My 1878 Colt D.A.. Prom king at the shooting range

[Wyatt Burp]

I finally shot my 1900 vintage 1878 Colt .45 yesterday. I just put ten shots through it at 15 yards but forgot to try double action. I will next time. Nothing impressive but really fun. A couple older guys at the range were thrilled to see one of these in person and actually being shot. They handled and took pictures of it.1900 is the year Colt approved smokeless in SAAs and I assume this gun, too so I was concerned with that. The loads were my friend's cowboy loads at 750 FPS. I had one of these before and shot BP handloads in cowboy matches with good results, but SA only. I have a lot of respect for this model, considered for years as the "illegitimate" step son of the Colt SAA and maybe still by some.

 

[jimmyj]

did the bullets 'keyhole" ?

 

[sigp220.45]

Very nice!

One of those is on the top of my “buy it when you see one” list.

I was watching the Rathbone/Bruce version of The Hound of the Baskervilles the other night, and Watson was packing an 1878 instead of his typical bulldog.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

did the bullets 'keyhole" ?

No, the 2nd five shot group put two each on top of each other and the fifth shot was on the right edge obscured by the gun's trigger guard in the picture. But shots were very low the 2nd time though I didn’t lower elevation much. Guess that was just me.

 

[Engineer1911]

If this is the Prom King, what did the Prom Queen look like?

 

[Babysitr]

that sucker is just plain cool!.....is it a real "handful" to shoot ?? it looks like it may be easy to control?

 

[BAM-BAM]

You're going all Billy the Kid!!

 

[bummer]

Very nice!

One of those is on the top of my “buy it when you see one” list.

I was watching the Rathbone/Bruce version of The Hound of the Baskervilles the other night, and Watson was packing an 1878 instead of his typical bulldog.

Did the front sight fall off between shots, or am I missing something?

 

[Wyatt Burp]

that sucker is just plain cool!.....is it a real "handful" to shoot ?? it looks like it may be easy to control?

It was pretty mild to shoot with the Fiochi .45 cowboy loads at 750 FPS my friend had. I only shot those in it.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

If this is the Prom King, what did the Prom Queen look like?

That would be my new 19-4 with earlier diamond grips. But I tell ya', that Trooper .357 was really something to shoot.

 

[Alpo]

Very nice!

One of those is on the top of my “buy it when you see one” list.

I was watching the Rathbone/Bruce version of The Hound of the Baskervilles the other night, and Watson was packing an 1878 instead of his typical bulldog.

Wonder if it was the same gun? In The adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939, which I believe was the second Basil/Nigel Holmes movie, Moriarty was disguised as a cop and was attempting to steal the crown jewels. Holmes was up in the Tower looking for him, and he had a 1878.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

 

[AJ]

Good to see that you are shooting the old Colt. I shoot a Colt Model 1909 U.S. Army in .45 Colt on a somewhat regular basis. I use a 250 grain cast slug over 5.6 grains of Bullseye and that gives me 750 FPS. I enjoy shooting it very much, it is a hoot to shoot a 113 year old gun.