How does the .45 compare to the .50 at 200 yards?

I've often thought with a .45 ML thinking I could get a faster and flatter shooting projectile for 200 yard shots. But the lighter weight bullet would also be more subjective to wind drift. Just wondering if anyone has both and how they compare to each other ballistically? Thanks.

There are a lot of variables that could go into that equation. Honestly, either is fine to 200, and load could be altered to either. It is past the 250 mark that the .45 starts to excel, and depending on the gun, and load, even that could be doubled. you almost have to be more specific, as to gun, and load/ state requirements, to narrow that down. Inside 200, its a close race.

As Squeeze said there are many variables.
I have a Prohunter that I put a 1-28 twist custom barrel[45 caliber] on. It shoots along side my Endeavor encore grouping the same to 150 yards at that point it is shooting a bit flatter, at 250 yards the difference is very noticeable shooting a lot flatter and grouping tighter. Realizing that each rifle is an individual I will be watching to see if other peoples experience with them is the same.

Shot this with a .50 at 500yds. Redemption, 390 grn. HP

45 cal _ I did do a little edit hope you do not mind - sabotloader

This was shot at 1000 yds. using a .45 525 grn bullet, black powder 94 grns. It is not very fast by somes standards

:shock: Wow!! I'd be lucky to just hit the black, much less the white target....how much hold over?
I personally wouldn't take a 1000 yd shot on a deer, but looks like it is doable from your target.

For really shooting deer past 200 yds, SML is the way to go. There is no comparison with accuracy and power between smokers and SML past 200. SML dominates way over smokers. And if shooting long range like that 45 is way better than the 50. And in SML there is a dedicated group of shooters that use what is called "subcaliber" SML, like 40cal, 35cal and 7 mm SML. And those guns are super accurate. Like all/any long range shooting, the limiting factor is how much money are you willing to spend to get where you want to be. The Pittman bullet long range winner this year killed a deer at 800 plus yards. see link - W

http://hanksmessageboard.freeforums.net ... 16-winners

The distance of 200yds the OP asked for, a .50 will shoot as accurate and harvest no less than a .45. Depending on the rifle and of course the shooter, a .50 can be extremely accurate at twice that distance.
The .50cal rifles can easily knock a steel pig off the rail at 300m, or a steel turkey at 400m.

A .50cal rifle, T7 pellets, H5045LB sabot, 300gr SST at 400yds w/rear support...




Same .50cal, T7 pellets, H5045LB sabot, 300gr SST at 500yds w/rear support and witnessed...

For me, It only depends on what I want to carry that day if I'm deer hunting.


My 45 Disc Elite load: 120gr BH209, 195gr Barnes Expander, MV 2250fps

200yds: ft-lbs energy 874, drop 9.7 inches, drift 10mph x-wind 12.9 inches



My 50 Apex load: 110gr BH209, 250gr Barnes TEZ, MV 2000fps

200yds: ft-lbs enery 996, drop 11.9 inches, drift 10mph x-wind 12.6 inches

As you ask here are my figures .50 600 grn PP Bullet 1300 vl
200 yds. 9.9 Moa drop 1146 velocity 1749 energy

.45 525 grn Hp Bullet 1351 velocity
200 yds. 10.2 Moa drop 1094 velocity 1393 energy
So which is better. I think they both will work. 45 is easier to get to shoot

A lot depends on you and what you are looking for; the overweight lead bullets attract some, personally they can have the rainbow trajectory but they are accurate, I go the other way I don't care for smokeless in a muzzleloader but I do shoot Blackhorn in large amounts in my custom barrels. A 200 grain SST or Shock Wave at 2450 FPS "0" 2 inches high at 100 is only a bit low at 200 and will center a 10 inch gong if you hold on the top edge at 250yds. To me this means I could aim shoot and take a deer with very little hesitation at any less than 250 yards. I know that in some places they have the wide open ranges and time to play around with a range finder and figure drop here it does not happened that way.

To me that is reason for or I should say, one of reasons for the speed that some shooters look for in BH209. I get satisfaction from turning dial on the scope and knowing the rifle will respond to the MOA. To me anyone wanting to shoot past 200 should learn to put dope on his scope. What gets me one will start a 1000 fps faster than black powder and they are almost the same in foot pounds energy by time they get to 500.

I go back to the OP and address the OP question. My answer is: They are both accurate, and will kill deer easily at 200. My 45 SMLs do it with way less recoil for the same type build gun, IE: 50 Encore smoker vs 45 Encore SML, 50 700ml smoker vs 45 700ml SML etc..... That is a BIG plus for old guy like me. This reflects my opinion and experience, yours may be different. W

wolfer said:

I go back to the OP and address the OP question. My answer is: They are both accurate, and will kill deer easily at 200. My 45 SMLs do it with way less recoil for the same type build gun, IE: 50 Encore smoker vs 45 Encore SML, 50 700ml smoker vs 45 700ml SML etc..... That is a BIG plus for old guy like me. This reflects my opinion and experience, yours may be different. W

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I agree wholeheartedly

tpcollins said:

I've often thought with a .45 ML thinking I could get a faster and flatter shooting projectile for 200 yard shots. But the lighter weight bullet would also be more subjective to wind drift. Just wondering if anyone has both and how they compare to each other ballistically? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Wind drift is determined by time of flight, and ballistic coefficient. If one is shooting 40 caliber bullet in one's 45, it is entirely possible it has a higher ballistic coefficient than the 44 or 45 caliber bullet, one is shooting in the 50. Thus, it is likely the faster 'lighter' bullet in the 45, will drift less in the wind, than the heavier bullet from the 50.

The 45 i currently own is an Omega. The barrel diameter of the 45 Omega is the same as the diameter of the 50 Omega. Since the barrel of the 45, has a smaller hole, it would be stiffer. It turns out the 45 is more accurate than any 50 i ever owned. So..........in my little world, the 45 is a way better than the 50 for long range shooting. For shots at 300 yard, the 45 in my world is a way superior to the 50. For shots at 200 yard, the 45 in my world is superior to the 50. The 50 will get the job done at 200 yard.

Does anyone know where we can go to get Ballistic coefficient data on the popular bullets without having to call the manufacturer of the bullet each time we want to check out a bullet? Ideally some place where we can compare them side by side.

I forgot to mention, I am looking for a bullet capable of dropping a white tail at 300 yards using 150 gr of Pyrodex in the form of three pellets, in a fifty caliper inline weapon and have a Ballistic coefficient better than 265.

donparadowski said:

I forgot to mention, I am looking for a bullet capable of dropping a white tail at 300 yards using 150 gr of Pyrodex in the form of three pellets, in a fifty caliper inline weapon and have a Ballistic coefficient better than 265.

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Google is going to be your friend here regarding the BC's. The biggest problem you're going to have at 300 yards is the lack of energy. This is assuming you can account for the amount of drop at the exact yardage the deer is standing and can get decent enough accuracy with 3 pellets.

donparadowski said:

Does anyone know where we can go to get Ballistic coefficient data on the popular bullets without having to call the manufacturer of the bullet each time we want to check out a bullet? Ideally some place where we can compare them side by side.

Click to expand...

Midwayusa normally provides BC for bullets. Manufacturers provide BC for bullets they make.

My limited experience indicate it will be very difficult to find a bullet for a 50 caliber that will have a BC higher than 0.265. Good luck with your quest to humanely kill deer at 300 yard with your 50 caliber, and pyrodex pellets. Me, i gave up on such a wish long ago, but hopefully you will persevere.

P.S.

If one looks at Parker Bullets website, one will note bullets for 50 rifles with BC exceeding 0.265. These i didn't mention, because in my testing at 200 yard, it was found the published BC were quite optimistic. Reading on the website tells the BC were calculated at 2800 fps. The fps from a 50 rifle using 3 pellets pyrodex will be quite some less than 2800 fps. Testing from my 50, at 200 yard, showed the BC of these bullets was considerably less than published, and i do mean considerably. No testing was done with the 50, at 300 yard, because the 45 works so very much better out there.

Another source for high BC bullets may be CE bullet, but their bullets are all copper, and they are therefore kinda long, which require a faster than 1:28 twist.

One can read about higher BC custom bullets on the smokeless websites, however the speeds those boys achieve is much higher than a smoker will produce. The BC of their bullets at those speeds, are a way higher than they would be from a smoker.