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Fascinating Failure: The .45 Winchester Magnum

I put an 18 1/2 lb. spring in my Springfield Loaded and for "social carry", shoot Double Taps SMC 185 Gr. at 1200 fps or their 230 gr. at 1130 fps, just shy of a +P load. Recoil is still manageable, but still hotter that standard .45 loads.
 

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I remember the glut of "magnum" cartridges around that time. The 9mm and 10mm Magnums were being touted quite a bit by magazines at the time. The same company that made your 45 Win Mag made the other two magnums. Wish I had gotten one when they were out.

Just FYI, I know Starline makes a run of 10mm Magnum brass every year. You really can't shoot these guns now unless you're a reloader.
 
The LAR Grizzly Win Mag was in my opinion the gun suited for this round, it was basically a 1911 on steroids, the Wildly was a nice gun, but the Grizzly was a more affordable choice and very reliable and accurate, just my thoughts
 
I was surprised that there was no mention of the .460 Rowland cartridge?
I have 3 converted .45's that are rechambered for the slightly elongated (~1mm longer) Rowland cartridge.
The ballistics are impressive, and no changes needed for magazines. The required heavy springs and muzzle compensator keep it pretty tame to shoot.
As a bonus, you can still shoot .45+P or Super without problems. Standard .45's won't always cycle properly.
 
Many years ago at my local range there was a guy shooting a LAR Grizzly in .45 mag. Needless to say it was impressive and drew a crowd. It was a covered outdoor range and the spent brass was bouncing off the ceiling and headed in all sorts of directions at pretty high speeds. Every shot had people covering their heads and ducking. :eek:
 
I will say I've been told not bring my LAR Grizzly back to a number of indoor ranges over the years. The managers say that the report annoys the other shooters. One range actually had most of the staff come down to the basement range. wondering what I was shooting. You see with every round that I lite off, it caused the floor to shake above the range. These guys thought I was shooting a .3006 down there. They looked at the camera feed and realize it was a handgun. They were some slightly hot 230 gn FMJ hand loads chronographed at around 1750 fps. They told me not to bring that gun back to the range. It can be a very accurate target gun. I have a .45 ACP conversion kit for it, and lets say my shooting buddies have made the comment "DO YOU SLEEP WITH THAT GUN". Long sight radius along with the longer barrel make it a tack driver. With light .45 ACP target loads, because the slide is so heavy, you can actually watch the slide recoil and slide back into battery. People complain about shooting a 45 WINMAG Grizzly, I find it kind of fun. The only hand gun I've fired that made me think twice about wanting to own one is my buddies S&W 629 three inch. That gun was a real handful to shoot with its small grips.
From what I have found Winchester still offers the .45 WINMAG ammunition but only with a heavier 260 grain bullet. They've slowed it down to under 1,200 FPS.
 
Copy that. I had a Mod 29 back in the day qualifying on our sheriff's range. Everybody else was shooting .38 wadcutters. When that .44 torched off, everyone paid attention. Big boom and a blue muzzle flash:oops::oops: even during the day.
 
The .45 win mag was ahead of its time. Part of its demise was due so few, and less than reliable offerings chambered for this. Advances in steels and other materials, manufacturing, and computer aided design has raised reliability and functionality of firearms to an all time high. I think this could make a comeback and supplant the .44 mag and 10mm as a high-powered handgun solution. I know I would certainly be interested...
 
I think the 45 Win Mag could be viable as a hunting auto in the right platform....eg, I recall that Glock
made the 10mm more popular when it introduced a 10mm long slide hunting pistol and the market touted it as a viable hog hunter....and the Win Mag is way more than the 10mmm......maybe Glock or some one else could do the same for the Win Mag....of course they would have to get Winchester to make the ammo more available..........just sayin '
 
How come no guns chambered for the 45 Win. Mag. today?

Nothing unusual about it's power level, now there are rounds like 454 Casull, 458 Socom. 45 S&W Magnum, 475 Wildey, 475 Linebaugh, 500 S&W Magnum, 500 Libebaugh, and others.

With all the pistol carbine available, the 45 Win. Mag. would be perfect in a 16" carbine.

This would be good to carry in the national forest for protection against big bears.
Also good for hunting hogs and deer.

With the 450 Bushmaster so popular, why isn't the 45 Win. Mag. more popular?

There was supposedly several gunsmith converting 30 Carbines to 45 Win. Mag. during the 1980's.

A article years ago mentioned gunsmith converting 30 Carbine to 9mm Win.Mag. ( a lot of people get confused and think it is the same as 9mm Luger- it is not- a 115 gr. Bullet at 1500 fps, 575 fpe to equal a full power 357 Magnum load.
 
I remember the Wildey being described as the world's finest single shot semiautomatic handgun. It wasn't particularly reliable. I had the opportunity to shoot one once and the size was just huge. It was like gripping a 2x4, and very satisfying for that big bullet to connect with a large steel target downrange.
 
The Wildey is, again, in production. The .45 Winchester Magnum can be used anywhere the .44 Reminton Magnum is un use. I feel the 10" barreled Wildey would be excellent for deer/feral hog hunting. Placed in an AR-style platform with a 16" barrel would be suitable for a 100-125-yard "woods walking" rifle
 
This cartridge had been used in the M1 Carbine platform. I can see how effective it would be for short-range deer hunting. From a 16" barrel, a 230-grain Hollow Soft Point would "slam down" a hog or Whitetail deer rather quickly (125 yards at the maximum). Lightweight and quick handling. Any feral pests would fall quickly.
 
I had an LAR Grizzly Win Mag. Took it to the range one day, fired it a few times, and it went back into its box for years, partially b/c I couldn't find replacement ammo and partially b/c it was too much gun for me. Traded it maybe six or eight years ago for a factory new 9mm P229 Legion with a Romeo1. Still have some .45 Win Mag ammo that I forgot to include in the trade.
 
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