[hammie]

Well Uncle Buck, I guess I'm one of those "smarty pants" whom you despise. When I go to a gun store, I ask for .45 Colt, and I have yet to be handed a box of .45 ACP. I'm at a loss to understand how calling two different cartridges by two different names (.45 ACP and .45 colt) creates confusion, but calling the same cartridge by two different names (.45 colt and .45 long colt) clarifies things.

You can refer me to the colt web page, if you like. I can refer you to every loading manual out there, plus every authoritative reference, the ruger web site, and even manufacturer's headstamps. They all say .45 colt. So what? Let's allow history and the facts to decide it and the fact is (whether I tell you or remind you, as you say) that there never was a .45 short colt. And no, the .45 schofield/S&W was not a short colt. It was a cartridge designed and produced by colt's competitor for a S&W revolver. Calling the .45 colt a long colt is as meaningless as designating the name of the .45 ACP. the .45 ACP long, because we now have the .45 GAP. I do understand the common usage of the term, ".45 long colt. However, I think that we should strive to use correct terms and not call people names when they make the effort.

Second, I don't get frightened when someon asks for clarification of different cartridges and what cartridge is used in a specific firearm, as long as they are asking and learning. If perfect knowledge were a requirement for gun ownership, then none of us here would own guns because at some earlier time, we were all asking and learning the same lessons.

Third, gb6491: a minor point. The .45 blackhawk convertible will not fire the .45 auto rim. There isn't sufficient headspace on an unaltered cylinder.

Fourth: .45 Schofield may be uncommon, but it is not unobtainable. Midway offers it with a starline or hornady headstamp and indicates that they can ship it tomorrow.