Why did you choose to shoot a big caliber?

[Birdgun Quail]

Newbie question?  Forgive me if this is old stuff and has been hashed out numerous times before.  But, I'm new...it's all new to me! 

Why did you folks choose to shoot the larger caliber cartridges when you know the .38 Special is cheaper and faster to shoot?

My wife gave me my two .45 Colt Cimarron Model P's for my birthday.  She knew that I wanted them in .45 Colt.  I chose them because I just find the .45 Colt more charming.  The .45 Colt or .44-40 are the calibers I think of when I think of a cowboy gun.  Plus, the .45 Colt cartridge has a heft and look about it that is pleasing.  In art there is "the rule of thirds," and I think the .45 Colt cartridge is visually pleasing because the length is approximately three times the width.   Now ain't that a dim witted and absurd reason to choose the .45 Colt as my CAS caliber--because it looks purty?  Partner, what's your reason for choosing one of the big calibers?

[Wymore Wrangler]

I shoot 38's because they were cheaper to start the game with, I've also got a 45 that just feels good in the hand when it goes off, so maybe someday I'll get to be a full fledge warthog...

[Forty Rod]

The first pistol I ever bought, in 1956 or so, was a .45 Colt SAA with a 5 1/2" barrel.  TV cowboys shot 'em, so I bought one. 

The only other caliber single actions I have ever owned were .357  Hammerli Virginian, and four 1875 Remmie types, two nickled and two blued, all with 7 1/2" barrels. 

Of course that doesn't include maybe a dozen Bearcats when they were still cheap enough I could afford to buy one and throw it away when it wore out, or trade it off when I needed a few bucks.

[Old Top]

Birdgun,

Had an orignal Windchester 73 in 44-40 why change calibers?

Old Top

[Chilly Waters]

I just wanted to shoot a Colt .45, not  a Colt .38.  Besides, I've gotten into reloading 

[Frenchie]

Why did you folks choose to shoot the larger caliber cartridges when you know the .38 Special is cheaper and faster to shoot?

Because it isn't correct for my period persona - the .38 Special was born in 1902 and my NCOWS impression is 1865-1871. Also I have a Rossi 92 in .44-40 which doesn't fit that era, but the dang thing is so beautiful, and I got it for a very good price and then picked up 300 rounds for it, that I might just have to get a late-Victorian impression to fit it (and a reloading set to fill the brass with black powder). On the other hand my revolvers are .36 Navy Colts and I'm looking to get them converted to fire cartridges, and that might mean .38 Specials.

And I will never be fast... 

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Was alreadly reloading for .44 Spec and .44 Mag, liked those calibers, and knew that both the RVs and Marlin in .44 Mag could do double duty as hunting firearms.  Besides that,  I just like big bores better, although the arthritis in my wrists may require me to switch to .38s before too long.

Hamp

[Calamity Jane]

I chose 44-40 'cause it was as close as I could come to me time period (1875) that waz practical.

[Irish Red O'Toole]

My brother gave me a Blackhawk in .45 Colt to start playing CAS with.  When I got other guns to complete my set, I stayed with .45 Colt for convenience.  Same bullets in pistols and rifles, etc.  Now, I really like the big thumb-busters.  Besides....everyone knows that cowboys shoot .45 Colts!!

[Harve Curry]

Because big bullets were the real McCoy. I wanted a 45LC Colt SAA, but, an original Colt Frontier Six Shooter 44-40 chose me. It was in pieces in a shoe box at a swap meet. Took me over a year to get her shootin again. I got a 1873 Wincheste rifler 44wcf after that, and except for my 44 specials they are my favorite weapons

[Four-Eyed Buck]

The first gun I got to make my first brace was a Marlin CB in .45 Colt. To keep things simple, I completed the brace in the same caliber. When my wife finally got what she felt comfortable with, I inherited her other .38 caliber revolvers, to complete the brace I got a Marlin CBC. I started shooting duelist with this brace. My last brace I got because I wanted it, 38-40! I guess I'm a 2/3rds Warthog. I now alternate all three calibers, so the big ones get shot once every three months and all calibers are shot duelist.........Buck

[Cuts Crooked]

I chose it because of my experiance in "the real world"! Big heavy slugs seem to do a much better job of making the bad guys stop.....RIGHT NOW! Seems like no matter how fast or what fancy superduperhollowpointrevolvingbladedangedneartexplosivetip bullet they come out with for the smaller bores, they just don't stand up to the test of real world shooting with a big heavy slug!

Having developed a fondness  for the big bores ability to protect my beloved carcass, I stuck with them for play time too!

[Sisquoc]

Anything else just didn't seem quite right.  And I do love my .45 RVs.     

[Prof. Bullspit]

I shoot for fun.

I too find the .45 to be visually pleasing and I like the heft. I like the way those big slugs slip into those huge gaping holes in the chamber.

I like the feel of the recoil and the boom when they go off.

Silly reasons.

[Micheal Fortune]

I shoot the .45 Colt cause I just love that gentle nudge and roll of a hogleg that you just don't get with anything smaller.

I also use my single action as backup while hunting and while I have put them down with the .38 (many times) the .45 does a much nicer job and it's the same weight that your packing.

[L.G.]

  That's easy to answer.  My first rifle was a Ruger Deer Stalker in .44 Mag. that I got when I was 16 (way back in the '70's), and my first pistol was a Ruger Super Black Hawk likewise in .44 Mag.  So, I've always been a Warthog.  I had a  Mini-14, and decided I din't like the .223 and got a M1A and like the .308 much better.  So now I shoot either my brace of Bisley Vaquero's or my pair of Schofields, both in .45 Colt, and my 1892 Hartford, also in .45 Colt, and love every minute of it.

[Russ T Chambers]

I didn't know they made anything smaller than .45 colt   

[Qball]

The bigger case holds more blackpowder
more blackpowder more kaboomm

[Frank Dalton]

I shoot mainly 44wcf in bp. I choose that caliber since that is what they used way back then. I also have .45's to shoot smokeless.

I like a gun that tells me that it actually fired something downrange, and the cloud of smoke is really fun.

Nothing wrong with the smaller calibers if that allows you to shoot CAS.

[D. R. Greysun]

Snow ball!  
Started almost 30 years ago. I bought a SBH .44 Mag fer huntin hogs, always wanted a 94 in .44 Mag as a companion piece. So it came along, then it was Frontier and 2 Bisley in .44 Mag came along. Then it was FC and 2 '58 Remy's (.44 of course) came long. It's a gall darn Snow Ball!  
D R