The Colt 45-------138 Years and Still Going

Watch any western, from Ken Maynard to Roy Rogers to John Wayne, and you'll see the Colt 45------everywhere.

Introduced by Colt in 1873, in their famed SAA (Single Action Army) revolver, it quickly became the preferred sidearm of both the law and the lawless.  Just about every cowboy who ever rode a horse back in those days carried  one, from rancher to gunfighter.

In 1911, Colt came out with their famous "45 automatic (originally a John Browning design), and while they were both designated as 45-caliber guns, the revolver bullet was a little larger in both diameter and weight.  The 45 auto back then, and now, has a bullet diameter of .451 and limits out around 230 grains of weight.  The 45 "LONG" cartridge (as it is commonly called, in the revolver), measures .455 in width, and up to 255 grains of weight in factory loadings.  It's also about 200 feet per second faster.

In the mid-30's, we started seeing these new "magnum" revolvers, and by 1955, the 44 Magnum was "King of the Hill" (although this is no longer the case).  As with the CARS of the 50's & 60's----so went the guns.........the "horsepower race" was ON, until TODAY, there are more different calibers and manufacturers out there than you can shake a stick at!

Like the Studebakers and Packards, the old Colt 45's were almost buried and forgotten about.  They didn't have the speed and "charisma" of the newer "magnum pistols".......and on the OTHER end of it, you couldn't carry one as concealed, as you could with the ever-popular 38's & 9mm's.  The 45 became a "relic" of the bygone days of "Hopalong Cassidy" and the "Cisco Kid."

The new "fad" was for the guns you see on the crime shows today.  A big bulky single-action six-shooter "just didn't belong" anymore.  Colt continued to MAKE them, as did Smith & Wesson, Ruger and a few others, but not in great quantities.  As we got into the modern times, a dealer could sell forty or fifty "357's" for every Colt 45 that someone might ask for.  Heck, all the years I'VE been shooting, it wasn't until 2004 that I bought one, a Ruger Vaquero.  LOVED it!

At 12oo feet per second, it falls a little short of 44 magnum ballistics, but will still do the job, and is a little less likely to punch through two more walls and hit someone you hadn't intended to.  Recoil is manageable, and the gun just "feels good".......even "nostalgic".  It's definitely more powerful than the 45 automatic, and reliability of course, is a revolver "tradition."  It's no mystery to ME, that it was a favorite with the old gunfighters.

I love Ruger handguns, but the problem with the Vaquero, was that the one I bought had that beautiful satin-chrome finish, that made it more of a "showpiece" than something you'd want to take out and "dirty-up."  I got to where I didn't WANT to take it out and "powder it up.".......so the quest began for Ruger's "bread & butter single action, the BLACKHAWK.

There is not a better single-action revolver in EXISTENCE than the Ruger Blackhawk.  Never HAS been, since the day they first came out decades ago.  Extremely strong & solid, basically "engine blocks" if you will, and I already own a few of them.....in the magnum calibers.

I bought one of the double-action Smith & Wessons last year in "45 Long Colt", and it's a superb piece.  But I still wanted a BLACKHAWK in that caliber.

I make a point to stop into our local gunshop on a fairly regular basis, and YESTERDAY it paid off.  Down in the "Ruger case", sat a Blackhawk among all the OTHER Blackhawks that had NOT been there previously.  And there it was........surrounded by the "customary" 357's & 44's..........a 45 Long Colt!  First one I'd seen in AGES!   Practically new, there's not even a cylinder stop "dragline" on the cylinder.

SOMEBODY (and this happens often), probably bought that thing brand new,  put it up somewhere, never got around to shooting it (It doesn't appear to have been shot, or if it has, not very much)....lost his job, needed money.....and in it came.

I looked it over, had them put it aside, went home and grabbed my old "pretty-pretty-chrome Vaquero, threw in a little Charter Arms 22 that I never shoot, and we did some "horse-tradin'!"

It took a year or so, but I finally GOT my "Colt 45" Ruger Blackhawk.  The 4 & 1/2" barrel will make it ideal for practical carry, as soon as I find the holster I want for it.  Haven't shot it yet of course, (as I shoot with a 2-hand hold and the left one is still healing up).  I hope to get out there before the weather starts turning cold, though.

Now............if that new SR1911 I ordered back in April would just get here...........

My new Ruger Blackhawk, in Colt 45.  Can't wait to get out there with it!

This is the Smith & Wesson I bought last year, also chambered for the 45 Colt cartridge, but while it shoots just fine, its modern "Dirty Harry" type silhouette just seems to lack that "old west flair" that a Colt 45 should have.  The Rugers look more like those old western Colts......except that they're stronger.