[Jeff Higgins]

Unless you have a real need for the larger bores (.44 and .45), stick with the .357/.38. It will be far cheaper to shoot and ammo is available in far greater variety.

.45 caliber revolvers are indeed a far different "experience" than .45 caliber autos. Unless, of course, you choose one of the many fine revolvers available in .45 ACP. The Blackhawk convertibles like MotoSook links above are tough to beat. S&W has a very nice double action in .45 ACP as well. These will all be as easy and inexpensive to feed as your run of the mill .45 ACP autoloader.

Where the ".45 experience" starts to differ significantly is when we get to the one and only true .45 caliber revolver cartridge - the old .45 Colt. This caliber is not well supported in the shooting industry, with a pretty slim selection of loads that also tend to be quite expensive - even when compared to .44 caliber stuff.

On the one end of the spectrum, we have the very meek and mild "Cowboy" loads, meant for Cowboy Action shooting. Recoil is a factor in this game as far as recovery and speed, so these loads are toned down to mitigate that. To a degree that they are all but useless for any "real world" application.

In the middle ground, there are century old loads from Remington, Winchester, and others - a 250 grain lead semi-pointed bullet at about 850 fps. These are great loads and will do anything you really need a handgun to do, but they are much more expensive (and sometimes harder to find) than .38 or .44 Specials.

Next up are the rock 'em sock 'em, high pressure, heavy bullet hunting loads that make the mighty .44 magnum look like a pipsqueak. These are not for the feint of heart (or wallet). Purely hunting fodder, but they really expand the usefulness of the .45 caliber revolver - assuming it can handle them. Most can't. These are for Ruger Blackhawks only - no Smiths or Colts need apply.

In the end, a .45 Colt revolver is more of a handloader's proposition than the more common .38 and .44 calibers. Even then, however, there are several nuances that one must be aware of to successfully load for a .45 Colt - there are several different "standard" bore diameters as well as cylinder mouth diameters, and they are not always optimally matched on the same gun. Accuracy can be a challenge, as can be leading, with these often miss-matched dimensions. This is all far more difficult to sort out in a .45 than in the .38's and .44's, which have only one set of industry standard dimensions.

Whichever revolver you decide upon in the end, if it's available in .45 caliber, it's also available in .38 and .44. Unless you have some compelling reason to go with .45, do yourself a favor and stick with .38 or .44. Your life will be much simpler.