I want another .45 Colt

[contender1]

Ok, I own several Rugers in 45 Colt,, as well as a FA in 454, & an El Dorado in 45 Colt. I also own other .45 Colts.
To get to the meat of things.
DougGuy has put forth some excellent info.
Ruger first put out the Old Model .45 in 1971. It was a Blackhawk. (Sorry Drm50,, it wasn't in the 1960's.) The OM's stopped in 1973,, and the New Models were introduced. It wasn't until 1993,, that the Vaquero's came along,, and they were FIRST out using the same frame size as the Blackhawk. The New Vaquero came along in 2005,,, and it's frame size was scaled down, (as noted by DougGuy.) It along with the later Flattop 45's,, use the "mid sized" frame,, and can handle hotter loads than the older Colts & other guns made many years ago. (Again, good reference DougGuy.)
There have been several variations in barrel length & grip frames to go along with the .45 Colt made by Ruger. You have several options,, including the ability to swap grip frames to your liking. All of Ruger SA handguns use the exact same screw hole pattern. Some of the NM's no longer have the cut out in the mainframe that mates to the g/f,, so there may be a need to modify the grips, etc,, but it's easy.

The point to all this is the fact that there are variations within the Ruger line that can fill most desires. Many of the Colt Clones out there,, often fail to be as versatile.
And as noted,, a Vaquero has fixed sights,, and can sometimes need tweaking to get a load to shoot to POA. I once swapped into a nice Original Vaquero that the owner knew it shot low & left. (He failed to tell me, until I confronted him later.) But,, I was able to tweak it by opening the rear sight channel a little, and regulating the ammo.
And if you wish to know the difference in frame size,, the Original Vaquero's (on the Blackhawk frame,) will have a 2-digit prefix in the serial number. The New Vaquero's will have a 3-digit prefix.

I have shot many of the Colt clones & many felt & shot good. But the long term wear & tear, as well as re-sale is not as good as a Ruger.

[boatswainsmate]

I don't know how you feel about smith & wesson but this is a nice 45 colt packer and will handle the 270 SAA at 1000 FPS. Happy Shooting! Boats

[Rick R]

Boats,
That’s a good looking 625! I have a 629 Mountain Gun and if I find (big “if” around here) a 4” S&W I’d buy it if the price is even close to reasonable.

DougGuy,
I hadn’t thought of the Flat top BH, it’s probably an excellent idea, again “if” I can find one around here.

Gentlemen,
Thanks for the ideas and opinions.

[Dale53]

I second DougGuy's recommendation of the Ruger Flattop in .45 Colt. Medium frame, adjustable sights (with the great sight picture that provides), and that great "Pawl" that is a pleasure to load. Most of all, if you get the convertible, you will have one of the best, most useful, single actions of all times. I already had a Bisley SS Convertible that (after cylinder reaming) shoots "lights out". Having a .45 ACP cylinder to shoot target loads and woods carrying, with the advantage of a .45 Colt cylinder for the Tier II hunting loads, is almost beyond satisfaction! The Ruger will work perfectly with the RCBS 270 SAA bullet, too. My Bisley shoots it quite well and it is a premier bullet for big game.

I have two Ruger Flattops in .44 Special, which along with the, Bisley convertible, I have that covered or I would get one of the .45 Colt Flattops, myself. They are that good!

FWIW
Dale53

[yeahbub]

I played around with a friend's New Vaquero in .45 Colt, 5.5". When I examined it and took measurements, I pin-gaged the throats and they were .452, IIRC. It shot to the point of aim with the Lee 255gr RNFP at 800-900fps and didn't do badly with the Lee 200gr RNFP either, but if driven fast, they would hit low. The one thing I didn't like about the RNV in .45 Colt was the scary-thin chamber walls between chambers. Definitely meant for standard pressure ammo. I liked the action, the trigger and thought it would be sweet in .44 Special or .41 Spl or Mag, where the chamber walls would have a reassuring thickness to them. This is one reason Elmer Keith went to the .44 Spl - more steel for those high pressure loads he was experimenting with. Another good thing is the transfer bar mechanism for safe carry with 6 loaded chambers. A guy at the range I once belonged to had an Italian Colt clone with the firing pin on the hammer and was limited to 5 loaded and hammer down on an empty chamber only. One of the clone makers (Beretta is it?), maybe more use a transfer bar now, but I can't remember which. No matter what, though, it's not a small package

[DougGuy]

The one thing I didn't like about the RNV in .45 Colt was the scary-thin chamber walls between chambers.

Webs are the same thickness as the outer cylinder walls but the weakest part of any sixgun is the bolt cuppets which are cut right in the center of the chambers so that the thinnest part of the cylinder is under the deepest part of the notch. 5 shot cylinders do not suffer this design weakness.

The Ruger New Vaquero and Ruger New Model Flattop Blackhawk is rated to 45 ACP+P which is 23,000psi, as are many of the modern Italian clones, check with the mfgr before assuming any 45 ACP cylinder is safe with +P loads.

In agreement with Elmer, I would rate the Ruger New Model Flattop Blackhawk in 44 Special to 25,000psi, because of the smaller chambers = slightly thicker cylinder walls and webs. That is my personal estimate of the pressure ceiling for the flattop 44, it's neither documented nor recommended.

My Avatar is a Uberti Old Model made only in 2006, it has a hammer pin safety which is a transfer rod inside the hammer which the trigger pushes up on when firing so the firing pin will engage the primer. It also has a safety notch which is not the same as a half cock notch of the old Colt, the Uberti can be carried with 6 loaded chambers even though I don't carry this way because it could cause me or someone else to accidentally carry a different single action with 6 loaded chambers, old habits are hard to break so why create them in the first place? Complacency can get a fella killed if he isn't careful.

For those John Wayne fans, did you catch the scene in "The Shootist" where he is getting ready to leave his rented room to go down to the Metropol, you will see him remove one of his engraved USFA revolvers and drop in the 6th cartridge, it's the last thing he does before strapping his gunbelt on.

[Wayne Smith]

How much of a romantic are you. If you have an engineering personality and very functional get the Ruger. If you like the romance of the original Colt get the Uberti. I'm enough of a romantic that my Uberti's are in 44WCF and 41Colt! And I shoot my 44WCF with BP and a Big Lube boolit.

[gunther]

Something not covered in these replies is your hand size. If you wear xl or xxl gloves, a Colt grip frame will be way to small. A bisley frame will do, but weighs an extra 4 or 5 ounces. A no win situation. Ooh, for an after-market aluminum bisley grip frame for Rugers.