45 Colt Pistol/Lever Action

[LostinTexas]

45 Colt or 22 LR.

The 45 Colt is versatile and can be loaded up or loaded to pop gun. Cowboy action loads are pretty soft. HD, SD, Medium game hunting, Range toy. Can be loaded.

22LR all the above but game would have to be small or varmint. A variety of loads can make them pretty formidable. Probably cheaper to shoot all around and the cost of admission is 2X+ for the 45 above the 22.

Help me spend my money. These are the only two I'm interested in, and I already have much more capable grocery getters, so other than just because,,,,,,,,,,,

I can only have one and it is keeping me awake at night because I would rather have the most frugal. The 22 would probably get more use, but not for certain.

[janice6]

.45 for people, .22 hot loads for varmints.

[Moshe]

.45 colt Vaquero would be a nice single action.  I have one old school Ruger .22 revolver, for training revolver shooters on how to save their thumbs before moving to larger calibers.

[Dric902]

Both are fun, it depends on what you want to use it for 

fun alone....22 will be cheaper 

 

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[NPTim]

Um, why not both?

[Moshe]

18 hours ago, NPTim said:

Um, why not both?

Depends on the budget?  I know when I purchase a firearm, it is an either/or situation.  

[Historian]

I'd go with the .45 Colt...just because...it's .45 Colt.

I have shot a Henry .22 mangum that was a dream rifle.

[Batesmotel]

Both are great. I have a Colt .45 and Rugers in .22. And Winchester’s in both. Fun guns. And great for teaching new or young shooters. 

[Dric902]

I do wish somebody would do some good modern work with the 45 Colt

handguns and ammo, should be the revolver version of the 45ACP

 

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[LostinTexas]

4 hours ago, Dric902 said:

I do wish somebody would do some good modern work with the 45 Colt

handguns and ammo, should be the revolver version of the 45ACP

 

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Not sure I understand this.The 45 Colt can be loaded in many ways and is sold in many ways. All the way from cupcake to hold on for your life. 700FPS to 1600 FPS from a revolver. A lot more versatile than the 45 APC.

If you are looking for a double action, I would imagine they are out there (Red Hawk?) but most folks like it for cowboy action, or in my case as a novelty round. Trouble is I will use a "novelty round" for just about everything around the house. I saw some loading's of a 405 grain running in the 6XX FPS range out of a rifle. Very quiet and enough to do some damage to almost anything it came in contact with, within reasonable distance.

Edited May 7, 2020 by LostinTexas

[Dric902]

3 hours ago, LostinTexas said:

Not sure I understand this.The 45 Colt can be loaded in many ways and is sold in many ways. All the way from cupcake to hold on for your life. 700FPS to 1600 FPS from a revolver. A lot more versatile than the 45 APC.

If you are looking for a double action, I would imagine they are out there (Red Hawk?) but most folks like it for cowboy action, or in my case as a novelty round. Trouble is I will use a "novelty round" for just about everything around the house. I saw some loading's of a 405 grain running in the 6XX FPS range out of a rifle. Very quiet and enough to do some damage to almost anything it came in contact with, within reasonable distance.

I mean that the 45 Colt as a defensive arm should be as easy to find, with as many makers, and ammo selection on par with

357 mag, 38 spc, 44 mag, etc

you can find defensive loads for 380, 32, even 22. But 45 Colt is on par with a 44 spc, you can find them but the options are few.

if S&W came out with a scandium, medium frame, 5 shot, 3 to 4 inch barrel handgun........I’d be in debt. But looking for defensive loads for carry (not handloads) is pretty sparse. 
maybe an HST, Gold Dot, even Federal Premium or a Critical Defense carry load.

 

it just seems like a lot of potential is being relegated to Cowboy Action or step up to a 454 for hunting. Lots of room between them for good guns.

 

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[Wyzz Kydd]

On 5/7/2020 at 6:25 PM, Dric902 said:

I mean that the 45 Colt as a defensive arm should be as easy to find, with as many makers, and ammo selection on par with

357 mag, 38 spc, 44 mag, etc

you can find defensive loads for 380, 32, even 22. But 45 Colt is on par with a 44 spc, you can find them but the options are few.

if S&W came out with a scandium, medium frame, 5 shot, 3 to 4 inch barrel handgun........I’d be in debt. But looking for defensive loads for carry (not handloads) is pretty sparse. 
maybe an HST, Gold Dot, even Federal Premium or a Critical Defense carry load.

 

it just seems like a lot of potential is being relegated to Cowboy Action or step up to a 454 for hunting. Lots of room between them for good guns.

 

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.45 Colt is extremely versatile, but as you stated, not a lot of store bought options.  Luckily I load my own so I can set them up however I like them, from powder puff to you better have both hands on the gun. 

[LostinTexas]

6 hours ago, Wyzz Kydd said:

.45 Colt is extremely versatile, but as you stated, not a lot of store bought options.  Luckily I load my own so I can set them up however I like them, from powder puff to you better have both hands on the gun. 

We need to talk. My purchase was put on the back burner, but the 45 Colt is still light years ahead of the 22lr that it was in competition with in my race. The only two I was interested in, but now that interest is really leaning to the 45.

[Wyzz Kydd]

11 hours ago, LostinTexas said:

We need to talk. My purchase was put on the back burner, but the 45 Colt is still light years ahead of the 22lr that it was in competition with in my race. The only two I was interested in, but now that interest is really leaning to the 45.

6.7 grains of Unique under a 250 grain LRNFP is a nice light load that will get you around 700 fps depending upon barrel length.  10 grains gets you a very stout load that's going ot be around 1,000 fps, depending upon barrel length.

 

The thing to remember when reloading .45 colt is that the round was originally designed for black powder, roughly 40 grains, lightly compressed.  When you're loading smokeless, which is a much more energetic powder, you can end up with a lot of air space in the case which can lead to inconsistent ignition and pressure.  Therefore you want a 'fluffy' powder, less energetic, so you can fill more of the case up and get consistent results.   Although my go to powder is Clays, it doesn't do very well in this application whereas Unique does. 

[LostinTexas]

28 minutes ago, Wyzz Kydd said:

6.7 grains of Unique under a 250 grain LRNFP is a nice light load that will get you around 700 fps depending upon barrel length.  10 grains gets you a very stout load that's going ot be around 1,000 fps, depending upon barrel length.

 

The thing to remember when reloading .45 colt is that the round was originally designed for black powder, roughly 40 grains, lightly compressed.  When you're loading smokeless, which is a much more energetic powder, you can end up with a lot of air space in the case which can lead to inconsistent ignition and pressure.  Therefore you want a 'fluffy' powder, less energetic, so you can fill more of the case up and get consistent results.   Although my go to powder is Clays, it doesn't do very well in this application whereas Unique does. 

Great real time info. I'll be putting this back for future reference. Any idea how the 10 grains performs from a 20 inch rifle barrel?

[Wyzz Kydd]

2 hours ago, LostinTexas said:

Great real time info. I'll be putting this back for future reference. Any idea how the 10 grains performs from a 20 inch rifle barrel?

That I can't answer.  The only rifle I have in .45 colt has a 16 inch barrel and I've never checked the velocity out of it.