Editing .45 Colt (section)

==History==
[[File:.45 Colt U.S. Army ball cartridge diagram.jpg|thumb|left|Diagram of .45 Colt U.S. Army "ball cartridge" for [[Colt New Service|Army M1909]] revolver, with dimensions in inches.]]
The .45 Colt was a joint development between Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company (now known as [[Colt's Manufacturing Company]]), of [[Hartford, Connecticut]], and the [[Union Metallic Cartridge Company]] (UMC) of [[Bridgeport]], [[Connecticut]]. Colt began work on the revolver in 1871, and submitted a sample to the [[U.S. Army]] in late 1872. The revolver was accepted for purchase in 1873.<ref name="Taffin1">{{cite book |last=Taffin |first=John |author-link=John Taffin |date=2005 |title=Single Action Sixguns |publisher=Krause Publications |isbn=978-0-87349-953-8|pages=39–41}}</ref>

The cartridge is an inside lubricated type. The [[rebated heel type bullet]] design of its predecessor, the [[.44 Colt]] (.452–.454" diameter bullet), was eliminated, since it was an outside lubricated type, which would pick up dirt and grit during handling. The .45 Colt replaced the [[.50 caliber]] Model 1871 Remington single shot pistol and the various cap-and-ball [[revolvers]] converted to take metallic cartridges in use at the time. While the Colt remained popular, the [[Smith & Wesson]] [[Schofield Model 3#Schofield Revolver|M1875 Army Schofield Revolver]] was approved as an alternate, which created a logistical problem for the Army. The S&W revolver used the [[.45 Schofield]], a shorter cartridge, which would also work in the Colt, however the Army's S&W Schofield revolvers could not chamber the longer .45 Colt,<ref name="cotw">{{cite book |last=Barnes |first=Frank C. |editor-last=McPherson |editor-first=M. L. |date=1997 |orig-year=1965 |title=Cartridges of the World |url=https://archive.org/details/cartridgesworld00barn |url-access=limited |edition=8th |publisher=DBI Books |isbn=0-87349-178-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cartridgesworld00barn/page/n271 270], 275}}</ref> so in 1874 Frankford Arsenal, then almost exclusive supplier of small arms ammunition to the [[U.S. Army]], dropped production of the .45 Colt cartridge in favor of the .45 Schofield cartridge. This resolved the Army's ammunition logistics problems, but there were still plenty of the longer Colt-length cartridges in circulation once production ceased. The Benet primed .45 Revolver cartridges were subsequently replaced by the 'Model of 1882 Ball Cartridge for Cal. .45 Revolver' which used an external Boxer primer and could be reloaded at the unit level.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hackley |display-authors=et al |title=History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition |year=1998 |volume=1 |publisher=Thomas Publications |isbn=1577470338}}</ref>  The .45 caliber M1882 cartridge would be officially replaced by the [[.38 Long Colt]] in 1892 but would remain in production until 1896. In 1901–1902, it would once again be loaded by Frankford Arsenal for use in the [[Philippine–American War]].

In 1909, the newly adopted .45 M1909 cartridge was issued along with the .45 [[Colt New Service]] revolver. This round was never loaded commercially, and is almost identical to the original .45 Colt round, except having a larger diameter rim (.540 in (13.7mm)). The rim is large enough that it cannot be loaded in adjacent chambers in the rod-ejector Colt model.<ref>{{Cite book|last=United States. Army. Ordnance Dept|url=http://archive.org/details/coltrevolver00unitrich|title=Description of the Colt's double-action revolver, caliber .45, model of 1909 : with rules for management, memoranda of trajectory, and description of ammunition, September 10, 1909|date=1917|publisher=Washington [D.C.] : G.P.O.|others=University of California Libraries|pages=22}}</ref>

The .45 Colt remains popular with renewed interest in [[Cowboy Action Shooting]]. Additionally, the round has seen resurgence as a cartridge in handgun hunting and Metallic Silhouette Shooting competitions, beginning in the 1950s with the introduction of stronger, heavier framed handguns. The cartridge's popularity has also increased with the increased marketing of handguns that can also fire the [[.410 bore]] [[shotgun shell]], such as the [[Taurus Judge]] and the [[Smith & Wesson Governor|S&W Governor]], though first seen decades earlier in the [[MIL Thunder 5]]. While the [[.45 ACP]] uses .451 inches in diameter for jacketed bullets, and .452 for lead bullets, the .45 Colt still uses .452 inch diameter jacketed bullets and .454 diameter lead bullets, often adding to the confusion between the two cartridges with similar names as the .45 ACP and Model 1911 pistols will often be called ".45 Colt" in common usage, leading many to call the .45 Colt the .45 "Long Colt" similar to how other Colt revolver cartridges were named (i.e. [[.38 Long Colt]]). The .45 Colt became the basis for other rounds, such as the [[.454 Casull]], and in turn, the .460 S&W Magnum.<ref name=JT810>{{cite journal |last=Taffin |first=John |author-link=John Taffin |date=August 1, 2010 |title=A half-century with sixguns: the really big bores |journal=Guns Magazine |issn=1044-6257 |volume=8 |issue=41 |publisher=FMG |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=241413527 |access-date=July 25, 2015}}</ref>