Cowgirl Corner: 45 Colt in a Colt and a Marlin

[North Country Gal]

40s, today, with some mist, so plenty good enough for our weekly range trip.

Seems like more and more I'm in a 45 Colt mood. Even though I've been shooting for over forty years, I've only taken the 45 Colt plunge this last couple of years. For years I've been hearing about folks going ga ga over the 45 Colt and just wrote them off as being a little nutty, but now that I've been shooting the cartridge, I better find a crow recipe. Oh, not going to ditch my 44 mags or 357s, but looks like I'm turning into one of those nutty 45 Colt people and, have to say, I'm loving it.

One thing that has helped is my knack for finding superb specimens of the 45 Colt to shoot. Today, brought along two 45 Colts to shoot with a variety of factory ammo.

First up is probably the finest revolver I have ever owned in our recently acquired USFA Rodeo, a gun that I've posted about, recently. Love my Ruger SAs, but Ruger has never produced a gun like this as far as fit, finish, action and trigger.


Since the gun has been customized for cowboy action work, loaded it up with some Fiocchi traditional 250 grain loads.


Next up is a Marlin 1894 Cowboy Limited, made in 2000 with a 24" barrel. This one was on consignment from the same estate that had the Rodeo for sale. The gun, as far as I can tell, had never been fired. Good price, too, but I hesitated, hoping to find a Henry in 45 Colt. Henry 45 Colts are next to impossible to find, locally, though, so finally "took a chance" on the Marlin and brought it home. Ordered up a Skinner peep for it.






Well, after today's first session wit the Marlin, all I can say is,"Wow!". This may well be the most accurate lever gun I have ever owned. Here's the sight in target at 50 yards with a peep sight, shooting from a rest with AE factory ammo. If I hadn't pulled that one shot just a bit, I would have had a one hole group.


The AE was a partial box, so I figured I better shoot the gun offhand to get a feel for what the gun could really do while I still had four rounds, left. Oh, yeah, will be getting more of this stuff to shoot. This Marlin is going to be a mainstay for my offhand shooter. The balance and heft on this gun takes all the credit. I mean it. I am in awe of this thing. The gun has some kind of magic.


Just for fun, I challenged Bill to a cowboy rapid fire shoot off with the Marlin, up close at 16 yards. I handicapped myself by shooting offhand, compared to his shooting from a rest, since he has a bad back and would be more comfy shooting that way. Using the Fiochhi Cowboy loads, I figured there was no way he would top this one. Basically shooting as fast as I could work the gun and drop the bead on the target. Pulled one just a tad, but figured I had the winner.


I was wrong. Bill actually prefers to shoot his rifles at a moderate pace. It's more his style, compared to my more precision style. For working a lever gun, he just brace his left elbow on the bench or other object and fires as fast as he can work the lever, too. He even rubbed it in by shooting 10 rounds to my five. He must think he's John Wayne, now.


He's no longer spry enough to do a happy dance, so I did one for him. Guess you might say, he's turning into a 45 Colt junkie, too, now.

If they don't have single action 45 Collts and lever guns in heaven, I'll try the other place. Brought to you by some more of those nutty 45 Colt people.

[Deadwood Dutch]

Thanks for your report. The revolver is very nice, to say the least, but to me, the Marlin is abosulutely awesome in the condition it is in and where it was made. That is a really great find! Congratulations!

[CT_Shooter]

Great range report, NCG. You've set a high standard for range reports and range performance. Thanks for sharing the story.

[RanchRoper]

Yup. LOVE the 45 Colt. Tons of fun to shoot. Nice targets. I'm looking forward to spring and shredding paper with my 1860 SA, Big Boy and 1860 Henry all in 45C! Those big ol' cowboy bullets are habit forming.

[BigAl52]

I dont even know if I could shoot that good at 10 feet let alone 16 yards. But in my dreams Ive dropped many a gunslinger in the streets of the old west. Al

[ditto1958]

Wow, that's a great pair. And good shooting, too.

[Bish1309]

Wow, wow, and wow. Not only is that pistol a stunner but your shooting accuracy is even more stunnier.

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, guys, as always for the nice comments. Appreciate them.

I do still plan to add a Henry as part of my move to balance out all my single action revolver shooting with more lever gun work, by the way. I'm holding out for a 357, 45 or 44 in steel, though, because the brass guns I've handled in our local shops are just a bit too heavy for me for offhand work. That's what tipped the scales for me with the Marlin. Love the way it balances for offhand work, much the same as a Marlin 39A. Also, not to be critical of the Henrys, here, but I actually enjoy loading cartridges through a loading gate when they go in so smoothly. I think that's a plus for lever guns that shoot revolver cartridges. I'm sure I'll do fine with loading them in the pipe with a Henry, too, though.

[steelersfan97]

The 45 Colt is a fun round to shoot, but a bit expensive if you don't reload. I have a single shot rifle and a single action revolver that shoot 45 Colt. The price per round is around 90 cents when sales tax is included. That is why I am leery of getting a Henry that shoots 45 Colt. With the single shot and single action, I can control the ammo usage to some extent. I might go crazy with a lever action if it is as fun to shoot as my Big Boy in 357 and I have no reason to believe it would be less fun to shoot.

[steelersfan97]

The photos are blocked here at work. I will check them out at home tonight, but they sound like they are some superb firearms.

[North Country Gal]

Absolutely right on the need to reload with 45 Colt, compared to the 357/387. A box of cowboy or standard 45 Colt factory ammo disappears way too fast with these guns, especially the Marlin because it is so easy to shoot and it holds more ammo than the revolver.

[RanchRoper]

I have looked at a couple of reloading setups but not quite there yet. I have bags and bags of brass I've saved. Sooner or later I'll have to get a reload rig set up.

[BigAl52]

Get the brass carbine in 41 mag there not to heavy and handle well.

[ace73]

I really enjoy reading your reports! I'm not a wheel guy, but you're testing me pretty hard!
The black Ruger looks great!

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, ace. Watch out, this cowboy and cowgirl gun stuff is mighty addictive. Watch one too many westerns and ...

That black revolver was a USFA Colt, by the way, which is actually truer in proportion to the original Colts than any Ruger, but the bulk of my single action revolver collection is Rugers and I shoot them the most, of course. Rugers do have a number of advantages over Colts and Colt clones and I would highly recommend a Ruger, too, should you take the single action revolver plunge.

The Italian single actions are even more affordable and also make a great way to get into the single action game. Here's a recent purchase that cost a fraction of what that USFA cost me. Got it very lightly used. It's a Cimarron Frontier 357, made by Pietta and it shoots great. Will do a post on it another time.