.44-40 or .45 Colt

[Vicious-Peanut]

So, I'm thinking I would like a Colt clone to play cowboy with but am not sure which caliber is the more authentic 'workhorse of the west'. The revolver would most likely be the Uberti Cattleman and they offer both in the model I like so I'm torn. I just want the most historically accurate cartridge.

 

[cdrt]

Colt SAA Serial # 1 was in .45 Colt; can't get much more historically authentic than that.

 

[pinkymingeo]

It's a shame they don't offer 45 Schofield.

 

[BikerRN]

I'd get the 45 as 44-40 can be hard to find unless you're in a well stocked gunshop that sells to CAS types.

Just my $0.02.

BikerRN

 

[Sunray]

"...44-40 can be hard to find..." And more expensive.

 

[Chuck Dye]

Have never messed with .44-40 or its little brothers, but have read many times of high case damage rates in reloading the thin mouthed, kinda-sorta bottlenecked cases. Reportedly, a high nuisance level goes with the high damage rate, too. No lube free carbide or nitride dies, for one thing.

 

[spwenger]

In tthe Old Days...

....44-40 was not a popular handgun chambering, despite the theoretical advantage of being able to use the same round in your revolver and your carbine. As I understand it, the soft copper primer cups, combined with the slight taper of the case, led to several instances of primer backflow tying up the revolvers. While this should not be a problem with modern primers, the .44-40 is not a common round and, as I recall, if you load your own, you do well to get 45 rounds out of a box or bag of 50 cases as the case is prone to being damaged in the sizing process.

The most interesting passage I found in James Gillet's Six years with the Texas Rangers: 1875-1881 was the account of an earlier ranger who had inadvertently thumbed a .45 Colt round into the loading gate of his .44-40 Winchester carbine in the heat of a gunfight with a band of Comanche. The guy had the presence of mind to unscrew the side plate of the carbine with his knife, between handgun shots at the mounted Comanche. clear the jam, reassemble the carbine and get it back into the fight.

 

[Jim Watson]

.44-40 was the second highest selling SAA caliber after .45 Colt, which gets to count large military contracts. It is a little tedious to load, you just have to be careful. Most black powder shooters prefer it because its thin brass gives a better seal; also works well with the light tenderfoot loads in CAS.

I'd still recommend starting out with .45 Colt, it is more straightforward to work with.

 

[BlkHawk73]

.44-40 is a great cartridge and fun just because of the historical aspect of it but if you're gonna play cowboy you'll be shooting quite a bit. If you're not gonna reload, stick with the 45 Colt. In addition to availability and cost, if you happen to need a few extra rounds ata shoot, you'll b more likely to find more of the 45 Colt available from the other shooters than the .44-40.
I do applaud you for evn considerng the wonderful old cartridge. many simply overlok it.
Remember to choose your rifle in the same chambering just for ease and in some cases, safety.

 

[Guillermo]

ditto

45 Colt is a great round, versatile, readily available and also historically accurate

 

[Harve Curry]

45 COLT, for all the above stated reasons.

 

[StrawHat]

I have wonderful respect for the 45 Long Colt. Have several revolvers chambered for it and use it on whitetail deer whenever I get the chance.

The 45 was a military chambering and not many were available to civilians for several years after introduction.

The 44 WCF on the other hand was offered first in the Winchester 1873 and then in the Colt Model P.

It became the second most popular chambering for good reasons.

The primary reason is the commonality of chamberings between rifle and handgun. spwenger's iteration of the Ranger and the Commanche is a good example of why common chamberings are important.

Either way, you will have a good revolver.

I'd choose the 45.