I've known lots of guys that shoot and load .45 Colts. You can load them up to the .44 Mag levels, but everybody that publishes data says don't. 20-25,000 psi yes. 36,000 psi, like the factory .44 Mag ammo, is not a good idea.
You can do very good things with a .45 Colt loaded at 20-25,000 psi. Get a copy of Elmer Keith's old book, Sixguns by Keith. He talks alot about the old .45 Colt and how effective even the factory 250 gr. RN bullets can be. Push a good cast bullet of 250-260 grs. 1000-1100 fps. and I'd put it up against anything resonable.
The Smith .44 Mags got a bad rap because too many idoits had to load it up and over the listed maximums. Many don't understand that substituting one 250 gr. bullet for another is not going to result in the same pressure load, or that adding just one more grain of powder is not going to increase the killing power at all as a practical matter. But it can easily beat the gun up badly over time. I've got an old, 4 inch, .44 Mag. S&W that was made in 1967. I've shot it over 8,000 rds. Most of it double action. Almost all of it the old Keith load of 22 grs. of old style, not the new, 2400 powder and a 250 gr. cast bullet.
The last time I shot it, with some old Norma steel jacket HP's, it put 3 into 1.25 inches at 25 yds. It's had the clylinder bolt replaced and the rear sight lossend some over the years. But that is all. I'd buy another in a heart beat. The trigger breaks at exactly 2.5 lbs every time. Show me a Ruger that can do that reworked by anyone and I'll buy one. E
