Author Topic: 1860 Colt and the 44 Colt (Read 439 times)

timothy · « **on:** January 29, 2006, 05:51:32 PM »

If the 1860 army is 45 cal why dont we use 45 cal slugs in the conversions?

Shorty · « **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2006, 01:29:17 PM »

The 1860 does use a .451 ball but it is swaged down to .44 upon loading into the chambers.

jhrosier · « **Reply #2 on:** January 30, 2006, 01:30:34 PM »

Quote from: timothy

If the 1860 army is 45 cal why dont we use 45 cal slugs in the conversions?

The .45 C&B revolvers start with a .45 round ball, that is swaged down first by forcing it into a smaller chamber in the cylinder, and then swaged down again, to about .44 caliber, when it goes through the barrel. A cartridge gun starts with a bullet that is only a couple of thousandths of an inch larger than the bore. It doesn't need to be swaged down as much to get a good bearing surface and seal and can start out much smaller for the same bore size.

Flint · « **Reply #3 on:** January 31, 2006, 03:53:51 PM »

The bore (land) diameter of the 1860 Army is 44, the groove diameter is 45. The 44 Colt shot by the (original) conversions was a heel type bullet, of 45 caliber. The "drop-in" conversions shoot 45 LC ammo through the 45 caliber bore.