.45lc vs .44mag ruger blackhawk

[zackyholdem]

looking at a ruger blackhawk as a companion gun for deer hunting in michigan, and I cant decide between .45lc and .44 mag

shots will be under 50yds, w/ iron sights. i'm leaning towards the .45lc because of the availability of ammo in my area and i feel that the .45lc is more versatile than the .44.

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[waidmann]

I love the .45 Colt but I can't imagine calling it more versatile than the .44 Magnum, especially when you throw .44 Special in the equation. If you are handloading the possibilities increase.

Even if you don't handload as your post implies, I can't imagine the locale where .45 Colt dominates off-the-shelf.

I have to give a nod to .44 Mag.

 

[zackyholdem]

to claify more, what i'm saying is that i can find way more medium power load (225gr 950fps) load with better bullets for the. 45lc than i can for the .44 mag

most of the .44 spec loads i can find are lead flat/round nose loads, with the .45lc there is tons of loads with premium bullets made to shoot out of the taurus judge available.

for deer out of the .45lc i was thinking the hornady LEVERevoluton 225gr 1000fps load

 

[BCCL]

I've become a big fan of 45 Colt over the last 2 years, and it will work just fine in the whitetail arena!



BUT, even I have to admit, if you want a caliber that is easy to buy "off the shelf", then .44 magnum in my experience is much easier to walk into a store and buy than 45 Colt, at least in these parts.

I can literally go 6-7 months without finding any accept 20 round boxes of Winchester at Wal-Mart. I usually have to buy several boxes at once at gun shows, until I can get to reloading again.

 

[BossHogg]

45 colt is my choice for whitetail. 50 yards should be a easy shot with the 45 colt, mine is a Blackhawk with a 7.5 inch barrel. A great gun for walking the fields and thickets after you come in from the stand.

 

[Brasso]

Nice ruger BCCL. That's an old model "New Model" Blackhawk? Heavy cylinder?

 

[Dave Bulla]

Looks like a new model, standard cylinder to me. And yes, I think it's a nice one too.

I've got a 44 mag stainless hunter and it shoots great but there's something about them old time calibers that sort of just calls to me. 45lc, 45-70, 35 Remington, 32-20... heck, I've even got a 9.3x57 and most people have never even heard of that one.

Everybody's got a 44 mag seems like.

 

[solvability]

I have both and now shoot the 44 more often.

 

[BCCL]

Nice ruger BCCL. That's an old model "New Model" Blackhawk? Heavy cylinder?

Plain old "New Model", made in 2009.

First whitetail buck and first handgun deer in one shot!

 

[Lawdawg45]

As far as Deer hunting the .45 Colt is hard to beat, and it does offer options from the sub-sonic cowboy loads all the way up to the Buffalo Bore .45 +P. I also use the Hornaday Leverevolution in my rifle and handgun.

LD

 

[Bula]

Either is perfectly suited for deer. One other consideration, I have both, and there is a diffence in weight between the 2. My 4 5/8" Stainless SBH is feels heavier due to the steel grip frame. My blued 45 colt is a 5.5" but it's an aluminum grip frame.

 

[MCgunner]

Colt if you handload, magnum if you don't. My .45 is a stainless 4 5/8" blackhawk.

 

[CraigC]

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. One must handload to get the most out of the .45Colt and it doesn't hurt with the .44Mag either.

 

[aggieoutlaw]

Love my 7.5" Bisley .45 Colt. Probably my favorite gun. If I could do it again, I'd probably get one with convertible .45 ACP/LC cylinders. Much cheaper to shoot! You'll recover the initial costs with only a few range trips!

 

[skidder]

Colt if you handload, magnum if you don't. My .45 is a stainless 4 5/8" blackhawk.

I agree.

 

[Missionary]

Good morning
Benefit of the 45 Colt is the ready availability of heavy bullet moulds. Beyond that any critter out there will not notice the difference of .02 diameter bullets (the 44 mag is really a .43). It´s like saying the .43 mag is better than the .41 mag with the same weight bullet at the same velocity.
But as I like to say.. a bigger hole is always better. So years ago I sold my last .43 mag as I really liked the .41 better and went to the 45 Colt as I like them.
Mike in Peru

 

[USSR]

Benefit of the 45 Colt is the ready availability of heavy bullet moulds.

+1. I have one of Miha's brass Cramer-type moulds that is a version of the RCBS .45-270-SAA mould, and these big .454 bullets moving at 1000+ fps makes for quite a thumper.

Don

 

[CraigC]

There is not exactly a shortage of heavy bullets for the .44Mag either. Bullet on the right goes 355gr and can be pushed 100fps faster than 360's in the .45Colt.

 

[OregonJohnny]

One other thing to consider is weight. When you're talking about pocket guns, weight is a bad thing. In single-action revolvers shooting big bore cartridges capable of taking down medium game, weight is a good thing. Here are the stats from Ruger's website:

Super Blackhawk, .44 Magnum, Blued, 4.6" barrel: 45 oz.
Blackhawk, .45 Colt, Blued, 4.6" barrel: 39 oz.

Whether this is because of the Super's unfluted cylinder, different frame materials, slightly smaller charging holes, or a combination of all 3, I'm not sure. But I'd welcome an extra 6 oz. and thicker cylinder walls when touching off heavy, "big boy" loads.

I personally prefer the look of unfluted cylinders on a single-action revolver anyway. When I faced this same Blackhawk/Super Blackhawk dilemma, I went with the Super. Besides, it matched my Marlin 1894 so well!

 

[CraigC]

They're doing much better than before but you still can't realy trust Ruger's published weights. A 4 5/8" Super is more like 43oz and the blued .45Colt Blackhawk in the same length is 36oz. My 4 5/8" Super converted to a Bisley is 45oz. The slight difference in bore size, chamber size and flutes makes a minor difference but the biggest difference comes from the .45's aluminum grip frame and ejector housing. The Super is all steel, blued or stainless.

I reckon I could weigh the unfluted cylinders of my Bisleys and the fluted cylinder of my .44 flat-top and see what difference the flutes make.

 

[Brasso]

Where did you get the mold for that 355gr wfn?

 

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I vote .45 Colt cuz .44 rem mags are for noobs.

 

[CraigC]

Where did you get the mold for that 355gr wfn?

I didn't, it came from Beartooth.

I vote .45 Colt cuz .44 rem mags are for noobs.

.44Mag's do not suffer from the maladies that affect the .45Colt. Such as oversized chambers, under or over sized chamber mouths and odd bore sizes. On average, they tend to shoot much better out of the box. Colt is still cutting theirs for .454" bullets and with Ruger, you never know what you're gonna get. In a six-shot Ruger, performance is equal.

 

[stevelyn]

I like the Colt, but unless you handload you're probably better off with the .44.

 

[Brasso]

I didn't, it came from Beartooth.

Argh.

Trying to find a decent WFN bullet mold from the big makers is next to impossible. As popular as that style is, no one seems to want to offer one. ????? At least not with a plain base.

I guess I'll just have to go the custom route. Mountain Molds or NEI.