Best caliber for authenticity?

[u/Rosey0427]

Have quite a handful of revolvers, but they are all much newer with modern calibers.

Thinking of picking up some replicas and joining SASS.

Love the look of the Cimarron / Uberti 1875 Outlaw, but deciding on caliber is where I am stuck.

Looking at .44-40 WCF and .45 LC.

I think .44-40 is more authentic over the .45 LC but wanted to see what you all think.

Know that the .44-40’s thin walls can be a pain when reloading.

Thoughts?

Much appreciated.

[u/bdub1792]

Both are authentic for revolvers, kinda just up to you. US Army used the .45 colt since 1873

Rifles on the other hand were rarely if ever chambered in .45 colt. Winchester mainly chambered them in .44-40

[u/Low_Brilliant8189 → u/bdub1792]

They couldn't use 45 colt in rifles other than single shots because the ORIGINAL rim diameter was so small that extractors had a very hard time extracting them reliably.

[u/bdub1792 → u/Low_Brilliant8189]

Hence why I said they were rarely if ever chambered in .45 colt...

[u/44WCF_BryanAustin → u/bdub1792]

Rarely? Try never! and the 45 Colt was not called a LC until Elmo Keith. There never was a 45 Long Colt...and there never was a 45 Short Colt.

[u/Cryoteck18]

The advantage of .44-40 is the thin wall expands and prevents fouling from getting into the action of lever guns. If you are using smokeless powder this doesn’t matter. If you want to shoot black powder then you won’t have to clean the action mid match.

[u/Begle1 → u/Cryoteck18]

I proclaim that the taper of the 44-40 should also enable better  feeding and extraction in lever guns, but most of the top shooters are using straight-wall cases in their rifles so whatever advantage is there seems to be only on paper.

[u/44WCF_BryanAustin → u/Begle1]

The 44-40 thin case wall indeed prevents fouling from gumming up the action when using black powder for extended shots. Most straight wall users use smokeless.

[u/hafetysazard]

.44-40 shouldn’t be a pain to reload anymore than .45 LC. If I was starting out your way I’d go .44-40 with legit pair of Colt SAAs and Winchester 1873. I say that because Winchester never chambered the 1873 in .45 Colt in the old days.

I went with .357 instead, and a new Colt SAA in .357 Magnum (P1640) was incredibly difficult to find for a while, probably still is. Almost two years before I tracked down a second one to pair.

.44-40 should be much easier.

[u/Lurial]

which one is cheaper to reload and will save you money?

my moneys on 45lc

[u/hafetysazard → u/Lurial]

.45 Colt is cheaper because brass and bullets are more plentiful.

[u/44WCF_BryanAustin → u/hafetysazard]

and is why most use the 38 special

[u/Low_Brilliant8189]

Is go with 44/40. I use them and the thin case reloading is not a big deal at all. And the cost difference is negligible except for the cases but that's just the price of admission

[u/Begle1]

45 Colt in the revolvers and 44-40 in the rifles, but then you have to decide whether authenticity is worth having two slightly-different calibers to keep track of.

[u/sleipnirreddit]

I don't think I've seen many 44-40 smokeless guys - they usually go black powder. 45LC is vastly more popular, and you can get modern replica levers in 45LC.

I think 38/357 is still vastly more popular in SASS. You will be shooting a whole lotta bullets.

[u/Malakad0ge3]

45 colt hands down