand...
A true schofield is its own cartridge. Shorter than the .45 colt round. Open up a can of worms and call it .45 short colt . .45 long colt won’t fit in its cylinder.
 
I've yet to see a headstamp say .45 Long Colt, it's always .45 Colt. Whoever is putting .45 LC is just being cheap on the stamping dies.
 
Electricmo said:
I had a polite conversation with a long time gun owner the other day about .45 Long Colt revolvers. He was convinced Long Colt was different from .45 Colt. I told him he was wrong . He told me I was wrong. Problem is I’m right. Thanks to the ammo manufacturers there is a lot of misinformation out there. This confusion is only going to get worse with the first time gun owner and the ammo shortage. Not all .45 calibers are created equal. The ammo and gun manufacturers are clouding the issue with their stamping also. Here’s a case in point. .45 colt stamped on the barrels of Uberti pistols is correct. However it will chamber .45 long colt ammo . Why they started marketing ammo as such is beyond me.
Click to expand...

146 years of habit is hard to break.

If this has already been addressed, my pardon.

Three cartridges were mentioned earlier. Those three are:

.45 colt
.45 Schofield
M1887 Military Ball Cartridge

The .45 Colt, of course, is the cartridge developed for the Colt SAA.

The .45 Schofield cartridge was developed by S&W in response to Major Schofield's suggestion to make a revolver that was easier for horseback riders to reload. S&W modified their S&W Model 3 into what became the "Schofield Revolver". Probably due to patent reasons, S&W chambered it in .45, but with a shorter case and a slightly different size rim. The new cartridge was known (shocker) as the ".45 Schofield" cartridge.

To distinguish that from the Colt cartridge, the .45 Colt became known colloquially among users as ".45 Long Colt". Because why not? Simple human nature made it plain among laymen exactly what round one was asking for. ("Gimme a box of .45." "What kind?" "The Long Colt.")

The third cartridge, however, was created to simplify logistics. While the .45 Schofield could be fired from the Colt SAA, the .45 Colt could NOT be fired from the .45 Schofield. (And even though the .45 Schofield could be fired from the Colt SAA, it had a slightly larger rim. Not the best for the Colt SAA, as it made ejection a bit tougher.)

To simplify logistics, the Army often supplied just the .45 Schofield to be used in both guns.

To further standardize ammunition, the Army designed the M1887 Military Ball Cartridge. This was specifically designed with the same case length of the .45 Schofield, but with the reduced rim of the .45 Colt. This allowed it to fit both guns and the rim allowed for easy ejection from both revolvers.
 
The 45 Government was for a time on the civilian market as the "45 Short Colt". It had a narrower rim then the 45 Smith & Wesson/45 Schofield. When I look at modern 45 Schofield brass it looks like a narrow rim.
There was a "45 Revolver" that was government issue for the 1909 Colt. It had the wide rim with the long case but downloaded to 45 Schofield specs.
 
Monac said:
OK, once we settle the hash of people who talk about 45 Long Colt, can we go after the people who use BOTH a decimal point AND the word caliber to describe a cartridge? Like .22 caliber, or .38 caliber? It drives me nuts. In reference to small arms, a "caliber" is 1/100 of an inch. So you can have .320 inch, which is how the British do it, or 32 caliber, but not ".32 caliber", because that would be .32 of 1/100 of an inch. Get a clue, people!

(With artillery it's all different. There, "caliber" is used to specify barrel length as a multiple of projectile diameter. A 5-inch 38-caliber gun has a barrel that is 38 times 5 inches long, or 190 inches. It does NOT fire a shell is 5.38 inches in diameter, a mistake I have seen published authors make.)

Once that is done, then it's on to the people who call one cent coins "pennies". How I long to use a .45 caliber Long Colt on them!
Click to expand...

If you are going to mention the Brits, who invented the language, get the spelling right! Sheesh! o_O

calibre
noun
1. the diameter of a cylindrical body, esp the internal diameter of a tube or the bore of a firearm
2. the diameter of a shell or bullet
3. ability; distinction: a musician of high calibre
4. personal character: a man of high calibre
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

W
  • Locked
.45 LC--Big Bear Protection?
2 3
Replies
55
Views
24K
akadave
A
X
  • Locked
.45 Colt and .45 Long Colt ?'s
Replies
23
Views
6K
savit260
S
R
  • Locked
.45 ACP Cylinder for Vaquero
Replies
8
Views
2K
Rio Grande
R
T
  • Locked
45 LC revolver question
Replies
16
Views
2K
Arkansas Paul
Arkansas Paul
Deaf Smith
  • Locked
Interesting Charles Daly SSA .45 LC
Replies
5
Views
2K
Deaf Smith
Deaf Smith
Back
Top