.45 Colt
| .45 Colt | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Revolver |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| Used by | United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | U.S. Army |
| Designed | 1872 |
| Specifications | |
| Case type | Rimmed, straight |
| Bullet diameter | .454(lead), .452(jacketed) |
| Neck diameter | .480 in (12.2 mm) |
| Base diameter | .480 in (12.2 mm) |
| Rim diameter | .512 in (13.0 mm) |
| Rim thickness | .060 in (1.5 mm) |
| Case length | 1.285 in (32.6 mm) |
| Overall length | 1.600 in (40.6 mm) |
| Case capacity | 41.60 gr H2O (2.696 cm3) |
| Rifling twist | 1 in 16 in (410 mm) |
| Primer type | Large Pistol |
| Maximum pressure | 14,000 psi (97 MPa) |
| Maximum CUP | 14000 CUP |
The .45 Colt or .45 Long Colt (.45 LC) (11.48×33mmR) cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It is a black-powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as an official US military handgun cartridge for 14 years. It is sometimes referred to as .45 Long Colt or .45 LC, to differentiate it from the shorter .45 S&W Schofield, as both were used by the Army at the same period of time prior to the adoption of the M1887 Govt. Current catalog listings of compatible handguns list the caliber as .45 LC. and .45 Colt
The .45 Colt was a joint development between Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, and the Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, Conn. Colt began work on the revolver in 1871, and submitted a sample to the U.S. Army in late 1872. The revolver was accepted for purchase in 1873.
The cartridge is an inside lubricated type. The rebated heel type bullet design of its predecessor, the .44 Colt (.452 -.454" diameter bullet), was eliminated, since it was an outside lubricated type, which would pick up dirt and grit during handling. The .45 Colt replaced the .50 caliber Model 1871 Remington single shot pistol and the various cap-and-ball revolvers converted to take metallic cartridges in use at the time. While the Colt remained popular, the Smith & Wesson M1875 Army Schofield Revolver was approved as an alternate which created a logistic problem for the Army. The S&W revolver used the .45 S&W Schofield, a shorter cartridge, which would also work in the Colt, however the Army's S&W Schofield revolvers could not chamber the longer .45 Colt, so in the mid 1880s Frankford Arsenal, then almost exclusive supplier of small arms ammunition to the U.S. Army, dropped production of the .45 Colt in favor of the .45 S&W round. Adoption of the .45 M1887 Military Ball Cartridge resolved the Army's ammunition logistic problems. The M1887 Govt round was replaced by the .38 Long Colt in 1892.
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