[The Virginian]

If I had to choose between the Taurus tracker in .45 ACP or .45 Colt (long is slang, no such round), and I didn't reload, I would have to go with the .45 ACP. Ammo for .45 ACP is everywhere, from Wal Mart to the local country general store. .45 Colt is expensive, seldom commonly carried by the big chains and when you find it, expensive. Defensive bullet selection is very limited and the only really good load in my opinion is the Cor-Bon 200 grain JHP load. This load is hot and might be too much to practice with in the tracker. Also, most standard pressure loads are anemic since the lawyers have advised the ammo companies not to load smokeless powder loads too warm since they might find their way into great, great grandad's blackpowder 19th century framed Peacemaker. The other trend working against the .45 Colt is the cowboy action crowd. They want loads that are even weaker because they want to "score" with the lightest load possible and that is what the ammo companies are loading. Personally, unless you have a Ruger, Freedom arms or Linebaugh gun and hunt in Jurassic Park, I don't see ANY advantage to .45 Colt in a standard pressure only revolver.

 

[The Virginian]

There is too much sentimental attachment to the .45 Colt by a lot of folks. Even in the 5 shot snubbie, the .45 ACP with moon clips is clearly the better tactical choice. Better ammo for home defense and more available with a better tactical reloading system with the .45 ACP. Yet, there are people that just want to believe that .44 Special and .45 Colt are better for home defense. If they believe it and say it enough and talk about how well the .45 Colt and .44 Russian rounds did in the Old West (sssh, no better than many other rounds in gunfights), it will just be true. I would strongly recommend against using handloads for self defense. That is a whole different can of worms, but in factory ammo, the .44 Special and the .45 Colt come up short compared with the .45 ACP. Just the facts. Shot placement is also crucial.

PS: Moonclips are an advantage, that is why TK Custom and others actually convert .45 Colt. 44 Magnum, 357/38 guns to use moonclips.