45 colt vs 44 spcl
It's hard to beat a good cartridge debate, so how about this one. It seems to me both are relatively similar to velocity & bullet weight. Maybe the main difference is that 44 spcl, I believe, was designed for smokeless powder & the 45 was designed as a blackpowder? I like the 45 colt, but it does have a large case with a small powder charge. What are your thoughts?
I'm going back to the original question. 44 special 15.5K SAMMY spec, .45 Colt, 14K.
In ANY modern firearm, gun quality is not an issue at these pressures. Now, on those merits, you can find powders that will fill both cases, or nearly, and stay at lower pressure. I'm not sure the fact the .44 was designed with smokeless powder is a factor.
Either cartridge can be hotrodded, and, if so, must be matched to a gun that is capable of taking higher pressures. There are a LOT of solutions to this itch. 5 shot cylinder guns put this sort of thing into another ball park. 17-4 Stainless guns, like the Freedom Arms, and, BFR's not to mention the Scandium frames and cylinders change everything as well.
There are a LOT of things that can be done with either cartridge, and depending on what you want to do, either one can do pretty much anything you want it to, including giving you .44 mag and 454 type specs, in standard cases.
I'm not really up on it, but, what I do remember about both is you needed a LOT of money to shoot either a lot, or, you had to reload. Factory ammo was absurd when I bought my 44 special, and, it was about the same as the .45 Colt ammo of the time, 22 bucks a box for 20, back in the late 70's.
While that may have changed a bit, I don't think a general discussion of the merits of each caliber is worth much time, since a specific goal needs to be focused on, and, if so, you might evaluate which would be the most economical way to achieve that goal.
They are both excellent calibers...