.45 caliber RB enough for deer?

[pamtnman]

For whatever reason, only two of the dozens of whitetails I shot at close range with my long friend Pedersoli .45 flintlock actually came to hand. All the others went down and got up and were lost, or were clearly hit in the vitals but left the scene and were unrecovered. I used 70 to 75 grains of FFG, got excellent accuracy, and was glad to sell it to a friend who wanted it over his fireplace. Go ahead and lecture me on shot placement, my tracking skills, distance etc. My success at hitting deer in Maryland and Pennsylvania with the Pedersoli .45 was high. My success with bringing those wounded to hand was very low. It’s why I went to a .54 long ago, and recently built a .62 for our early season here. There was a reason the pre-Pennsylvania long rifle Jaeger rifles were from .58 to .72 caliber. They hit hard and if they hit correctly, left little to chance.

 

[Bergmann]

First off, I hunt with my muzzleloaders. Thinking of a .45 cal. ML for deer hunting. Is there anyone who thinks that a .440 patched RB at 1231 ft.lbs of muzzle energy isn't enough for deer size game?

Even a 240 grn. Maxi Ball is only 1485 ft.lbs. of muzzle energy at 100grns. of FF.....

I've never hunted with anything less than a .50cal. using a .490 RB at 1739 ft.lbs. of muzzle energy.

My brother-in-law took many west Tennessee deer with a .40 Caliber RB! But he was a darn good shot!

 

[LME]

Context is important as well, I hunt in some steep terrain. I usually carry a 54 or 58 simply because the further the game runs after the shot, the steaper the climb.

Also the rifle is lighter due to the big hole and doesn't weigh you down! LOL!

 

[LME]

For whatever reason, only two of the dozens of whitetails I shot at close range with my long friend Pedersoli .45 flintlock actually came to hand. All the others went down and got up and were lost, or were clearly hit in the vitals but left the scene and were unrecovered. I used 70 to 75 grains of FFG, got excellent accuracy, and was glad to sell it to a friend who wanted it over his fireplace. Go ahead and lecture me on shot placement, my tracking skills, distance etc. My success at hitting deer in Maryland and Pennsylvania with the Pedersoli .45 was high. My success with bringing those wounded to hand was very low. It’s why I went to a .54 long ago, and recently built a .62 for our early season here. There was a reason the pre-Pennsylvania long rifle Jaeger rifles were from .58 to .72 caliber. They hit hard and if they hit correctly, left little to chance.

I have heard the same story more than once when I worked in a gun store. I do think, as I have stated before, that a .45 using a conical bullet is another story. It will up the number of recovered animals.

 

[pamtnman]

I have heard the same story more than once when I worked in a gun store. I do think, as I have stated before, that a .45 using a conical bullet is another story. It will up the number of recovered animals.

I agree, but…Most flintlock rifles have rifling suited to patched round balls, and not to conicals. Some people are able to get their flintlocks to shoot both projectile types well, and I always envied them.

 

[excess650]

Some of us hunt where deer and bear seasons overlap, so my preference is for more than the minimum required by the state.

 

[4575wcf]

I have the RCBS minie ball mold for the .45 that I bought many moons ago. I have never tried it in the round ball rifled under hammer, but perhaps I will. If it gives acceptable accuracy I could move my "harvestable" range out from about 60-80 yards to 150 max.

 

[ML48]

For whatever reason, only two of the dozens of whitetails I shot at close range with my long friend Pedersoli .45 flintlock actually came to hand. All the others went down and got up and were lost, or were clearly hit in the vitals but left the scene and were unrecovered. I used 70 to 75 grains of FFG, got excellent accuracy, and was glad to sell it to a friend who wanted it over his fireplace. Go ahead and lecture me on shot placement, my tracking skills, distance etc. My success at hitting deer in Maryland and Pennsylvania with the Pedersoli .45 was high. My success with bringing those wounded to hand was very low. It’s why I went to a .54 long ago, and recently built a .62 for our early season here. There was a reason the pre-Pennsylvania long rifle Jaeger rifles were from .58 to .72 caliber. They hit hard and if they hit correctly, left little to chance.

No lectures necessary....however an animal that is hit and unable to be recovered, is high % misplaced shot not hitting vitals. Don't beat yourself on this, you have a .54 that does the job. BTW: the creatures of the wilderness have to eat to, so the animal wasn't wasted, it just hurts to see it happen.

 

[Baggy270]

People shoot deer with handguns all the time so…..

 

[skwerleater]

I routinely use a 45 flint and sometimes percussion, and haven’t lost one yet. I did hunt with a 54 and lost 2 deer in 35 years of hunting, both were with a 54.

 

[4575wcf]

My black powder deer season starts Sept 8 and runs through the rest of the month, perhaps the .45 underhammer and I can connect on a muley and add a bit of information to the thread. I just hope the weather cools off a little bit, it might be a problem getting the critter out quick enough otherwise.

 

[hanshi]

I've never lost a deer with a .45 round ball. I've killed many from a few yards up to 75 yards with charges ranging from 65 grains to 80 grains. Hit them right is all that's needed.

 

[pamtnman]

I've never lost a deer with a .45 round ball. I've killed many from a few yards up to 75 yards with charges ranging from 65 grains to 80 grains. Hit them right is all that's needed.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have been on this site since 2004, I wonder how many times this exact question has been asked, I suspect at least 2 dozen times. The answers are always the same, you have the nay sayers and the devotees with the devotees always being in the majority.

I have killed a pile of deer with a ,445 ball, if my memory serves me right I don't think I have ever wounded one and lost it with 70gr of 3F and the .445 ball.

When I started building rifles I switched to one of my own manufacture (.54) because there is something special about hunting with something you built from a plank.

I still get out the .44 every now and then and take it to the woods, it was a gift from a dying friend and doesn't deserve to be strictly a gun safe queen. As I have mentioned before it has a Bill Large Barrel and a Roller lock, it is a special rifle indeed.

Every deer I shot with this rifle had the ball under the hide on the far side except one that I had a pass through on. All traveled 50 yards after the shot leaving a scant but followable blood trail.

If you put the hole in the right place they are going to die in short order, no exceptions.

This one went 50 yards as well;

 

[4575wcf]

Exactly my point. Every head of big game I have seen shot with a round ball has gone a ways. They don't fold up and go down with shock like they do with a 30/30, but they are not hard to find in fairly open country. A friend put a .50 TC maxi ball through both sides of a spike bull elk at about 100 yards in the middle of a hay field in western OR. Took out the lungs, and the critter still moved 50 yards before he ran out of steam. In the typical thicket of that country we would have been hard pressed to find him. More bullet mass and a bigger hole is better. If you hit the heart, the spine, or the brain then things are different. I have a 30 inch 1 1/8 octagon barrel blank 3 groove rifled for the .58 minie ball, if ever I hunt coast elk much again a plains rifle in that persuasion will be my choice.

 

[hanshi]

I've had several deer drop in place and not run when shot with a .45. Normally most do run a ways.

 

[4575wcf]

Several people here on the forum have made this claim. I have not seen any large number of deer shot with the round ball myself, just a few within my family. I will try to connect on a muley next month, so we will see, hopefully I can find a younger smallish one for the larder.

 

[pamtnman]

Having shot bears and deers myself with a modern cartridge and had them run far even after falling down hard leaving bits and pieces and with a blood trail three feet wide and a mile long, I’m not surprised that a .45 caliber black powder round ball with the energy of the ejected ‘06 shell would have critters run off. My experience hunting all my life is that every critter in the woods, especially squirrels, is tenacious of life. I’ve shot the head clean off a Turkey at close range and still lost it as it flew blindly through the woods, banging off trees etc. til it was out of sight and lost and I was out of gas and hanging on the closest tree trunk like a drunk. Five years ago I called in a tom Turkey across a field like in a pro video, shot him close with a modern load, watched him drop hard, his head hanging off, flopping around and then as I’m walking up he takes off running for the far woods, takes flight, and I hear him crash land in some thick nasty logging tops. My friend brings his bird dog and we tracked the turkey to three different spots where it landed, rested, and lit out from. Truly a wild turkey goose chase. Never found it.
Hunters who watch their animals drop dead on the spot are quite fortunate. Especially black powder hunters. Or they are the usual hunters and fishermen who never miss, who kill two deer with one bullet, and whose fish is always the biggest. I love you guys, truly

 

[hanshi]

I've never killed two of anything with one shot. But I have killed up to three deer with three shots in under an hour.

 

[okawbow]

The only deer I ever put down in his tracks with a muzzleloder was this buck last season in Illinois. I used a .445 roundball, 60 grains 3F,

and shot him at 40 yards quartering to me. The year before, a large doe ran 50 yards and crashed with a chest hit from a .440 roundball and 70 grains 2F. Damage to internal organs was severe. I’ve shot dozens with a .54 and .62. Some of them ran a long ways. None went down any faster with the larger calibers.