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Question about 45 Long Colt

7K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Bob Wright 
#1 ·
Hey I'm new here but i just acquired a Taurus Judge.. supposed to shoot 45 long colts and 410.. my question is whats the difference between
45 LC and 45 colt.. I cant seem to find 45 LC in stores only 45 colts.. the gun says LC on it.. and it shoot 45 colts or do i have to find
Long Colts.. Any answers or comments will be appreciated.. thank you
 
#3 ·
Yes,they're the same.I don't recall the exact history,but the term Long Colt was unofficially used to differentiate that round from similar,shorter rounds of the time period.The exact round I don't remember,but there was a Russian,Schofield,Smith and Wesson,and a few other 45s around way back then.
 
#4 ·
Stevexxx011,
I ran into the same problem. Like "papahawk" says, the .45 Long Cold and the .45 Colt are the same. Differentiated from the .45 ACP shells used in the semi-auto pistols. Have to ask though... why did 'you' get the Taurus Judge?? Got mine for home defense. I've found shooting it for target practice is necessary but expensive. That, plus when I do shoot, the rear of the trigger guard tends to 'bite' my middle finger a bit. I get about the same kick whether using the .410 defense shells or the .45's
 
#7 ·
The "Long Colt" designation came about because the US Army decided to use a cartridge that was shorter than the standard .45 Colt cartridge of the M1873 Single-Action Army, so it would also fit the shorter cylinder of the S&W .45 Schofield revolver.
From then on, people were forced to ask for the .45 "Long" Colt cartridge, rather than "the shorter one," of they wanted the standard .45 Colt loading.

So when you use the word long in the cartridge name, it properly should be within quotation marks, indicating that it's sort of a nickname. So call it the .45 "Long" Colt cartridge, and understand that it's exactly the same as just plain .45 Colt.

BTW: The standard .45 ACP semi-automatic cartridge is still loaded to the same ballistics as the .45 "Long" Colt, by original request of the US Army.
 
#10 ·
Well, here's a few .45 revolver cartridges from the WW I era:



Somewhere somebody in the business decided to mate the 250 gr. bullet of the .45 Colt and load it in the .45 S&W case and call that the .45 Colt. No dice from the buying public. And Colt didn't like the idea of stamping ".45 S&W CTG." on their guns, so prevailed on the makers to call it the .45 Colt Govt.

Here's the H/S of the same cartridges:



Nothing to it, really.

Bob Wright
 
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