Which is more powerful a 45 Long Colt or 357 Magnum?

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Table of Contents Show

Will a 45 Colt stop a bear?
Why is the Taurus Judge legal?
Which is better a.45 or a.357?
Is the.357 Magnum still the best gun?
Is 45 Long Colt powerful?
What is the effective range of a 45 Long Colt?
Is 45 Long Colt good for self defense?
What gun is stronger 44 or 357?

357 Magnum rounds – on average – achieve a velocity of about 1290 feet per second (fps) while . 45 Colt (LC Long Colt) rounds travel at a velocity of 1050 fps. 357 Magnum bullets travel 1.5 times the speed of a 737 airplane at cruising speed, while . 45 Colt (LC Long Colt) bullets travel 1.2 times that same speed.

Is a Taurus Judge a good self defense gun?

I liked the Taurus Judge a lot, enough to add it to my own personal arsenal. I firmly believe it is the best choice of guns for home defense I have seen. And it would make a pretty good companion in bear country too, loaded with a combination of . 410 slugs and buckshot.

Will a 45 Colt stop a bear?

45 Colt handload in the right gun should work fine and has. As for my favorite whitetail . 357 Magnum or other similar-caliber load, a well-placed shot with a good bullet will certainly kill a bear, but it’s not recommended. He says he has never had it fail to stop a bear on site.

Is Taurus judge illegal?

Due to the broad language used by the California legislature in defining both “short- barreled shotgun” and “assault weapon” the Taurus Judge and the 28 Gauge Rossi Circuit Judge are illegal to possess in California, meeting the definition of “short-barreled shotgun” or “assault weapon,” respectively.

Why is the Taurus Judge legal?

Legality of This Judge This is because California law is far more specific about shotguns and includes a firearm that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell and because the barrel length is less than eighteen inches, the Judge has been judged to be a short-barreled shotgun.M

Will a 357 mag stop a grizzly bear?

357 Magnum or other similar-caliber load, a well-placed shot with a good bullet will certainly kill a bear, but it’s not recommended. Wayne Bosowicz carried a Colt Python . 357 Magnum revolver for years as his bear gun. You need a bullet that will penetrate all that, and most hollowpoints used in most .

Which is better a.45 or a.357?

On paper, ballistics suggest the .357 Mag. is superior. It certainly is where kinetic energy and penetration is concerned. The .45 uses a .451″ bullet which is roughly 21-percent larger in diameter than the .357. But the .357 is launched at far higher velocities than the .45, giving it the edge ballistically on paper.

Which is bigger a.357 Magnum or A.44 Magnum?

When it comes to hunting, the .357 Magnum has taken a backseat to the bigger rounds like the .44 Magnum and larger, but it can still hold its own on deer and the like in both handgun and rifle form as long as the right bullets are used.

Is the.357 Magnum still the best gun?

The .357 Magnum stayed at the top of the heap in the personal defense market for a very long time. However over the years the guns and loads got lighter as shooters found the recoil in some combinations could be a bit stout.

What’s the difference between a.45 and.44 Colt?

Though newer, more advanced cartridges came and went, the .45 Colt still hung on for years with offerings in both single and double action revolver from Smith & Wesson, Colt, and Ruger. The Ruger revolvers took the .45 Colt into new territory allowing, the round to rub elbows with the .44 Magnum.

"Which one is more powerful?"
Pardon me, but this sounds like a beginner's question.

A beginning pistol shooter trying to shoot "the most powerful" handgun is a recipe for personal disaster.
"Powerful" is an unnecessary criterion, unless you're going after grizzly bears, tigers, and lions (Oh my!).

Remember that, whatever goes out the front end of the gun, also comes back into your hand at the rear end of that gun. (See: Newton's Third Law.)
It takes a lot of shooting experience, to handle a powerful pistol. Your question tells me that you probably don't have that experience.

Besides, the real criterion of successful pistol shooting, at targets or in self-defense, is accuracy. The next down the line is quickness.
If you practice to develop useful accuracy and, later, useful quickness, great "power" will not really be necessary.

Now, about .45 "Long" Colt:
Yes, .45 Colt can be hand-loaded to very powerful levels, depending upon the inherent strength of the gun from which it will be shot.
But, no, .45 Colt is not normally commercially loaded to a power level that approximates .357 Magnum. The problem is that a .45 Colt cartridge may find itself in an old, weak pistol.
The normal power of the .45 Colt cartridge is about the same as that of the .45 ACP. (The .45 ACP was designed to replace the .45 Colt, at the same power level.)

Which brings me to my usual "hobbyhorse":
In my experience, a relatively new shooter will learn best using a cartridge which recoils "softly," with a slow push rather than a sharp jab.
Further, an inexperienced shooter will find it beneficial to learn on a full-size, full-weight semi-auto pistol, since the working of a semi-auto action absorbs a lot of recoil force.
So I recommend that a relatively inexperienced shooter start with an all-steel M1911 pistol firing .45 ACP cartridges.

...But if you want a revolver, buy a revolver.
Maybe a .44 Magnum would be powerful enough.

tootalldavid said:
I actually am new as far as handguns and it is a sidearm for me for hog hunting on foot.

Click to expand...

Last time I went hog hunting on foot, more than 50 years ago, we had dogs, and my dog-owning and experienced buddy and I both carried 12ga shotguns loaded with slugs.
It was the scariest experience in my life, even up 'till today.

Are you sure that you want a pistol for this?

If you really do want to use a pistol, I suggest that you would want something really, really big and nasty: At the very least, a fully-powered .44 Magnum with a six-inch barrel. Maybe a .454 Casull. Maybe more.
These are not beginners' pistols. They are very hard to control, and firing one can really hurt you. (There's ol' Newton, again.)
But, by golly, they'll probably handle any hog you come across. Maybe better than any 12ga slug, anyway.

Big, powerful pistols require experience for best results, especially in a save-your-life panic when an angry hog has your number, or that of one of your dogs.
Don't just buy a gun, and go walking about in the undergrowth. Practice with it. A lot. First with mild practice loads, but then with real, full-power ammunition.
The more you practice, the more confident you'll become.
When you're confident, but still scared, you're ready to hunt hogs.
(I'll never do it again!)

TOF brings up a good point,my first bigbore revolver was also a Super Blackhawk.These single actions are quite mellow hitting compared to a DA,and I'd hazzard a guess stronger than all but maybe a Super Redhawk.The Blackhawk just put a nice shove in your hand,but my Smith 29 with a 6" barrel beat the living crap out of me.The downside to the single actions are lack of speed reloading,but as backup for a shotgun it kind of offsets the problem.

Watch out for the big boys like the Cassull.I never shot that round but a frind made a wildcat 45 off a 45-70 case and rebuilt a Blackhawk with a 5 shot cylender.Even considering the hogleg grip,this thing hit freakin HARD.I never shot the last round,but I can say I never saw a bowling pin launch off a table and hit the berm at the same elevation it was sitting on the table.The muzzle breaks the 180 rule in full recoil,it's pointing behind straight up over your head.Awesome power,he also had a Contender 10" 30-30 Improved and it was a 22 compared to this thing.The ballistics on this 45 was above the parent 45-70 rifle out close to 100 yards.I never saw the ballistics,but between knowing this person and build partner along with shooting it,I have no reason to doubt him.

Definately try to shoot what you think you want first,a heavy caliber can be nice to shoot or downright brutal depending on your build and the gun design.

Is 45 Long Colt powerful?

Clearly the 45 Long Colt round can be an extremely potent hunting cartridge as it can outstrip the 357 and 44 Magnum in terms of ballistic performance. Only revolver rounds like the 454 Casull or 500 Smith & Wesson Magnum can outpace the 45 LC in terms of hunting performance.

What is the effective range of a 45 Long Colt?

45 Colt is plenty accurate for 100-yard antipersonnel and anti-warhorse work. The 250-grain bullet retains a degree of authority as well. While the practical merits of the shooting are debatable, the fun factor was huge. The good ol' Peacemaker has legs and can be useful at longer range than most would credit it.

Is 45 Long Colt good for self defense?

45 Colt does what it does without fuss and bother and Magnum pressure. Even modest loads offer good wound potential for personal defense and plenty of penetration for taking game animals. With highly developed handloads and modern specialty loads from custom shops, the . 45 Colt is a real powerhouse.

What gun is stronger 44 or 357?

The 44 magnum will leave a bigger hole in your target because it shoots a bigger bullet. So if that's what you're after, the 44 mag has more stopping power than the 357, which isn't lacking in stopping power.