44mag or 45 Colt - which is most versitile??

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  • TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,151
    Sun City West, AZ
    I shoot Black Hills .44 Mag 240 grain lead that's loaded to .44 Special specs. Pretty mild to shoot, accurate and a good general purpose round plus it doesn't leave a powder ridge a .44 Special might leave since it's a full-length case. More powerful rounds are always an option.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,721
    Socialist State of Maryland
    I shoot RCBS 245-k bullets that I cast and powder coat in .44 spl cases in my pistol and rifle. I noticed that, since I started powder coating, I don't get any ridge when shooting the .44 specials. It doesn't matter if I shoot 7 gns of WW231 or 8-10 gns of Unique, nothing leaves a ring.

    The only reason I still shoot .44 special brass is that I have 300 cases and I just can't see it going to rot. :rolleyes:
     

    CrazySanMan

    2013'er
    Mar 4, 2013
    11,390
    Colorful Colorado
    I shoot RCBS 245-k bullets that I cast and powder coat in .44 spl cases in my pistol and rifle. I noticed that, since I started powder coating, I don't get any ridge when shooting the .44 specials. It doesn't matter if I shoot 7 gns of WW231 or 8-10 gns of Unique, nothing leaves a ring.

    The only reason I still shoot .44 special brass is that I have 300 cases and I just can't see it going to rot. :rolleyes:

    I wonder if that would also be true for shooting 45 Colt from 454 Casull chamber.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,721
    Socialist State of Maryland
    You can try it. I know when I was using traditionally lubed bullets it would get hard to chamber the mags if I was shooting specials for a while.

    I've never noticed a ring in the rifle, probably because you have so much mechanical advantage with the lever.
     

    PowPow

    Where's the beef?
    Nov 22, 2012
    4,712
    Howard County
    I like both. Therefore, I own and reload for both. If I had to choose one, I'd choose the .44 mag/spl. Thankfully, that's not a choice that I want or need to make at this time. I do enjoy shooting my Model 25.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,721
    Socialist State of Maryland
    I like both. Therefore, I own and reload for both. If I had to choose one, I'd choose the .44 mag/spl. Thankfully, that's not a choice that I want or need to make at this time. I do enjoy shooting my Model 25.

    My thoughts too. But when I go in the woods where the beasties live, I take my .44 mag and leave my .45 Colt Mountain Gun at home. ;)
     

    Seabee

    Old Timer
    Oct 9, 2011
    517
    Left marylandistan to NC
    As Blacksmith said, 454 Casull. I have a 454 super redhawk and I load cast bullets for practice and other light load tasks. I load the high power stuff for other hunting and shotshells in 45 Colt cases for snakes and such. You have the benefits of all the things you want in one gun. The joys of handloading.
    BTW, Gave my 44 Mag to my son
     

    Rockzilla

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 6, 2010
    4,516
    55.751244 / 37.618423
    Though I have both (.44 and .45LC in various formts), another plus for the .45LC ... you can use a revolved like the Judge or the Governor to also shoot those, AND .410 PD-type stuff.

    or an old Contender barrel...45/410 external choke
    10" barrel, pre-Judge..
    Hard choice, reload for both, Cast for both, probably
    the .44 Mag, as mentioned by another member, got
    .44spl brass also from days past, but can either take
    the 44 mag, turn it up, or turn it down, so would have
    to go with that one, and the .45 Colt still like it, with
    some heavy cast SWC bullets or some "Flying Ashtray"
    bullets expand rather nicely. Keith "style bullets" or molds
    are what I try to use.

    A snippet of a Elmer Keith Load.. JUST FOR INFORMATION
    45 COLT: Keith's early load was an extremely powerful 22.0 grains of #2400 again in
    balloon head cases. This was dropped to 20.0 grains and then to 18.5 grains in modern
    brass with all loads using the 260 grain #454424 Keith bullet. This is a 1150+ fps load
    and should be used only in modern .45 Colts. When the Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk came
    along, Elmer upped the charge to 20.0 grains of #2400 again for nearly 1250 fps from a
    7 1/2" barrel.


    -Rock
     

    CrazySanMan

    2013'er
    Mar 4, 2013
    11,390
    Colorful Colorado
    You can try it. I know when I was using traditionally lubed bullets it would get hard to chamber the mags if I was shooting specials for a while.

    I've never noticed a ring in the rifle, probably because you have so much mechanical advantage with the lever.

    In my research I've found people saying if you are going to shoot 44 special and 44 mag from the same gun at the same range session, always shoot the 44 mag first. They say buildup from the shorter cases of the 44 spl can prevent the mags from loading properly.
     

    Rockzilla

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 6, 2010
    4,516
    55.751244 / 37.618423
    In my research I've found people saying if you are going to shoot 44 special and 44 mag from the same gun at the same range session, always shoot the 44 mag first. They say buildup from the shorter cases of the 44 spl can prevent the mags from loading properly.

    Same can be said for .38spl in the .357 mag, as you mention it does make it
    difficult to insert the longer rounds in the chamber, so shoot the mag's first
    and then the spl's last or bring a "cleaning rod with you" brush out the
    chambers and go for it. Have done both...

    -Rock
     

    snake-eye

    Active Member
    Jan 27, 2015
    167
    MD
    44 vs 45

    I've been shooting cowboy for about 20 years. Started out with a set of 45 pistols and rifle. Downloading the rounds was ok for the pistols but not for the rifle. It didn't matter what type of lever action rifle was used, the fouling in the action was quite a bit and there was always blowback past the bolt into the shooters face. At low pressures the case simply does not expand enough in the chamber to seal the gas as the brass has a thick wall. There was always soot and unburned powder in the action. Except for the blowback, the pistols suffered the same condition. I suspect that at factory load conditions, this may not happen. I never shot that caliber with hot loads. The degree of fouling is somewhat powder related, but it occurs with all powders at mild loads.
    I have shot .44 mag and special in both rifle and pistol with both mild and hot loads and didn't experience those issues. As stated elsewhere the .44 has much more versatility in loading than the .45.
    I don't shoot .45 any longer as I prefer the .44 for large caliber shooting.
     

    bigcountry

    Active Member
    Jan 4, 2013
    105
    Carroll County
    One warning about shooting 45colt in 454 guns. If you do it alot, you will shoot up pressures when you shoot the 454. I shot 45colts in ruger 454 for like 1000 rounds. I had trouble chambering the 454's. Had a carbon ring, that had to take to a gunsmith and ream out.
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    44mag and hot 45 colt loads basically have the same power level, same with "cowboy" 45 colt and 44spl, but where ALL 44mag chambered firearms are rated for mag pressures, not all 45 colt firearms are, now 454 or 460S&W open up a ton of room up top beyond 44mag power, and can still fire light loads, although not always as accurately. Some 45 colt revolvers can also take 45ACP with a cylinder or clips, so it has the potential to be even more versatile. Problem with limiting yourself to a single caliber is it's well ... limiting, especially when you only need about $40 worth of dies and a shellplate to load something potentially better
     

    CrazySanMan

    2013'er
    Mar 4, 2013
    11,390
    Colorful Colorado
    Limiting will simplify my stockpiling of reloading supplies and allow me to buy in greater bulk for even lower prices per round.

    I've been thinking a lot lately about the ammo shortages under Obama and if D's take the Senate and presidency in 2020, things are going to be very bad for us shooters. I'm consolidating now to hedge against that.
     

    Blacksmith101

    Grumpy Old Man
    Jun 22, 2012
    22,154
    Limiting will simplify my stockpiling of reloading supplies and allow me to buy in greater bulk for even lower prices per round.

    I've been thinking a lot lately about the ammo shortages under Obama and if D's take the Senate and presidency in 2020, things are going to be very bad for us shooters. I'm consolidating now to hedge against that.

    The other side of that coin is to have guns that will shoot every caliber you are likely to come across and the capability to reload and manufacture bullets in most calibers then you will have something to use whatever you can get. The upside is it means more guns.
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,561
    Harford County, Maryland
    About the carbon ring, I felt it once in my 357 Ruger way back. I could still chamber magnum ammo but it would prevent chambering the magnum length rounds in a friend’s revolver. Since then I keep a sized but well flared magnum case for both 44 and 357 Mag in my range bag. I had stopped shooting alot of the shorter cased ammo, but when I did I pushed the flared case into each chamber to ‘cut’ the fouling out. I know it helped out fellow shooters a few times.
     

    Wardove

    Member
    Jul 23, 2017
    46
    Blairsville, GA
    If you get your hands on a finely tuned older Smith in 44 and either a lever gun or maybe a Ruger semi carbine, you will be pretty happy. The triggers on the Smiths are much nicer than the Rugers. I have both though. Keep the Casull for Alaska.
     

    Art3

    Eqinsu Ocha
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2015
    13,267
    Harford County
    I get the ideas of wanting to simplify and stock up. I was always reluctant to get into a new caliber, but reloading changed that for me. If I may humbly suggest, if you are planning on having different loads in the same caliber for different applications (and maybe a few guns that can't handle the hot ones), that really isn't much different than having different calibers. If you are going to stockpile 50,000 rounds for the future, you are still going to need 50,000 rounds...regardless of whether they are all the same or half .44 and half .45. Don't deny yourself enjoyable guns today because you are worried about feeding them tomorrow. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed anyway.

    I have all three calibers mentioned, but shoot .357/38 the most, probably because of ammo cost and the fact that I have more .357's than any other caliber. You can get big guns in .357, but you really can't get little ones in .44 or .45. Sometimes, you need a little one :shrug: Also, a medium weight .357 revolver shooting light .38 special is great for welcoming new or timid shooters. Personally, I like .45 in old guns and black powder. And...I mean, how can you really call yourself a red-blooded American without at least one .44mag :patriot:
     

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