45-60 Winchester Firearms at Western Gun Store

The .45-60 Winchester is a rimmed centerfire blackpowder cartridge introduced by Winchester in 1876 as one of the first offerings in their 1876 "Centennial" lever action. Essentially based on the rimmed .45-70 Government case shortened to 1.890-inch, the .45-60 was an "intermediate" cartridge offering power between the .44-40 and the "big" .45-70 and the .45-75. Using a 300-grain .454-inch bullet propelled by 60 grains of blackpowder, velocity was 1315 fps, which was normal for the blackpowder era. The .45-60 was a popular and successful hunting cartridge...and was probably used for game much larger than it was really suited for. Production of factory ammunition continued until the 1930s. The Winchester 1876 was its primary platform, but it was also chambered in 19th Century single-shots and Colt's slide-action Lightning rifle.