(Frank will like to chew on this one...) I hear about the Colt .45 "Peacemaker", and I also hear about the .44. ("Ridin' the range once more...totin' my old .44") Which is considered to be THE Cowboy Pistol? Hal (Here's my Ruger Blackhawk Single Action .45)
1873 Colt SA Army in 45 Colt Have an original one and a New Model Ruger Vaquero Most of the 44's as said were marked 44wcf actually 44-40 cal very few in 44 spl, also many in 38-40 38 wcf both which were also in the M73 Win lever actions and others of the time frame
@Tex Dennis @Hal Pollner As neither mentioned, I'll throw in the ".45 Long Colt", .45LC. I believe Hal's long-barreled Blackhawk is likely chambered for .45LC, which is a straight-walled cartridge case slightly longer than the .45 Automatic Pistol Cartridge (.45 ACP) designed by John Browning for his newly designed .45 semi-auto pistol. Many Blackhawks were shipped with two cylinders, one chambered for the rimmed .45LC, the other bored to seat the front edge of the rimless .45ACP cartridge, thus allowing use of either round. Frank
Frank going to fuss some correctly it is 45 Colt not long colt, look at ammo boxes and catalogs. Long colt is a street slang, prove me wrong , through fussing here. I have 2 of them! I used to say the same a friend got me there corrected. Had to fuss some as gas just went up today! Keep your great posts up!
@Tex Dennis You are of course correct! Not that I knew that, however. In my wanderings about the firearms' "street world", I always heard the term "Long Colt". However consulting just now with my most current edition of the Speer Reloading Manual, I found no reference whatever of that term. Frank
The term "Long Colt" is used to differentiate it from the ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge, which is used in the 1911 Govt. semi-auto pistol, and also in the Thompson Submachine Gun. The correct term, of course is .45 Colt. When you see Chuck Connors spit out 12 bullets from his Winchester model 94 rifle, you know they're not .30-30 bullets, but are .38's. Hal
@Hal Pollner The Winchester Model 94 used by Connors had no "disconnect", as did none of that model, and thus rapid movement of the lever while holding down the trigger would probably NOT cause it to rapid-fire, but rather throw all the unfired rounds out on the ground. I could try it, and report back. Historically, some semi-automatic arms sold to the public have been known, for a variety of reasons and circumstances, to go "full-auto". One such very popular rifle was the Winchester Model 63, of which my Dad bought a brand-new one for $55 when i was about 11 or 12. It was to be my "first gun". Over the years, I fired literally thousands of rounds of .22 Long Rifle ammunition from that rifle, and never once experienced an "auto-fire". That tendency was revealed by John Ross in his monumental work, "Unintended Consequences". He explained that the sear/disconnect mechanism was prone to wear, causing the defect. Winchester discontinued production of the 63 in 1958. Reasons were not given. Frank
Have a replica of a 45 Cal 1873 Peacemaker hanging on a display plaque on the wall. It can be used for display or for a Western gun fight re-enactment. The barrel has a piece of steel in the middle, but does fire fake bullets (caps on the end), chamber rotates, hammer pulls back and locks, trigger works. Got it for Christmas a few years ago. I bought a Marshall Dillon (Gunsmoke) U.S. Marshall badge and glued on the wooden display plaque. Also have six 45 Cal fake bullets that I glued to the wooden display plaque.
@Faye Fox Was it like this one? Second generation Colt Single Action Army Introduced in 1873, used by military in the following: United States Wars American Indian Wars Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Mexican Revolution Second Boer War Irish War of Independence World War I World War II (limited use) Indonesian Revolution In production until the present time, with several non-production intervals. Of course, Ruger produced a very similar revolver, called the "Blackhawk". The early models before modifications were made, could be "fanned" by holding the trigger down, and fanning the hammer rapidly. Many learned this was not a safe practice (as did I!), as sometimes the hammer drop occurred while the cylinder was still in movement, with the result the round could be fired "out of time", meaning the bullet half-entered the barrel, the bullet being sliced in two, the portion outside the barrel flying haphazardly out sideways from the gun. Frank