I hunt deer and am in the market for a lever action rifle. Though I want a .30-30 at some point, I want to get an Uberti 1866 Yellowboy. I really want one in .44-40 but it would be easier to get one chambered in .45 Colt because I already have some Single Action Army clones. Is the .45 Colt round good enough to take down whitetail or Blacktail deer within 100 yards? Thanks.
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Colt 45 Rifle
Anonymous
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Is .45 Colt a good rifle hunting round?
I hunt deer and am in the market for a lever action rifle. Though I want a .30-30 at some point, I want to get an Uberti 1866 Yellowboy. I really want one in .44-40 but it would be easier to get one chambered in .45 Colt because I already have some Single Action Army clones. Is the .45 Colt round...
hatti
45 Colt Rifle
Bear Crap
Thats a bad idea. You are way more likely to just wound it. Im a big fan of those old rounds but the .45 colt and 44-40 just arent near as powerful as the 30-30. Sure all of those have been used on deer but trying to kill a deer 100 yards away with rounds less powerful than the 30-30 is just asking for problems.
John de Witt
Heavy loads at short ranges will work well from a revolver, and I don't see why they wouldn't do as well in a carbine. I'm not familiar with that particular gun, but I assume it isn't actually a brass receiver like the original, so it could probably handle hunting loads. But you need to choose well both the load and the shot. It's telling that no 19th century long guns were ever chambered in 45 Colt, though.
It also seems peculiar to me that people seem more hesitant to use 45 Colt than some of the miniature calibers like 243 Winchester and even 223 Remington. A round-nosed bullet with a mild powder charge certainly won't do, just as a varmint bullet in a miniature won't do, but arguing against that big hole doesn't make good sense to me, and that's backed up by my experience shooting deer with a variety of cartridges from 6mm to 50 caliber.