Pls don't laugh but I gotta ask?

[lead4me]

OK, I have convinced myself that I must have a new pistol to cast for. I have always wanted a 45 Colt SSA, I have RBH's in .44, .357 & 9mm and really like the platform so I go to Buds guns to do some window shopping and I see the 45's listed as 45 Colt & 45 Long Colt.
Whats the diff between the two? I thought that it was to keep someone from trying to use the colt round in the ACP. I'm sure I will get an education here quick.

[MtGun44]

Same cartridge. IIRC,the history is that when the 1873 Colt (SAA) was first issued the Army also
had some S&W breaktop Schoefield models in .45 Schoefield, which was identical to the
.45 Colt, but shorter. The full power blackpowder loads in the .45 Colt were considered a bit
excessive in recoil by the Army and they didn't want to have to inventory two types of pistol
ammo, so they settled on the shorter round which had more reasonable recoil and worked in both.

In any case, there was a need to define which ammo you were talking about, mostly because the
"long Colt ammo" would not work in the S&Ws, while the S&W ammo worked fine in the Colts.

Some will say "this is dumb, there was never a .45 Short Colt", which while technically true, has
nothing to do with why the name came up.

So - .45 Colt = .45 Long Colt but neither is the same as .45 ACP.

I learned the above from our fellow Cast Boolit guy, Duke Venturino, famed gun 'riter. ;-)

Learned a lot of good history from him, enjoy his articles. Maybe he'll chime in and correct
whatever I got wrong in the above.

Bill

[lead4me]

Great History lesson!! plus great info for me as they have a lot of 45 colts listed but few 45 Long colts or the other way around. At least they have enough for me to choose from. Well looks like I'm gonna be looking for a mold for the 45 Colt before to long.

[Four Fingers of Death]

The shorter cartridge was the 45 Schofield wasn't it?

[docone31]

The Lee 200gn RF is an excellent Schofield casting. It also functions real well in my ACPs. I have more jams with factory.
When I get the 45 Colt, I plan on useing that one.

[StarMetal]

Bill,

I believe the story went something like this: This cartridge was originally designed as a black powder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_powder) round. This revolver was patented in the USA on 20 June 1871 and 22 April 1873 by Smith and Wesson. It was a Smith and Wesson Model 3 that was modified by Major George Schofield to make it easier for a cavalryman to reload while riding. While the Colt 45 had more power, the speed at which a cavalryman could reload a Schofield was less than 30 seconds, half of the time for a Colt 45. By 1879, the U. S. Army had purchased 8285 of the revolvers. Due to its lesser power and recoil compared to the Colt .45, it became the standard cartridge of the Army, though the Colt 1873 still was the main issue side arm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_arm) of the Army. The .45 Schofield cartridge was shorter than the .45 Long Colt. It could be used in both the Schofield and the Colt 45 Peacemaker, but the .45 Long Colt was too long to use in the Schofield. As a result, by the 1880s the army finally standardized on the Colt .45 Model P.

I don't believe the Army had any 45 Schoefields when they got the 45 Colts. Some, as you mentioned, complained about the 45 Colt's recoil and a light went on in S & W's head.

Just teasing you with this next one, you said that the 45 S&W round was identical to the 45 Colt just only shorter. That struck me funny...how could it be identical then? :kidding:

[MtGun44]

Well, identical except for the exception - the length. Kinda like the two cars
were identical except for the paint color. Seems reasonable to me. :-)

Of course they were blackpowder, the only kind that existed in those days. Guess I
forgot to mention that part, sorta assumed --- you know what that means.

I believe that Mike said that the two pistols were out there at the same time and needed
to be fed from the same Army supply trains, but I could certainly have it wrong.

I think Mike also makes the point that the Army never loaded 40 gr of BP in that cartridge.

In any case, there was a need for the term "Long Colt" at one time. Nowdays there
is little likelihood of confusion, the 'short Colt' is pretty long gone and pretty much forgotten.

Bill