No discussion of .44 vs.45 Mountain Guns would be complete without a link to Mr. Linebaugh's articles. For those not familiar with him he is a well established custom gunsmith that has specialized in the development of the very large bore rounds that are available today. The .475, .480, and .500's are his specialty. He has the equipment to test rounds thoroughly and has developed rounds that he has used extensively in several of his field carry revolvers. He can carry what ever he wants in grizzly country and carries a smith 25-5. It's worth the read.

Gunnotes...Smith & Wesson Mod 25-5

Also to the moon clip question: 45 colt cylinder can be set up to run with 45acp in moon clips. You can still load 45 colt rounds without the clips. If I recall there is a shop that specialized in this called pinnacle. You just have to send the cylinder so no expensive shipping.