Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters JB; came across your article on the 45 Colt

Calling a modern S&W N-frame a "weaker gun" is a bit silly, IMHO. A Model 25 or M625 in .45 Colt is made of the exact same steel as a Model 29 or 629 in .44 Magnum, and the web thickness of the cylinders on the .45 Colt is only slightly less thick. I am at work right now so I can't give you the exact numbers. But the point is that you can load a M25 or M625 to much higher than SAAMI levels for this old caliber if you know what you're doing.

In addition to the writers you've named (Pearce and Seyfried) John Linebaugh has done extensive testing (read, has blown up a bunch) of revolvers with heavy .45 Colt loads and gives some very good actual guidelines on how heavily you can load a S&W N-frame in this caliber. Check out his website if you want to get specific load data.

I run .45 Colt handloaded ammunition in 4 classes: Black Powder, "light", medium, and heavy. In Model 73 rifles and First Generation SAA handguns, I stick with BP or light smokeless loads (~800 fps using a 255 gr bullet). I use "medium" loads in my M625 and M25 S&W's (255 bullet at 1050 fps or so), and "heavy loads in my Rugers and M1892 reproduction carbines/rifles(270-300 gr bullet @ up to 1300 fps).

One doesn't need to mollycoddle the N-frame 45 Colt guns. My "medium" loads are well above the mouse-fart factory loads you can buy at the gun shop, but are no danger to the steel or the timing of a good N-frame. And they are powerful enough for any hunting or self-defense application in North America short of the great bears and the bison. They kick less than a .44 Magnum and produce comparable real-world hunting ballistics.

Too many folks underestimate this cartridge and the modern guns designed for it.