.45 ACP Escape Velocity?

You dont really lose much from the escaping gases. A 4" barrel revolver has about the same velocity as a 4" barrel automatic. (Of course on revolvers there's an extra 1 1/2" or so for the cylinder)

The reason the .45 Colt case is so huge is because it was originally meant for black powder. When you put the appropriate amount of smokeless powder in, it seems rather empty. If you filled it up with smokeless you'd have a massive KaBoom.

A revolver chambered in .45ACP has the ability (necessity) to use clips, be they half, full, or 2 rounds. Reloading clip fed revolvers is real easy. Also, you get to pick from the tons of .45ACP ammo instead of the expensive and and not as common .45 Colt.

Why are .45 ACP revolvers so highly praised?

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Because they are just so darn much fun to shoot!!!



Accurate too...

Joe

Thanks for this thread! I was wondering that myself. Everytime I saw a .45acp revolver I'd think "why?"

The .45 ACP revolvers are also great for fast reloads. With full moon clips, it's the fastest way to reload a revolver. No speed loaders needed. Just put the whole package in there, and eject the whole bundle when done and repeat. Very fast. Also, the .45 ACP cartridge is more efficient than the .45 Colt. Less powder equals same power level because the bullet travels farther over the contained expanding gases, since it starts farther back in the cylinder. The .45 Colt doesn't need all that room, as mentioned, because it was originally designed for black powder, which is more voluminous. Also, you can shoot cheapo .45 ACP ammo for practice. Lots of flexibility in reloading too. Can equal fairly stiff .45 Colt loads using Keith style hard cast bullets.

.45 boom

The Massive "Ka Boom" created by the .45 Colt (LC) is also known as the .454 Casull.

The .45 Colt is more flexible to load. It can be loaded considerably hotter(almost .44 Rem Mag performance). It is ballistically capable of more than the .45 ACP.

Some like the shortness of the .45 ACP combined with the moonclips when it comes to reloading. Others like the availability and variety of .45 ACP factory ammunition compared to .45 Colt.

It's also a simple matter to convert any .45 ACP cylinder to 460 Rowland, which has only a little longer case, but allows for loads fully equalling the hottest .45 Colt loads. An added benefit of this is that you can still use standard .45 ACPs in it. Just send the cylinder off to be bored out a little more, and it's done.

and some of us are getting to old to be bending over to pick up the cases thrown all over hell and earth

Dop't forget to factor in the cost a bit. Loading for only one caliber. Unless you have a 9mm, 40cal., 38 special, etc.

People do load the .45 Colt up above factory pressures. The loading manuals even have heavier loads suitable for Ruger, TC and the Freedom Arms revolvers. Hamilton Bowen and a couple of others even make five shot cylinders for Rugers the really does allow them to go a bit higher than .44 Magnum.

Some people decide that since modern metal is better than 19th and early 20th century metal, it is ok to go ahead and overload smith and wessons an Colt Single actions. Fairly frequently, they blow them to smitereness. Some of this may come from old handbook loads recommending 1000 fps + loads with a heavy charge of Unique. Some of the old gun writers used that one for their regular hunting load in old first generation Colts.

I believe tha't true, though I'm not sure how much hotter the rifle loads can go. The 92 is considered a stronger action than the 94.

I shoot the heaviest DoubleTap loads from my 1894 Trapper (335 grains at 1650 fps) without problem.

did not know that the .45 Colt could be cranked up to something near the .44 magnum. I heard the opposite many years ago, regarding my Colt SAA .45. Confusion has probably intervened, but I know you can blow up a perfectly good SAA with too much powder. I have a modern replica of a lever action 1892 Winchester chambered for .45 Colt, and would be very interested in hotter loads that I can purchase, not wanting to get into reloading. Can you offer websites, suggestions, et cetera?

wb

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Such loads wouldn't be safe in a Colt SAA. I thought we were talking about revolvers of more modern design. They're safe in the much stronger large frame Rugers for instance(which are more in my realm of interest). I didn't say anything about the Colt SAA and I don't really know anything about your replica lever-action. Hotter .45 Colt loads can be bought from the specialty ammo manufacturers like Buffalo Bore and DoubleTap. And yes, you're right that it would not be safe in the Colt. Sorry for any confusion.

http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm
http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_38

the .45 revovlver is Jerry Miculecs' favorite

hope I spelled the name at least half right.
those lightning fast reloads that Jerry does is the result of using a .45acp revo with full moon clips. He makes it look easy,but I'm betting it took a few zillion practice reloads to get that smoothe and fast.

Because they are just so darn much fun to shoot!!

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Now why is that .45ACP revolver more fun to shoot than any other caliber that would fit in that sort of a gun? A .38 or .357 in its multitudes of loadings I imagine would be equally fun to shoot.

Not to hijack the thread, but it is equally as fun to shoot 40 S&W and 10 mm's out of the revolver action. Same frame size as the 45 acp revolver, slightly smaller bullet, and if loaded right, a lot less recoil. It too utilizes moon clips. I personally shoot a 6.5" 610 classic with minor loaded 40's (in a 10 mm revo) for IPSC and ICORE. It's accurate and I can load similar ammo for my other 40's (Para P16, Sig 229). Being that they made few 610's, it's also kind of unique.

Vince

And the 45 acp revolver was born during the WW1, because the 1911 factories couldnt meeet the demand, and it was easy to convert existing revolver production lines to another caliber. They also had to invent the half moon clip.
after the war .45 revolvers was surplus, cheap and people started shooting them and found them good.

warthog

If you shoot one of these, you won't wonder any more:



My S&W M-625 is one of the most accurate, probably the most accurate handguns that I own. It's scary accurate.

.45 ACP escape velocity?

Wikipedia lists earth's escape velocity at 36,745.4 feet per second.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity

Classically, 230 grain hardball runs out of 5" barrels at about 850 feet per second.

Revolver or autoloader, you still have to find about 36,000 feet per second before you can leave orbit.



OK, I'm a dork.

I can't help it.

Another reason, of course, is so that you can shoot these...



The .45 acp out of a wheelgun is a soft shooting low recoil round. A pleasure to shoot.

tipoc

history of the .45 ACP wheel gun

It's a historical quirk. When we entered WWI, there weren't enough 1911s available, so Colt & S&W contracted to bring out their 1917 models in .45 ACP, using half-moon clips.