.44 rem mag vs 45 colt

pickpork

pickpork

Member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Neverland
I am interested in buying a lever rifle in either 44 rem mag or 45 colt. I am hoping to take my restricted course in the near future so I can buy a handgun and am planning on reloading as well. I was hoping to have dual purpose ammo. The main purpose of the rifle would be shooting in the backyard range or taking out the odd coyote or skunk. Which one would be best?
 
Tough question. The .45 Colt is an amazing round especially in new guns. But there are a lot more guns available in .44 mag and bullets and so on. I still vote for the .45 Colt, it has more character and better power in equal guns. I have taken a few deer with it in a 94 Trapper carbine and a bear with a handgun in that round when I lived in the US. .45 Colt is one of my favorite rounds.
 
What Casull said tough choice,but by sheer case size the .45 colt can be loaded right up there with the .44Rem Mag and with a heavier bullet!

You sure would want a new style rugar with a big backstrap,if you try that!

Bob
 
The .45 Colt can only be loaded up to the .44Mag. in a few Single Action revolvers (Ruger, Freedom Arms,etc.) but even on the Ruger the metal between the chambers is less with the .45 which would mean slightly lower Press. loads required, special revolvers with five shot cyls. give the .45 the edge. In similar rifles the .45 can be loaded as heavy as the .44....this does not mean the '66,Henry, or '73 or copies as they can't take top end loads....my vote goes to the .44 Mag. I also find it more accurate.
 
Ben I dissagree I think the New Blackhawk cylinders are fine for heavy loads(even the Vaqueros)its the backstraps that take the pounding as the back plate hammers back on it till you get frame stretch.

Then game over!


Bob
 
Last edited:
Year to year the manu. may change their recommendations on how heavy to load their revolvers, but I think if you want a margin of safety with the .45 you would not load it to level of the .44 in the blackhawk...that is why they are going to 5 shot cyls....they wouldn't if the std. 6 shot cyl. had a good safety margin. unless Ruger is making bigger Cyls. and not fluting them.
 
I disagree also Ben, the .45 Colt Blackhawks out perform the .44s hands down and the safety factor is good. They are very strong, I tried about everything to destroy a couple. I also got fine accuracy in the .45 from the Ruger. But the older ones pre about 1992 had loosed chamber mouths that were not that accurate, guns made after that have tighter throats and will shoot as well as the .44s.
 
I have a Rossi Puma 92 16" in .454 Casull, and a Ruger Super Redhawk in the same caliber cut down by Gunnar at Armco to 5.5".

It has of course a six chambered cylinder which is unfluted.
The Ruger markings specifically state .454 Casull AND .45 Colt.

The SRH is designed for higher chamber pressures than the .44 Mag. generates.

My plans for the future is to take them flying with me into wilderness areas, :dancingbanana:
 
And you will take notice I said the Vaquerios cylinders(not the thin backstraps)they will get frame stretching real quick from fireing anything but cowboy loads!

I wouldn't say load a New Blackhawk to .454 loads,but you can take a 310 grain hardcast and get good results!

Bob
 
on the other hand, the majority of the carbines out there are either winchester 94s or marlins, and i'm not so sure as to whether those actions could take a really hot ruger load- and shooting a near casull load out of a 5 inch barrel is not pleasant-
 
id go with the .45 i have a nice japan repro WW92 rifle in .45LC and it will take the hotter loads very well. lot harder to find that rifle to buy though, ill grant you
 
pickpork said:
I am interested in buying a lever rifle in either 44 rem mag or 45 colt....
Click to expand...

Mysticplayer on CGN (Jerry) had a thread a year or more ago on his (favourable) experiences with loading for the .45 Colt in a lever action.
You might drop him a PM. (I couldn't find the thread.)

:) Stuart
 
pickpork said:
I am interested in buying a lever rifle in either 44 rem mag or 45 colt. I am hoping to take my restricted course in the near future so I can buy a handgun and am planning on reloading as well. I was hoping to have dual purpose ammo. The main purpose of the rifle would be shooting in the backyard range or taking out the odd coyote or skunk. Which one would be best?
Click to expand...

Before you decide, you should shoot the revolver with a full load. Not surprisingly most people don't like it (and some love it).

You may have more choices with the 44. With the 45 you will have to be more careful what gun you put it in (for the same maximum energy level).

For the same energy level the 44 should shoot a little flatter. This will give you a longer point blank range but I doubt there is that much difference. Check some bullet drop/velocity tables.

I would (and have) picked the 44 magnum. I have a Marlin 1894, a S&W model 29 with a 6 1/2" barrel, as S&W model 29 with a 10 5/8" barrel, and a Desert Eagle all in 44 magnum.

I use the Marlin for cowboy action shooting. If I could pick up another Marlin (cheaply) in 357 magnum I would switch to that. For my shooting the 357 would do all I need. If I were going after deer (or wild boar:dancingbanana: ) I would go with the 44 magnum.

When you start shooting the handgun, start with lighter loads. Learn to shoot properly first before you jump to full loads. If you shoot full loads first you will develop a flinch that will effect your shooting. A pain to get rid of once you got it.
 
I've owned Winchester Mod 94 AE Trapper rifles in .44 Mag & .45 Colt. The 250gr Winchester/Nosler 'Combined Technology' Partition Gold in .44 Mag helped me make up my mind to keep the .44 for deer & sell the .45. Until the Partition came out I was planning the other way around, and reloading for the .45.
I've used the .44 with Partitions successfully on deer twice so far, (one shot each). One continued a few feet after being hit while the other dropped on the spot.
All things being equal, I'd have stuck with .45 if there was a better bullet selection, but for jacketed bullets I like the 250gr .44 Partition, and for cast lead bullets I like the Lyman 250gr 'Devastator' mould in .44.
 
Choose the 45 Colt and you can do everything the 44mag can do and everything it can't...... :dancingbanana:

You can also go for a Ruger Super Redhawk and get Gunnar @ Armco to cut it back to 4.25" like I just did and you can shoot from 200gr cast to 345gr WLNGC'ed 45 Colt loads to Beartooth 405gr and even 420gr Jae-Bok Young WFNGC's in the 454 Casull.

Check out this link to an article by John Linebaugh.

http://www.linebaughcustom.com/Articles/THE45COLTDISSOLVINGTHEMYTH/tabid/201/Default.aspx
 
Camp Cook said:
Choose the 45 Colt and you can do everything the 44mag can do and everything it can't...... :dancingbanana:
Click to expand...

So what can a 45 Colt do that a 44 Magnum can't?

Only one thing I remember someone did (at a cowboy shoot this year) that you could do with a 45 but could not do with a 44. He mistakenly loaded his 45 with 44 magnum cartridges. You are right, you can't load 45s in a 44 magnum gun. :p
 
I wanted a camp rifle that was compact yet packed a big punch. After a bunch of research, I ended up with the 45LC in a Win Trapper.

For plinking and moderate pressure loads, either 44 or 45 will do the job just fine. Little to compare. The 45LC just has a few more cast options due to the huge volume of 45ACP bullets you could use.

I have a 45LC load that pushes my 200gr SWC bullets around 1000fps. Fun, cheap, very low recoil and very accurate.

When I want to do some 'work', I load my 45LC with 325gr GC hard cast FN monsters. Pushing these to 1550fps, the Trapper can still drive them into one hole at 40yds. We have plinked out to 200yds and it makes quite the impression when it gets there. Recoil is about the same as my 308 so way less then the typical slug SG.

There is simply no load in a 44mag that I know of that will come close to this. The penetration and disruption of this load is simply amazing.

I tested these 45 cast slugs on 6" to 7" of dry phone books (tied together) in front of 3 water filled milk jugs at 35yds. The slug blew through the phone books then vaporised all three milk jugs and kept going. There was no sign of the bullet fragmenting at all. I bet I could have put in 6 milk jugs and not caught the bullet (should do the test now that the snow is here and LR shooting has to wait for spring). The exit 'wound' on the phone books was quite spectacular too.

I did a similar test with a 300Wby without the phone books and the bullet bits could be found in jug #3 which was usually quite intact. Bullet fragmentation big time.

Try that test with anything and see how yours compares.

Jerry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom