Is the 44mag more intrinsically accurate than the 45LC?

[white eagle]

Yep..

[Thumbcocker]

My experience with 2 .45 colt Rugers ruined me on that cartridge. I spent time, money, and aggravation on molds, powders, lubes and would have probably tried unicorn fur filler if it had been available. Straight run Ruger .44 magnums with smoothed up actions and loads that have stood me in good stead and I have hit detergent containers and cat litter bottles on the 200 yard berm. On the other hand my ROA hit a clay bird on the 100 yard berm on the 10th shot this past weekend. I am really thinking about a conversion cylinder for the ROA since I have the .45 colt stuff laying around.

My totally unscientific opinion is that the .45 colt has too much case capacity for smokeless powder but I am not qualified to back that up. In a properly dimensioned revolver where the gun is like a funnel logic suggests that both should shoot equally well but the .45's I had were not logical.

[DanWalker]

Well, I am planning on ordering a 45LC contender barrel from MGM next month, and will be sending him a dummy round to cut the chamber for. Should be an interesting exercise to see how accurate this cartridge can be. I know I shot some 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards with my 454 casull (10" barrel, leupold scope) using my 45LC handloads. I have watched these same handloads miss the target at the same distance when fired from my win 94 trapper. Apples and oranges, I know, but definitely reinforces the importance of tailoring each load to the gun.

[rintinglen]

IME, you are are likely to find an accurate 44 revolver than a 45. Not to say that no one ever has had an accurate 45 Colt, just that your odds are better in getting a good 44 than a 45.

[CHeatermk3]

Helps to have a skookum tube too.

[Drm50]

To answer this I'm going to use 2 guns a M29-2 & M25-5 and for added comparison a M24, 44sp.
Using what would be standard bullets, 240swc in 44mag, 250 RnFp in 45Colt and also loading
same 240swc in 44sp. Also loading these cartridges to standard factory specs. For accuracy the
45Colt and 44sp out shoot the 44mg. The 44mag loaded to 44sp specs will be more accurate
than full mag loads. Using jacketed bullets the 44mag at long range out shoots 45Colt or 44sp
Backing down the 45Colt & 44 sp and using WCs with target loads they are hard to beat. You
will encounter the same thing 38sp vs 357mag. I am not saying the magnums shot bad, just
that it seems lower velocities seem more accurate. I think there is a trade off for Velocity/ Accuracy involved. This is not ment to deal with a certain gun or skill of shooter. I'm not bad
mouthing 44mgs. I've got 9 of them. Just the. Facts.

[Petrol & Powder]

The observations noted by Thumbcocker in post #22 are similar to my experience. My gut feeling is that the case capacity of a 45 Colt is less than ideal for smokeless powder.
When I left the big bore game about 20-25 years ago I had given up on the 45 Colt. When I decided to get back in the game I didn't even consider the 45 Colt.

[white eagle]

I like thumbcocker have been through hundreds of buckola's trying to get a 45 colt ruger revo to shoot good enough to keep
I have had 44's that are easy to shoot and accurately to boot
if you are getting a single shot though you are getting a whole different animal and I would bet that will shoot very well indeed

[Lloyd Smale]

ive owned more then 20 of each through the years. Now I wont say I haven't had 45 colts that shoot well but hands down if I looked at my loading records the 44s were more accurate and took less load development to shoot well. Doubly so if your talking bullets in the 250 grain range. Gap closes up a bit when your shooting heavy loads using 300 grain and heavier bullets. 35 rem hit on one of the reasons. 250 grain 45 colts bullets don't have the same bc's 250 grain 44s have. But that said ive even stuggled with 275-280 grain 45s if I compare them to 250 grain 44s. Add to that that the 45s up till real recently were built with chamber specs all over the place and twist rates that just didn't make sense. I can about guarantee your that if you bought say 10 44 mag rugers an 10 45 colt rugers and shot them all youd come away knowing which is the better round. I think most of the attention that the 45 colt gets is from guys that think owning one makes them some kind of gun expert. When I first got into handguns I drank the koolaid myself. I probably bought 2 45 colts to every 44 mag I bought. Today when I pick up a gun at the gunshop and its marked 45 colt its layed right back down. I could care less about looking cool. I want a gun that can shoot. Not a big 41 mag fan either but they too are consistently more accurate then 45 colts.

[Forrest r]

case capacity ='s accuracy
higher pressures ='s case capacity
Bullet seating depth ='s case capacity

The window for accuracy is extremely limited with the 45lc vs the 44mag.

The larger the case volume the more it's affected by powders being position sensitive. More sensitive to crimp, primer ignition, bullet seating depths/pressures in general.

Accuracy means different things to different people. I guess if you're shooting dirt clods @ 10 paces it really doesn't matter. If you work up loads for nra targets at least you have something consistent to measure accuracy wise. I've owned several revolvers chambered in 45lc over the decades along with 44spl/mags. With my limited reloading skills I've found it easier to find accurate reload with the 44mag than any of the 45lc's.

I've showed this picture before. These are nothing more than targets from testing loads in a beater 629. They are not cherry/hand picked targets by any means. I was looking for plinking loads that would do minute of golf ball @ 25yds. Minute of gold ball ='s 1 1/2" or x-ring on a nra target. I used 5 different bullets & 7 different powders. The end result was 13 loads that would hold the x-ring @ 25yds.
[IMG][/IMG]

There's nothing special about that 629. I bought it used at a gunshow, wasn't looking for a 629 it was just being sold cheap so I bought it. It spent 6 or 7 years in the toolbox in the back of my truck hence "truck gun". Started actually shooting it a couple of years ago and decided to work up some plinking loads for it.

I have yet to see a 45lc have that kind of accuracy over such a narrow range of bullet/powder combo's from the rugers and s&w's I've owned in 45lc.

On a side note:
I had a heck of a time finding accurate loads with the 9mm. The extremely small case capacity and high pressures made small changes in loads have huge swings on the loads performance. Why bring up the 9mm in a 45lc thread? The 45lc reminds me of the 9mm. Both are solid performers, just had to work harder at finding accurate loads.

just another opinion.

[44MAG#1]

DAN WALKER is talking about a CUSTOM 45 Colt CONTENDER barrel by MGM with a chamber cut to a SAMPLE cartridge he is SENDING to MGM for them to cut the chamber too.
Now in my humble idea that has little to do with REVOLVERS.

[Lloyd Smale]

not just revolvers. Ive had a number of lever guns and contenders in both and the 44s did better in them too.

DAN WALKER is talking about a CUSTOM 45 Colt CONTENDER barrel by MGM with a chamber cut to a SAMPLE cartridge he is SENDING to MGM for them to cut the chamber too.
Now in my humble idea that has little to do with REVOLVERS.

[Petrol & Powder]

DAN WALKER is talking about a CUSTOM 45 Colt CONTENDER barrel by MGM with a chamber cut to a SAMPLE cartridge he is SENDING to MGM for them to cut the chamber too.
Now in my humble idea that has little to do with REVOLVERS.

True but the OP made no mention of the type of gun in his first post.
".........What is your opinion? I'm a 45 guy at heart and always will be. Just wondering if 44 mag is a more accurate caliber than 45LC or if this is just another old wives tale. ............."

That information came later and has been acknowledged by the replies that followed.

[44MAG#1]

"not just revolvers. Ive had a number of lever guns and contenders in both and the 44s did better in them too."

Were your rifles and Contenders custom with custom cut chambers? If they were I understand. The reason I made my post everyone was locked in on revolvers as you can plainly see that has their own set of problems.

[Lloyd Smale]

original poster said nothing about custom built contenders or even any certain kind of firearm. Truth be told ive only owned 5. A 4570 and 3030 rifle and a 730, 44mag and 45/410. Contenders never did excite me like they do some.

[44MAG#1]

"original poster said nothing about custom built contenders or even any certain kind of firearm."

He touched on it in post 14 and confirmed it in post 23.

[Petrol & Powder]

"original poster said nothing about custom built contenders or even any certain kind of firearm."

He touched on it in post 14 and confirmed it in post 23.

YES, and after the OP confirmed it the other contributors to the thread acknowledged it, such as white eagle in post #28:
".....if you are getting a single shot though you are getting a whole different animal and I would bet that will shoot very well indeed ...."

Nothing unusual about the way the way the thread progressed.

[44MAG#1]

"Nothing unusual about the way the way the thread progressed."

Yes you are correct, but how long would the revolver droning have kept on because people weren't reading all Dan Walkers posts.

[C. Latch]

There's nothing inherently better about one cartridge over the other.

Anecdotes don't add up to data.

[rosewood]

I have always heard that the .308 was "inherently" accurate. I have a Savage 110 in 7mag, a 12 in 22-250, both heavy barrel. I found an accurate load in short order in both of those guns. I also have a model 12 .308 heavy barrel. I have been hunting for a consistent accurate load in that gun for 3 years now. Maybe there is something wrong with the gun, but so far, it has not lived up to the rep of "inherently" accurate to me.

I have an 12" encore in 44mag and it shoots quite well at 100 yards. I have not chased an accurate load with my 45 colt in the contender yet, so no data to compare. I have heard the .460 S&W magnum in the S&W revolver is a very accurate shooting combo. It has a very large case volume, much greater than the 45 colt, so not sure the case volume is an argument for it not being as accurate as a 44.

Rosewood