we have to worry about newbies getting a box of 45ACP when they ask for "45 Colt" at WalMart or whatever.
Um, why is that a worry? Every box of .45 Colt ammo I've ever purchased has been marked ".45 Colt", not ".45 Long Colt." Every box of .45ACP I've ever purchased has been marked ".45ACP." I've never heard anyone refer to .45ACP as ".45 Colt", either. They either call it .45 ACP, or .45 Auto, or just .45, in which case the guy behind the counter asks for clarification. It's no different than someone asking for ".30 cal" ammo. The counter clerk will ask what gun it's for to find out whether they want .30-06, .308, .30-30, .30 carbine, or whatnot.
I'm also not aware of any safety issues. Even if someone is dumb enough to try to load .45 ACP into a .45 Colt firearm, can anything really bad happen? I don't think so.
The historical purists arguing for "45 Colt" are *maybe* historically correct, but they're modernly stupid.
Nice attitude, Jim. The historical purists are *definitely* historically correct. The round designed and introduced with the SAA in 1873, adopted by the U.S. Army and commonly sold today is and always has been the ".45 Colt", period, regardless of what other rounds may have existed then or now. The fact that some people get confused by the occasional erroneous reference to it as the "Long Colt" doesn't change that, and doesn't make us "stupid." To the contrary, it's the people insisting on using the incorrect "Long Colt" that are stupid, because it merely continues the promotes the confusion. If no one called it "Long Colt" then we wouldn't have to deal with confused newbies asking what a "short Colt" is and whether their new ".45 Colt" guns could shoot "Long Colt" ammo. Either that or we should direct all firearms and ammo manufacturers to start marking their guns and ammo ".45 Long Colt" instead of ".45 Colt", right?
I suppose we all ought to start calling every semiauto pistol a "Glock", and any black rifle an "assault rifle." To insist that terminology is wrong *may* be historically correct, but would be "modernly stupid", right?
