45 OR 50 CAL. FOR WHITETAIL DEER.

[FishDFly]

Caps and bullets.

I gotta ask, how do caps go stale for a 45 and not for a 50? Also, how do balls for a 45 go stale and not a 50?

 

[rich pierce]

Nobody will like this but stuff happens and not all shots are perfect. I do use a .45 (killed a large doe a week ago with mine) but pass up some quartering shots I’d take with a .50.

 

[FishDFly]

WILL ONLY B HUNTIN WHITETAIL IS A 45. CAL ENOUGH OR DO I NEED THE 50.. IM GUESSING SHOT PLACEMENT BUT HAD TO ASK. THANX gWIG

To me it would depend on where you are hunting. In the Hill Country of Texas some of the mature deer will be 60 to 70 pounds, 45 will work.

I have seen mounted whitetails from the northern part of the country that will push the high upper limit of 200 pounds. Seems a 45 there, would be a bit light.

I would opt for the 50, it as more energy.

I shoot a lot of hogs each year and find the 50 and 54 works better than the 45.

 

[MtnWolf]

In 1984 I killed my last Nevada Muley with a 45, it stopped that deer in it's tracks at 75 yards, but didn't kill it (spine shot) requiring a second shot. That same 45 has killed several Calif. black tail as well. Since that 1984 hunt I have been using a 50 and 54. We have longer shots here in Nevada and I prefer to have the greatest edge I can get ... short of breaking my shoulder.

 

[Grumpa]

Either will get it done, a friend of mine used a .40 on Pennsylvania whitetail (I know, not legal, but nobody ever noticed).
Bigger IS better, and I love my .54 Harpers Ferry flintlock. With roundball, recoil is not a factor, even with a stiff charge.

Richard/Grumpa

 

[hanshi]

I've taken more deer with the .45 than any other caliber; one shot each. If you can't shoot well with a .45, a .50 won't help a bit.

 

[Tom Compton]

I’ve successfully taken deer with .40, .45, .50 and .54. From those experiences I found the .45 adequate and the .40 marginally adequate. I select either the .50 or .54. Like selecting a .30-06 vs a .243.

 

[satx78247]

WILL ONLY B HUNTIN WHITETAIL IS A 45. CAL ENOUGH OR DO I NEED THE 50.. IM GUESSING SHOT PLACEMENT BUT HAD TO ASK. THANX gWIG

Gwig,

Fwiw, my 1st cousin has hunted WT with a left-hand .40 caliber flintlock TN rifle for > 2 decades & I long ago lost count of how many deer, feral hogs & other game that have fallen to that mountain rifle.
(He's a FAR better shot & more skilled hunter than I will ever be.)

Given a GOOD shot, a PRB out of a .45 or .50 caliber rifle is acceptable for WT, imo.
(Personally, for ML hunting, I use a reproduction .58 caliber rifled-musket with my "home-brew" Minie balls, as that is the rifle that I bought for TWBTS events.)

just my OPINIONS, satx

 

[Crewdawg445]

WILL ONLY B HUNTIN WHITETAIL IS A 45. CAL ENOUGH OR DO I NEED THE 50.. IM GUESSING SHOT PLACEMENT BUT HAD TO ASK. THANX gWIG

.45 is the cats meow, a caliber in which you won't regret.

 

[Rifleman1776]

My harvested deer were too ded to complain they had been shot with only a .45 and not a .50.

 

[Stumpkiller]

.45 will certainly be fine. I like a .54 for whitetail . . . just because too much is always enough. Never had a problem with the .50 I used to deer hunt with.

It's all about shot placement and picking the time to shoot.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I gotta ask, how do caps go stale for a 45 and not for a 50? Also, how do balls for a 45 go stale and not a 50?

He asked "What needs to be fresher" not how caps for a 45 could be fresher than for a 50.

What difference does it make to you? If you want a 45 or at 72.381, then buy it. You didn't ask. I wasn't talking to you.

The new guy asked for reasons to buy one over another. I gave him one. The only one I have.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I've shot a 45 since 1973 and killed a few deer with it. I've been in a lot of stores who had supplies for a 50 and no supplies for a 45.

Never once went to the store and found they had plenty of stuff for the 45 and nothing for a 50.

Take it for what ever it's worth to ya.

The first one...

If you want to hunt with the oldest stale and hardest to find products on the shelf, then get that caliber in muzzle loader.

 

[Carbon 6]

I've shot a 45 since 1973 and killed a few deer with it. I've been in a lot of stores who had supplies for a 50 and no supplies for a 45.

Never once went to the store and found they had plenty of stuff for the 45 and nothing for a 50.

Take it for what ever it's worth to ya.

If you want to hunt with the oldest stale and hardest to find products on the shelf, then get that caliber in muzzle loader.

Same powder works in both 50 and 45
patches will fit both calibers.
Caps are the same for both too.
lube is the same for both also.
Not sure how a ball goes stale, how do I tell?

 

[Tanglefoot]

Somebody in this thread has already said, caliber doesn't matter as much as shot placement, or words to that effect. I agree completely. A buddy of mine hunted for years with a .38 caliber percussion. He used it for deer, hogs, rabbits, armadillo, and squirrels. I've seen him shoot the head off a fox squirrel with it, and drop a buck in its tracks with the same size load. My personal favorite rifle is a .54, partly because of the way the rifle fits me, and partly because it will do anything a .45 or a .50 will do and is less subject to wind drift. Any of those calibers will do the job, if all other variables are the same. It becomes a matter of preference and confidence.

 

[Carbon 6]

In my opinion, the 50 caliber is the benchmark upon which all other calibers are measured. Not because it is better, but because it serves a starting point to choose a better caliber.

 

[RHensley]

Personal preference. Either will kill and in the right hands either is accurate. When I was much younger we killed hogs and beef for our own use. Well sometimes 2-4 families got together and shared the work and benefits. When we did this it was a 22 long or long rifle that did the job so 45 - 50 -or as big as you like. Here in TN. the smallest cal. muzzle loader legal is a 40 I think for deer. I would say just pick one and have fun. May be two.

 

[RHensley]

That's a rather minor consideration- both will do the job and there will be variation from animal to animal that can't be accounted for in caliber differences.

Here's another thing to think about, one which drove my own decision to add a 45 to my array: I wanted the 45 to be lighter and "sleeker" that my 50's just fore handiness. Yeah, I'm getting older and the hills are getting taller, so it just made sense to move to a gun that would do the job with a little less lugging between shots. The 45 fit those needs nicely.

This is the very reason I built a 45 last winter. My only regret is I used a 42 in barrel instead of a 38. The 45 is still lighter than my 54 but still the same length. I built the 54 when I was in my 30's now a little lest that a year away form 70 it makes a difference.

 

[Cowboy]

I personally like a .50 for deer over a .45. Not knocking the .45 what so ever. Just my personal preference. With that being said, I own several of both caliber’s as do many others here on the forum.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Jack Ryan]

If you can't hit it with one you won't hit it with the other. By the same token, if you CAN hit it with one, you can hit it with the other. But one thing is fact, a big hole will bleed more in the same spot as a little hole and a deep hole will bleed more than a shallow one in the same spot.

If you can only make one hole, make it a big, deep one.