Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Which cartridge in a single action revolver?

You can buy single actions in calibers other than .45 Colt?
Huh. Musta been an answer lookin’ for a question…….

Seriously though, a .45 single action will be lighter than anything in .357, .41, or 44 owing the bigger holes in the cylinder and barrel.

I cast so of course I’m a .45 Colt fan, not that I’d feel undergunned with any of the others, but a 286 grain semi-wad cutter at 900+fps will leave a near half inch hole through a lot of meat without a lot of fuss and bother.

45Colt all the way, especially if you reload. If so you can stuff it with mild to wild or even nuclear loads, if your frame will handle the nukes.

Anything from bunny loads of 185g at 850fps to those nukes of 300g at obscene velocity.

I'd cheat and buy a 44 Special and a 45 Colt

I have all calibers mentioned plus 22lr. Love them all. I load them all so no hassle. If you need an all round gun go 45 Colt. So many things you can do with it. 44 Special is right behind it.

I would chose a 41 Mag for several reasons. Like cra1948 I'm also weird like that but there is a logical reason as well. Since the 41 Mag is the "newest" of the bunch, there is a much better chance that you won't have to deal with under or oversized throats that have been known to plague the 44 Special and 45 Colt (and the 357 to a lesser degree). Plus there is also the "cool" factor........ Just my 2 cents

Mine have been .44's, both Special and Magnum. Honestly, the Special does pretty much all of what anyone needs, unless you are after really large or dangerous game of course.

Here's my original Ruger Vaquero in .44 Magnum, shown with Special rounds that I was shooting that day. I think of it as a .44 Special that can shoot Magnums, because it's no fun shooting Magnums from it.

This.

I went with .44 Special (Ruger BH FT) as I am heavily vested and experienced with the caliber from my .44 magnum years. When I realized that full blown .44 mag loads weren't required I began downloading. When Ruger came out with the Flat Top .44 Specials it was game on. It's a handy gun that shoots a versatile cartridge, from rodents to deer with some HD/SD in the mix.

Lots to be said for the .357 and .45 Colt, but the .44 Spl sits right between them and is extremely universal.

45 Colt.

If you need a 45 Special they sell Schofields and have for a year or two...

Two revolver cartridges the 38 special and the 44 magnum are my favorites. Since you said, single action revolver I would choose the 44 mag. The 44 magnum can do 90-95 percent of all handgun chores pretty well. It’s not. 454, 475 or 500 but I rather like the 44 mag for what it’s not. It is easily fed and from mild to wild it’s effective and penetrative. I’ve driven a 250 gr cast lengthwise through deer at less than 950 fps, shot my first black bear and moose with one. 4.5 - 7.5” barrel you can’t go wrong as it’s just a preference.

38 special is another but in many cases chambered in 357 is what you are going to windup with. FA 97 or flattop

The specs of the revolver, at least in broad strokes, needs to be addressed. I'm not much of a single action fan and especially have zero use for the large frame boat anchors. A Colt SAA or New Vaquero size, maybe. As such, a .41 Mag will do everything I need, and combined with .41 Special be a hoot.

It used to be the .357 was the caliber for folks who bought factory ammo and the .45 Colt was for hand loaders. With the price of .38/.357 these days, almost all of the SA calibers are now a hand loaders proposition.

A small frame .357 does everything I want to do with a 4 5/8” single action, and components are cheap. If I didn’t hand load I would make sure I got one with a 9mm cylinder (maybe even if I did).

I like my 5 1/2” stainless Bisley Blackhawk in .45 Colt. 285 grain 45-270-SAA SWC pushed about 1100 fps with HS6. Powerful enough to most things that need doing with a Six Shooter.

Ron

Depends on a couple of things. First, for what use? Second, is this to be my only single action? Only handgun? Or an addition to what I already own? And for living .. where? Those could wildly alter the landscape.

Defend your favorite cartridge.

Really there is only 1 choice for the eternities, 45 Colt. You can never have enough and they are more versatile and deadly than most people even know.

At original velocities, I doubt you will find many deer that could stop a 250 grain bullet. Recoil is manageable and nowhere near the magnum revolver for discomfort. It is a fun cartridge with no equal in history or pedigree.

The double action is magnificent as well..

It would depend on what single action. If it's a Model P I'd go with .45 Colt.

I've got wood!

Tough choice. There's merit to all of them. It would probably come down to the 41 mag, 401 Powermag or 44 Special for me. All three will do a lot of heavy lifting in a strong revolver, as will the 45 Colt. I have had a life long admiration for the 41 Magnum and for the last 10 years have spent a lot of time with the old Herters 401 Powermag. Either would suit me well.

That being said the 44 Special is a joy to shoot. I have a 5.5 inch Bisley Flattop and an S&W 624 four inch. Both are great shooters and will handle strong 44 Special loads capable of handling NA game.

My 41 magnums are a 7.5 inch Bisley and an S&W Mountain Gun four inch. They both shoot my 250 to 280 grain bullets well, at full throttle or pedestrian speeds. The Bisley needs to get cropped to 5.5 inches, my favorite barrel length for SAs.

My only 45 Colt is a Bisley Turnbull edition with the 5.5 inch barrel and CCH frame. A lot of fun to shoot with original loading level rounds and a thumper with Ruger only loads.

Truly a tough choice for me.