Nightcrawler
Member
I understand that one of the factory blackpowder loadings for .45 Colt was a 252 grain bullet at roughly 900 - 950 feet per second, which is about the same as a modern .45 +P. (Not bad for the 19th Century.)
But, from an artifcle I read in the Shotgun News, when the .45 Colt round was switched to smokeless powder and chambered in, for instance, Colt double action revolvers, the velocity dropped to like 750 feet per second.
First, is this true? If so, why the big loss in muzzle energy? Were the early Colt and S&W double actions not as strong as a single action? Did the smokeless powder require higher pressures to generate the same velocity?
But, from an artifcle I read in the Shotgun News, when the .45 Colt round was switched to smokeless powder and chambered in, for instance, Colt double action revolvers, the velocity dropped to like 750 feet per second.
First, is this true? If so, why the big loss in muzzle energy? Were the early Colt and S&W double actions not as strong as a single action? Did the smokeless powder require higher pressures to generate the same velocity?