Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Field Gun, .45 acp or .45 Colt

I have both, a 5 1/2 inch barreled 45 Colt in a stainless Vaquero that I had glass beaded to get rid of the shiny stainless and wood grips to replace the fake ivory grip panels. I usually load it with a 255 grain cast bullet to around 1000 fps. I have yet to recover a bullet from anything hit with it. The other is a High Standard 1911 with a straight mainspring housing, tightly fitted locking lugs and a 21 pound recoil spring. I load this one with a flat nosed 230gr. FMJ to a bit over 900 fps. Oddly this bullet sings right through things nicely also. However the reality is that I generally use these pistols for killing trapped feral hogs or to finish off animals shot with rifles. I have killed some rabbits for the pot with both. I would expect both to be effective for close range defense shooting of feral hogs and Black bears. Now for the kicker, as I have gotten older the 1911 gets carried much more often simply because it is a bit easier to carry.