Last year I was really wanting a .45 Colt SAA (well, Ruger Blackhawk to be honest). Ended up walking by a S&W 629 for an excellent price and couldn't pass it by. It's become my favorite hand gun. Small bit of an investment in reloading equipment has more than paid for itself in the amount of .44 Magnum (ok, magnum cases but plinker loads - 240gr Lead RNFP over trail boss or similar). Faster to load/unload and man it has a sweet single action trigger. It would be in the carry rotation if not for the sheer size of the thing.
Don't let the cost of factory .45LC be the holdup if you don't mind a small investment in reloading equipment (I started with the $28 Lee single stage press before I was given a nice 4 hole turret. It worked just fine.). The straight wall revolver cartridges are great for learning the process.
And it becomes suddenly _much_ cheaper to go out and enjoy time at the range.