silicosys4
Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
- Messages
- 4,447
So I had the chance to take out a new arrival, A previously well-enjoyed 1980 Colt New Frontier SAA in .45 Colt.
Initially I was a bit disappointed on receiving it...they cylinder has a bit more play on lockup than I'd like, maybe a mm of side to side and half a mm endshake, so hopefully I can tighten that up a bit. Don't know if that's normal but seems excessive from my experience with other SA's.
But I went ahead and replaced the goofy pachmayr grips with some 3rd gen grips I had laying around and decided to send some rounds downrange to see where we are at.
The only loads I have for the .45 Colt are some plinker reloads using a light charge of Unique under a Lee TL 200gr .45acp SWC sized to .452.
After reading that Colt .45 throats tend to be cut on the generous side, I gave it a try and was able to drop those same 200gr SWC's straight through all 6 chambers without resistance.
My basis for comparison is a USFA SA in .45 Colt, which requires mild finger pressure to push the same bullet through all 6 throats.
I was ready for sub par accuracy and heavy leading, but I got decent accuracy, 2-3" at 12 yards, and zero leading. Good enough for a range load.
Pretty surprising results after reading the various horror stories online about Colt's oversized throats.
Initially I was a bit disappointed on receiving it...they cylinder has a bit more play on lockup than I'd like, maybe a mm of side to side and half a mm endshake, so hopefully I can tighten that up a bit. Don't know if that's normal but seems excessive from my experience with other SA's.
But I went ahead and replaced the goofy pachmayr grips with some 3rd gen grips I had laying around and decided to send some rounds downrange to see where we are at.
The only loads I have for the .45 Colt are some plinker reloads using a light charge of Unique under a Lee TL 200gr .45acp SWC sized to .452.
After reading that Colt .45 throats tend to be cut on the generous side, I gave it a try and was able to drop those same 200gr SWC's straight through all 6 chambers without resistance.
My basis for comparison is a USFA SA in .45 Colt, which requires mild finger pressure to push the same bullet through all 6 throats.
I was ready for sub par accuracy and heavy leading, but I got decent accuracy, 2-3" at 12 yards, and zero leading. Good enough for a range load.
Pretty surprising results after reading the various horror stories online about Colt's oversized throats.

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