.45 *Long* Colt ;-)

[zxcvbob]

I was looking thru Cartridges of the World and I think I might have figured out how this controversy may have gotten started. There isn't a cartridge officially named ".45 Long Colt", but there was a short version of the .45 Colt from 1870's to about 1930. It was the ".45 Colt Government", and it was like a .45 Colt case shortened to 1.10", or a .45 S&W with the same rim as a .45 Colt.

The shorter case with the small rim would chamber in either gun, but it was sort of the worst of both worlds; it reportedly didn't work all that well in the Schofield revolvers because it suffered from poor extraction, and it was loaded wimpier than real .45 Colts. No wonder people asked specifically for "Long Colts", and some boxes of ammo may have even been labeled that way.

 

[scrat]

los angeles silouette club has an article on that they even have a picture of a box of bulles that say 45 short

 

[MMCSRET]

Good information, and to my knowledge Ruger is the only handgun manufacturer that uses "long colt" in the nomenclature on and concerning their products. My NMBH is so labeled.

 

[scrat]

http://www.lasc.us/TaylorLongShort45Colt.htm

Not correct about Ruger. Colt also refers their guns to the 45 Long Colt

 

[scrat]

here is the link for colt

45 long colt

http://www.coltsmfg.com/cmci/revolvers.asp

 

[MMCSRET]

Guess my Colt is too old to notice the name change, I had never bothered. Thanks.

 

[TEDDY]

45 colt

the army bought COLTS and S & Ws,as the S & W cylinder was not long enough to take the COLT the army had 45s made to fit both,the colt needed the small rim so thats what those are.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I thought the un-official term 'long' got inserted to clear up confusion in the Army between the .45 Colt and the .45 Schofield.

The Schofield (sp?) rounds would fit in the Colt revolvers, but not the other way around.

Nowadays they seem to use it to keep the .45 Colt and the .45ACP separated.

 

[scrat]

As far as I know there have never been any .45 Colt cartridges head-stamped "Long" and though I have reports of old cartridge boxes marked "45 Long" I have never personally seen any. Mr. Keith referred to them from time to time as "long" Colt's (with a small "L"). If you have ever seen the short Colt .45's you can understand why.

The Winchester .45 Colt's that Paco and I have came from Shootist Keith Owlett who gave them to us a short time before he passed on. The cartridge box is deteriorated and I have it put



away now - at least what's left of it. But it is plainly marked ".45 Colt Government". The head-stamp on the cartridges is ".45 Colt" ... BUT these are SHORT .45 Colts! The head-stamp is the same as the longer .45 Colts, even down to the "W" on the primers.

These are not S&W or Schofield cartridges. The rim diameter is the same as the long .45 Colts, which is smaller than the Schofield rim diameter. These are true .45 Short Colts. The cartridge is listed in Cartridges of the World on page 306 as ".45 Colt - .45 Colt Government".

I can visualize someone walking into a hardware store around the turn of the last century and asking for a box of .45 Colt's. As the clerk pulls down a box the customer says, "Not the short ones. I want the Long Colts!" and the name ".45 Long Colt" came down to us as a "user-applied" name, not a factory name.



While I can't prove it, I believe the usage was common since Colt had factory cartridges like the .32 Short Colt, .32 Long Colt, .38 Short Colt, .38 Long Colt, .41 Short Colt and the .41 Long Colt.

I pulled one of the .45 shorts apart and weighed and measured it. The case is 1.1" long. The powder charge was black powder, approximately 28 grains. The bullet weighed right at 230 gr. and was lubed with a white chalky-looking substance. I fired one from my Ruger 7 1/2" barreled .45 and it went through the chronograph at near 750 fps.

here you go here is the short or long of it. read the correct information about the rims and such

 

[RioShooter]

I thought the un-official term 'long' got inserted to clear up confusion in the Army between the .45 Colt and the .45 Schofield.

The Schofield (sp?) rounds would fit in the Colt revolvers, but not the other way around.

I just read an article in an older Shooting Times about the .45 cartridge, and your explanation is the same as theirs.

 

[ar10]

I pick up a bunch of them, (going out today), after the SASS matches this morning/afternoon. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do with them though. I'm after the other, more common brass but I generally just pick up all the brass and sort it out later.
The matches are kind of fun to watch. These folks take their shooting seriously, even dressing up for matches.

 

[scrat]

you have 45 schofield. wanna trade