Muzzle loaders: why 54 cal.?

[TMM]

why are some Muzzle loaders .54 cal. instead of .50 or .55?
just wondering.
~TMM

 

[P95Carry]

4V50Gary could probably answer better than me - but IIRC it was just one of the ''old'' cals way back. I have an Enfield 2 band musketoon - it takes the .577 cal ball - or in my case Minnie. That cal also is sometimes called just .58. Another ''old'' cal designation.

So - I am assuming this was just an historic thing ... .45 and .50 being (relatively) more modern bore dia choices.

 

[gezzer]

I've been shooting ML for 30 years and the 54 rb is on of the best killers I have seen. Punched through the chest of a bull moose leaving a nice inch dia hole on the off side. 1 shot Kill. have many 1 shot kills on deer. I shoot 95 grains FFg and a .535 RB .015 patch. Its got a 42 inch barrel with a Durs Egg flintlock. RB is doing 1900 across the chrono.

The only better killer is my nephews .62 cal rifle that's a whole nother story more of an elephant gun than whats needed for deer and such.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Thanks for the compliment P95Carry

More lead (pb) on target.

 

[BigG]

Those old guns were originally denominated in gauge, not caliber. Gauge means so many round lead balls to the pound. Even the Colt percussion revolvers were gauged, in the beginning. 54 caliber is a modern designation of a rifle that shot so many balls to the pound. I forget how many, but you can look it up. I believe the 36 cal was 100 balls to the pound, etc.

 

[TMM]

i see, thanks.

but- what do you mean by "balls to the pound"? hwo does that measure the gauge?

~TMM

 

[RugerOldArmy]

12 Ga is 12 roundballs to the pound.

Not sure, but as I remember, .54 is 24 balls to the pound, and .62 is 20 (20 Ga).

.54 in Roundball seems to be one of the best tradeoffs in power/trajectory without burning heaps of powder. I use the identical .535/.015 patch/95gr FFg load in my two favorite .54(s) that Geezer does. Very pleased with the accuracy and power.

 

[Jim Watson]

.54 uses pretty close to a half ounce ball. It doesn't gauge precisely that but when you take 18th and 19th century manufacturing tolerances and patch thickness for round balls into consideration, it sure looks like that is where they were headed.

 

[smokemaker]

From what I've been reading, a .54 is a 28 bore, and a .58 is a 24 bore. Have to agree with the .54 being a great hunting caliber. Balls or conicals, it carries good energy without needing huge amounts of powder to do it. My GPR is a .54, and it's a fantastic rifle.

 

[RugerOldArmy]

I believe you're right Smokemaker. I stand corrected.

 

[TMM]

ah, i see. i knew it had to have somthing to do with lead balls in the barrel, but i didn't quite know the specifics.
thanks
~TMM

 

[Flatfender]

If you need to shoot big game - Elk, Moose, Bear - you can use a sabotted .50 in a .54.

 

[arcticap]

Yes, I believe BigG had it right about the guage/caliber link. I have a 28 guage
smoothbore shotgun (28 balls to the lb.) and it is approximately .54 caliber
with it's modified choke. It's Spanish made and shoots .520 patched balls quite accurately @ 25 yards hitting bowling pins without any problem. You think finding .520 balls would be tough, but without many people shooting them (as opposed to .530 balls used in most .54 cal. rifles - due to the gun's
choke) I must be the only person looking to buy them at the area gunshows.
The ones I've found were old!

 

[arcticap]

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[arcticap]

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