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45 Colt vs 45 ACP: Battle of the Colt 45’s

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Elderberry:
Guns & Ammo by ohn Taffin

If there were ever two handgun cartridges that could be classified as ubiquitously American, then it would be the 45 Long Colt and the 45 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP). With a combined service life of over two centuries, both have served as the sidearm cartridge for the U.S. Army and are still used in various applications today in civilian circles.

Although the 45 Colt and 45 ACP have similar naming conventions, they are not interchangeable and are used in completely different firearms. The 45 LC is predominantly a revolver cartridge while the 45 ACP is used in semi-automatic handguns.

In this article we will compare two of the most iconic 45-caliber handgun cartridges in American history so that you can have a deeper understanding of each and what makes them an excellent choice for your next firearm purchase.

Table of Contents
•   What is The Difference Between 45 Long Colt vs 45 ACP?
      o   Cartridge Specs
      o   Stopping Power/Kinetic Energy
      o   Recoil
      o   Velocity/Penetration
      o   Magazine Capacity
      o   Hunting
      o   Concealed Carry/Home Defense
      o   Ammo and Handgun Cost/Availability
      o   Reloading
•   Ballistics: .45 Long Colt vs .45 ACP
      o   .45 Colt Ballistics
      o   .45 ACP Ballistics
•   .45 Colt Development and History
•   .45 ACP Development and History
•   Final Shots: .45 Colt vs .45 ACP

What is The Difference Between 45 Long Colt vs 45 ACP?

The difference between 45 Long Colt and 45 ACP is the case design and the original powder used in each cartridge. The 45 Long Colt is a rimmed revolver round designed to use black powder while the 45 ACP is a rimless cartridge designed for use in semi-automatic pistols with smokeless powder.

Cartridge Specs

When comparing two handgun rounds, it’s a good practice to examine the cartridge specs to gain a better understanding of each.

Perhaps the most obvious difference between the 45 Long Colt (LC or Colt for short) and 45 Auto is their case length. The 45 LC has a case length of 1.285” compared to 0.898” for the 45 ACP. The overall length of the 45 Colt is also longer at 1.6” compared to 1.275” for 45 Auto.

With a longer case, it’s no surprise that the 45 LC has a higher case capacity than the 45 ACP. The 45 LC case can house upwards of 41.6 grains of propellant compared to 26.7 gr for the 45 Auto.

Although the 45 Long Colt can handle over 50% more powder than the 45 ACP, the 45 LC has a lower maximum pressure of 14,000 psi compared to 21,000 psi for 45 ACP as established by SAAMI. This is perhaps one of the biggest differences between the two cartridges: the 45 Colt cartridge was designed to use black powder while the 45 ACP was designed to be fired with smokeless powder.

As black powder produces considerably less pressure than modern smokeless powders, extreme caution needs to be observed when using modern 45 Long Colt cartridges in classic revolvers. As these revolvers were not designed to handle the higher pressures modern ammo can produce, a catastrophic failure might result causing damage to the firearm and potentially the shooter.

It should also be noted that the bullet diameter is the same for both cartridges. The cast lead bullet diameter is used in the table above of 0.452”, full metal jacket (fmj) or jacketed hollow point (jhp) bullets will have a diameter of 0.451” for both cartridges.

Although both handgun rounds fire the same diameter bullet, the 45 Long Colt will generally fire heavier bullets as it was designed to fire a 250 gr cast lead bullet while the 45 ACP was developed using the 230 gr fmj bullet in mind.

The 45 Long Colt can fire bullets between 180 and 335 gr, with the 225 and 250 grain bullets being the most popular. In contrast, the 45 ACP can fire bullets between 135 and 250 gr with the 185 and 230 gr options outstripping all other factory loads.

More: https://ammo.com/comparison/45-colt-vs-45-acp

Elderberry:
45 Colt Load Data

Guns & Ammo By John Taffin

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/45-colt-load-data/370003


--- Quote ---It's pretty hard to find any other handgun cartridge that is as versatile as the good old 45 Colt. If you're into reloading, here's some valuable load data to get you started.

In 1935 we entered the “Magnum Sixgun Era” with the arrival of the 357 Magnum; however, long before that we had the 45 Colt. The 45 Colt also predates the 38 Special, the 44 Special, and the 45 ACP, and not only is it more than 80 years older than the 44 Magnum, but it also has more case capacity and in the proper sixguns can outrank the 44 Magnum. By the standards of the day when it arrived in 1873, and even to this day, the 45 Colt was and is a powerful cartridge. The original loading was a bullet of approximately 255 grains with a muzzle velocity of somewhere around 850 to 900 fps. This was achieved with 40 grains of black powder. On paper, the 357 Magnum was the first cartridge to exceed the 45 Colt’s muzzle energy, but many knowledgeable sixgunners, Elmer Keith included, believed the 45 Colt actually offered more practical power than the “First Magnum.” Today, it remains one of our most popular sixgun cartridges.
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andy58-in-nh:
Both are solid, dependable rounds. .45LC for hunting, .45ACP for personal defense.

Elderberry:
45 Colt vs 45 Long Colt – a 45 Caliber Debate Over Nothing

AmmoLand by Mike Searson

https://www.ammoland.com/2022/12/45-colt-vs-45-long-colt/

--- Quote ---Let’s set the record straight once and for all, the 45 Colt & 45 Long Colt are the same exact round of ammunition. 1st published Sep 30, 2016.

 At 143 years old, a certain US-made .45 caliber cartridge still shows no sign of going away. The question often becomes, “What do we call it?”

Is it 45 Colt or 45 Long Colt?
45 Colt vs 45 Long Colt History

The year was 1873 and Colt’s latest handgun, the Model P (aka as the Single Action Army Revolver of 1873) was just awarded the contract as the official sidearm for the US Army. The chambering selected was a .45 caliber black powder cartridge manufactured by the Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, CT.

    Based on the slightly older 44 Colt round, this new cartridge used the same diameter of the 0.451″ of the 44 Colt’s rebated heel type bullet. It was named the 45 Colt and all was right with the world.

Two years later Army units began adopting the Smith & Wesson Schofield Revolver for use as an alternate sidearm.

This revolver was based on Smith & Wesson’s Third Model top-break revolver and as such offered an advantage by being faster to load and unload when compared to the Colt.

Unfortunately, the revolver used a shorter proprietary cartridge that soon created a problem of logistics. Cases of ordinance were simply marked “Pistol, 45 caliber”. The longer rounds were being shipped to units that were armed with the M1875 Schofields and the end result was that the longer rounds would not chamber in these revolvers.

The Colt shooters could easily use the shorter Smith & Wesson cartridge, so the quartermasters began referring to the Colt round as “45 Long Colt”. The Frankford Arsenal ended up dropping the longer round from production in 1887 and solely manufactured the 45 S&W round as the “.45 caliber M1887 Military Ball Cartridge“ until 1892 when it was replaced by the 38 Long Colt round in a new double-action revolver.

For about a decade the moniker 45 Long Colt was applicable when differentiating between the two rounds but by the dawn of the 20th century the Schofield had long been retired and sold on the surplus market, by the end of World War 2, both revolvers were becoming distant memories and Colt’s latest offering that proved itself in the Second World War (the M1911 chambered in 45 ACP) was becoming the new favorite among shooters.

    However, after World War 2, a cultural phenomenon occurred that changed the shooting world as we knew it: Television and more specifically, programs themed as Westerns took the American imagination by storm.

Viewers wanted to own the guns shown on television, specifically, the Colt Single Action Army Revolver. Colt had ceased production at the onset of the war, but soon tooled up to make the classic revolver again and offered it in its original chambering: the 45 Colt!
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