44 special versus 45 Colt long - educate me please

[bedbugbilly]

I currently load 38 spl, 9mm and getting in to .380. I cast all of my boolits. My background is 50 years of shooting BP - anything from musket to full size cannon - and a lot of SA cap and ball. I like the SA shooting and like "vintage" revolvers. So, that said . .

In the past year, I've passed by several good buys on SA 44 spl. and 45 Colt long just because I am not that familiar with either cartridge and I like shooting 38s. But, I'm always looking for "new things" to try. That said . . .

Can someone with more experience than I tell me the differences in the two cartridges? I'm not talking size, etc. I guess what I'm asking is, is there a reason why I would want to pick one over the other in a SA revolver? As far as a SA, I've looked at the Uberti 1873 Cattleman and that is chambered in both calibers. Other models are not in the 44 spl. I passed on a Ruger BH in 44 spl. just because I didn't know much about the cartridge.

I am mainly a "plinker" and "can killer" as far as shooting. I'm not interested in "magnum" cartridges nor stout loads for hunting. In looking at the 44 spl and 45 Colt, I'm thinking that moving up from 38 spl to either of those would be about like switching from a .36 Colt Navy to a .44 Colt Army (cap and ball - in size not recoil, etc.). Both the 44 spl and the 45 Colt don't appear to be any more of a problem to reload than the 38 spl. (i.e. pretty straight forward). So, for general SA shooting . . . say up to 50 yards . . . is there a reason to go with one over the other? Is there a big difference in performance? I'm assuming that both can be loaded with moderate lead bullet loads pretty much the same as a 38 spl. can be. Your thoughts please?

I apologize as I am where I don't have access to my loading manuals as I am away from my home in MI for a few more weeks.

[Outpost75]

With standard pressure loads there is not much difference between the two, but in the Colt SAA and clones, the .44 Special chamber walls are a bit heavier, the revolver a bit heavier and more sturdy, and the case volume a bit smaller, so that witb smokeless loads you are not fighting all that unused airspace. A bit more frugal of powder and lead, and in my experience, the .44 is easier to get good acccuracy with.

[beagle]

Well, I've owned and shot both calibers for years in Rugers. I do like them both but for my money, the .44 Special is easier to work up a load for due to the smaller case capacity. Cases may be a bit more available for the .44 Special as I've noticed that .45 Colt cases are always in demand. As far as case life, the .44 Special seems to last much longer than do the .45 Colts. For general plinking and woods roving, if you're not worried about "bear killer" loads, the .44 Special would be my choice. More powder friendly as well due to the decreased case capacity. IMHO./beagle

[Zymurgy50]

What ammo/brass is easier to lay your hands on now? I am always seeing 45lc brass for sale/trade here, not so much 44spl. The current situation requires looking at availability of ammo and reloading components as well as the firearm.

[smkummer]

Agree with the above, I have both. Both will work, but 44 special was designed from day one to be a target round. 45 Colt can be accurate but it usually takes more effort.

[dubber123]

I would suggest the .44 Special for your needs. It's a little less expensive to run, lots of available .44 cal molds, and I have always had an easier time getting good accuracy from a .44 than I have my .45 Colts.

[white eagle]

44 special for me has the nostalgia and spawned the 44 magnum a great round capable of well pretty much all aspects of hunting
That said I have had 3 45 colt revo's and have not been able to get the accuracy out of them like I can with the .429 bore ..just my favorite

[doorgunner]

I have owned and shot both and prefer the 44spl. I feel it is one of the best rounds ever developed. I dont know much about the cowboy action stuff or for that matter the single actions. I do all my 44spl shooting with a S/W mod 24. I think it would be easier to find an accurate load with the 44spl. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Thumbcocker]

Exactly what Beagle said. The .45 Colt, in my experience is a cantankerous old witch of a cartridge. The .44 special is a sweet heart. The special can easily duplicate bp .45 colt velocity and more with fine accuracy. I spent money reaming cylinders, sending guns back to ruger, buying moulds and trying loads to get poor results in .45 colt. New model flat top ,44 specials have shot like they had eyes for me.

[historicfirearms]

If you are going with the Uberti, either will be a good choice. Ruger still can't get the throats to the right dimensions in the 45, so you will have a harder time getting accuracy.

I just went through the same decision, couldn't choose between a Uberti 1873 in 45 Colt, or a Ruger flattop 44 special. Eventually brought home the uberti because it felt more nostalgic to me. It was also noticeably lighter in the hand than the ruger. Accuracy has been great in the Uberti and 45 Colt is as simple as it gets to reload.

[Mr Peabody]

.44 Special all the way

[Scharfschuetze]

Sometime in its long history (after WWII?) the 45 Colt's bore dimensions were reduced from .454 to .452. While all the manufacturers seem to use this dimension for the barrels it seems the charge holes and throats in the cylinders are are still cut to the older dimensions, at least in the 45s that I have or have shot. Given that, I like to use .454 boolits in my SAA and I'd use a larger diameter if I had a .455 or .456 sizer/lube die.

I don't think the 44 Special has had to go through the machination of changing the bore diameter so I think the manufacturers generally get all the dimensions for it correct.

[AricTheRed]

Hey, it's go "Special" right in the name! How could you go wrong? It's not like you are asking 45LC or 44Russian now!

[Bullshop]

Many folks here seem to feel the 44 has some inherent accuracy advantage over the 45. I don't think so. I think maybe the issue is the cylinder throat barrel groove diameter relationship.
As has been said the 44 was a target round from the beginning and for that purpose they got those dimensions right.
The 45 has not had that luxury. There have been so many 45 peace maker clones imported from so many makers with specks all over the map. Even Ruger and Colt cant seem to get it right.
When attention is paid to correct those dimensions the 45 will do as good as any other caliber that has the proper relationship between cylinder throat diameter/forcing cone (and any constriction caused by barrel installation)/barrel groove diameter.
It may be true that they get it right more often out of the box in 44 than in 45 but when they or you by modification get it right with the 45 it will shoot as good as any other caliber.

[Forrest r]

I've owned/used 44spl revolvers for 3+ decades & currently own 2. They are extremely accurate & can do anything a 38spl can do. There also seems to be a better bullet mold selection for the 44spl compared to the 45lc. Some 38spl/44spl designs. The top is 38spl's & the bottom is 44spl's.

96151

far left: sp 125gr/200gr sp's
2nd left: 148gr/22gr hbwc's
3rd left: 150gr/200gr thompson designed swc's
4th left: 358439/429421 keith designed swc's
far right: 125gr & 158gr top/250gr 640 design rnfp's

These are just some of the bullets available for the 44spl that mirrors the 38spl bullets. There's also wc & rn designs along with an array of molds/bullets from the custom mold makers.

I'm not saying the 44spl is better than the 45lc by any means. Just more familiar with the 44spl.

forrest r

[RED333]

I too have the Uberti 1873 Cattleman in 45 Colt, it is a great shooting pistol.
Dont have a 44 SP, but do have a SBH 44 mag.

[TXGunNut]

I'm a bit partial to the 45 Colt because I got into that cartridge years ago and would rather not invest the time and money in 44's because they offer nothing over the 45 Colt other than possibly accuracy and brass availability. To be quite honest if I had no SAA's in a caliber begining in "4" I'd be hard-pressed to choose between the 38-40 and 44-40 with the 44 Spl a very close third.

[Char-Gar]

There are all sorts of reasons why the 44 is superior to the 45 in technical and ballistic terms. BUT the 45 Colt is heads and shoulder higher in history, romance, panache and cool. That is why I have 6 handguns in 45 Colt and only 1 in 44 Special.

[jmort]

.45 Colt way "more gun."

[richhodg66]

There are all sorts of reasons why the 44 is superior to the 45 in technical and ballistic terms. BUT the 45 Colt is heads and shoulder higher in history, romance, panache and cool. That is why I have 6 handguns in 45 Colt and only 1 in 44 Special.

My opinon too. I personally love .45 Colt and have two handguns in it. I also have two .44 Specials and also a SBH in .44 Mag. All are good rounds, hard to go wrong with any big bore revolvers.

[enfieldphile]

Well now, I have both the .44 Special and .45 Colt S&W guns. Both are accurate and reliable. .44 Special brass (in most brands) is thicker, so longer case life. Of course I'm kinda prejudiced. I have a .45 Colt, it is a 4", Mountain Gun (light, tapered barrel). The first time I tried it on the silhouette range, I pulled up, there was this young (20's) married couple there. I put 5 rounds in the cylinder. Load was a 230 grain Lee TC bevel-base boolit w/ 9 grains of Herco. I was on my hind legs and fired the first round @ the 220 yard rams. There was this faint "clank" sound, and the dang ram slowly fell over! :shock:

The youngsters, their jaws kinda dropped! :-o Me, I just gave a faint smile! [smilie=1: I changed real quick to the easy 100 yard plates, Ray Charles could bang them over. :wink:

Easy way to decide, get both & be happy.


Exactly what Beagle said. The .45 Colt, in my experience is a cantankerous old witch of a cartridge. The .44 special is a sweet heart. The special can easily duplicate bp .45 colt velocity and more with fine accuracy. I spent money reaming cylinders, sending guns back to ruger, buying moulds and trying loads to get poor results in .45 colt. New model flat top ,44 specials have shot like they had eyes for me.

[PWS]

A lot of the comments here parallel what Elmer Keith was dealing with back in the 20's when he "gave up" the 45 Colt for the .44Spl and never looked back.

[PWS]

FWIW, the 44Spl is my choice too. Smaller case makes it better for light loads and yet it can be hopped up in full sized gun and the 44 is typically built with better tolerances.

[Airman Basic]

Got a BH convertible 45 lately, and the 45 auto cylinder is my plinker. At 50 yards, it's good as any revolver I have, and no chasing brass! I'll get around to the long colt cylinder, but right now, the ACP is too much fun.

[Dale53]

I have shot .44 Specials for way over fifty years. About twenty years ago, I started shooting .45 Colts in a Ruger Vaquero and just recently bought a Ruger SS Bisley Convertible.

I have a half dozen .44 Specials. All of them had correct dimensions in cylinders, throats, and barrels. I cast my own bullets and there are a almost unlimited variety of types available. If you like single actions, I have to say that the recent Ruger flattop .44 Specials are indeed, SPECIAL revolvers. They have the correct dimensions, good adjustable sights and both of mine are NRA Bullseye accurate. No brainer, for me.

My .45 Colt Ruger Bisley Vaquero shot to the sights right out of the box. However, the throats were a bit tight and for best performance needed to be reamed to .4525". My Convertible leaded and lost accuracy within a few shots of cast bullets. I couldn't even load the .45 ACP with cast bullets (any revolver of mine MUST be compatible with cast bullets). I reamed both cylinders (the throats) to .4525" and now they shoot and perform extremely well. Most .45 Colt revolvers have chambers with excess size so case life is limited when compared to an average .44 Special.

When using Colt SAA or Clones, the .44 Special can be loaded with much greater power level (not a concern of the original poster) due to greater thickness in cylinders of the .44 Special. In the full size Ruger Blackhawk, this is not a concern but in the mid-size frame it can be.

I believe I have fairly laid out my reasons for suggesting the O.P. go with the .44 Special and suggest strongly that he go with a Ruger Flattop (either in the plowhandle grip or the Bisley grip as they were produced in both) and of the barrel length he prefers. They were produced in both stainless and blue (I prefer stainless but have both).

One last comment - if you have desires of using black powder (particularly if you are planning on hunting deer size game), the .45 Colt is the caliber of choice due to it's greater case capacity for black and it's available power level. This won't matter to most but may to some.

FWIW
Dale53

[monge]

I made a arbor for my case trimmer and cut down 44mag brass to size renews the case mouth and only take a minute. love the 44sp have two and one mag. But I here the 45 has less muzzle blast when shooting with out plugs

[prs]

Bedbug, as a soot eater, the choice for you is the .45 Colt. Lyman 454-190 sized to .454 lubed with Emmert's and loaded over a case full of Swiss ffg with very modest compression will shoot groups over which to wax poetic. All three of my Vaqueros had to have Ruger's overly tight throats reamed to .453, but after that no fly has been safe on the sorgum coated back wall. The genuine eyetallion clones need no throat work, but lack the heft of the Ruger old models I shoot, the heft can be a good thing.

prs

[Wally]

In my years of shooting both I could not agree with you more. Glad to see that I am not the only one to find this to be true.


Exactly what Beagle said. The .45 Colt, in my experience is a cantankerous old witch of a cartridge. The .44 special is a sweet heart. The special can easily duplicate bp .45 colt velocity and more with fine accuracy. I spent money reaming cylinders, sending guns back to ruger, buying moulds and trying loads to get poor results in .45 colt. New model flat top ,44 specials have shot like they had eyes for me.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

It depends on what you want. If you just want to shoot, and like a wider range of availability between hot loads and low pressure loads, the .44 Special is much easier to work with. If you like to tinker at your loading bench and pursue the history of a great cartridge that is very effective and moderate ranges, I'd get the .45 Colt.

I'd been dealing with re-sizing .45 Colt brass down through the years, full length re-sizing .45 Colt brass for the Ruger and neck re-sizing for the Colt SAA because Ruger chambers are tight and Colt mills the historically correct taper of the chamber walls. There is always a Coke bottle effect on the reloaded cartridge. The full length re-sized Ruger cartridges show the Coke bottle near the base of the cartridge, the neck re-sized cartridges for the Colt show the Coke bottle effect near the base of the boolit. Good thing I don't use a .44-40 at matches it would be easy to mix these up without careful examination before loading.

Dave Scovill in his recent book Colt's Single Action Army, Loading and Shooting the Peacemaker published in 2013 details how Redding makes a carbide die for the .45 Colt with two (2) rings, one at the mouth of the die for the base of the cartridge and another carbide ring that re-sizes the neck. The neck carbide ring has a slightly reduced dimension. This die runs just over $100.00. This illustrates the problem with using carbide dies with the .45 Colt, of course the taper cannot be re-sized into the die with a carbide ring at the mouth of the die, the end result will be a Coke bottle effect.

I have ordered a steel RCBS re-sizer die for the .45 Colt for $20.00 and intend to lube the brass. I'll simply tumble the re-sized brass after sizing. The die is on back order but is due anytime from Midway.

Of course this is another reason why the .44 Special is superior to the .45 Colt and if a guy were wishing to purchase a single action just to shoot I would recommend he get a .44 Special and save himself a lot of extra work. But I have several .44 Specials, one very accurate with a cylinder cut to proper chamber throat dimensions, and I'm horsing around with the .45 Colt for fun. I like the nostalgia and I like tinkering at my loading bench.

I like making pretty cartridges and cast 454190 for the .45 Colt, I have a four (4) cavity mold for this boolit. I don't know why Lyman discontinued the four (4) for this boolit. Of course I cast Keith boolits and then 429667 in the .44 Special, both great boolits for different jobs.

One of my .44 Special Colt SAA's put five (5) shots within five (5) inches at 100 yards dead center on target.

[olereb]

45colt,i have 5 and love them. You can load light or magnum depending on what your doing and personally I have had great accuracy out of my .45colt revolvers and rifles.

[Wally]

Silver Jack....

I have a Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk. If you look down the rear of the cylinder you can see a conical shape for 1/2 the cartridge case length...IOW the base of the case is wider than the neck. When using a carbide sizer die the fired case is resized to a cylinder shape, with a lot of slop in it, when it is chambered. I never liked that so I found a used RCBS steel sizer which has the correct shape, that sizes the case with a taper. One must lube the cases when using it. I have used carbide sizer dies for many years and I found it was not all that bad to lube and size the .45 Colt cases.



It depends on what you want. If you just want to shoot, and like a wider range of availability between hot loads and low pressure loads, the .44 Special is much easier to work with. If you like to tinker at your loading bench and pursue the history of a great cartridge that is very effective and moderate ranges, I'd get the .45 Colt.

I'd been dealing with re-sizing .45 Colt brass down through the years, full length re-sizing .45 Colt brass for the Ruger and neck re-sizing for the Colt SAA because Ruger chambers are tight and Colt mills the historically correct taper of the chamber walls. There is always a Coke bottle effect on the reloaded cartridge. The full length re-sized Ruger cartridges show the Coke bottle near the base of the cartridge, the neck re-sized cartridges for the Colt show the Coke bottle effect near the base of the boolit. Good thing I don't use a .44-40 at matches it would be easy to mix these up without careful examination before loading.

Dave Scovill in his recent book Colt's Single Action Army, Loading and Shooting the Peacemaker published in 2013 details how Redding makes a carbide die for the .45 Colt with two (2) rings, one at the mouth of the die for the base of the cartridge and another carbide ring that re-sizes the neck. The neck carbide ring has a slightly reduced dimension. This die runs just over $100.00. This illustrates the problem with using carbide dies with the .45 Colt, of course the taper cannot be re-sized into the die with a carbide ring at the mouth of the die, the end result will be a Coke bottle effect.

I have ordered a steel RCBS re-sizer die for the .45 Colt for $20.00 and intend to lube the brass. I'll simply tumble the re-sized brass after sizing. The die is on back order but is due anytime from Midway.

Of course this is another reason why the .44 Special is superior to the .45 Colt and if a guy were wishing to purchase a single action just to shoot I would recommend he get a .44 Special and save himself a lot of extra work. But I have several .44 Specials, one very accurate with a cylinder cut to proper chamber throat dimensions, and I'm horsing around with the .45 Colt for fun. I like the nostalgia and I like tinkering at my loading bench.

I like making pretty cartridges and cast 454190 for the .45 Colt, I have a four (4) cavity mold for this boolit. I don't know why Lyman discontinued the four (4) for this boolit. Of course I cast Keith boolits and then 429667 in the .44 Special, both great boolits for different jobs.

One of my .44 Special Colt SAA's put five (5) shots within five (5) inches at 100 yards dead center on target.

[jmort]

In standard, SAAMI pressure hand guns they are very much the same. If you don't care about energy/power then either one makes sense. But in strong guns they are so completely different, it is not worth discussion. The .44 Special can get around 900 ft lbs maxed out in a .44 magnum and the .45 Colt north of 1,400 ft lbs in strong hand guns. There is a whole lot more going on in the world of the .45 Colt when it comes to versatility.

[kenyerian]

I like them both for different reasons. If I can only have one I'll keep the 45.

[Char-Gar]

Just a little more to add to the discussion directed toward the OP. If, I wanted to move up from a 38/357 to a big bore I would add the 44 Magnum to the mix of choices.

The 44 Magnum enjoys all the benefits of the 44 Special, plus the ability to load it to higher pressure/velocity should there be a need or a desire to do so. The 44 Magnum does not lose anything in the accuracy department when loaded to 44 Special velocities.

The 44 Magnum is the reason I could never warm up to the 44 Special for the above mentioned reasons. Over the years I have had a dozen or so 44 Specials, but they could never find a place in my heart and all went down the road, save one.

About ten years ago I wandered into Nagles's Gun Shop in San Antonio and spotted an N frame Smith on the bottom shelf where it had been forgotten and unseen. Any N frame is worthy of a second look so I asked to see it. When I saw it, I asked the price and they said $200.00 to get it out the door. I pealed off $200.00 and it went home with me.

It is a 1933 Hand Ejector that has been over the bench at Micro some time in the past. It wears Micro rear sight, front sight, trigger and hammer with checkering on the backstrap. It is a honey and shoots like a house-a-fire.

[Char-Gar]

Silver Jack Hammer and Wally...Kudos on your choice of the steel die to size 45 Colt cases. I have acquired via Ebay three vintage (1959, 62 and 67) RCBS steel sizing dies in 45 Colt. They do size cases with a taper and a constriction/bottle neck on the top to be expanded to seat the bullet. Over all, size the brass much less than a carbide die and produce loaded rounds with the same dimensions as factory rounds, which fit charge holes much better than the squeezed down carbide size rounds.

I have gone back to steel sizing dies in 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 44 Special and 44 Magnum as well for the same reasons. The 45 ACP round is the only one where carbide produced the same size at the steel.

[DougGuy]

OP are you shooting BP or smokeless in this revolver? If I was wanting to shoot BP I would definitely choose the .45 Colt over the .44 Special. Even the original 1873 load approaches 500ft/lbs and likely would exceed that with newer powders.

[Outpost75]

Good thread discussion. In summary, the fellow who suggested the. 44 Magnum nailed it. You can down-load the .44 Magnum case with about 7.5-8 grains of any of the fast burners, Bullseye, Red Dot, 700-X, W231, Unique, etc. and get about 900-1000 fps with a 260-grain cast bullet for general purpose field and recreational shooting. You can load it full tilt for bears, brontosaurus or buffalo. Brass is plentiful. You can use .44 Special ammo in it, if you want. Sturdy, serviceable guns and companion rifles abound.

If I were to own only one revolver for recreational and outdoor field use, it would be a .44 Magnum. My choice of revolver in this caliber is the Ruger 5-1/2" Super Blackhawk with steel XR3 grip frame from the Old Army, with Hamilton Bowen's Rough Country sights and Belt Mountain base pin. Saeco #441 with 7.5 grains of Bullseye does most of my shooting, but I keep a few rounds stoked with 21 grs. of #2400 for maximum smash on rare occasions.

[Char-Gar]

Good thread discussion. In summary, the fellow who suggested the. 44 Magnum nailed it. You can down-load the .44 Magnum case with about 7.5-8 grains of any of the fast burners, Bullseye, Red Dot, 700-X, W231, Unique, etc. and get about 900-1000 fps with a 260-grain cast bullet for general purpose field and recreational shooting. You can load it full tilt for bears, brontosaurus or buffalo. Brass is plentiful. You can use .44 Special ammo in it, if you want. Sturdy, serviceable guns and companion rifles abound.

If I were to own only one revolver for recreational and outdoor field use, it would be a .44 Magnum. My choice of revolver in this caliber is the Ruger 5-1/2" Super Blackhawk with steel XR3 grip frame from the Old Army, with Hamilton Bowen's Rough Country sights and Belt Mountain base pin. Saeco #441 with 7.5 grains of Bullseye does most of my shooting, but I keep a few rounds stoked with 21 grs. of #2400 for maximum smash on rare occasions.

Yipeee...another man who has seen the light.

[Wolfer]

I have both. A ruger new vaquero in 45 and a Lipseys flat top in 44 spl. I load both to about the same power level. 250ish boolit @ around 1000 fps. All dimensions are correct in both guns.

I hit better up close with the 45 but the 44 is more accurate at long range. I have a lot of history with the 45 since I hit better with it. My buddy hits better with the 44.
You can argue them all day and find lots of strong opinions.
If one of mine had to go it would be the 44
I like my 45 better than any gun I've owned or shot. But if I had to spend the rest of my days with a 44 spl I would be ok.
The 44 mag is the best of both worlds but I don't like the weight. I don't shoot heavy loads and I consider the blackhawk frame to be the biggest I want to carry.
Woody

[Char-Gar]

When it comes to sixguns, I consider weight to be a plus. The extra few ozs helps steady the sights and soaks up more recoil. With a decent wide gunbelt, they can be carried all day with comfort. On a pants belt..not so much.

[M-Tecs]

You can’t go wrong with either choice. I have way more experience with the 45 Colt. I first started loading and shooting for it in 1969. After close to 100K loaded I can fairly safely say that most of the issue people have with the 45 colt are due to the chamber and throat issues. With the proper throat and chambers I have never been able to discern any accuracy differences or difficulties in accurate load development. With that being said I have never had throat issues with 44 Specials but I have only owned a couple. I have had a lot of 45 Colts. Some had tight chambers with the correct throated (I still have these), some had very loose chambers with throats that were way undersized to way oversize.

I've never warmed up to the 44 Special like some have but fully admit that it’s easier to find 44 Specials with the proper throats and chamber than it is with the 45 Colt.

All the advice posted above has been excellent. One more thing to think about. Will you very want a matching level gun? 44-40 and 45 Colt lever guns are easy to find. Not so much with 44 Special lever guns. My one 44 Mag lever gun doesn’t feed my 44 special six gun loads very well.

[35 Whelen]

I'm fairly new to both calibers and I own three .44 Specials; a 4 3/4" and 5 1/2" Uberti and a 5 1/2" NM Blackhawk. Also own a NM Vaquero in 45 Colt.

The .44's have been an immense joy to shoot and load for. All of them pretty much from the beginning gave stellar accuracy. No reaming, lapping, piddling or tweaking. I've loaded the Uberti's as light a 170 gr. RNFP @ 650 fps for CAS to a 260 gr. SWC to close to 1100 and the Blackhawk with a 260 gr. SWC @ a smidge over 1200 fps. (Which pretty much negates the need for a .44 Magnum, for me at least.)

I Vaquero 45 Colt has been another matter entirely. Right out of the box, it shot about 4" left of p.o.a. at 25 yds and the cylinder throats were of smaller diameter than the barrels groove diameter. I had the throats reamed and am still messing with it trying to get it to shoot right. But, this should not be an indictment on the 45 Colt.

Al things equal I feel the .44 Special is more flexible and versatile.

35W

[DougGuy]

35W that one might need to go back to Ruger, let them get the windage corrected then see how it shoots.

[bedbugbilly]

Thanks all for your excellent advice and information - greatly appreciated and I learned a lot . . . an am much better informed! :-)

I'm not looking to load BP loads. In regards to the 45 Colt . . . I think that part of my thoughts on that particular one is the historic nature of it. But, I have also been reading a lot of posts in regards to the "irregularities" in regards to the chamber throat size / bore size, etc. I know those things can be overcome with proper reaming, etc. but at my age, I'm more interested in having something that I won't need to do a lot of fiddling with in regards to the pistol itself. I do like playing with different bullets and loads though.

I can appreciate the comments on the 44 Magnum - not a whole lot different than the capability of shooting 38s out of a 357 so I can see the advantage of that. If I still hunted, I'd opt for that route if I went with a 44 as it just makes sense. Most of my shooting is plinking, some paper punching and maybe a varmint or two on the farm - not "serious shooting" . . . more "fun shooting" than anything else.

Right now . . I'm shooting 38s in a Ruger NV, a Pre 10 Smith, Pre 15 Smith, 1910 Colt Army Special and a 1920ish Smith M & P Target modle M & P. Until a couple of years ago, I never owned a DA revolver. Most of my shooting prior to these "new fangled cartridge guns" was with the '51 Navies - I've owned a number of them over the years and the sights are pretty basic on those - front post with a hammer notch. It was an easy transition to the NV. DA . . . let's just say I'm still learning! :-)

Even though I love SA handguns . . . I also own a number of Rugers and like them all. I'm sure I'd probably be very happy with either a BH or a Colt clone for the type of shooting I do. So, all of this great information gives me things to look out for when I'm trying to find a good shooter and I greatly appreciate it. Availability of brass is another concern I know as like powder and primers - you have to be in the right spot at the right time. I'm in AZ for a few weeks so will begin looking out there to see what's available as far as a handgun and if I don't run across something that trips my hammer, I will probably order something when I get back to MI for the summer.

To answer the one inquiry . . . I won't be shooting a rifle in whatever caliber I go with. If I was going to compete in CAS or similar . . then I'd certainly would consider that as it would be convenient to have both in the same caliber.

From what I'm hearing/reading . . . the 44 special probably makes the most sense for me to go with personally for the type of shooting I'm doing and will still be an easy cartridge to reload and play around with different bullet configurations/wts.

Thank you all for the great information and taking the time to share your thoughts - it's greatly appreciated! I had no idea I would get the great response! :-)

[PWS]

Ruger's Flat Tops are a great place to start; relatively inexpensive, built hellastout and yet not much different in size than a Colt SAA, and it's rare to hear any complaints of poor accuracy/fit/finish.

[Bent Ramrod]

I have a 7-1/2" Flat Top Target replica in .44 Special and it shoots amazingly well. But I'm not all that "serious" a pistol shooter, and find that I am much more likely to grab my 4-3/4" Cattleman replica in .45 Colt and go out to the range to blast at the 25 yard silhouette gongs.

The .44 Spl. is a great target round, but the .45 Colt is catharsis!:mrgreen:

[Changeling]

I have a 44 Mag Ruger SBH 7 1/2 " barrel, with a trigger job, throat corrections.

It also has scope mounting capability (drilled and tapped) that was done by "Maryland Gun Works" (Out of business now) that is so bad as to be rediculious, total bunch of ametuers and AH's!

However it shoots great and I really intend never to sell it! Just can't put a scope on it!!!!!!!

My .45 Ruger BH however must go back to Ruger for serious problems.

[Bent Ramrod]

Bill,

It's an Uberti replica. I like the sights because they can be adjusted but don't stick way up the way they do on the Colt New Frontier and Ruger revolvers. It has the wider trigger and the action seems a little smoother than the other two Ubertis I have.