45 Colt or 44 Mag in modern Winchester Trapper?

[rangerider7]

I saw a couple of these at a gun shop and thought I might start carrying one of these instead of my 44-40 El Tigre. I think one was an anniversary model. I don't know much about them and will have to see if they both have safeties or not. I just need to know which caliber performs better and more fun to shoot. Thanks ahead of time. RR7

[Old Savage]

45 Colt, would be more fun to shoot. Mine would put three Silvertips in 3" sitting at 100 yds with irons.

[Pisgah]

Definitely the .45, if you reload. Actually, the .44 is great, and usually a wide variety of factory ammo can be found. But the .45 is great to load up enough to equal or maybe exceed by a bit the .44, or down for an accurate chipmunk load. The .45 is definitely the choice for real heavy-cast-bullet loads.

[1894c]

rangerider7 -- i concur, I think the .45 Colt would be right up your Texas alley. You can load it up and down, and if i'm not mistaken i think you might have a .45 Colt SA, if not, then you might have to get one of those too... .45 Colt is a great working levergun and cartridge...i had a .44mag levergun, always thought i should have gotten the .45 Colt instead, presenly have a .357mag... :)

[Griff]

#4 for the .45 Colt. However, I'd predicate that on just what platform you choose. In a Winchester 1892 or Marlin 1894, I think it's the cat's meow for versatility. In a longer action (read Winchester's mdl 94), not so much!

[Hobie]

If you reload there are no real differences. IF you do not reload there are some good reasons to go with the .45 Colt.

[Blaine]

If you reload there are no real differences. IF you do not reload there are some good reasons to go with the .45 Colt.

Are you sure you didnt' mean .44Mag? The .44Mag has dozens more loads available in the stores, the .45 Colt, not so much... A hand loader can take the .45 up to .44 Mag levels...

[Don McDowell]

I have one in 45 colt that I think the world of. Accurate and handy to boot.
I don't know about the 44 magnum, but as rauckus as the recoil can get in the 45 I can only imagine what it might be in the 44

[JB]

If you reload there are no real differences. IF you do not reload there are some good reasons to go with the .45 Colt.

Are you sure you didnt' mean .44Mag? The .44Mag has dozens more loads available in the stores, the .45 Colt, not so much... A hand loader can take the .45 up to .44 Mag levels...

Yes, I say that the other way as well. For a someone that doesn't reload, the 44 magnum rules the roost. I've loaded some hot 45 Colt loads, but the cases aren't as thick as 44 mag cases and won't stand up to the same pressures with extended shooting like 44 mag cases will.

[Griff]

If you reload there are no real differences. IF you do not reload there are some good reasons to go with the .45 Colt.

Are you sure you didnt' mean .44Mag? The .44Mag has dozens more loads available in the stores, the .45 Colt, not so much... A hand loader can take the .45 up to .44 Mag levels...

Sorta depends if you're gonna shoot cast or jacketed. Most factory lead .45 Colt rounds are levergun friendly... .44Mag not so much. Jacketed rounds are more geared to the handgun markets, which means the jackets are a little heavier in the .44Mag, to perform best at .44mag velocities, whereas the .45 Colt rounds are a tad thinner, in keeping with the lower velocities.

And what's available in stores near you, may not be available universally. I find better choices for the .45 Colt in my neighborhood. The same applies to components available. The .429 jacketed are pretty much limited to 240, 260 & 300 grain choices... & pretty much the same shape. The .452 vary from 180, 185, 200, 220, 225, 230, 240, 250, 255, 260, & up to 300 in a number of nose designs and jacket thickness to allow me to custom craft ammo for velocities from 8-900 up to 1700 fps. My local component store stocks another brand that offers some excellent .452 bullets that are suitable for the SAA, 1911 or a levergun (has a cannelure in all their offereings).

And if you cast? The market's wide open! I kinda think that if you reload the .45Colt is much more versatile than the .44! Manily because most jacketed bullets are geared to the specific velocities of the magnum, whereas the .452s have choices for velocites designed around the .45Colt and then upwards to the .454 Casull or .45 Magnum.
Handgun bullets listed by Hornady, Speer & Sierra:
Speer .44 bullets vs. Sierra .44 bullets vs. Hornady .44 bullets

Speer .45 bullets vs. Sierra .45 bullets vs. Hornady .45 bullets

[AJMD429]

If you reload there are no real differences. IF you do not reload there are some good reasons to go with the .45 Colt.

Are you sure you didnt' mean .44Mag? The .44Mag has dozens more loads available in the stores, the .45 Colt, not so much... A hand loader can take the .45 up to .44 Mag levels...

Sorta depends if you're gonna shoot cast or jacketed. Most factory lead .45 Colt rounds are levergun friendly... .44Mag not so much. Jacketed rounds are more geared to the handgun markets, which means the jackets are a little heavier in the .44Mag, to perform best at .44mag velocities, whereas the .45 Colt rounds are a tad thinner, in keeping with the lower velocities.

And what's available in stores near you, may not be available universally. I find better choices for the .45 Colt in my neighborhood. The same applies to components available. The .429 jacketed are pretty much limited to 240, 260 & 300 grain choices... & pretty much the same shape. The .452 vary from 180, 185, 200, 220, 225, 230, 240, 250, 255, 260, & up to 300 in a number of nose designs and jacket thickness to allow me to custom craft ammo for velocities from 8-900 up to 1700 fps. My local component store stocks another brand that offers some excellent .452 bullets that are suitable for the SAA, 1911 or a levergun (has a cannelure in all their offereings).

And if you cast? The market's wide open! I kinda think that if you reload the .45Colt is much more versatile than the .44! Manily because most jacketed bullets are geared to the specific velocities of the magnum, whereas the .452s have choices for velocites designed around the .45Colt and then upwards to the .454 Casull or .45 Magnum.
Handgun bullets listed by Hornady, Speer & Sierra:
Speer .44 bullets vs. Sierra .44 bullets vs. Hornady .44 bullets

Speer .45 bullets vs. Sierra .45 bullets vs. Hornady .45 bullets

That was very educational...! Thanks for posting.

I, too, would go with the .45 Colt unless I had several .44 Mag handguns I liked and no .45 Colt handguns, in which case I'd go with .44 Mag.

[RIHMFIRE]

to me... they are pretty close...and work well
depends what you like to carry on your hip!
and what you like to reload....
and which one is in better shape

I would get the 44mag because I load that the most....
and you can load them like a 44spl to a hot 44mag...

and tang safety over crossbolt or hopefully none

[gak]

Re the "if you don't reload" issue, I too was taken back a little by Hobie's comment. In my neck'o, .44 much easier to come by--and in a variety of loads--to tune of maybe 3 or 4:1.

[redlevel42]

A 9 grain Unique/250 grain SWC .45 Colt load is pleasant to shoot from a Ruger single action or a Winchester Trapper, and will hole a 160 lb GA whitetail through and through from either gun. Pretty good on coyotes, too. I just never fell in love with the .44 mag. I have been shooting the .45 Colt since 1973. I dropped my load from 10 grains Unique to 9 grains.

Just an old fellow's biased opinion.

[Blaine]

I load my .44s to about 1100fps, no matter the bullet, and use blue dot...just seems to work out really good. Nice moderate load, and plenty enough to as far as I can be accurate with a lever or a handgun..... I have a .44 Magnum Magnum (.444 ) and a 45-70 if I need to thump elephants or t-rex

[Pisgah]

A 9 grain Unique/250 grain SWC .45 Colt load is pleasant to shoot from a Ruger single action or a Winchester Trapper, and will hole a 160 lb GA whitetail through and through from either gun. Pretty good on coyotes, too. I just never fell in love with the .44 mag. I have been shooting the .45 Colt since 1973. I dropped my load from 10 grains Unique to 9 grains.

Just an old fellow's biased opinion.

Absolutely agree. And that 9.0 gr. load from a longer barrel stays tame to shoot, but in my 24" rifle it gains 200 fps over the revolver! Still no magnum, but a darned useful load, and one that is fine in Colt clone guns. My "ripsnortin" load is a 250 gr. XTP over 21.6 gr. 2400 -- NOT for a Colt clone, but fine in a Black-or-Red-hawk, or similar overbuilt guns.

[Lefty Dude]

I have a 44 mag. for the reason that when the shortages come, and they will. If I need factory it will be in greater supply than 45 Colt.

Why not look for a Rossi in 44-40. You have an El-T and must reload or have source of ammo.
My Rossi 44-40 and Uberti 73 44WCF out shoots my 92 Rossi/44 and my Brother's Marlin 94C 45 Colt.

Of all the above, when I want the accuracy it's the Navy Arms 73/44WCF that gets the nod. (I own two 73 44WCF's a Uberti and a Navy Arms.)

[Don McDowell]

I load my .44s to about 1100fps, no matter the bullet, and use blue dot...just seems to work out really good. Nice moderate load, and plenty enough to as far as I can be accurate with a lever or a handgun..... I have a .44 Magnum Magnum (.444 ) and a 45-70 if I need to thump elephants or t-rex

Like the bludot also.
I used my trapper in the levergun match at the Midwest bpcr championship a couple weeks ago. Loaded with 12 grs of bludot and a 255swc. Did real well with it on all the targets till we got to that stupid bobcat at 225 yds, the entire match is shot off hand , and that cat is not alot of solid target to shoot at that distance with iron sights offhand with about a 15 mph crosswind Anyway while nothing spectacular I did come in 14th which ain't bad considering some of the target sight setups that were being used.

[Borregos]

I am very happy with my 44Mag Trapper, it is a lot of fun to shoot with a wide variety of loads.

[magyars]

I started w/ the 45 Colt over 30 years ago and have never looked back.......First two were a Ruger BH convertable and a Winchester 94 trapper.
Now I have 4 revolvers and 4 rifles in 45Colt....I have some cases that have been reloaded 7 or 8 times.

[veeman]

I have a Winchester 94 Trapper in 45 Colt that is one of my farvorite rifles, goes great with my Ruger Blackhawk. But,,, given a choice, I'd stick with my Rossi 92 in 44-40. The Rossi is just a hair better in accuracy, and just feels better in my hands.

[86er]

Here is a comparison that defies logic. you'd think a same-weight 44would penetrate more than a 45. we spent a year hunting with both 44 mag and 45 colt using 250 gr and 300 gr bullets both cast and jacketed. MVs were as close as we could get them. The 45 Colt in both weights out penetrated the 44 Mag and proved more effective on medium game in terms of quickness of kill, distance travelled after being shot and overall internal damage. the 44's killed them all dead but the 45Colt did it more spectacularly. I'll take a 45Colt over 44 Mag.

[DixieBoy]

Another something to consider rr7 ... you're a Texan. Isn't it the law that you have to go with the .45 Colt ? - DixieBoy

P.S. Another something to add here - somewhere, earlier in this thread, it was repeated that .45 Colt brass is thinner than .44 Magnum brass. That old wives tale has been put to rest and thoroughly discredited for years by Brian Pearce and others. I've got .45 Colt cases in several headstamps that have 7 loadings of mid-level loads (250 - 290 grain bullets running 900 - 1050 fps) and they have no cracks, splits, and still look new after cleaning. Wish that old wives tale about .45 Colt brass would just go away, but the author of the Speer manual keeps repeating it.

[piller]

I have a revolver in .45 Colt, and one in .44 Mag. I would probably get the rifle in .45 Colt since I reload. I would think the rifle in .45 Colt with some good Keith style bullets of about a 250 grain weight with a power level which would be just fine in a Colt revolver should handle anything on the North American Continent and do it well. There also the LBT style bullets with a wide flat nose which seem to give a very satisfying slap sound on game. There are a bunch of good reasons for each, but I am partial to the .45 Colt cartridge. Besides, I already have a carbine in .44 Mag to go with the pistol. Thanks to CRS.

[J Miller]

RR7,

There are many who just can't resist knocking the Win 94 in pistol calibers.
They are same folks who swear by the Rossi 92s and Marlin 1894s.
There is one thing the Win 94 in .45 Colt or 44 Mag can do that the 92s and M1894s can't. That is, shoot over long cartridges ... without modification. They tell you the 44 mag is limited to certain common bullet weights but yet the 45 Colt can use bullets way heavier than the 44. Those really heavy bullets add length to the cartridge, and most of them exceed the SAAMI lengths by quite a bit.
Then these detractors turn right around and want to restrict you to the shorter length the 92s And M1894s can use. Don't make sense to me.

The truth of the matter is the Win 94AE in the larger pistol calibers is a proven design variation with the bugs worked out. Stay away from the .357s, they were a bad idea from the start.
My Win 94AE Trapper in .45 Colt has thousands of rounds through it. Light, factory, medium, heavy and a few OH MY GOD! loads. Never missed a beat. NOTHING in the action has ever broken and it's quite accurate.
The Rossi I had was a piece of pelosi right out of the box. I had to send it to M&M for repairs BEFORE it would even feed factory ammo.
My Marlin 1894 was pretty decent when I got it, but needed some additional fitting. But as reliable as it is it still won't handle rounds as long as the Win 94 will.
That doesn't really matter if you don't load extra long rounds, but it does make things less cramped.

One other thing; both the R92s and M1894s are or can be finicky about running different cartridge lengths. Not so the Win 94. If mine is any example of the bread, it does not care what I put in it, it will feed them. From .45 Schofield length all the way up to 1.75" long it feeds them. No hick ups, no nothing.
I've also read the 44s are more prone to being finicky about bullet shapes than the .45s. I've never lived with a 44 so I can't say this is or is not true. But I've heard it more than once. What I can say is my Win 94 will function reliably with any shape or design bullet you can think of.

Bottom line: only you know what you are going to do with it. You've been using a 44-40 so the magnum performance hasn't been an issue. Think about it and then pick what you want.

Joe