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Has anybody discussed the .45 Colt brass being potentially weaker than the the .44 mag brass? Older cartridges loaded to safe Colt SSA levels had less brass in the cartridge head/base, loading these cases to Ruger levels were a potential hazard, as same cases had a tendancy to split/seperate early in their case life. I haven't had the problem, but I have read in the reloading manuals and on-line where it happened. Most of my brass in .45 Colt is Starline, haven't had an issue with Ruger level loads from Georgia Arms.


Brass has been discussed here and elsewhere many times over. The weak brass you are referring to are the old folded "balloonhead" cases and hasn't been made in years (like the 50s). All modern brass is manufactured the same with solid heads and modern .45 Colt brass is just as strong as .44 mag.

If you have Starline, you have the best top of the line pistol/revolver brass available. When you buy a box of premium +P .45 Colt thermonuclear ammo from Buffalo Bore, HSM, or Double Tap, you'll find their brass all have Starline headstamps. Winchester would be my second choice and is used by CorBon and Alaska Backpacker for their +P loads.

Another issue with brass failures or short brass life in .45 Colts has been with sloppy, inconsistent chamber demensions from one gun maker to the next, with some chambers being a bit generous. Not so much an issue today as it was a few years ago.

The +P .45 Colt loads running in the 28k to 30k psi range in the Hodgdon manual are specifically for the strength parameters built into the standard Blackhawk and Blackhawk Bisley.

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