duckd said:
I understand........bullet weight have a significant impact on the outcome. But how can a 45 caliber muzzleloader be seen as a poor choice and the 45-70 be so great?
Does this seem irrational to anyone else? Thanks in advance for your opinions.
No, it makes perfect sense...the issue is not "caliber" its projectile weight...the weight of a round lead sphere is fixed by its caliber limitations (size).
The .45cal PRB has a lot of positive things going for it and has been a favorite caliber of mine for years using it for target practice, small game, and close to moderate distance deer hunting.
But I don't view a somewhat small-ish relatively lightweight .440"/128grn PRB as an "ideal" all around deer caliber at all. IMO it's fine for a clean heart or double lung shot to 50-75 yards area, but you get out to 100yds with very little velocity & energy left in that small lightweight ball...AND hit bones at that distance...the situation is not ideal at all. A heavier .45cal projectile in your .45-70 example holds much higher energy to longer distances that the little ball in the same .45cal.
I hear about a little .45cal ball blowing completely through deer at 100yds but I'll remain from Missouri on that...range estimation is probably off or something. Real world, my longest .45cal PRB whitetail was a perfect heart shot, standing broadside at 55-60 steps...a stout load in a 32" barrel of 90grns Goex 3F, an Oxyoke OP wad, an .018" patch, and a Hornady .440/128grn ball.
It hit a rib going in, went through the heart, and stopped bulging under the hide on the far side...no confidence at all that I'd have gotten that deer at twice that distance...and if it didn't make a complete pass-through at 55yds, it sure wouldn't have done so at 100yds.
IMO, a .45cal PRB is a good one used within its limitations...if I know I'm going to be sitting over a trail crossing a ditch at 40-50yds with no more visibility than that, I have and will take a .45cal...but if longer ranges will be involved...and I know I'm not willing to let a B&C buck walk at 100 yards...I'd take anything else as long as it was bigger and heavier.