Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 44 mag or colt 45?

Decided to start putting dallars in my piggy bank for an effective woods sidearm. I'm not a big guy nor do I have big hands, but not worried about recoil. I live in Griz country and have had my share of encounters, all with positive outcomes. These are the cals I'm thinking of, particular pistol suggestions are welcome also. Thanks.

4" S&W M629....Hard Cast.

Ingwe

Both calibers are effective. The 45 Colt is disadvantaged by the fact of not being as readily available. At least around here, you'll never see 45 Colt in Wal Mart. The .44 Mag. is always there. 45 Colt in loadings effective on Grizzly Bears is uncommon. 44 Mag. loads that should be effective are not. If you are reloading, it doesn't matter.

Specifically, if you have smallish hands, I'd get a Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk. Not the 50th Anniversary Super Blackhawk, made a couple of years later. The Blackhawk was made for only one year but is on the smaller frame. It is nearly identical to the New Vaquero in size but has the advantage over the NV in its chambering. The NV in 45 Colt SHOULD NOT be used with "Ruger Only" loadings.

Another option would be the Smith and Wesson 629 Classic in the barrel length of your choice. Be sure to get one with the Hogue finger groove grips. In fact, any 629 with either original or aftermarket grips such as I mentioned, will work fine. I have small hands and those grips fit me very well.

Both these guns are made in USA. I wouldn't buy a brand new Smith or any of the recent ones with the lock. The Ruger has a lock under the grips, but I've never heard of one failing.

I do reload and plan to do so for this firearm. I do plan to carry max loads for bear and other nasties, but don't plan to shoot hot loads often. Been cruising the pawn shops, but don't know detais/ capabilities of enough models. Doing research and compiling a list of notes.

can you specify your mould and load details, Ingwe???

The two I listed are good options if your hands are on the smallish side. If you're not worried about grip size, there are a lot of guns that will work. The Super Blackhawk is very common and usually available for a decent price. The Smith 29/629 is higher, but is a good gun. Look for those that have -4 or greater suffixes in the model designation. These will have the durability enhancements and be a more robust gun. Redhawks are good.

Guns that you don't want are Smith 25 variants in 45 Colt and Ruger New Vaqueros. These along with Colt SAA's, their clones, old west replicas (or originals) in that caliber will not be good guns to use with heavy loads.

If you want a 45 Colt, get a Ruger Blackhawk, a Redhawk or some other heavily-built handgun in order to take advantage of the Ruger Only loadings.

Large frame Ruger single action .45 Colt,(the old style Ruger Vaquero birds head model will fit your hand)...335 grain hard cast LBT-WLNGC,...lotsa WW-296. Don't forget to locktite the grip frame screws.





http://www.castperformance.com/Detail.bok?no=21

If you are casting your own the Lyman #429421 with 21.0 grains of H110 behind it, Mag Primer.

If you are buying bullets any good hard cast 240 gr. SWC...same load.

Its comfortable to shoot and the penetration is more than adequate.

Ingwe

If loading your own, you can load colt right up there with anythign the 44 mag can do, plus, it makes a bigger hole.

I was in the same spot and went with the 4" Ruger Redhawk 45 LC
Did a trigger job on it and added fiber sights. this is a nice gun and will handle hoter stuff than a Smith.
PS I have been a Smith guy for years but when I wanted a big hammer went to Ruger.
JMHO

Since you are going to be rolling your own, .45 Colt all the way. Bigger, heavier bullets than the .429 magnum......

"Bigger and heavier" isn't always better. For bear protection I want a bullet that will break bone and penetrate - given the same velocity that means sectional density. A .45 Colt bullet has to weigh 265-grains and fly at the same speed to equal a 240-grain .44 Mag. Yep, there are other factors and I'm crowding a lot of angels on the head of this pin.

I remember reading alot of Elmer Keith's stuff years ago. Sixguns by Keith stands out in my mind.
He wrote alot about the .45 Colt, the heavier loaded .44 Specials and, later the .44 Magnum.
Unrealized by many it that you don't have to push either round to gun break down point to kill a nasty animal even a big bear. The old .45 Colt rd., for instance, had a great rep for doing that with it's original loading of the 255 gr. RN bullet at not much over 800 fps. It didn't kill quickly, but it did penetrate well. And that's what you need with a CNS hit.
Some say you can't kill an attacking bear with a pistol. Keith's book cited examples that say otherwise. One of them involved a 1911 Colt, .45 ACP against an alaskan brown bear.
I watched a fish and game cop shoot a grizzly very dead when the grizzly atacked him during a tranplant operation. The guy was knocked to the ground, and shooting double action. The gun was a .357 Magnum. Interesting video.
I'd find a gun that I could handle comfortably and quickly first. Then I'd load a heavier lead bullet and see how well I could shoot it. If I couldn't handle a 250 gr. plus bullet at 1100-1200 fps., I'd go for a round nose or a semi flat point/round nose at lower velocity.
When I say "handle" that means shoot quickly and accurately enough for a CNS hit. No pistol load is going to kill a big bear quickly with anything less than a CNS hit. E

thanks, ingwe...

traded my only .44, which i never handloaded for, off a while back, and i haven't cast bullets since i was in high school...
i've got the bug for another .44, but if good cast bullets are available for sale, i've got a surplus of hobbies already....

Lots of good information here. So what I add is a little bit different.

I know that what I carry(in different situations) depends on the ease of carrying. That is why I like my 329PD. Very lightweight, you do not even know it is there. It does not matter what cartridge you have if the handgun is clumsy to carry, and heavy. You will probably leave it at home. I have several Ruger single actions, and they have their place. But for day in day out use, they are heavy and clumsy(just an opinion), please do not flame me for saying this. But I have carried a lot of BH's, and I have left them at home on the counter because it was just one more thing.

take a look at a high quality lightweight rig that you will always carry, and not mind carrying.

When I want to shoot 200 or 300 rounds for fun I take my 45 Colt BH to the range and have fun. Or a 44 mag. BH. But when I seriously carry my handgun, it is one of my S&W Titanium's.

Both cartridges will serve you well. Personally I would choose a catridge based on what is most economical for me to shoot, and practice with. Tom.

go to CDNNinvestments.com, and download thier latest catalog - it is 150 pages, don't print it!

They have Ruger Blackhawks in 44mag and also beretta Stampedes for under $375...NEW

Platform-wise, one more twist is DA vs. SA. Sometimes the same guys that don't want to be bothered with flipping the safety on a CCW handgun don't mind having to cock a revolver with a 1,000-lb grizzly bearing down at 35-mph while rooting up trees on the way.

My basic plan is to not live in grizzly country.

I agree with Hogghead. Both cartridges could serve a guy well with the proper loads. I don't own a colt 45 but I have been impressed by it and some of the handloads I've seen used in it. I do own and reload for a 44 Mag; a 7.5 inch Redhawk and if I were planning on being in bear country I'm sure it would be with me, along with a load featuring a good hard cast bullet at a good velocity.

I went to the range today to try out a Ruger BH 45colt I just picked up.

I brought along a box of Mag Tec 250grn cowboy loads and a box of Buffalo Bore 325grn.

The MT loads were easy shooting, fairly accurate(I'm not an accomplished pistol shot!), and I have no doubt, plenty capable of taking deer at any range I could safley hit one at.

The BB loads were stout. 325grn at a claimed 1325fps. After the third round I caught myself flinching and had to slow down and concentrate! I imagine these things would put a loooong wide hole in what ever you shoot.

+1 Lot's of flexibility in bullet design & weight choices, for light to heavy, from plinking to serious social interaction.

MM