Quick Tip: .45 Caliber Revolver Cartridges

When you see Brownells Gun Tech™ Steve Ostrem with a brace of revolvers and cartridges on the table in front of him, you know you're in for a treat! Today, Uncle Steve takes us on a short tour of .45 caliber revolver cartridges. The two earliest rounds are the .45 Colt (aka .45 Long Colt), developed for the Colt Model 1873 Peacemaker, and the shorter .45 Schofield (aka .45 Smith & Wesson), developed for the Smith & Wesson Model 3 top-break revolver. The U.S. Army had both guns in service - with the inevitable ammo supply chain problems! The .45 Schofield propels a 200-grain bullet at about 700 fps, while the .45 Long Colt pushes a 250-grain bullet even faster. The .45 ACP was developed for the Colt 1911 pistol designed by John Browning, and... wait, that's an autoloader, aren't we talking about revolvers? Yes, and with the aid of moon clips, revolvers such as Smith & Wesson's Model 1917 and Model 625 can be chambered in .45 ACP. .45 Auto Rim is basically a .45 ACP with a thick rim on the case so it can be chambered in these revolvers without using moon clips. The .454 Casull is a lengthened, higher-pressure .45 Long Colt "Magnum" that pushes a 250-grain bullet at 2,000 fps or a 400-grain bullet at 1,400 fps, which is nearly identical to the .45-70 rifle cartridge. The .460 S&W dwarfs the .454 Casull and was designed as a pure hunting round with heavy, high-velocity bullets. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the .45 Cowboy Special is a .45 Long Colt case shortened to .45 ACP length to let cowboy action shooters load ammo with small charges of fast-burning powder, which is not safe to use in the large .45 Colt cases. Steve explains how he used the .45 Cowboy to answer a question before he started removing metal from a revolver cylinder.