Thoughts on 45.acp Revolvers

625 5" great shooter, accurate and fun to shoot. Have several 1911s and same loads are much lower recoil in my 625.

I understand the 45acp in a revolver for match shooting. That is where my understanding stops. Why handicap yourself? Obviously gaming with a 625 and a ton of moon clips is awesome, but for ANY other application it is not my first pic. The 357 and 44 are IMHO the king of the revolver calibers. Shooting specials in 38 and 44 for targets and magnums for hunting and defense makes sense. If I want to get the full potential from a 45acp for a carry gun or defensive pistol it would be better served in a 1911 or one of the many polymer framed semi-autos ou there.

Thoughts?

"Stupidly accurate"



50 shots, 15 yrds, offhand.

That about speaks for itself right there.

.45 ACP revolvers are just big, stupid, fun. I like ALL big, accurate, big bore revolvers.

mnhntr said:

I understand the 45acp in a revolver for match shooting. That is where my understanding stops. Why handicap yourself? Obviously gaming with a 625 and a ton of moon clips is awesome, but for ANY other application it is not my first pic. The 357 and 44 are IMHO the king of the revolver calibers. Shooting specials in 38 and 44 for targets and magnums for hunting and defense makes sense. If I want to get the full potential from a 45acp for a carry gun or defensive pistol it would be better served in a 1911 or one of the many polymer framed semi-autos ou there.

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mnhntr, some of us do not feel handicapped with either a revolver or the 45 ACP cartridge. For most hunting, a 260 grain lead bullet at +/- 950 fps is a perfectly fine combination. Or a 280 grain lead bullet at about the same speed. More weight or more velocity gives more recoil and not much else. Both loads mentioned are easily achieved and usually give good accuracy. I was a big fan of the 44 Magnum, until I saw how the 45 long Colt did with black powder. Now, I try to duplicate the ballistics of the long Colt load, and the results have been consistently good. For defense loads, that 260 grain bullet is pretty good also.

Not to veer too far from the main flow of this thread but, to me the 45 acp is a wonderful revolver cartridge. Just a great blend of size and power, at least for my purposes. I once had a couple of 625s that I let get away and when I went back to 45 acp revolvers this time, I have focused on Blackhawks and Vaqueros (convertibles). A Blackhawk is something like half the cost of a new 625 and is a great shooter. (And, it doesn't depend on moon clips, if that matters.) I like single actions best of all, anyway. I even have a couple (stainless and blued) of the limited run Birdshead New Vaqueros chambered solely in 45 acp.

Makes me happy.

Now that there Model22 upstream with the bone grips and Tyler T adapter is just plain pretty.

Great photography as well.

-kBob

Please do not take this the wrong way. I carry a 45acp as a daily carry and own quite a few revolvers. I also carry a revolver (LCR) as a bug or in hot weather clothes. I only say what I said because I believe in using the right tool for the job and not making something work. The 45acp in a wheel gun is big and heavy and impractical for carry. It is the best choice for competition in the revolver divisions of practical shooting groups. It is not the BEST choice for hunting. Will it work? Yes it will work fine but is not the better choice. To each his own but I feel there are better choices for hunting or carry.

mnhntr, some of us do not feel handicapped with either a revolver or the 45 ACP cartridge. For most hunting, a 260 grain lead bullet at +/- 950 fps is a perfectly fine combination. Or a 280 grain lead bullet at about the same speed. More weight or more velocity gives more recoil and not much else. Both loads mentioned are easily achieved and usually give good accuracy. I was a big fan of the 44 Magnum, until I saw how the 45 long Colt did with black powder. Now, I try to duplicate the ballistics of the long Colt load, and the results have been consistently good. For defense loads, that 260 grain bullet is pretty good also.

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I feel there are better choices for hunting or carry.

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I think that is no doubt true. Maybe no better choices for fun, though .

Maybe no better choices for fun, though

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And I think "that is no doubt true".

My 5" 625 .45acp, decked out for some match fun. As fun as it is, though, my speedloader-fed L-frame sees much more use.

My 25-2 is the absolutely perfect complement to my 14-4. For my money, there's no better balanced, better shooting, or better looking pair of target revolvers.

Very nice, Iggy. But not .45 ACP.

So are you guys just shooting auto rim in the 45 colt smith's

That's not possible.

You can't close the cylinder on a .45 Colt gun with the much thicker rimmed .45 AR cartridges in it.

rc

thanks for the info. This is probably one of the best threads I have ever read on here.

Rim thickness

.45 Col (1873) is 0.0610"
45 Auto RIm (1922) is 0.0905"

as well as the case diameter just forward of the
rim being slightly greater diameter in the .45 Colt
so if one would want to convert a Ruger Blackhawk
to .45 uto RIm, start with the .45 ACP cylinger
NOT the ,45 Cikt ctkubder,

Corresponded with Hamilton Bowen on this project

I've got 350 or so roundes of .45 Auto Rim
.45 Auto RIm Leadhead hardcast
200 gr, SWC @ 1,000 FPS
& 40 rds of 225 gr. Barnes XPB HP @ 940 FPS

R-




R-

I haven't shot it in a while, but it sure is cool.

So smith and Wesson did not make a model that shot both 45 colt and 45 acp. I was thinking at one time someone told me that had one that did. Maybe it was some kind of a custom.