The .45 Colt (11.43×33mmR), is a rimmed, straight-walled, handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It was originally a black-powder
revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six ...
round developed for the
Colt Single Action Army revolver. This cartridge was adopted by the
U.S. Army in 1873 and served as an official US military handgun cartridge for 14 years.
History
![45 Colt U](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/.45_Colt_U.S._Army_ball_cartridge_diagram.jpg)
The .45 Colt was a joint development between Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, of
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation
A nation is a community of people formed on ...
, and the
Union Metallic Cartridge Company of
Bridgeport, Conn. Colt began work on the revolver in 1871, and submitted a sample to the
U.S. Army in late 1872. The revolver was accepted for purchase in 1873.
The cartridge is an inside lubricated type. The
rebated heel type bullet design of its predecessor, the
.44 Colt (.452–.454" diameter bullet), was eliminated, since it was an outside lubricated type, which would pick up dirt and grit during handling. The .45 Colt replaced the
.50 caliber Model 1871 Remington single shot pistol and the various cap-and-ball
revolvers converted to take metallic cartridges in use at the time. While the Colt remained popular, the
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachuset ...
M1875 Army Schofield Revolver was approved as an alternate, which created a logistical problem for the Army. The S&W revolver used the
.45 S&W Schofield, a shorter cartridge, which would also work in the Colt, however the Army's S&W Schofield revolvers could not chamber the longer .45 Colt,
so in 1874 Frankford Arsenal, then almost exclusive supplier of small arms ammunition to the
U.S. Army, dropped production of the .45 Colt cartridge in favor of the .45 S&W round. This resolved the Army's ammunition logistics problems, but there were still plenty of the longer Colt-length cartridges in circulation once production ceased. The Benet primed .45 Revolver cartridges were subsequently replaced by the 'Model of 1882 Ball Cartridge for Cal. .45 Revolver' which used an external Boxer primer and could be reloaded at the unit level. The .45 caliber M1882 cartridge would be officially replaced by the
.38 Long Colt in 1892 but would remain in production until 1896. In 1901-1902 it would once again be loaded by Frankford Arsenal for use in the Philippines.
In 1909, the .45 M1909 round was issued along with the .45
Colt New Service revolver. This round was never loaded commercially, and is almost identical to the original .45 Colt round, except having a larger diameter rim (.540 in (13.7mm)). The rim is large enough that it cannot be loaded in adjacent chambers in the rod-ejector Colt model.
The .45 Colt remains popular with renewed interest in
Cowboy Action Shooting. Additionally, the round has seen resurgence as a cartridge in handgun hunting and Metallic Silhouette Shooting competitions beginning in the 1950s with the introduction of stronger, heavier framed handguns. The cartridge's popularity has also increased with the increased marketing of handguns that can also fire the
.410 bore shotgun shell, such as the
Taurus Judge and the
S&W Governor, though first seen decades earlier in the
MIL Thunder 5. The modern .45 Colt bullet has changed as well, and it is now .451 inches in diameter for jacketed bullets, and .452 for lead bullets. The .45 Colt became the basis for other rounds, such as the
.454 Casull.
Cartridge loads
The .45 Colt originally was a
black-powder cartridge, but modern loadings use
smokeless powder
Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal d ...
. The original black-powder loads called for of black powder behind an Ogival & flat nosed lead bullet. These loads developed muzzle velocities of . However, this load generated too much recoil for the average soldier and was, after a few years, reduced to only 28 grains of black powder yielding 855 ft/s in Army tests. Then the introduction of the S&W Schofield revolver with its shorter cylinder and quick loading "Top-Break" frame caused a problem for the Supply Corps in that they now had to supply two different types of .45 Caliber pistol ammunition. Further troubles were caused by the fact that the Schofield cartridge rim was too wide to load into adjacent chambers in the colt cylinder, turning the Colt into a three shooter, if the wrong ammunition was sent to that particular outpost. So, the Army came up with a short case narrow rim cartridge that only held 26 grains of black powder that could be used in both revolvers. That load gave about 760 Feet per Second with a 250-grain bullet out of the Schofield revolver with its shorter Barrel.
Because of the power of the 40 grains of black powder and its excellent accuracy, the .45 Colt was known as a sure man stopper and horse killer. It became the most-used cartridge at the time of its introduction, succeeding the
.44-40 Winchester.
The .45 Colt at that time did not enjoy the .44-40's advantage of a Winchester rifle chambered for it being available, thus allowing the use of the same cartridge in both a pistol and a rifle.
According to rumor at the time, this was owing to early .45 Colt cartridges having a very narrow rim and causing ejection issues from a rifle chamber. Today, modern Winchesters, Marlins, and other replicas have remedied this omission almost 50 years after the fact, and the .45 Colt is now available in modern
lever-action rifles.
While this aforementioned rumor has been one of the numerous arguments used to explain the lack of a rifle chambered in .45 Colt, it may have simply been a case of Colt refusing to authorize the use of their patented .45 Colt cartridge in other manufacturers’ arms. Only after the expiration of Colt‘s original patents for the .45 Colt did it become available in a rifle.
[ This, however, does not explain the absence of a .45 Colt chambering (or indeed any of Colt's own cartridges) in the Colt-Burgess lever-action or Colt Lightning slide-action rifles. Thus lending more credence to the rumored basic problem with Colt's revolver cartridges when used in rifles. (The modern .45 Colt cartridge rim is still narrow, but features an extractor groove cut into the base of the case, a feature common to most modern cartridges but not at all common in the late 19th century.)
The U.S. Army's .45 Colt round used in its M1909 revolver, which had a barrel of , fired a bullet at a muzzle velocity of , giving a muzzle energy of . Today's standard factory loads develop around of muzzle energy at about , making it roughly equivalent to modern .45 ACP loads. There are Cowboy Action Shooting loads which develop muzzle velocities of around .
''Cartridges of the World'' states that .45 Colt should never be loaded to more than .]
High pressure ammunition
Some handloads and factory-manufactured cartridges put this round in the same class as the .44 Magnum, using specially made revolvers. These loads cannot be used in any original Colt Single Action Army or replica thereof, such as those produced by Uberti Uberti is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernard degli Uberti (1060–1133), Italian Roman Catholic prelate
* Claudio Uberti (born 1957), Argentinian government official
* Daniel Uberti (born 1963), Uruguayan footballer
* ...
, Beretta, the Taurus Gaucho, or the Ruger New Vaquero, as these guns are built on the smaller frame with thinner cylinder walls. These loads should be used only in modern large-frame revolvers such as the Ruger Blackhawk
The Ruger Blackhawk is a six-shot, single-action revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartri ...
, Ruger Redhawk, and the original large frame Ruger Vaquero (sometimes referred to as the "Old Model" to differentiate it from the small frame "New Vaquero.")
Thompson Center Contender "Magnum" .45 Colt loadings can also be safely fired from any gun chambered in either the .454 Casull or .460 S&W Magnum cartridges, though proper feeding may be an issue in repeating rifles chambered for either the .454 or .460 as the OAL is significantly shorter. Modern rifles with strong actions (such as the Winchester Model 1894, Marlin Model 1894, and new clones of the Winchester Model 1892) chambered for the cartridge can safely handle the heavier loadings.
Handloading
Colt .45 revolvers made until early WWII had barrels with .454" groove diameters. After this diameters of .451–.452" were produced. Using .454" diameter bullets in the smaller barrels will work but will generate higher pressures. Cases used with .454" bullets may have to be full-length resized to work in newer guns. Speer handloading guidance states that the loads they show should be used only in handguns made specifically for modern smokeless powder. The loads mentioned in No. 10 reloading manual state that they do not exceed 15,000 psi. This is the equivalent of +P loading as normal pressure for the .45 Colt is 14,000 psi.
In a section specifically titled "45 Colt for Ruger or Contender only" Speer makes reference to velocities up to 1300 feet per second with 200-grain bullets. They also state that pressures do not exceed 25,000 psi (CUP). This is well beyond a pressure that can destroy even modern guns chambered in .45 Colt with the exception of the large frame Ruger Blackhawk, Ruger Redhawk, Freedom Arms Models 83 and 97, and the Dan Wesson.
Uses
Colt began work on their 1873 Single Action Army Model in 1871. Sample cartridges submitted for Army tests were made by UMC, using the Benet cup primers; commercial ammunition used the Berdan-type primer, followed by the more common Boxer priming. Original UMC loads used a powder charge and bullet. This was reduced to of powder, and later, by the Army, to .
The .45 Colt cartridge remains in use years after its introduction. It is used as a hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
load on animals the size of deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few e ...
and black bear. Heavier handloads will take the same range of big game animals as the .44 Magnum. Several two-barrel derringer
A derringer is a small handgun that is neither a revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single c ...
s are sold that are chambered in .45 Colt, and some of these derringers can chamber a .410 bore shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different ...
shell without any modifications being required. Revolvers chambered in .410 shotgun, such as the Taurus Judge and the Smith & Wesson Governor, are usually chambered for the .45 Colt as well. A popular use for the .45 Colt today is in Cowboy Action Shooting, where the round is often fired from either original or replicas of the 1873 Colt Single-Action Army.
Winchester
Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; ...
, Marlin Firearms, Henry Repeating Arms
Henry Repeating Arms is a firearms manufacturing company. As of 2019, Henry Repeating Arms ranked in the top five of U.S. long gun manufacturers, and eighth overall in total firearms production, manufacturing over 300,000 firearms annually.
...
, Chiappa Firearms, Rossi, Uberti Uberti is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernard degli Uberti (1060–1133), Italian Roman Catholic prelate
* Claudio Uberti (born 1957), Argentinian government official
* Daniel Uberti (born 1963), Uruguayan footballer
* ...
, Cimarron Firearms and other manufacturers produce lever-action rifles chambered in .45 Colt. Colt has resumed production of the Single-Action Army, and many SAA replicas and near-replicas as well as modern-design single-actions by Ruger are chambered for this cartridge.
Influence on other cartridges
The .45 Colt became the basis for the much more powerful .454 Casull cartridge, with the .454 Casull having a slightly longer case utilizing a small rifle primer in place of the large pistol primer. Any .454 Casull revolver will chamber and fire .45 Colt and .45 Schofield, but not the inverse due to the Casull's longer case. The .460 S&W Magnum is a longer version of the .454 Casull and the .45 Colt. Likewise, .460 Magnum revolvers can chamber and fire the three shorter cartridges, but again, not the reverse.
Gallery
File:cartridges 20081227.jpg, .45 Colt shown alongside other cartridges. From left to right: .30-06
The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military us ...
, 7.62×39mm, .454 Casull, .45 Colt, .357 Magnum, .38 Special, .45 ACP, 9×19mm Parabellum, .380 ACP, .22 Long Rifle
File:45 Colt.JPG, .45 Colt cartridge featuring a jacketed hollow point bullet
File:45colt.jpg, All-lead hollow point and flat nose .45 Colt cartridges
File:Colt .45 LC Cartridges.JPG, .45 Colt cartridges
See also
* 11 mm caliber
*List of handgun cartridges
List of handgun
A handgun is a short-barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue f ...
*Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
This is a table of selected pistol/submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson sub ...
References
External links
Article on the .45 Colt and the handloading therof
{{Colt's Manufacturing Company
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1873
45 Colt
45 Colt
Colt cartridges
Rimmed cartridges