The .45 Colt Cartridge has been going strong for more than 150 years, and it still has a variety of uses today.
While picking my first handgun, I didn’t opt for a compact carry gun or one of the ever-popular .22 LR options—both target rimfire revolvers and autoloaders are a ton of fun—but instead wanted a long-barreled, rock-solid, single-action gun that I could use to hunt both deer and bear here in my native New York. I chose a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt in a stainless finish, with a 7½-inch pipe.
Among the more popular revolver cartridges, the .45 Colt offers quite the flexible package, giving the shooter what might seem like three different cartridges rolled into one. Adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873, it served as our official military sidearm until 1892 (though remained in use until 1896) and would go on to inspire one of the most popular handgun cartridges ever.
153 Years Strong
Looking at the design, it’s simple yet effective. The .45 Colt is a rimmed case—though that rim is not as large as most rimmed designs—with a straight-walled body. The case measures 1.285 inches long, with a maximum cartridge overall length of 1.600 inches. Considering the fact that the cartridge is over 150 years old, it works just as well as it did during the 1870s, with modern metallurgy allowing the performance level to far exceed the original design specs.
The “Long Colt” nomenclature has never been an official part of the cartridge’s name; it was just a means to differentiate the longer Colt case from the shorter .45 Schofield, commonly chambered in the Smith & Wesson revolver of the era. Just as the .38 Special cartridge can be fired in a .357 Magnum chamber, the .45 Schofield ammunition can be safely fired in a .45 Colt handgun.
The original iteration of the .45 Colt saw a 255-grain lead bullet of 0.452-inch diameter seated more than 40 grains of black powder, fired at a muzzle velocity of 1,050 fps. The recoil was deemed too severe for the average soldier and was subsequently reduced to 855 fps. That classic combination would be the rough model for John Browning’s .45 ACP design, which remains one of the best-selling handgun cartridges to this day. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the classic load, as it’s mild enough for accurate shooting, yet potent enough to handle defensive situations as well as some hunting, at sensible ranges.
This load, or those which are similar in basis, remain available to this day. Federal offers a 225-grain lead semi-wadcutter hollow-point at 830 fps, Hornady loads a 255-grain round-nose lead bullet, which they advertise a muzzle velocity of 725 fps from a 4½-inch barrel, but will get closer to 800 fps from a longer barrel, and Remington’s Performance WheelGun line sees a 255-grain lead semi-wadcutter at 830 fps, and a 250-grain lead round nose at 750 fps. Buffalo Bore ammo offers the 255-grain soft-cast lead bullet at 1,000 fps, mimicking that original .45 Colt load, while Choice Ammunition loads their Hi-Tek coated 255-grain lead bullet at 830 fps.
If you prefer the jacketed bullets—whether for their additional structural integrity or for the ease of cleaning your barrel—there are many ammunition choices loaded at the original velocity. Federal’s American Eagle line gives an affordable option, seeing a 225-grain jacketed hollow-point at 860 fps, and Winchester has a 250-grain semi-jacketed bullet in their Big Bore ammo line, at 845 fps.
If you choose to, or are legally required to, use a lead-free bullet, there are options available, such as the Barnes Pioneer line that sees a 200-grain XPB copper hollow-point load at 850 fps. Buffalo Bore loads the 225-grain Barnes XPB to 1,000 fps in their Standard Pressure line. All of these loads should be safe in any era of .45 Colt handgun, but beware that there are many hotter loads on the market—with most being labeled either +P or specified for use in particularly strong modern firearms—which change the capabilities of the .45 Colt.
New Life With New Ammo
But, before we look at the fastest, hottest loads for the venerable cartridge, there are loads that are perfect for both plinking as well as training with your new handgun. Choice Ammunition loads their Hi-Tek 180-grain coated lead bullet to a mere 460 fps, offering an option with minimal recoil and report, perfect for training purposes. Despite the lightweight bullet and significantly reduced muzzle velocity, I found the bullet would actually penetrate a piece of 2×6 yet is easy enough on the hands and wrist so that even young shooters can accurately place their shots. Choice’s light load makes for a great afternoon of plinking and can just as easily be used to dispatch varmints and other garden pests.
And, if a single projectile doesn’t seem like the proper choice for small critters at close range, CCI loads a trio of shotshells for the .45 Colt, including the original Pest Control load using 150 grains of No. 8 shot at 1,000 fps, the Big 4 load using 140 grains of No. 4 shot at 800 fps, and the latest, the HEVI-Bismuth that uses 130 grains of No. 8 Bismuth shot at 1,050 fps for a nontoxic option. DoubleTap offers their DT SnakeShot, using a charge of No. 9 shot over a 70-grain hardcast projectile, for a “best-of-both-worlds” approach. DoubleTap’s load makes an excellent choice for camping and hiking, for all sorts of threats, from two-legged, to four-legged to no-legged.
Looking at those loads that exceed the original performance levels, you will find a wide selection of projectiles and velocities. While the .45 Colt didn’t have the same rifle/handgun combination that Winchester’s .44-40 WCF did, there have been many lever guns made recently for the bigger Colt cartridge. Hornady extended their LeveRevolution series—the one that uses the FTX spitzer with the pliable polymer tip to allow improved Ballistic Coefficient in tubular magazine guns—to include a 225-grain offering in .45 Colt at 960 fps in a handgun, and you’ll get considerably more in a carbine or rifle.
Federal has also seen the wisdom of a .45 Colt rifle, by including the cartridge in their HammerDown ammunition line, with a 250-grain bonded core bullet developing over 1,000 fps in a 20-inch barrel. At reasonable distances—say woods hunting for whitetails, bears over bait or close-in hogs—the .45 Colt could be a whole lotta fun, with minimal recoil.
Stepping up to the heaviest end of the spectrum and looking at the loads that require a gun of tougher build than the standard Single Action Army and its clones, you’ll see loads that come much closer to the Colt-inspired .454 Casull. Buffalo Bore has some very interesting loads for the .45 Colt, in the +P guise, including the 225-grain Barnes XPB loaded to scream at 1,500 fps and the 300-grain monometal wide, flat nose at 1,300 fps or so, generating 1,100 ft-lb of energy. The velocity attained by this latter load, and the construction of this bullet result in very deep penetration, and for the handgun hunter serious about using a .45 Colt on thick-skinned game like any of our wild bovine or big hogs, this is a load to look long and hard at.
The Buffalo Bore .45 Colt +P Deer Grenade load is built around a 260-grain medium cast lead hollow-point gas check bullet, at a muzzle velocity of just above 1,500 fps. Offering a quick energy transfer, this load is hard enough to give good penetration, yet soft enough to give rapid expansion. The gas check will significantly reduce fouling, with recovered projectiles often doubling in caliber.
Doing double duty as a defensive/hunting load, Choice Ammunition’s Bear Defense load is one bad hombre—it uses a 325-grain hard cast, flat-nosed, gas check bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,350 fps, generating over 1,300 ft-lb of energy. For a sub-magnum cartridge, that’s a pretty impressive set of figures. My Blackhawk will put three of these in a 2-inch group at 40 yards, which is about as far as I feel comfortable shooting an iron-sighted handgun. I’ve shot a bunch of this ammo through my Blackhawk, where the recoil is eye-opening but manageable, and in the Freedom Arms Packer snubnose, it’s just plain snotty, but it surely gets the job done.
Lastly, though the .45 Colt might not be the first choice as a defensive handgun cartridge, it will certainly save your bacon. Think of it this way: Few people would have an issue with the defensive capabilities of the .45 ACP, which is the ballistic twin of the .45 Colt, so except for the rate of fire and magazine capacity, they’re pretty similar. Federal loads their 210-grain Hydra-Shok Deep, Hornady offers the 185-grain FX in the Critical Defense line and Underwood Ammo loads that nasty 135-grain Lehigh Defense Xtreme Defender monometal at 1,410 fps. If the gun fits you, and you are comfortable and confident using it, I have no issues with the .45 Colt as a choice of defensive cartridge. From the standard jacketed hollow-point bullets to the bonded core stuff, there are many different choices in .45 Colt that make a sensible defensive choice.
Rolling Your Own
For handloaders, the world opens wide, as the .45 Colt has all sorts of component bullets to choose from. From the homemade cast bullets, to the surplus FMJs to the cup-and-core jacketed stuff, up through the bonded core and monometal premium choices, .45 caliber is among the most popular of handgun diameters, and there should be no lack of available components.
Swift makes a revolver variant of their excellent A-Frame bullet, Hornady offers the XTP and XTP Magnum bullets, Sierra has some great choices, and that Barnes XPB is a nasty chunk of copper. Grab a good set of dies—I prefer Redding or RCBS—keep your brass trimmed as uniformly as possible to allow for a consistent roll crimp and you’ll find all sorts of reliable data for the old warhorse.
Dick Casull’s brainchild—the .454 Casull—is an elongated version of the .45 Colt, with a thicker case, higher pressure limit and a small pistol primer instead of a large one. Just as the .45 Colt can safely shoot the .45 Schofield ammo, the .454 Casull is capable of shooting all three. Why not just shoot a Casull? Well, the revolvers chambered for the Casull are, generally, a bit heavier and bulkier than those chambered for the .45 Colt.
If you intend to regularly pursue large and dangerous game with a handgun, the Casull might make more sense, as it can run at a higher pressure, and will give you more velocity. But for the day-to-day ease of use and comfort of carry, it will be really hard to beat a good old revolver chambered in .45 Colt. It can roar like a lion, being “enough gun,” yet can be as meek as lamb with the cowboy action loads. It can offer years of fun with affordable cast bullets yet be relied upon to cleanly take large game species.
Sometimes a designer gets things right the first time; I believe the .45 Colt undoubtedly falls into this category.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
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