A word to the wise, here...
I had an animated conversation with Mike (Goon) about the strengths and weaknesses of an Open Top chambered in .45 Colt. He feels the OT is better suited to smaller diameter cartridges such as .44 Special (.429) or .44 Colt that allow for thicker cylinder walls and web thickness...and I don't disagree. In fact, his recommendation was to go with the Cattleman, which he feels can handle .45C +P loads and no wedge worries. I did agonize over the decision, but in the end I knew what I wanted and have no intentions of exceeding BP cartridge velocities even when shooting smokeless. Plus, I didn't want to get strapped down buying components for yet another cartridge to load, and there's already enough confusion what with loading .44 magnum, .44-40, and .45 Colt for the potential of error, either by myself or someone else...the cartridges are eerily similar in look and dimension. Labels get lost, dirty, wet, etc. So this seemed like the right thing to do.
