.44 special/magnum vs. .45 Colt in popularity

[CraigC]

I don't know how we'd ever determine which is more popular. Although the .45Colt has the distinction of having the same cartridge chambered in both Colt SAA and similar guns on up to Ruger, FA's and BFR's. So yeah, you're gonna see more .45Colt's than .44Mag's. In the .44 persuasion, you're really talking about two cartridges, the .44Spl in Colt's and other middleweight platforms and the .44Mag in heavier guns. I'm sure that's why the OP mentioned both. Were I to guess, I'd say that in Colt-sized/strength guns, the .45 is head and shoulders more popular. In stronger guns, probably the .44Mag, due in no small part that the .45 really requires handloading to realize its potential and if Facebook has taught me one thing, most people are still shooting factory loads. They're really ballistic twins, regardless of platform, the .44's do it with less powder and more pressure, while the .45 does it with less pressure and more powder. In the Colt sized guns, the .44Spl is really a better choice and for several reasons. Thicker chamber walls, less chamber slop, more consistent throats and it does the same thing with less powder. The .45 is a relic of the blackpowder era and that cavernous case is a lot of wasted space at 14,000psi. None of that seems to matter to the market though, for every .44Spl I'm sure there's 100 .45's and 1000 .357's. Cheap ammo seems to matter more than any other factor. So I'm not sure how much weight we should assign to popularity. I mean, look at pop music.

 

[Tradmark]

Yessir, in basic guns the wall strength can matter. In the popular smith and wesson mountain guns the difference
If what you can shoot thru both is radically different. To me in that gun the 45 is worthless and
The 44 clearly the powerhouse

 

[Blue Brick]

+1 on 45LC

 

[Richard Jay King]

I have shot deer with both calibers using cast SWC bullets and the deer were not able to tell me that they noticed any difference between the two calibers...

 

[John Joseph]

Both are excellent IMHO.
I like big holes!

 

[peacebutready]

Thanks for the replies, all.

 

[Mowgli Terry]

Let's see. 45 Colt or 44 Special? Depends on whimsy and phases of the moon. Sometime it's a draw and both calibers are taken to the range. Care must be taken not to get 44 Special rounds in the 45 Colt. If in doubt get both. There are several new offerings in 44 Special.

 

[Bartojc]

I have a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt. I handload which is why I chose 45 Colt. I'll have a .44 Mag/Special one day when I see the right one for sale. If I were buying strictly based on factory ammo I'd have chosen the .44.
-Jeff

 

[RealGun]

I have a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt. I handload which is why I chose 45 Colt. I'll have a .44 Mag/Special one day when I see the right one for sale. If I were buying strictly based on factory ammo I'd have chosen the .44.
-Jeff

Keep in mind that factory 44 Magnum, like .357 Magnum, is generally hotter than people enjoy shooting, according to so many mentions of loading down or instead shooting the "Special" version of the caliber.

 

[golden]

I have both and would think the .44 Special is more popular because you can use it in a .44 Magnum and until recently, the .44 Special had the small frame market all to itself with the CHARTER ARMS Bulldog. I have not shot the Bulldog in at least a decade, but took my 6 1/2 inch S&W model 24 to the range last month and it was very pleasant to shoot. The 180 grain PMC loads were just like .38 Special +P in the recoil and blast department when I fired them from the big model 24, oh it has HOGUE grips to help out. I will probably start handloading to round because it is so pleasant for the power it offers..
My only .45 Long Colt is a model 25-5 that was combatized by some fool before I found it cheap in a pawn shop. He had the barrel cut to 4 inches, the reshaped the grip to round butt, but not quite perfect and nickel plated it including the front sight. Like I said, a FOOL. He also had the springs cut, so the gun would only fire single action. I paid a whopping $16.00 to have the springs replaced and it shoots fine as long as I black the sight. I really like to shoot BLAZER .45 LC 200 grain hollow points out of it and would use it for self defense so loaded. It is controllable and powerful.
Still, I like the long barreled model 24 more.

Jim

 

[Bartojc]

Keep in mind that factory 44 Magnum, like .357 Magnum, is generally hotter than people enjoy shooting, according to so many mentions of loading down or instead shooting the "Special" version of the caliber.

Totally agree. Since I handload I can also load cowboy loads for 45 Colt as well.

-Jeff

 

[jski]

Once the .44 Mag lost its moniker as "the world's most powerful handgun", I think it kind of lost a lot of appeal. Nothing any longer unique about it.

But the .45 Colt "Peacemaker" is the gun that "won the West". The gun used my most gunfighters and lawmen. It is dripping with American history and nothing is a substitute for that!

 

[Enfielder]

5 7/8" Blackhawk convertible in .45 Colt and .45 ACP. It was essentially free to me and having a 1911 made the decision easier. I reload for both and cooking up hot 45 Colt loads is fun fun. I did have a Puma lever gun which I was convinced had a chamber that was overbored. I sold it after all of my brand new Starline brass would crack down the side after the first shot.
It turns out that as a new to me reloading powder, Unique powder is entirely unforgiving at peak loads. Whoops! I miss that gun.

 

[CraigC]

Most .45Colt-chambered guns have oversized chambers and leverguns are among the worst.

 

[jski]

Most .45Colt-chambered guns have oversized chambers and leverguns are among the worst.

I take it CraigC you're not a fan of the SAA in .45 Colt? By "oversized" I assume you mean a chamber that fits the .45 Colt cartridge? And I'm not sure what the reference to leverguns is all about?

 

[CraigC]

I'm not a fan of their chamber dimensions but I have a dozen .45Colt's and half of them are SAA's. It's a well known fact that .45Colt guns tend to have oversized chambers and throats. My Colt New Frontier has .457" throats and that is typical. This is why a good many folks have .357 cylinders fitted to their .45's and reamed with minimum spec chambers.

Post before mine referenced leverguns, that tend to be among the worst offenders.

IMHO, people love to claim some firearm or cartridge "won the west" and it sounds romantic but no inanimate object can take that credit. The west was won by people. Some good, some bad. Much of this was done long before the metallic cartridge came into existence.

 

[dickydalton]

This one bulges the cases near the base when I load them a little hotter.

DSC00018

• dickydalton
• Nov 5, 2018

94 AE Trapper 45 Colt

 

[jski]

I'm not a fan of their chamber dimensions but I have a dozen .45Colt's and half of them are SAA's. It's a well known fact that .45Colt guns tend to have oversized chambers and throats. My Colt New Frontier has .457" throats and that is typical. This is why a good many folks have .357 cylinders fitted to their .45's and reamed with minimum spec chambers.

Post before mine referenced leverguns, that tend to be among the worst offenders.

IMHO, people love to claim some firearm or cartridge "won the west" and it sounds romantic but no inanimate object can take that credit. The west was won by people. Some good, some bad. Much of this was done long before the metallic cartridge came into existence.

CraigC, are you telling me if I were to measure the chamber throats on my .45 Colt S&W Mountain Gun, they’d measure greater than .45”? Something like .455”?

Isn’t the throat diameter supposed to be smaller than the bullet diameter by definition?

 

[mdauben]

I think there is no question that the .44Mag/Spl is more popular than the .45Colt.

I think the more interesting question is, which is more popular the .44spl or the .45Colt? Certainly there are not a huge number of guns currently chambered for the .44Spl (ignoring those actually chambered for the .44Mag). I think most of the current production guns for both rounds are single-action western revolvers (AFAIK, the Charter Arms Bulldog is the only double-action .44Spl revolver, and along wit the S&W Model 25 are the only double-action .45 colt revolvers currently in production?)

 

[MaxP]

I think there is no question that the .44Mag/Spl is more popular than the .45Colt.

I think the more interesting question is, which is more popular the .44spl or the .45Colt? Certainly there are not a huge number of guns currently chambered for the .44Spl (ignoring those actually chambered for the .44Mag). I think most of the current production guns for both rounds are single-action western revolvers (AFAIK, the Charter Arms Bulldog is the only double-action .44Spl revolver, and along wit the S&W Model 25 are the only double-action .45 colt revolvers currently in production?)

The Redhawk is available in .45 Colt as well as far as double-actions are concerned. And that’s a platform that can be loaded rather warmly if need be.....

 

[CraigC]

With the proliferation of .45Colt in CAS and 19th century replicas, along with the New Vaquero and various other Rugers, I'd say the .45Colt is definitely more popular than .44Spl-chambered guns.

How we would determine which is the most popular, however, I have no idea. ATF figures are too vague.

 

[zanders]

I think there is no question that the .44Mag/Spl is more popular than the .45Colt.

I think the more interesting question is, which is more popular the .44spl or the .45Colt? Certainly there are not a huge number of guns currently chambered for the .44Spl (ignoring those actually chambered for the .44Mag). I think most of the current production guns for both rounds are single-action western revolvers (AFAIK, the Charter Arms Bulldog is the only double-action .44Spl revolver, and along wit the S&W Model 25 are the only double-action .45 colt revolvers currently in production?)

There is a GP-100 chambered in 44 special.