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

How's the leather business?

You guys obviously haven't spent much time with SA's to think they carry awkwardly or are slow to manipulate.

That's a mighty bold statement, mister.

I could retort by remarking that your post shows that you haven't spent much time reading John Linebaugh's work, but I have no way of knowing that so I won't disparage your apparent ignorance.

But feel free to comment on what I do or don't know based on zero real knowledge on your part. It's entertaining.

Jesus, everyone here is so quick to get their panties in a bunch. How could I refute John's writing without having read it???

Fact is, I read it long ago and took it as gospel for years. That is, until Hodgdon released their heavy bullet .44Mag data.
If you compare heavy loads in both cartridges with comparable guns you will see comparable results. Linebaugh writes as if there is a palpable difference between the two. Maybe there was 30yrs ago when he wrote "Dissolving the Myth..." but it does not hold true today. The .45 holds no advantage, except that it is sometimes bigger. Its size advantage is not even present in every example. One must compare individual bullets to find what .45's are actually bigger than what .44's. Commercial LFN's are a virtual wash. In WFN's, it depends on what mold it came from. The .44 is almost universally a better penetrator.

All of which conflicts with Linebaugh's writings, which are somewhat outdated.

As far as DA vs. SA, if you've spent enough time with both you should be able to manipulate an SA fast enough to negate any advantage a DA might have. I'm talking about guns with significant recoil. You should also recognize that the only advantage a DA has in reloading is with speedloaders. This discussion usually only takes place with DA shooters who never spent enough time with SA's to become proficient with them.

It is a bigger hammer -- period.

Here is a nice single action .45 for packing. It has a 3 3/4 inch barrel and a Bisley hammer conversion for great one handed cocking...

I find the standard hammer to be faster to manipulate. Further to reach but a more positive purchase.

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, period. It's not universal. There is a lot of overlap and like I said, you have to look at individual bullets.

For example:
355gr .44 at 1130fps - TKO - 24.6, meplat .340"
360gr .45 at 1060fps - TKO - 24.6, meplat .355"
.

So I have to say, I don't see how anyone can honestly say that the .45 is "a bigger hammer - period". The two are neck and neck no matter how you look at it.

The 44 is .429 and the 45 is .452 no matter larger the meplat on the 44 bullet the 45 can always have a larger meplat. A 90% meplat is larger in 45 caliber always has been always will be.

Have you ever found anything someone else does that you can't do better?

Are the N frames 29 and 25 the same? Heat treated the same? Same steel and strength? Where is the weak link, the cylinder? Why?

Who has shot an N frame "loose" and what did you do about it?

Thanks.