45 Colt Requirements Document

[Good Cheer]

Old #450229 with the ogive machined out to provide a plain base and the boolits loaded fully within the cases (hollow base serving as a hollow nose) proved entirely accurate in a 1909. The powder space was substantially reduced and the loads were worked up accordingly.

[RogerDat]

I always thought it was a case of needing to be enough larger than the .44 that the existing tooling for C&B models as well as any existing pistols could be redone in the newer cartridge. So a .44 pistol or its parts could be made into the .45 colt cartridge pistol. Sort of like a Chrysler 340 engine is just a bored out 318 block with a few bolt on parts different.

Wouldn't have been able to remove a whole lot of barrel thickness, and hotter charge or much larger bullet would have meant the frame/mechanism might not have been up to the job. Just a theory but I doubt a pistol manufacturer would want to get stuck with cylinders and barrels for "outdated" models if it was possible to rework them to be used for the "new" model. And just like we are today about "bigger" bullets I'm guessing the bigger 45 was enough to make the buying public think it was wicked awesome powerful.

[John E.B. Rawton]

The information that I came across and postings I’ve read said,

“Colt recommended the following, more than 125 years ago:
1 dram = 27.3 grains (grs.)

.44 Dragoon: 1-1/2 drams of black powder (41 grs.) and a round bullet of 48 to the pound (about 146 grs, which calculates at about .46 caliber) or a conical bullet of 32 to the pound (about 219 grains).

.44 M1860 Army - Powder charge about 1/3 less than the Dragoon, or 27 grains. A conical bullet of 212 grains (33 to the pound) or the same round ball used in the Dragoon above (about .46-caliber or 146 grs. weight).

.36 M1851 Navy - Powder charge of 3/4 of a dram (20 grs.) and conical bullet 140 grs. (50 to the pound ). Or a round ball of 81 grs. (86 to the pound, which would be about .379 or .380 diameter).”

I also read that Samuel Walker wanted a pistol that would knock a man off his horse or knock the horse out from under the man. I believe they were called horse pistols because the were carried in pommel holsters not worn on a belt.

I’ve not read anything about killing horse specifically but ...

I’ve shot my Walkers with 40grs. c&b and with a .45 colt loaded at 35grs. I could not fit any more in this modern cartridge. I’d say it was pretty stout. I was surprised when I shot my new 1860 with 25grs., however, the weight of the gun is about 1/2 of the big Walker.

[Castaway]

The mystery still remains. I’ve data where the government did testing with various pistols, but nothing specifies a 45 caliber bullet at 900+/- FPS

[EDG]

I don't think there was any mystery at Colt. The large caliber percussion revolvers had been in use since 1848 so they knew what the performance of the same ballistics in a cartridge round would be like.

The mystery still remains. I’ve data where the government did testing with various pistols, but nothing specifies a 45 caliber bullet at 900+/- FPS