45 Cowboy Special

[Waxahachie Kid #17017 L]

Well, I gotta ask...again. 

 

There is: .45 Colt, .45 auto, 45 auto-rim, .45 Schofield.  Added to that line up, we now have .45 Cowboy Special.

 

There is brass available, and also new ammunition one can purchase, for: .45 Colt, .45 auto, .45 auto-rim, and .45 Schofield.

 

Question: With the all the .45 caliber ammunition we already have available to us, what makes the .45 Cowboy Special so "desirable", especially at the distances we shoot our targets???

 

Thanks.

W.K.

 

 

[Old Man Graybeard]

For people who like a really light load. 45 Cowboy Special is basically a 45 Colt cut down to 45 acp case length. There used to be carriers available to convert rifles to shoot the special. I like it for light loads in my derringer. But I know some people...especially women folk...that like it  

[John Barleycorn, SASS #76982]

Cuts the amount of Black Powder I need to fill a case and still get plenty of smoke and boom.

[SHOOTIN FOX]

And with the Barnstormer 130 gr HBTC bullet is is very light recoil for arthritic hands..

[Red Eye Jim]

Personally I'm considering the round because I think it will work in Vaquero with a .45 ACP only cylinder...

 

[SHOOTIN FOX]

The 45 CS is a short length 45 Colt. The rim may not allow firing in a 45 acp cylinder . One head spaces off the rim the other off the case mouth. 45 CS is meant for reduced load in 45 Colt firearms. 

[Sarge]

Use significantly less powder and lighter bullets.  I used 2.0 gr less powder per round than I have to load in a .45 Colt case.  Bullets are 40 grns lighter.  Less components means more bangs for my buck.  Then there's the recoil issue.  Bad hand.  Less recoil means less or no pain after a day at the range.

[watab kid]

"...The 45 CS is a short length 45 Colt. The rim may not allow firing in a 45 acp cylinder . One head spaces off the rim the other off the case mouth. 45 CS is meant for reduced load in 45 Colt firearms. ..."

 

so - im not familiar with these either but wondering if they are similar to or same as the 45AR that were made for the M1917 45acp army revolvers ? these were made to eliminate the need for the moon clips on 45acp in the early colt M1917 revolvers that were a newer version of their M1909 that shot 45 colt , they bored the cylinders straight through as they had the earlier models , later colt and S&W bored the cylinders to headspace on the case mouth rather than the cartridge rim , 

[Griff]

First of all, the cartridge name is:  Cowboy45Special!  Or C45S for short. 

 

It's reduced volume makes it much easier for reloaders to shoot reduced charges in their 45 Colt guns with both smokeless and black powder.  

[Sarge]

2 minutes ago, watab kid said:

"...The 45 CS is a short length 45 Colt. The rim may not allow firing in a 45 acp cylinder . One head spaces off the rim the other off the case mouth. 45 CS is meant for reduced load in 45 Colt firearms. ..."

 

so - im not familiar with these either but wondering if they are similar to or same as the 45AR that were made for the M1917 45acp army revolvers ? these were made to eliminate the need for the moon clips on 45acp in the early colt M1917 revolvers that were a newer version of their M1909 that shot 45 colt , they bored the cylinders straight through as they had the earlier models , later colt and S&W bored the cylinders to headspace on the case mouth rather than the cartridge rim , 

The Auto Rim has a thicker rim than the .45 Colt and Cowboy Special.

[watab kid]

ok , thanks , i was aware of Auto Rim comparison to 45 colt but not cowboy 45 specials 

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Not only is it used to perform well with 'light' loads, as mentioned above, BUT..... if you have some Ruger Vaquero's,

you can load em UP to give .45 SUPER performance from your revolver.

Although not for Cowboy, I have some amply loaded up pretty potent using a 185 gr Speer Gold Dot HP.  

Its a great personal protection load.

 

..........Widder

 

[Chief Rick]

8 hours ago, SHOOTIN FOX said:

And with the Barnstormer 130 gr HBTC bullet is is very light recoil for arthritic hands..

Who's casting/selling the Barnstormer bullets?

[SHOOTIN FOX]

I am. 500 for $45 plus shipping. PM me for more info.

[Captain Clark]

Shooting Fox beat me to the answer 

[Bo Dacious]

13 hours ago, Red Eye Jim said:

Personally I'm considering the round because I think it will work in Vaquero with a .45 ACP only cylinder...

 

It will, I have a set of ACP Vaqueros that I shoot CB Specials.

[Springfield Slim SASS #24733]

They work in Webleys too! If you are lucky enough to have an un-cut one.

[Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580]

23 hours ago, SHOOTIN FOX said:

And with the Barnstormer 130 gr HBTC bullet is is very light recoil for arthritic hands..

This! I use 160 grain bullets and a light load of Clays and it helps my poor aching hands and wrists to keep going!

[McCandless]

The Cowboy 45 Special case is excellent for Black Powder.  A full case with 200gr bullet is has plenty of knockdown power, no need for fillers and uses less powder than a Schofield or voluminous .45 Colt case.  With smokeless powder you can easily load it to .45acp levels, using less powder than a .45 Colt case.  Adirondack Jack developed it and did a great job.  For a lighter load the it is far easier to "download" than the bigger cases and the barnstormer bullet was made for it.