44 mag versus 45 long colt
I have a buddy who swears his .410/.45 colt can also shoot .44 mag, I've never seen that in the ads for the .410/.45 colt derringers, can it shoot 44 mag too?
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"Can" covers a lot of territory.
In a emergency, life saving situation, yes, it can fire a 44mag/44spl. The cases will be scrap and accuracy will suck canal water, but it will fire.
Should you fire them on a regular basis, NO.
The 44Mag (and 44Spl) cases are .453 in diameter, with .429 bullets
The 45Colt cases are .479 in diameter, with .452 bullets.
410 shells are nominaly .470 at the bottom, .460 at the top and operate at much lower pressures.0 -
Thank you very informative quote:Originally posted by Tailgunner1954
"Can" covers a lot of territory.
In a emergency, life saving situation, yes, it can fire a 44mag/44spl. The cases will be scrap and accuracy will suck canal water, but it will fire.
Should you fire them on a regular basis, NO.
The 44Mag (and 44Spl) cases are .453 in diameter, with .429 bullets
The 45Colt cases are .479 in diameter, with .452 bullets.
410 shells are nominaly .470 at the bottom, .460 at the top and operate at much lower pressures.0 -
Might also take a look at the THICKNESS of the rim- 45 colt is usually much thinner, may keep action from closing on a tight gun. Unless a bear is gnawing on yer ankle, and you are out of everything but 44 Mag, probably not a smart thing to try. If it were, you bet the maker would have 44 Mag stamped on the barrel, and have it all over their ads. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Tailgunner1954
"Can" covers a lot of territory.
In a emergency, life saving situation, yes, it can fire a 44mag/44spl. The cases will be scrap and accuracy will suck canal water, but it will fire.
Should you fire them on a regular basis, NO.
The 44Mag (and 44Spl) cases are .453 in diameter, with .429 bullets
The 45Colt cases are .479 in diameter, with .452 bullets.
410 shells are nominaly .470 at the bottom, .460 at the top and operate at much lower pressures.
Worth mentioning that .45 LC has a standard max operating pressure of only 14,000 PSI, befitting its original history as a 19th century black powder round. The .44 magnum is a more modern round that clocks in at 36,000 PSI.
So firing even ONE .44 magnum round out of the "wrong" .45 LC gun (for example an original 19th century gun) could potentially cause a BIG problem (such as blowing up the gun and causing severe or fatal injury to the shooter or those nearby).
On the other hand, in the grand scheme of things 36,000 PSI isn't all that much for a modern handgun round. For example, 9mm luger runs at 35,000 PSI max pressure, as do both .40SW and 357 magnum. 10mm runs at 37,500 PSI max pressure, with 9mm+P running at 38,000 PSI.
Even though they aren't "supposed" to, there are a few modern .45LC guns that actually can handle .44 magnum-like pressures safely. Personally, I still wouldn't try this unless it were literally a life-or-death emergency.
Very good review article on "overloading" the .45LC here (though obviously, that's a different thing than putting a .44 magnum round in a .45LC gun).
http://www.chuckhawks.com/high-pressure45.htm
The "quick" answer here is that if you want .44 magnum like performance from a gun that can fire .45 LC rounds, then what you need is a .454 Casull Magnum pistol (or the Smith .460). The .454 is, essentially, a "magnumized" version of the .45 long colt that can fire "ordinary" .45LC rounds, or the .454 rounds, which are substantially more powerful being more powerful yet than even the .44 magnum.0
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