I just sold my 45 ACP auto. I like the round but really didn't care for the pistol. I've decided to buy a 625 because I like to shoot revolvers a lot more than autos. I might add that I also reload and I might want to do some IPSC shooting down the road.

The decision now at hand is caliber. I'm totally unfamilar with the 45 Colt caliber and the cost of reloading it. It seems that all of the componets are more expensive. I see people selling 45 ACP fired brass for 5 cents everywhere. 45 Colt fired brass seems non-existant. Also there seems to be many used 45 ACP guns out there and very few 45 Colts.

Is there any advantage to reduced recoil from a 625 and 45 Colt?

Are there any advantages to the 45 Colt caliber? Seems to me it's a resurrected caliber for Cowboy shooters and not much else.

I'm leaning toward 45 ACP unless someone can change my mind. Moon clips and all.

Thanks

Jim

The long Colt is a fine cartridge and has proven itself over the years. In my youger years thats all I shot, but since you are set up for the ACP I would suggest staying with that fine cartridge which is also a proven round. It is more readily avaliable and alot less expensive. I currentlly own a 625-2,3inch and would not part with this one ever. I'd lean more to the ACP unless you want to experiance a part of history. Once had a Uberti Sheriffs model 3 inch barrel could hit a 8 inch dia. plate a 100 yards easily with it and that was a long colt. Could hear it wang the plate clearly every time. Hope this helps up to you both are good choices.

I was out this morning shooting both my M25-5 in .45 Colt and my 625-3 in .45acp. Both shoot very well, and lucky for me the 25-5 loves jacketed bullets even though it has oversized throats. Nostalgia-wise, I would keep the .45 Colt gun if I could have only one, but from a practical shooting standpoint the ACP rules the roost...luckily I don't have to choose.

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Run Fast, Bite Hard!

You could squeeze a bit more out of a 45 LC with heavier bullets if you wanted to use it for hunting but there is not much a 625 in 45 ACP won't take care of. If I could only keep one of my revolvers it would be my 45 ACP 625.

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AL
Pax Per Potens

I hate it when people give vague answers but for this one I am going to be a bit hazy in my reply.

I have 7 revolvers in 45 Colt but only one is a Smith and its a keeper - the 3" 625-7. There are only 149 others out there. They probably live at Allen Frame's house.

I have a 625-3 4" in ACP and just ran into another really cool 45 ACP revo that I will reveal here if I can work the deal.

For versatility, I like the Long Colt Ctg. For UNIversatility, I favor the ACP.

It seems to me that the Smiths in 45 Colt are more collectable because there are fewer and the guys who like them will happily open their wallet.

If I were you, I would look for an ACP but if the Colt came around first, I would buy it and keep looking.

You will enjoy them both and kick yourself for letting either pass you bye. Get pre locks and you will open yourself to a broader market should you choose to sell them but I'm sure you know that.

After owning a couple, any decent Smith in either chambering for $700 or less has no chance of escape if I come across it. Those priced higher but still within the realm of sanity better hide too if I'm in that "Who gives a spit?" mood.

They are THAT great. You're about to make yourself very happy.

Just a side note - you mention people selling 45 acp brass on the cheap. Don't do it. If you don't know the full history on the brass, don't load it. Buy new brass, or use brass from newly manufactured factory ammo.

I created the best of both worlds, I picked up a 625 45LC and had the cylinder mach for moon clips. Now I can shoot both and love it, Its is my never sell gun.

I will not try and talk you into the .45LC. Go with the .45acp.

45 ACP for me."Best revolver cartridge "

Another vote for the 625 in 45 ACP. With moon clips being relatively cheap to purchase in bulk I consider that feature a huge PLUS. Hitting the range with 2 or 3 boxes of ammo clipped up means that you can spend most of your time working on your shooting skills instead of reloading. Another plus is that you can take the empty hulls home still in the clips which means lost casings won't happen unless you forget them. Final plus is that 45 ACP ammunition is easy to find almost anywhere.

Can't say that about the 45LC, in my area there is only one range I know of that carries this ammunition in stock and it's not cheap. Another concern with the 45LC is that some makers, such as Buffalo Bore, are hot rodding the 45LC to Magnum pressure levels. I am not at all confidant that the cylinder on the 625 can withstand Magnum pressures in a casing the diameter of the 45LC. IMO if you want to play with the 45LC it makes more sense to go with the 460 Magnum so you can shoot all "flavors" of this particular cartridge.

Avery11 pretty much hit the nail on the head. I've got 625s in both .45 ACP AND .45 Colt ctg... waiting to pick up a Model of 1917 from my FFL and and have a Uberti Remington reproduction in Long Colt... you really need a revolver in both cartridges... you know... just in case!

Blessings in your decision making process... IMHO you can't make a bad decision other than NOT getting one or the other.

Hog

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Isaiah 55:8-9
Phil. 4:13

I second the 45 Colt machined for full moon clips. The best of both worlds.

You sure know how to open a can of worms,ACP brass is more common and cheaper, but the LC can be loaded hotter in modern guns (I color code my hot loads to keep them out of older guns). I would tend to go with ACP and full moon clips.
That said if I already had an ACP revolver and someone offered me a LC
, do you want to see the fastest wallet in the west?
I understand your frustration with the 1911, If it weren't for an old range master who told me he had to teach me how to shoot that thing or he would spend the rest of his life building target frames. He and Clint Smith(Thunder Ranch) convinced me the 1911s are superb SD weapons.You might reconsider them at a later date.

I have a Colt S80 Gov't. Purchased for the nostalga factor. Nice to look at but never really warmed up to it. I seriously doubt that I will ever be able to shoot it. The gun I sold was Sig and I couldn't shoot it either. Just call me auto challenged.

After reading the replys I'm going with the ACP.

Thanks.

I gotta roll with the Hog Shooter on this. The ONLY mistake you can make is to buy NEITHER. You really should own BOTH , as the Hog Shooter and I do. IMHO, .45ACP ammo is cheaper to shoot and more easily found on store shelves than .45 Colt. The .45 Colt is more versatile, with range of factory ammo available from heavy hunting loads to mild cowboy loads......

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I have been using the S&W Mod 25-2 in 45 ACP since the early 1970's.

I carried one for a Duty gun for several years.

I would much prefer it to a S&W in 45 Colt.
Besides the ease of using moon clips, there are many more different kinds of loads for the 45 ACP and you can find ammo for it most anywhere.

If you need more powerful loads for the field you can eother buy some of the Buffalo Bore rounds or load them yourself.

Since I still have 1911's I always loaded the mower field loads in Auto Rim cases, or used a bullet that would make sure I did not soot them in a 1911, like a SWC.

All is forgiven someday the 1911 will be a good friend to have around. In the meantime you can get your thrills from some fine revolvers.

The 45 Colt is a fine cartridge, easy to handload and, as others have pointed out, capable of a little more oomph out of a S&W 25/625 type of revolver. Handloading it is not any more expensive generally speaking than the ACP round, once brass is acquired. The brass is more expensive, but a couple hundred rounds of Starline or some other good new brass ought to last you a good long time.

All of that said, I prefer the ACP revolver. Moon clips.....I imagine speed loaders can be had for the 45 Colt, but I'm not sure I've ever seen them. Loaded ammo is quite a bit cheaper, as is brass, and the power level is not too much less. As someone else said, unless you plan to hunt larger critters with it, I'd tilt in favor of the auto round.

I'd forget them both and go with a 44mag/44 special, preferably a 4 inch Model 29-2 or 29-3.

I am wondering about this too. Awhile back I bought a S&W 625-5 Long Colt 45 made in the early 80's I think. It is in great condition and I am going to shoot it this month at a range.
Since I shoot one handed with my revolvers, I am wondering if I better start off two handed and wondering about the recoil. I won't be shooting it much and I only shoot factory rounds. Mine is 4" barrel. I consider it too big for my concealed carry
but it is great for home defense, or even vehicle defense, but so big I would have to carry in a fanny pack the way I dress.

Texas, I don't see any need to be concerned bout the recoil of the 45LC as long as you stay with a load that conforms to it's original specification. That loading will have ballistics that are basically a duplicate of the 45 ACP. BTW, it's my impression that the 45 ACP as issued by the US military was an intentional duplicate of the ballistics of the 45LC because the Army had good experience with that older loading. With the mass of a 625 that means it will shoot only a bit stiffer that 38 spl. in the lighter K frames.

Where you'll have to exercise some caution is with some of the non standard loadings. Buffalo Bore lists a +P 45 LC "Heavy" that pushes a 325 grain bullet to 1325 FPS from a 7.5 inch barrel. Frankly, I don't know how that is even remotely possible from a +P variant of a cartridge that is specified to operate at 14,000 CUP. I suspect that particular load is probably running over 28,000 PSI, which means it's a big bore Magnum and doesn't conform to a true +P specification. In an N frame cylinder bored out to size for a 45 caliber I'm not confident it's a safe load to use. I'll also note that Buffalo Bore specifically states this load is only safe in LARGE frame Rugers and similar revolvers, it's not safe to use in smaller frames.

I'm not going to tell you which one to get.

I can help you out the .45 Colt reloading costs and I can tell you that the .45 Colt is good for a whole lot more than Cowboy Shootin'.

.45 Colt Brass exists a plenty from Starline at a good price with Free shipping: Starline Brass - Maker of America's Finest Handgun Brass. Buying them by the thousand:
.45 ACP $0.15 each shipped
.45 Colt $0.17 each shipped

Theres lots of used brass for sale on gun broker but, people pay more for it than they can get it new from Starline for. Why? I have no idea.

I've traded for, picked up at the range, or bought used when I find a deal, many hundreds of used .45 Colt Cases and they do just fine. I've had a handful split but some of my brass is going on many as 12 reloads now. Out of ~2500 cases I'm not sweating a handful of splits.

As for the reloading costs, I cast my own bullets. The bullet is the most expensive part of loaded ammo. I get me lead free from the berm at my club and I am not including the cost of my casting and reloading equipment and brass because its all now paid for itself at least twice.

For my middle of the road loads which uses a 255gr Cast RNFP bullet:

A Winchester WLP primer costs me $0.037 and 8.5 grains of Unique costs me $0.0012 and figure 2 sticks of lube per 1000 bullets cost me $3.30.

That puts my current reloading cost is $0.05 a round, or $52.88 per thousand.

If I was buying 1000 250gr cast bullets from a local source they would run $110.00 per 1000. That would push the reloaded round cost to $0.16 a round or $159.58 per thousand.

By comparison a box of CCI Blazer or Ultramax Cowboy runs $35 a box of 50. Winchester SuperX 255gr Lead RF box of 20 runs $18-$19. The SuperX is the equivalent of my middle of the read loads.

As for versatility, I can load every thing from 140gr round ball "cat sneeze" loads to 350gr "thumpers" that get up in to .45-70 territory.

You wouldn't use thumpers in your 625 though, in a Ruger or a rifle then OK.

For the S&W model 25/625 a nice load would be the 270-SAA (Keith type bullet) over 10gr of Unique. That will give you a ~285 gr bullet @ 1,050 fps with ~20,000 psi.

My vote is for a .45 Colt and cut it for moon clips. The .45 Colt is incredibly versatile. (Nice input Ziptar!!) The ACP is a venerable defensive caliber also. A re-loader will definitely make out best with the .45 Colt proposition. I shoot 255 grainers at @ 750fps to 340 grainers at @ 1250fps in .45 Colt. My 625-6 Mountain Gun is a gun that will be near the very bottom of my list of getting rid of. My lowly opinion is an ACP belongs in a semi-auto. No offense to the many wheelgun ACP shooters out there. Not a thing in the world wrong with them, just not my cup of Jo. Shoot safely and in good health.

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Go big or stay home

I forgot to meniton that .45 Colt speed loaders can be had here.

www.bobmacs.com/variantcatalog.htm

Find one in 45 Colt and have a 45 ACP cyl fitted then you done have to choose.

I would be inclined to the 45ACP. I had a 625-6 until it was stolen; easily the best made revolver I had ever handled. The main reason for me is logistics; I am trying to reduce the # of calibers I have to feed. The 45 Colt is a fine and flexible round, but for me does nothing that the ACP would not do. In addition, to really take the LC to its potential requires taking it to places an N frame should not have to tolerate.
You can buy or load a ton of ACP and be able to use it in both autopistols or the revolver, or buy/load some interesting loads in AR brass and be good to go for any purpose anywhere in the US except dangerous game in Alaska.

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NHI, 10-8.