45 or 50 cal?

[Andy G]

Hi guys

Im about to buy my first blackpower rifle and need some advise.

Should i get a 45 or 50 cal?

I will use it solely for deer hunting and most shots would be within a 100 yards...150 at the most.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks
Andy

 

[RCL]

I would look for a .54...............

 

[Andy G]

Yeah but Im going to shoot deer,not moose

 

[Stickjockey]

Are you shooting roundball or conicals? The .45 might be okay if your shooting conicals. With roundballs you'd probably want to go with the .50.

Or, I'd go with what RCL said and use the .54 as a good in-between caliber for both deer and elk.

 

[1911]

Cant go wrong with a 50cal.Kills most anything on the planet and you can find all sorts of loads for them

The 45 is still kind of hard to find a huge verity of ammo for.

 

[TerryBob]

25 years ago, the question was always "45 or 54". I never knew anyone that had a 50. The arguments always went the same every time the subject come up. The 54 was the hardest hitter that made the biggest hole but the 45 was a good deal more accurate. I find that the 50 is the best of both worlds. It's more accurate than a 54 but will put down anything that I feel like dragging out.

A good freind of mine hunts with a 45. He gets a deer with it every year with no problems. I use a 50 inline and it does pretty well. I would buy another 50 if I had to.

Take care all,

TerryBob

 

[Mike Irwin]

Agreed that .50 is the way to go unless you're going to be hunting bear.

 

[Andy G]

Looks like the .50 is what I will go with.

Thanks a lot guys!
Andy

 

[confed sailor]

.45, .50, and .54 are for wusses

if you want a deer thumpin rifle get a 2 band Enfield, 3 bands if u want even more power. a 150 grain ball or 500 grn minie will take care of any game on this continent,

though for grizzly i would have a back up big bore revolver, and probably a guide with a double rifle in the upper .40 calibers.

 

[461]

If 45 is good, 50 must be better right. Seriously, both will serve fine, but if given the choice the fifty is a bit more versatile. You can always make something less powerful but everything has it's limit and the .50 has a higher limit than the .45

 

[smokemaker]

The .50 is the 30-06 of ML's. It will take any game on the continent if loaded correctly, is pretty flat shooting for a frontstuffer, and components are readily available. It's a better choice as far as range of bullet styles and weights, but I still love shooting my .54 and my .58's.. of course I'd shoot a 4 bore if I could afford one.

 

[1911]

The again there is nothing like a 303 grain 62 cal fired from a virgina rifle.