Unintended Controversy

On my Facebook page I posted this picture:

I went off on my mini rant about the proper name for .45 Colt is not, and has never been, .45 Long Colt.

Ravenclaw Eric had never heard of an Anaconda in .45 Colt. Sadly, the Anaconda is no longer in production in either .45 Colt or .44 Magnum.

Here are some better pictures of some of the details:

Barrel Markings:

Loaded cylinder; note the headstamps.

27th-Dec-2009 10:09 am (local) weerdbeard

WOW, very nice. I too had never heard of an Anaconda in .45 Colt.

I'm sure the controversy came from chamberings like .38 long colt, and .32 S&W Long. Then when the Army "Colt .45" (SAA) gave way to the Army "colt .45" (M1911) one might feel the need to embellish the difference between .45 colt and .45 Automatic Colt Pistol with pointing out which is the long one.

Man that looks like a sweet shooter! Now the big question, can it eat the hardcore defensive .45 colt loads that live in magnum muzzle energies, or more the .45 ACP realm.

27th-Dec-2009 05:15 pm (local) mcthag

I think the name comes from both there being a long and short in both .38 Colts and S&Ws and that the Army decided that issuing both .45 S&W for the Schofield and .45 Colt for the SAA was too complicated when .45 S&W worked in the SAA. The Colt round is longer, thus "long Colt round". I'll bet there's a TM for it somewhere that says, "Do not use the longer .45 Colt ammunition in the S&W Model 1875 revolver." Since the troops were not trusted with printed materials then, an officer read this to them while they were bored and was likely misremembered.

"[C]an it eat the hardcore defensive .45 colt loads"? Yes it can! It's every bit as strong as its .44 cousin. I don't handload, but I have fired Cor Bon's +P out of it. Those are silver tip loads in the picture, the box warns to not use them in guns not made to handle modern ammunition.

27th-Dec-2009 08:56 pm (local) ravenclaw_eric

Niiiice pistol! I've developed an interest in large-frame revolvers lately, and being the contrary cuss I am, I've decided ex cathedra that I like .45 Colt better than .44 Magnum. Just because.

I wish there were more modern DA revolvers that used .45 Colt; I do have my CCW permit, and a 2"-barreled DA revolver that took that caliber would be just the thing to keep goblins at bay, I think. Unfortunately, any modern revolver taking that load costs the earth, and I am not wealthy; in lieu, I'm keeping an eye on the auctions of police-surp .38s.

27th-Dec-2009 09:27 pm (local) mcthag

I bought the long departed 4" Anaconda because, for all silly reasons, we'd been running a lot of games where you played yourself and were dumped someplace like the old west. I figured that with a .45 Colt double action I would be able to get ammo any place from 1873 on. The 4" .45 is the rarest of the rare Anacondas.

28th-Dec-2009 04:08 am (local) ravenclaw_eric

ISTR you posting things like that here...it was you and some of your buds being thrown into the Yrth of GURPS Fantasy, wasn't it? That's a good point about being able to get ammo in the past.

I do wonder, though, why they couldn't have called .45 ACP something like ".46," or something like that? In one of his books, Viktor Suvorov talked about just that issue.


6th-Jan-2010 12:30 am (local) - Philistine! Anonymous (68.8.139.123)

You prole! You philistine! What are you doing with ice in your bourbon/whisky?

I like your choice of revolver and stogies, tho!

8th-Jan-2010 05:32 am (local) - Re: Philistine! mcthag

It's scotch! It was 90˚ F on the back porch when I took the pic and I wanted a cool, refreshing beverage. At least it's not mixed with Coke or 7-Up.

Edited at 2010-01-08 05:35 am (local)