45 Colt

[Titanium Man]

Please someone tell me why 45 Colt ammo is so expensive and so hard to find. When you do find it in a store, it's $50/Box, and even 44Mag ammo is less than that. I'm sure I'll get the usual responses, but I'd like to know what the big deal is with this ammo. I've never seen it jacketed, so they're making a killing selling plain old lead bullets. Thanks for any input.

 

[sloughfoot]

Low demand. The high cost is why I load my own.

 

[Fordtough25]

It's not cheap you're right about that! I have a lever action rifle and single action revolver in 45 colt for deer hunting, I usually practice with blazer and use Hornady for hunting. I also bought 100 rounds from Red Star one of out site supporters last year and it shoots great! Nasty stuff and a bit cheaper than store bought ammo.

 

[Mgderf]

The popularity of the Judge, the Governor, the Bond Arms Snake Charmer, and more have caused a rise in demand for these rounds. Someone makes jacketed .45 Colts. I'm sure of it because I've had some, just don't remember the brand.

Cowboy loads are generally lower priced, but also under-powered.

 

[Titanium Man]

The popularity of the Judge, the Governor, the Bond Arms Snake Charmer, and more have caused a rise in demand for these rounds. Someone makes jacketed .45 Colts. I'm sure of it because I've had some, just don't remember the brand.

Cowboy loads are generally lower priced, but also under-powered.

All I've found are cowboy loads around here, and they're 50 bucks a box. I'd rather shoot my 44 a bunch vs. my 45. I love carrying my Judge lodge with #3 in it. Guess it's just the farm gun.

Thanks for all the input guys...........I guess I'm venting more than anything.

 

[Leo]

.45 COLT is an easy caliber to reload, nothing tricky about it. Save your brass and reload or find a buddy to reload them for you. Since a non FFL-6 cannot sell remanufactured ammo, you cannot pay your buddy, but buy him a set of .45 COLT dies, a couple goodies for his shop and a nice dinner, and you can probably talk someone into loading a dozen boxes or so for you. Saving 30 plus dollars a box, you investment will pay off really fast. Good Luck

 

[Broom_jm]

I discovered this exact same problem when my grandfather let me use his old 44/40 as a rifle for my daughter to hunt with, here in Indiana. The rounds were not easy to find and when I did, they were about $1 a shot!

The low-velocity, pure lead "cowboy" loads were MORE expensive, if you could even get 'em. What I wanted were full-throttle hunting loads, like the old WCF rounds they used to load back before idiots and lawyers started collaborating to dumb-down our society.

So, I grabbed the handle on the Green Monster and started cranking out both plinking and serious hunting loads. My daughter's taken both of her deer with that gun and just loves it. She calls it "Big Boy".

With older rounds like these, handloading is the ONLY way to go. The ammo companies are only going to make limited runs of rather anemic loadings that they know will be safe in the oldest, weakest guns still being fired. Since my grandpa's gun has a new, aftermarket barrel and is an original 1892 that has been gone through by a gunsmith to replace all the internal springs n' such, I know it's up to the task of serious, high-performance ammo. If I didn't load my own, I'd be stuck paying 3 or 4 times as much money, for ammo that runs 40% slower than the stuff I build.

I wouldn't shoot this gun, or a 45 Colt, unless I was loading my own.

 

[SSGSAD]

Please someone tell me why 45 Colt ammo is so expensive and so hard to find. When you do find it in a store, it's $50/Box, and even 44Mag ammo is less than that. I'm sure I'll get the usual responses, but I'd like to know what the big deal is with this ammo. I've never seen it jacketed, so they're making a killing selling plain old lead bullets. Thanks for any input.

I do reload for the .45 Colt, so pm me, and maybe we can make a DEAL !!!!!

 

[XtremeVel]

Not as good as buying some Starline Brass and Hornady 250 gr XTP's and loading your own, but this is decent plinking ammo and is jacketed and currently in stock.

Click here: Ammunition To Go : 50rds - 45 Long Colt Federal American Eagle 225gr. JSP Ammo [AE45LC] - $33.95

 

[andrew]

I was wondering the same thing, when I was looking for 45 Colt. I order mine from Andrew at Profire Arms.

It is VERY reasonable compared to stores. Also you are supporting a local company with a great owner.

http://www.profiresupply.com/pricelist.pdf

To answer your question- I am not completely sure but my guess would be that it is so expensive because its not as common. The people that want to shoot it and don't really do their research will pay those prices at the stores.

 

[rustygunner]

.45 Long Colt was the reason I started reloading years ago. Used to be $15/box if you could find any .45 LC at all.

Very easy caliber to reload.

 

[SSGSAD]

My first, was the .410 shotgun, then 9mm, then .38/.357 and now, everything I shoot .....