Well, I haven't done any CAS shooting yet but I have been a member of the 7th Cavalry as a scout for a number of years. I used a Rossi .45 Colt rifle and was pretty happy with it. Last year I won the military rifle shoot with it when we went to Fort Sissiton so that was a pretty good deal. The only problem was that the Rossi is copied after the Winchester 92 and Custer (who was healthy BEFORE he left North Dakota by the way
) got whacked in 1875 so I decided this fall to get a Cimmeron 1873 Winchester that would be period appropriate. So far I think I like it far better than my Rossi but then again for $400 more, I better dang well like it better!
But I guess if you are looking for a cheap .45 Colt rifle, EMF has 1892 Winchester carbines for about $267 and I think the rifles with the 24 inch barrels were going for about $336 or so. Like I said, the Rossi isn't a bad rifle for the money and I REALLY like both my 73 and 66 Winchesters from Cimmeron. Guess it all depends on what you want and how much you are willing to spend.