By Jim Dickson | Contributing Writer
Back in the days of black powder, longer barrels were common on pistols.
For example, the .36-caliber Colt 1851 Navy revolver had a 7 ½-inch barrel and the .44-caliber Colt 1860 Army revolver had an 8-inch barrel.
James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok preferred the 1851 Colt Navy model while John Wesley Hardin, the fastest and deadliest of them all, carried the 1860 Colt. The long barrels certainly didn’t slow them down on the draw, and they provided two important and often overlooked advantages. Long barrels weigh more and because of leverage that weight is effectively more than the scales tell us. This makes for a steadier hold on target, less muzzle jump when firing and faster second shots. They also gave the black powder propellant of the day more room to build up higher velocity.
For example, when the Army adopted the famed .45 Colt Single Action Army revolver it’s 7 and ½ inch barrel gave just over 1,000 FPS to its service load of a 255-grain bullet backed by 40 grains of black powder in a balloon head case.
These days we have smokeless powder that burns faster than black powder and does not need a long barrel to build up velocity but no one can deny that steadiness in aim is needed by everyone and most people can benefit from a longer barrel. I say most because there are some dedicated shooters who shoot equally well with most all barrel lengths and there are a few who do not do as well with long barrels as shorter barrels. For most people though it can be a blessing.
I always considered the Smith and Wesson 8 ¾-inch barrel .44 Magnum to be the steadiest of all Smith and Wessons and I knew an exhibition shooter who loved his for that reason. Sadly, Smith and Wesson no longer offers that barrel length. The famous instinct shooter Lucky McDaniel’s favorite pistol was a 7½-inch barrel .44-40 Colt Single Action Army revolver which he called his magic pistol because he never missed with it. Lucky was the man who taught the U.S. Army the “Quick Kill” instinct shooting method used in training soldiers during the Viet Nam War. He was one of the best shots of all time.
Vanishing Act
So why did longer barrels fade from the scene? Primarily, it involved the difficulty in carrying compared to shorter barrels. We don’t ride horses like we used to, and the automobile has everyone on a seat that is not accommodating to longer barrels. Chairs and couches never were. You need to be able to swing the gun and holster up when sitting down and that’s not the best position for a quick draw. This is why Doc Holliday developed his low ride shoulder holster and Wes Hardin had El Paso Saddlery make him shoulder holsters for two pistols sewn into a fancy calfskin vest. Now both men could make a fast draw at a card table while sitting with slightly shorter barreled pistols.
You can sit with a pistol in a hip holster with a barrel length of up to 6 inches, and 4 or 5 inches is better. This ease of carrying made shorter barrels gradually take over the market. Most people did not think the increased steadiness of a longer barrel outweighed the problems of carrying it. Gradually the advantages of long barrels were forgotten and they became less and less common.
It wasn’t just barrels that shrank in size. The guns, themselves did, too. With the passing of the wild frontier the man and bear stopping .45 Colt revolvers were being replaced by smaller, lighter .38’s which lacked the stopping power of the big .45’s but were easier to carry. Their lack of stopping power led to the rise of magnum calibers offering the lie that velocity would make up the difference despite the Thompson LaGarde tests proving conclusively that you cannot get enough velocity out of a pistol to make up the difference between bullet diameter and weight. Even the .44 Magnum is undersize at .429-inch bore diameter compared to .451 for the .45 Colt.
What the magnums did do was increase recoil and decibel levels to the point that you may not be able to get a second shot off in time against multiple attackers and you also vastly increased your chances of permanent hearing loss. The .45 Colt is a proven man and bear stopper that has successfully taken all big game in North America and it does it without slowing repeat shots or deafening you. It, and its automatic pistol version, the .45 ACP, are the perfect balance of power and controllability in a handgun cartridge.
Colt Anaconda
With all that in mind I asked Colt to send a 8-inch barrel .45 Colt Anaconda to Reeves Ace Hardware in Clayton, Georgia where I could pick it up and review it before returning it to the factory. The classic 8-inch barrel of the Colt 1860 Army cap and ball revolver gives a bit more steadiness which is useful for handgun hunting or any precision shooting.
(Editor’s Note: Earlier this year Dickson reviewed an Anaconda with a 4-inch barrel. Read about it here.)
El Paso Saddlery makes a fine Tom Threepersons holster for this revolver as their #1920. Often called one of the last of the old time gunfighters, Tom was a lawman, rancher and hunting guide in the first part of the 20th Century. His holster design was justly famous and widely copied. They also make their #1930 Austen holster to fit the big revolver.
For open carry around the farm and for handgun hunting the long barrel is no big problem. You are simply following in the footsteps of the majority of the 19th Century Colt revolver users. Many people will find that the extra barrel length is more than worth any inconvenience in carrying for they find it easier to hit with.
After all, only hits count, especially if you are dealing with a herd of wild hogs. Sometimes they run at you instead of away from you. That’s when the extra weight of the longer barrel aiding in a quicker recovery after each shot can become especially valuable. This is not the time or the place for a high bucking .44 Magnum with its drastically slower rate of fire. Multiple pigs must all be taken out fast at close range and I do mean FAST!
The stainless steel Anaconda sported a beautiful mirror polish with perfect fit of all parts. The trigger pull was up to Colt’s highest standards with a double-action pull of 9 pounds, 10 ounces and a single- action trigger pull of 6 pounds, 6 ounces as measured by a Lyman mechanical trigger pull gage from Brownells Gunsmithing Supplies.
All the current production Colts that I have examined have superb trigger pulls and the benefits of this for accurate shooting cannot be overstated. I normally fire a double action revolver exclusively as a double action and a good trigger pull allows me to shoot just as accurately double action as I can single action. A bad trigger pull throws a monkey wrench into the works and I have encountered trigger pulls of over 100 pounds on a double action revolver. That’s time for some serious gunsmithing work.
That gun ended up with all its internal parts replaced as they were mismatched and jamming together. Master gunsmith Alan Aaronstein of Interarms in Houston, Texas did the work. He rebuilt the gun completely and it now has a lovely 9-pound trigger pull enabling me to finally hit with it.
The Anaconda weighed 58 ounces. This weight plus its rubber grip certainly does mitigate recoil making this a very pleasant gun to shoot. It’s overall length is 13 and ½ inches, height is 6 inches, and width at the cylinder is 1.750 inches.
Shooting Evaluation
I had 920 rounds of test ammunition to fire through the Colt consisting of:
- 500 rounds of Black Hills Cowboy Action loads with a 255-grain round nose flat point bullet at 725 FPS. I have fired thousands of rounds of this super accurate target ammo. While it’s velocity is a bit lower than I like for brown bear and moose, it should be remembered that the .455 Webley velocity was only 600 FPS as the British wanted the bullet to dump as much energy as possible into the thin Fuzzy Wuzzy warriors of the Sudan and the Chinese Boxers who were small in stature. So don’t hesitate to use this mild recoiling load as a manstopper.
- 400 rounds of Armscor 255-grain lead semi-wadcutter at 850 FPS. This is my favorite commercial .45 Colt load for man or bear.
- 20 rounds of Steinel nickel case 250-grain XTP at 800 FPS. Steinel is about the only place I know of where you can get nickel plated .45 Colt cases in loaded ammo. That’s important because it won’t corrode in leather cartridge loops like brass cases will.
The pistol held steady in the hand and was easy to hit with firing double action with either hand. The extra weight of the long barrel also reduces the already low recoil making a pleasant gun to fire in the 4-inch barrel version a bit more so in the 8-inch barrel model. What it gives up in ease of carrying to the 4-inch versions it makes up for in ease of hitting the target.
Perhaps the best endorsement came when Colby Nichols, the man shown firing the Anaconda, bought the gun from Colt after it was returned to them. The gun fit him perfectly and he could not seem to miss firing both single action and double action. When you find a gun that you can really hit with you need to buy it.
Before returning the gun to Colt it was cleaned with Shooters Choice bore cleaner and patches then lubricated with Ballistol oil. As the 8-inch barrel was longer than my pistol cleaning rods I unscrewed and removed a couple of center sections of a G.I. M10 cleaning rod to make one of proper length for the long barrel.
I rate the .45 Colt Anaconda in all of its barrel lengths as one of the finest double action revolvers made today.
