quote:

Originally posted by BlindJustice:
.44 Special because the cylinder walls are thicker ( approx. 0.022 inches do the math )

Thicker yes, but only approx .011. Yes, I did the math. The .44 is approx .022 smaller in DIAMETER than a .45, Theat is .011 per side so the chamber walls are thicker by .011.

With factory loads go with a .45 colt for the heavier bullet. With any REASONABLE hand load thay are pretty much a toss-up. There is absulutely no reason to soup up a fine 44 special or 45 colt S&W revolver. If you want more power in a .44 buy a .44 Mag.
Both .44 Specials and .45 Colts have been getting the job done for many years and I wouldn't want to have to live on the difference between them. They are both Very good so take your pick and be happy.

I rely on a .44 Special for a daily "carry gun." This is enough power in a small package (read: a 1991-vintage, 3" barreled, stainless steel, Charter Arms Bulldog) to "take the fight" out of anyone in short order.

Enough said.

Scott

I have both 44sp and 45 Colt guns. My 44 is a Model 341 that Taurus built some years back and shoots like a dream. I just picked up a Model 25 Mountain Gun in 45 Colt just a few weeks ago and have a Model 625 Mountain Gun in layaway at a local dealer right now and will pick it up before the end of the week, I hope. I really don't think you can go wrong with either caliber, both are extremely versatile and a handloader can do almost anything with either one of them. The 44sp might have a slight edge in accuracy but I doubt if one shooter out of a 100 would be able to tell much difference. Get 3 or 4 guns in each caliber and have a ball.

Howdy

Hope I'm not too late to chime in here. I have revolvers chambered for both 45 Colt and 44 Special. Lots of them. I've been loading 45 Colt for a zillion years, 44 Special for slightly less. Of course, 45 Colt is the most common round chambered in the SAA, and is very traditional to the gun. But if it wuz me, I think I would go with the 44 Sp. The reason is, the 45 Colt case is so huge inside that it is sometimes difficult to get an efficient powder burn with Smokeless powder. The smaller case capacity of the 44 Sp makes efficient powder burns easier to achieve. Of course the other side of that coin is that with a 45 Colt you can also fire 45 Schofield in it, which has a powder capacity roughly equal to 44 Special, and will achieve an efficient powder burn just as easily as 44 Special.

Colt sized their original revolvers for a .45 cal. bullet propelled by black powder.

Elmer started loading higher pressure loads when smokeless powder came about.

He kept working higher until his Single-Action-Army BLEW UP.

He then went to the .44 cal (actually .429, really a .43) because the cylinder walls were thicker, and Colt wasn't about to build a larger frame just for him. He could shoot the guns loose and stretch the frames, but they wouldn't blow up. So he discovered a happy medium where he could get maximum power and his guns would last.

He settled on slow-burning 2400 powder and regular large-pistol primers under efficient 240-grain lead slugs. When the magnum's longer cases came about, he got to use a hair more powder.

When Ruger developed his heavy single-actions, and stronger .45LC cases came in (I still have 5 old balloon-head cases that turned up in reloads) the difference between .44 and .45 faded away, like the proverbial old soldier.

But as shooters, we just love to dwell upon details. Jeff Cooper named this disease PII (Preoccupation With Inconsequential Increments).

Welcome to the club!

quote:

Originally posted by BlindJustice:
Must mess up some people in that S&W for this 2008 Catalogue offerings put out a 24 in .44 Spcl and a 25 in .45 Colt the same year 100 years ago that the original N-Frame in .44 Special was first offered with no model of note from the factory.

Shame that imho

Hey, never heard of a .44 ACP did You?

or a .41 ACP they certainly had enough time but hey let's just stick with what sells

Randall

There is the .41 AE. I will never understand why the .40 S&W caught on and the .41AE didn't. Actually, I do understand. it had more to do with marketing and $$$ behind the cartridge than it did actual performance.

quote:

Originally posted by sceva:

quote:

Originally posted by BlindJustice:
.44 Special because the cylinder walls are thicker ( approx. 0.022 inches do the math )

Thicker yes, but only approx .011. Yes, I did the math. The .44 is approx .022 smaller in DIAMETER than a .45, Theat is .011 per side so the chamber walls are thicker by .011.

Guys, I just measured the chamber wall thickness in my 25-9 and 624.

Web thickness between chambers at the rear of the cylinder averaged 0.089 inches in the .44 special; those in the .45 Colt averaged 0.063 inches. At the rear of the cylinder, the webs in the .44 special are 0.026 inches thicker than those in the .45 Colt.

Web thickness between the chambers at the front of the cylinder was 0.114 inches in the .44 special and 0.095 inches in the .45 Colt, a difference of 0.019 inches.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

Ron H., can you measure the thinnest part of a S&W .45LC cylinder, the thickness of the cylinder at the bottom of the cylinder stop cut?

This is the measurement that made Skeeter Skelton nervous.

quote:

Originally posted by KeithCarter:
Ron H., can you measure the thinnest part of a S&W .45LC cylinder, the thickness of the cylinder at the bottom of the cylinder stop cut?

This is the measurement that made Skeeter Skelton nervous.

Sir, alas, I do not have a way to take that measurement directly. The best I can do is measure the thickness of the outer chamber wall and depth of the stop cut and subtract.

Using that admittedly inexact method, the dimension on my 25-9 (.45 Colt) is about 0.023 inches--0.067 wall thickness minus 0.044 slot depth. On my 624 (.44 special), the dimension is about 0.033 inches--0.077 minus 0.044. So the .44 special is about 10 thousandths thicker there than the .45 Colt is.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.