>50 cal & Why

[white eagle]

First M/L I bought was a 54 had 1 50 cal and sold that
just because I wanted a 40 cal Knight Peregrine
I don't own a 30-06 either everybody owns one of those that is why I chose to sell my 50 common as fee's on a June rabbit

 

[FredB]

The choice is simple for me. In Idaho we have a .50 minimum for elk, and .45 for deer. I would like to have a .45 just for deer, but I need to fill the piggy bank a little more for that. The .50 was essential.

 

[hockeyref]

Built a .54 GPR a few decades ago because PA required prb and rocklocks. Nice 50 yard light target load is 60gr 3f, whitetail whomper load is 105gr (to be honest, I could use the 60gr load for deer since the shots rarely get beyond 50yds where I hunt .... I got the .54 cuz it would work for any critter I might have wanted chase in North America at the time.

When I decided to explore inlines I went .50 due to availability of components. And have a knight disc converted to Lehigh bare 209 on a screaming good deal. I am curious to try sabots and .40 cal bullets in it.

 

[Bad Karma]

Here is where i can ride in the truck with you. I think even the .40 cal with good conicals n the .45's are all you need. The prb's yes .50-.54-,.58 shine. Western States have too many Liberals in their Game n fish Comm.

And CBA members…

 

[Okie Hog]

Currently i own .50, .54 and .58 caliber sidelock rifles. Most deer and hogs have fallen to a .50 caliber round ball. Four or five deer and about a dozen hogs were killed by a .54 caliber firing patched round ball. The .54 does whomp big hogs. Most were killed at <60 yards from stands overlooking ponds, game trails or wheatfields.

Way back when i got into .32 caliber and smaller caliber muzzleloaders. They were a pain in the rear and were soon traded off. i hunt small game with a .50 caliber and patched round ball.

Shot placement is everything.

 

[earlthegoat2]

50 Cal Omega, 54 Cal 700 ML, and a .58 cap lock Hawken.

I like all of them but use the Omega the least of all of them. I use purple 54 cal sabots and .500 diameter bullets in the 54 and PRB in the .58.

So far, the .58 has proven to be the most effective damage inflictor. A blind man could follow the blood trail in the dark on the rare occasion there is a runner.

 

[stan57]

I have a .50 Firestorm and a .50 Encore, both bought many decades ago, and a .50 Trad KY bought recently. Not really intentional all are .50, it just turned out that way lol.

 

[rangerod]

H&R SideKick, T/C Impact and Impact SB. All 50s BUTT!!! I shoot 45 (.451) in them.
Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ flat base 290gr.

[jordanpetersonvoice]Now, go clean your room.[/jordanpetersonvoice]

Great bullet.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Critter and projectile choice figure heavily into the equation. For deer, a .50 ball is fine, depending on the load, for 75-100 yards. Bigger critter/ longer ranges, go .54 or .58. Caliber is ALL to the ball.
Sabots/ conicals NEED nothing larger than an appropriately rifled .50.
Conicals will generally be lighter, but if of the same weight, will be ballistically superior in .50 as compared to a .54 or .58 conical With sabots, the availability of some truly excellent bullets makes canceling a critter's life subscription much faster.
.45 IS a fine caliber, but there are some mighty silly restrictions out there. Speaking from personal experience I can say the 40/45 sabot combo, using 180 and 200 grain .40 cal XTPs, are death rays on deer. But I wouldn't use them on bigger critters.

 

[tdorval]

I’m shopping right now and would love a 45 but 50 is min in some states for hunting so have to go that way I suppose.

 

[edmehlig]

Unless you are not planning on hunting those states.

 

[tdorval]

Unless you are not planning on hunting those states.

For sure. In my case I likely will end up hunting those states. I also guide in a state with a 50 min so I would like this to work as a backup for clients

 

[edmehlig]

I like the TC Renegade better than the Hawken. To me the Renegade looks like a more hunting gun. I personally don’t like the brass fittings and the curved butt plate on the Hawken, but that’s just me.

 

[tdorval]

I like the TC Renegade better than the Hawken. To me the Renegade looks like a more hunting gun. I personally don’t like the brass fittings and the curved butt plate on the Hawken, but that’s just me.

I like the looks of the hawken but prefer the renegade type for what I would be using, that’s why I was asking about the Lyman trade rifle as well as it appears to be more of the hunting setup.

 

[Garbler]

Elk are not that hard to kill if the shot is placed in the vitals behind the shoulders but I realize that is not always possible. So yes you need a bullet that will break them down as in big bones if they are heading for high ground. I took a large cow years ago with my 20 bore 320 grain dead soft round ball at about 1500 fps. It was a quartering shot from the rear but the ball was found in the front shoulder. It hit the shoulder bone hard enough to put her down. Of course it didn’t contact any of the big bones in her stern just a couple of ribs but even a big round ball is a killer. It’s a known fact that elk can cover a lot of tough country on three legs even with partial lungs Bigger is better if you need to break them down in the shoulders

Rick

 

[11th Corps]

Target shooter and plinker here.
I own.
Two .45 Hawken style rifles. One a T/C the other CVA. Cap guns.
One .50 Hawken Flintlock
One .60 caliber smoothbore northwest trade gun Flintlock
One .40 caliber flintlock poor boy.
One .50 CVA inline.

I enjoy shooting all of them but my .40 is the favorite. Light recoil and a long LOP stock.
I cast my own projectiles so availability is not an issue.

 

[Hanshi]

All my guns are sidelocks but with only two being percussion. I hunted with mostly flintlocks and in .45 caliber. For any deer smaller than elk the .45 is plenty. It is a "one shot" caliber since one shot is all it takes to drop any deer. I have killed deer with my .50, .54, 62 using lead ball and they are certainly awesome deer calibers. But my favorite for some 68 years has been the .45. I used to own a .58 with which I killed a fox squirrel cleanly and with no mess. That large ball hit the neck making only a slit as the entry would and another small slit for the exit. Big calibers can be made to do a good job on small game but I've always preferred a .32 and a .36 for the small stuff.

 

[PNWtrekker]

At the local sports stores unless you are shooting PRB. Seems like 45 or 50 is your only option. And if you shoot at elk... well 50 is your only option.

 

[smokepolehall]

I was reading my old Hawken manual back in the 70's. The .50 cal run as good or a touch better in MV. & KE than the .54 until you get to shoulder (yours) breaking loads. Back when i was much younger i shot 100-120 gr loads with conicals. Now i don't care to beat myself up anymore.

 

[bronko220002]

I have a bunch of .50s but they're all inlines,sans one .50 flinter. I enjoy shooting the 45s more. But when I get really serious about thumping something I reach for one of my big .58s. I use my .58 flinter for PA's late primitive season because its accurate and hits like a freight train without too much recoil even with a 100 gr charge of FFg