I just picked up a sweet 45 cal Pedersoli "Canadien Voyageur" percussion cap last night and plan to take it to the woods this fall.I looks very much like the new Pedersoli "Kentucky" rifle and is in great shape.My hunting will be mostly deer and I am leary about a 45 round ball being adequate. Will I be better off going with a conical for hunting? I have a self limit of 70 yards with any of my Muzzle loaders so long range shooting is not part of the question.
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45 cal and hunting
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longrifle78
40 Cal.
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A 45 rb is plenty good on deer. Iv shot a few deer with the 45 and will be using one this season.Keep your shots inside 75-80 yards and find your most accurate load in the 65-90grn range & you will be fine.
Agree with LR78...several years ago I had converted a T/C .45cal Hawken Cougar caplock to a Flintlock and christened it with this small buck at about 50-55yds.
I do think there's an advantage to waiting for as clear a shot as possible into the vitals with the smaller / lighter .45cal ball.
90grns Goex 3F
Oxyoke 'wonderwad'
.018" T/C pillow ticking
Hornady .440"
I do think there's an advantage to waiting for as clear a shot as possible into the vitals with the smaller / lighter .45cal ball.
90grns Goex 3F
Oxyoke 'wonderwad'
.018" T/C pillow ticking
Hornady .440"
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Dang your hides!
I have 30, 32, 36, 50, 54, 58, 62, 72 and 75 calibers, but no 45. You have me craving one now, and that means I have to come up with the means. Ah well, such is the world of muzzleloading. :rotf:
I have 30, 32, 36, 50, 54, 58, 62, 72 and 75 calibers, but no 45. You have me craving one now, and that means I have to come up with the means. Ah well, such is the world of muzzleloading. :rotf:
Sperit de bois
45 Cal.
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I hunt with a 45 PA/KY I would shorten up my range some,,just me .I like to keep my 45 cal range around 50yds..give or take a deer lenght or two.45 PRB hasnt got much authority at long distances.It's more challanging to hunt close than shoot at a distance. Just me again!!!!
hanshi
Cannon
Over the past decade I've killed more deer with two different .45s than all other calibers combined. The farthest was 75 yards and none of them took more than one shot. Some dropped where they stood; a few ran a few yards but fell within hearing. All but a couple were complete pass throughs. I shoot NOTHING but prb! I'd call a .45 shooting prb fully the equal of the 30/30. Just don't stretch it much over 100 yards.
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If you put the ball where it is supposed to be then it will get er done :thumbsup:
SgtSchutzen
45 Cal.
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I`m also a .45 fan. I hunt deer with two different muzzleloaders one is a .45 and the other a .50cal. I`ve never noticed any real difference in killing effectiveness between the two. Hit one in a good spot and you have a dead deer, make a bad shot and the outcome might be different.
Nowadays my .45 gets alot more use than the .50 because I prefer the style and shootability of that particular rifle. I think that`s the real key to it. Find a rifle you like and can shoot well. My shots are usually inside of 50yds and my hunting load for the .45cal is a .440PRB over 65grs of black powder.
Nowadays my .45 gets alot more use than the .50 because I prefer the style and shootability of that particular rifle. I think that`s the real key to it. Find a rifle you like and can shoot well. My shots are usually inside of 50yds and my hunting load for the .45cal is a .440PRB over 65grs of black powder.
silly goose
45 Cal.
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My .62 smoothbore should be ready in a couple weeks, but if I was going to get another rifle, I am drawn to the .45 for some reason. I've only killed deer with a .50 rb so far, and that sure wasn't lacking.
paulvallandigham
Passed On
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Please don't misunderstand what Ron is trying to convey. There is NO way BALLISTICALLY that a .45 PRB is the equal to a .30-30 bullet.
That doesn't mean that hundreds of thousand, if not millions, of deer have not fallen to a .45 cal., or even small diameter PRB over the years. It is not saying that the .45 cal. PRB is not a good choice for taking deer. It simply it has its limitations in how far it will be an effective Killer. That concept relates to how quickly a deer will drop from a solid hit to its vital organs.
One of the advantages of the caliber is its relatively light recoil Not causing shooter to jerk their shot and wound animals with poor shot placement.
The other advantage is the fact that most whitetail deer are shot inside 50 yards in this county, where the 125 grain PRB has enough mass to completely penetrate the chest on a broadside double-lung hit, leaving two, short, blood trails to follow.
But, the .30-30, shooting a 150 grain bullet, has the Ballistics to do the same job at 2-3 times the range. Ron's heavier, Paper Patched, .45 cal bullets, in his rifles, will easily kill deer out to 200 yards and beyond.
His limitation is not the ability of his bullets to be lethal at even twice that distance, but the ballistics limitation of his rifle, AND, his personal choice to limit shots on live game to a shorter distance. He is to be admired for his hunting ethics, as well as his knowledge of his guns, IMHO. :thumbsup: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:
That doesn't mean that hundreds of thousand, if not millions, of deer have not fallen to a .45 cal., or even small diameter PRB over the years. It is not saying that the .45 cal. PRB is not a good choice for taking deer. It simply it has its limitations in how far it will be an effective Killer. That concept relates to how quickly a deer will drop from a solid hit to its vital organs.
One of the advantages of the caliber is its relatively light recoil Not causing shooter to jerk their shot and wound animals with poor shot placement.
The other advantage is the fact that most whitetail deer are shot inside 50 yards in this county, where the 125 grain PRB has enough mass to completely penetrate the chest on a broadside double-lung hit, leaving two, short, blood trails to follow.
But, the .30-30, shooting a 150 grain bullet, has the Ballistics to do the same job at 2-3 times the range. Ron's heavier, Paper Patched, .45 cal bullets, in his rifles, will easily kill deer out to 200 yards and beyond.
His limitation is not the ability of his bullets to be lethal at even twice that distance, but the ballistics limitation of his rifle, AND, his personal choice to limit shots on live game to a shorter distance. He is to be admired for his hunting ethics, as well as his knowledge of his guns, IMHO. :thumbsup: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:
hanshi
Cannon
I understand firearms a great deal more than you could possible imagine, but point taken. Comparing ballistics and energy figures between prb and smokeless cartridges is absurd and even comparing cartridge vs cartridge is best taken with a thick slice of bologna. A .41 mag revolver is quite equal with a 30/30 within its range. I know this from much experience.
Now to the .45 prb. I've had quicker kills (deer) with the .45 prb than with similar shots taken with a 30/30. The prb killing power has little to do with velocity/energy/etc, unlike (possibly) the 30/30. The prb is larger when it hits than the 30/30 bullet is when it stops. The prb penetrates a deer completely (usually) and drops the deer drt or at least close. Unless it also field dresses the deer after killing it, there is nothing the 30/30 does that isn't done by that prb. I say this as a long time fan and user of the 30/30. Range is the - in most cases - only advantage of that relatively streamline bullet. I'm not saying that you don't know quite a bit about the issue; I'm saying that my experience in killing deer with both has exposed no benefit whatsoever of the 30/30 over the .45 prb. :v
Now to the .45 prb. I've had quicker kills (deer) with the .45 prb than with similar shots taken with a 30/30. The prb killing power has little to do with velocity/energy/etc, unlike (possibly) the 30/30. The prb is larger when it hits than the 30/30 bullet is when it stops. The prb penetrates a deer completely (usually) and drops the deer drt or at least close. Unless it also field dresses the deer after killing it, there is nothing the 30/30 does that isn't done by that prb. I say this as a long time fan and user of the 30/30. Range is the - in most cases - only advantage of that relatively streamline bullet. I'm not saying that you don't know quite a bit about the issue; I'm saying that my experience in killing deer with both has exposed no benefit whatsoever of the 30/30 over the .45 prb. :v
I have seen 3 deer shot with a .40 cal with round balls, one at 100 yards, and all dropped with out going more than 20 yards. One was shot by my buddies grand daughter at 40 yards the ball completely tore up the heart and lungs on a 110lb buck. So the .45 should be plenty of gun. Funny but I have shot several deer with my 30-30 that have run 60+ yards but the furthest that one has gone after being hit by my .54 is 25 yards.
When my pa would go hunting and he had to get a deer, he would take his 30-30.
When he wanted to go for the hunt and the meat was of secondary consideration he went with a BP rifle. When we lived in Maine his BP rifle was a .45, when we moved to New Mexico he got a .50
I seen a number of dead bambi's that fell to a .45 BP rifle and I have seen many that were killed with a 30-30 and they all looked equaly dead.
When he wanted to go for the hunt and the meat was of secondary consideration he went with a BP rifle. When we lived in Maine his BP rifle was a .45, when we moved to New Mexico he got a .50
I seen a number of dead bambi's that fell to a .45 BP rifle and I have seen many that were killed with a 30-30 and they all looked equaly dead.
Actually, for base explanations for hunter safety classes, the .490 PRB is similar to the original loading of the .30-30, and the .530 PRB is similar to the original loading of the .35 Remington..., considering bullet weight and range limitations only. I use these two comparisons to equate the unknown black powder loads to the "known" fixed cartridge loadings, which when first introduced were hailed as excellent game getting rounds.
There are, of course, many many more variables in what actually happens, but since the majority of hunters don't actually ever consider those variables, I need to start somewhere with the novices.
In response to the original thread, every single caliber, traditional ML or modern, fixed ammunition, has advantages and limitations, and the .45 PRB is no exception. So when properly applied it is indeed an excellent game getter.
Properly applied is, of course, the key part of the phrase, and when any load in any gun "fails" it's usually the fault of the application, not the load.
LD
There are, of course, many many more variables in what actually happens, but since the majority of hunters don't actually ever consider those variables, I need to start somewhere with the novices.
In response to the original thread, every single caliber, traditional ML or modern, fixed ammunition, has advantages and limitations, and the .45 PRB is no exception. So when properly applied it is indeed an excellent game getter.
Properly applied is, of course, the key part of the phrase, and when any load in any gun "fails" it's usually the fault of the application, not the load.
LD
VTdeerhunter
40 Cal.
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The first ML rifle that I had access to was my dad's .45 kentucky...killed many deer (several over 200 lbs) with that before I started making my own guns and semi-retired her...never had a problem making meat with that caliber....a .45 will do the job if you do yours and put the PRB in the boiler room...
