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.45 Colt. The Military Cartridge that would not go away.


H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

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The history of the American Service Revolver is rather interesting.

 

Colt Walker.  .44 Cap and Ball.

Colt Dragoon  .44 Cap and Ball

1860 Colt  .44 Cap and Ball

1858 Remington.  .44 Cap and Ball.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, the army decided it wanted to go cartridge.  The first thing they did was convert the 1860.  

I've found no evidence that the army converted any of the other three revolvers, although all of them could have been converted if done by individual offers who had them did it on their own.  The Walker and Dragoon could also have gone to .44 Colt.   The Remington, I am not sure on.   I've seen references to a .46 rimfire round that was a common conversion, and to .44 Remington centerfire, but I don't know if that's the same as the .44 Colt under a different name or not.
 

So in the cartridge era, we have the following...

 

1860 Colt .44 Colt

1st Model American, .44 S&W

Colt 1873 .45 Colt

1875 Scofield .45 S&W

Colt .38 DA  .38 Long Colt

S&W Model 1899 .38 Long Colt and eventually .38 Special

Colt 1902  .45 Colt

Colt 1909 .45 Colt.

 

And that was the last "primary" revolver adopted.  Yes, there was the M1917 Colt and S&W, but they were "in addition" to the 1911 that could not be made fast enough.

But here's the irony.   Never mind the .38's   It is possible to go out and buy/own the following...

Walker, converted, .45 Colt  (replica)

Dragoon, converted, .45 Colt  (replica)

1860 Colt, converted, .45 Colt  (replica)

1858 Remington, converted, .45 Colt  (replica)
S&W American, .45 Colt.  (replica)
Colt 1873, .45 Colt  (replica, GI, or a new Colt) 

Schofield, .45 Colt (replica)

Colt 1902, .45 Colt (GI)

Colt 1909 .45 Colt (GI)

 

In other words, you can own pretty much all of the big bore revolvers ever carried by the US Amy, even if they are new made replicas, all in the same caliber.  You can also get a Colt New Service in .45 Colt, which is the commercial version as the 1909.  It's also technically the same gun as the 1917, just in a different caliber, and I fairly sure that the commercial version of the S&W 1917 was also available in .45 Colt.  So in a way, you CAN have all of them if you want.


Ironic in that most them used different rounds originally.   

 

It seems that the Army, and then the shooting public, just can't get enough of this venerable round.  Kinda neat, isn't it?

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20 hours ago, John Boy said:

HK, let us not forget the 44-40 ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.44-40_Winchester

 

I don't think the US Military ever adopted a revolver in 44-40 which is what the OP is posting about.

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i rather like it , most of my SAA are 45 colt , i have an M1909 , i had Schofields in 45colt and i have at least some of the conversions in that caliber 

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Looks like American's have always favored the .45 caliber. Even the so called Colt cap & ball revolvers, that were publicized as being ".44 caliber", were actually .451 to .454 to ???? caliber, which is a .45 caliber.

When the government, in it's "infinite wisdom", changed the caliber to .38, it did not fair very well in the Philippine's, in the late 19th & early 20th century. The .45 caliber came to the rescue, finally. Then the .45 automatic came into being...thank you John Browning for the 1911 design, and it served us well, from pre world war one, through Vietnam, and a bit beyond. Once again, the government downsized to a 9mm. That alone, is an controversial subject for another post. 

As much as I like the .38-40, and .44-40 wcf calibers, if I could only choose one caliber, in a single action revolver...it would have to be a .45 caliber.  

Someone asked me once why I shot a .45. 

I told them..."'cause they don't make a .75"!!! 

 

W.K. 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Waxahachie Kid #17017 L said:

Then the .45 automatic came into being...thank you John Browning for the 1911 design, and it served us well, from pre world war one, through Vietnam, and a bit beyond. Once again, the government downsized to a 9mm.

 

I think it's funny that we seem to keep going back and forth between 45 and 38 (or .357).  I'm looking for the military to go back to 45 soon. 

 

BTW, if 45 colt is so danged popular, why don't more manufacturers load for it and make it cheaper? 

 

 

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9 hours ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

 

 

 

BTW, if 45 colt is so danged popular, why don't more manufacturers load for it and make it cheaper? 

 

 

 

Well, I was specifically referring to how the cartridge was very popular with the US military once upon a time.   So much so that various replica military sidearms that were not chambered for it, are chambered for it on the replica market.   It fell out of favor for with the US Military for good in 1911 when the .45 ACP took its place.  

As far as the cartridge's popularity today goes, in spite of its historical significance, it really has become a "niche" cartridge, and we, the Cowboy Action Shooters of the world, are probably the biggest part of that niche.   It's just not practical to chamber it for more "general purpose" guns for a couple of reasons.  Most folks want an auto loader for practical use these days and even those who do want a revolver seem to prefer something physically smaller.   The .45 Colt requires a BIG revolver.   And then those who do want a big more wheel gun are more likely to want to go with .45 ACP or .44 Magnum for various reasons.

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