Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I had to postpone my trip until today, Lol self employment doesn't mean you have a free hand all the time. lol anyway I will be slavering over guns in a few hours. My lil' Dude is going with too, he's as big a shooting enthusiast as me. he's got some yard cleaning, leaf raking and Xmas money burning a hole in his pocket. he's thinking he wants a .22 pistol. He loves my Walther P22 but he wants one of his very own. He's leaning toward a Ruger Single Six I think. He likes the Old West Appeal of a single action. I'm looking for anothe .45 Colt handgun but who knows, Scheels has a rather large selection of goodies and it may put me in a bit of a quandry. Such decisions can be SO difficult.
Your kid might want to look at the Cimarron Plinkerton. It's also a .22 single action, but a bit less expensive. The quality of the one I recently purchased is good, and the finish is decent. The weight and balance are very similar to my Ruger Vaqueros, so it feels almost the same when handling. In my opinion, the quality is better than expected for the price of the gun. It's not as nicely appointed as the Ruger, but is priced much lower, leaving a fair amount of money for ammo, holsters, etc. I don't know if those are things your boy would need, but it's food for thought anyway.
Well the little guy ended up getting a high powered air rifle. he figgers he can help the barn cats with rodent issues I guess. Weare also gettting ramped up for the coming competition season. This will be his first year in Steel Challenge starting out in C class. I built him a Para 1911 .45 ACP but it seems the frame is a bit large for his hands right now. I'll have to pick him up a standard frame. he won't even consider a lighter caliber than a .45. I thought maybe I would start him out on a .38 revolver but he wants the big daddy. Can't blame him I guess, the plates are sure to fall with a .45. No second shot required. I'll be teaching him about operating the press too. It will be a good year. I could not find the pistol I wanted. No one had any thing in the way of a 25 Smith and I got looked at like I was from Mars when I asked. "Who wants one of THOSE" they tells me. Some of the clowns these big stores hire. I'm sticking with small gun shops. Thats where the REAL shooters hang out anyway. It was fun looking around though. I did fondle a Ruger Alaskan in .45 casull. What a BEAST. And only a 3 inch barrel. . Well off to the loading bench....
M3 Mitch, and NVPlummer - I was out at the shooting range yesterday to test the cartridges I reloaded using the new RCBS .45 ACP dies, and my Colt 1911 worked perfectly well with all 50 rounds that I shot, no jams or misfeeds!
Coolness Mike! I just ordered 1500 rounds of brand new brass from Starline. .45 Colt and .45 ACP. I've been having some issues with that Para I built for the lil' dude. It's pulling an early lock back thing. I got part of it figured out as a magazine issue and I think the other part is a slide stop problem. I'm gonna drop another stop in sometime this week and see if that cures it. Other than that the thing shoots great! Kinda ticked me off cause it shoots almost as well as my custom and I ain't dropped NEAR the denerio into it. LMAO. Only a serious shooter would complain about that. That was using factory ball ammo too so we'll see how it stacks upwhen I get some of my pet handloads into it. What flavor of 1911 is it your using?
Coolness Mike! I just ordered 1500 rounds of brand new brass from Starline. .45 Colt and .45 ACP. I've been having some issues with that Para I built for the lil' dude. It's pulling an early lock back thing. I got part of it figured out as a magazine issue and I think the other part is a slide stop problem. I'm gonna drop another stop in sometime this week and see if that cures it. Other than that the thing shoots great! Kinda ticked me off cause it shoots almost as well as my custom and I ain't dropped NEAR the denerio into it. LMAO. Only a serious shooter would complain about that. That was using factory ball ammo too so we'll see how it stacks upwhen I get some of my pet handloads into it. What flavor of 1911 is it your using?
I think we need a general "guns and shooting" thread (or even a subforum). I was just looking at the title of this thread (.45 Colt vs .44 Mag), and laughing, because the last few posts have been about 1911s (.45 ACP). Since we are on that topic at the moment, my 1911's a Para P14 Limited. It's very dependable, and hasn't ever misfired, that I can remember. I haven't reloaded for it yet, so that was with factory new, or factory reloaded ammo. I like it a lot, but haven't shot it in a while. I took it out to the range with me today, but didn't end up shooting it at all. It's probably feeling neglected right about now, because the last few times I've been out, I've been shooting rifles, for the most part.
I think we need a general "guns and shooting" thread (or even a subforum). I was just looking at the title of this thread (.45 Colt vs .44 Mag), and laughing, because the last few posts have been about 1911s (.45 ACP). Since we are on that topic at the moment, my 1911's a Para P14 Limited. It's very dependable, and hasn't ever misfired, that I can remember. I haven't reloaded for it yet, so that was with factory new, or factory reloaded ammo. I like it a lot, but haven't shot it in a while. I took it out to the range with me today, but didn't end up shooting it at all. It's probably feeling neglected right about now, because the last few times I've been out, I've been shooting rifles, for the most part.
Lol yea it has been suggested (I'll get around to asking the mods one of these days) that we change the title to "big bore handgun bull session". That DOES seem more appropriate. I have had a few range sessions with friends of mine where we have had .45/.44 matchups. the magnums have not toppled the old Colt yet. It's a strictly handloading proposition to get that kind of performance out of the old Colt but if you have .45 Colt firearm of any kind and don't handload it's pretty spendy. That is the biggest advantage of the .44. factory ammo is more plentiful and much more diverse than what is available for the.45LC. More guns for it too. But I like to be different so I stuck with the ol' warhorse
I think we need a general "guns and shooting" thread (or even a subforum). I was just looking at the title of this thread (.45 Colt vs .44 Mag), and laughing, because the last few posts have been about 1911s (.45 ACP). Since we are on that topic at the moment, my 1911's a Para P14 Limited. It's very dependable, and hasn't ever misfired, that I can remember. I haven't reloaded for it yet, so that was with factory new, or factory reloaded ammo. I like it a lot, but haven't shot it in a while. I took it out to the range with me today, but didn't end up shooting it at all. It's probably feeling neglected right about now, because the last few times I've been out, I've been shooting rifles, for the most part.
We're still in the same topic, even though we talked about reloading .45 ACP ammo, since we're discussing .45 caliber weapons in general, I also mentioned that I mistakingly bought the RCBS .45 Colt reloading dies, instead of the .45 ACP, and I just now noticed that 9 years later! I've been using the wrong dies! So we're not too far off the topic.
Coolness Mike! I just ordered 1500 rounds of brand new brass from Starline. .45 Colt and .45 ACP. I've been having some issues with that Para I built for the lil' dude. It's pulling an early lock back thing. I got part of it figured out as a magazine issue and I think the other part is a slide stop problem. I'm gonna drop another stop in sometime this week and see if that cures it. Other than that the thing shoots great! Kinda ticked me off cause it shoots almost as well as my custom and I ain't dropped NEAR the denerio into it. LMAO. Only a serious shooter would complain about that. That was using factory ball ammo too so we'll see how it stacks upwhen I get some of my pet handloads into it. What flavor of 1911 is it your using?
Thanks NVPlummer, my 1911 is a Colt, I'd have to look at it again to see which series it is, but it has the good trigger for accuracy, and it's the blue finish. I believe it was made around 1994.
Mike, glad you found your "root cause". Maybe you were wearing a 10 gallon hat when you bought those dies, and the guy behind the counter figured you just *had* to be wanting .45 Colt, not .45 ACP? Caliber designations can be confusing. Dedicated gun guys know the various rounds that are out there, but there must be a dozen various "series" names (25-20, 44-40, etc. 30/06, 25/06, 338/06 etc. 22 Hornet, 218 Bee, 219 Zipper, 220 Swift, etc.) All the numbers have some meaning, but they are not very consistant!
Mike, glad you found your "root cause". Maybe you were wearing a 10 gallon hat when you bought those dies, and the guy behind the counter figured you just *had* to be wanting .45 Colt, not .45 ACP? Caliber designations can be confusing. Dedicated gun guys know the various rounds that are out there, but there must be a dozen various "series" names (25-20, 44-40, etc. 30/06, 25/06, 338/06 etc. 22 Hornet, 218 Bee, 219 Zipper, 220 Swift, etc.) All the numbers have some meaning, but they are not very consistant!
Actually the numbers are "consistent" in that they use measurments to name the cartrige. The first ones you mentioned (25/20, 38/40 etc) are all dubbed by diameter and powder charge. 38 caliber 40 grains of ffg black powder. 30/06 30 caliber adopted in 1906, 220 Swift .220 sectional density etc. It IS confusing at first though I agree. Handloading is probably my favorite pastime. I love to formulate a laod and test it for terminal performance and accuracy. Makes me feel like a mad scientist in a wayLMAO.. Getting out the dial caliper and powder scale, pouring over ballistic tables and burn rate charts, making up a "test media" for penetration tests etc. It's just plain FUN ya know! My most pwerhouse load I ever worked up for the old Colt was with a 300 grain Hornady XTP and 21 grains of H100 with a CCI magnum primer. (Magnum primer a must for this powder, standard won't spark it right and half the powder will end up falling out the muzzle, especially in a 4 3/4 inch barrel). I found this load worked best in my 1894 Marlin "Cowboy". It likes long tubes as that gives the powder more time to build the right pressure curve. This load penetrated three wet phone books and blew a milk jug full of water behind them to pieces and left my .44 mag packing buddy standing with his mouth agape. No recovered slug either. Lol it kept going it seems. Hornady makes GREAT bullets for the .45 Colt. I usually kep them a bit tamer though and favor the Sierra 200 grin FPJ and the Hornady 250 XTP with Unique , 231 and Red Dot. I also use a 200 grain cast flat point that works VERY well in all my .45's with 6.5 to 7.2 grains of Red Dot. Red Dot is probably my favorite all around for the old Colt. Please not, however that these loads are NOT for grandads Peacemaker. Test guns were Colt Anaconda, Marlin 1894 and Ruger Blackhawk
Last edited by NVplumber; 01-20-2009 at 10:46 PM..
Reason: Clarity
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
, Lol self employment doesn't mean you have a free hand all the time. lol anyway I will be slavering over guns in a few hours. My lil' Dude is going with too, he's as big a shooting enthusiast as me. he's got some yard cleaning, leaf raking and Xmas money burning a hole in his pocket. he's thinking he wants a .22 pistol. He loves my Walther P22 but he wants one of his very own
. He's leaning toward a Ruger Single Six I think. He likes the Old West Appeal of a single action. I'm looking for anothe .45 Colt handgun but who knows, Scheels has a rather large selection of goodies and it may put me in a bit of a quandry. Such decisions can be SO difficult.
. Weare also gettting ramped up for the coming competition season. This will be his first year in Steel Challenge starting out in C class. I built him a Para 1911 .45 ACP but it seems the frame is a bit large for his hands right now. I'll have to pick him up a standard frame. he won't even consider a lighter caliber than a .45. I thought maybe I would start him out on a .38 revolver but he wants the big daddy. Can't blame him I guess, the plates are sure to fall with a .45. No second shot required. I'll be teaching him about operating the press too. It will be a good year. I could not find the pistol I wanted. No one had any thing in the way of a 25 Smith and I got looked at like I was from Mars when I asked. "Who wants one of THOSE" they tells me
. Well off to the loading bench....
. That was using factory ball ammo too so we'll see how it stacks upwhen I get some of my pet handloads into it. What flavor of 1911 is it your using?
. Getting out the dial caliper and powder scale, pouring over ballistic tables and burn rate charts, making up a "test media" for penetration tests etc. It's just plain FUN ya know! My most pwerhouse load I ever worked up for the old Colt was with a 300 grain Hornady XTP and 21 grains of H100 with a CCI magnum primer. (Magnum primer a must for this powder, standard won't spark it right and half the powder will end up falling out the muzzle, especially in a 4 3/4 inch barrel). I found this load worked best in my 1894 Marlin "Cowboy". It likes long tubes as that gives the powder more time to build the right pressure curve. This load penetrated three wet phone books and blew a milk jug full of water behind them to pieces and left my .44 mag packing buddy standing with his mouth agape
