I came across an interesting video on YouTube: a test pitting a Colt 1860 Army revolver (a so-called 'cap-and-ball' blackpowder weapon firing a .44-inch lead ball or conical bullet; it was the most widely used revolver during the American Civil War) against the US Army's current service pistol, the Beretta M9. Frankly, I was surprised at the result.
I wish the author had included a round of .45 ACP from the previous US Army service pistol, the M1911A1, to compare its performance against its ancestor and successor. Perhaps some videographer out there might like to try it?
Peter
The 1858 Remington with a 200gr. .451 conical ball over 38gr. of FFFF G Crono's at just over 790FPS average. My 1873 Colt using "balloon head" cases and 40 grains of Dupont FFFF G under a 230 grain .452 RN soft lead clocks at 940 FPS average. The .45ACP was an effort by the Army Ordnance Board to retain the .45 LC ballistics in a "modern" "quicker to reload" SA pistol. FYI: Until the advent of the .357 Magnum the most powerful hand gun in history was the Walker Colt. The Dragoon Colts can be loaded "hotter" than most SMOKELESS factory .45LC loads. The thing with C&B pistols is that you only get "5 and a club"---Ray
ReplyDeleteThere is a weekness in testing with ballistic gel: it only tests penetration and wound channel. A good defensive round wouldn't make it INTO the second block, having expended its energy in the target, e.g. .45ACP.
ReplyDeleteCactusRos
What I'd really like to see is the Single Action Army / Frontier Six Shooter, versus a modern weapon.
ReplyDelete