50 or 54

[Blackpowdersmoke]

State of Oregon says that a .50 is plenty large for elk, I agree.

On the other hand we are one of the few states that still has an actual primitive muzzloader hunt, no optics, no modern primers, open ignition, no pellet powders.
In this state you still have to actually hunt/stalk the animal to within a 100yds or so.

Kinda puts the hunt back into hunting.
:hmm:

God Bless Pennsylvania and Oregon!!! :bow:

BPS

 

[Swede50]

I think you should get a 58 or larger why use a puny 50. :rotf:

 

[tg]

The .50 is a good choice for anything up to and including Elk if you can get with in 75 yds or a bit more, with ML hunting it is much less about the caliber of the gun than the caliber of the hunter, I know a .50 ball is good for Elk if one hunts wisely with it, the Elk hunters did fine with this cal back when the others were hard to come by. Magnumitis was not restricted to the centerfire world when it took hold. If one has to use peeps and take 125-150 + yd shots then a reconsideration of the motive of taking up this hobby may be due

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

:bow:

 

[Semisane]

If one has to use peeps and take 125-150 + yd shots then a reconsideration of the motive of taking up this hobby may be due

WOW tg. :shocked2: That's a pretty broad proclamation (and a bit on the arrogant side).

Perhaps you're assuming that everyone else hunts under the same conditions as you, in the same kind of terrain, and with the same eyesight.

 

[lonehorseman]

I have a .50, and use it for everything. Several of my buddies have .54's and their reasoning is, "it gives me a 4/1000th advantage when trying to hit the bullseye or scoring ring. Personally, I think either will do just fine. If the difference in powder or lead has to be considered, you probably would not be looking for a rifle anyway.

I am in TG's camp. If I gotta do it at 125 yards I am in trouble! I need a close range ambush.

 

[Walks with fire]

All this talk about .50 vs. .54 has me thinking about .58

 

[Kentuckywindage]

give me a .54cal and a patched ball and i will shoot elk all day long from 150 yards and not worry about them getting away.

No way with a .50cal! I save the 50cals for conicals.

 

[Spikebuck]

Several of my buddies have .54's and their reasoning is, "it gives me a 4/1000th advantage when trying to hit the bullseye or scoring ring.

I think that's 4/100's....which doesn't sound like much and on paper, who cares (you can tell I'm not a competition shooter)...but in the field that's the difference of around 60 grains of weight or approx 30% increase over the .50. Put that into any energy equation, whether it's kinetic or momentum (depending on your belief in which matters) and see which is a better penetrator and perhaps killer. If it takes a tad more powder to get that weight moving at the same velocity, I'll pay that price for the benefits given.

After 4 decades of hunting big game (and I'm sure many here have the same or more experience) I've found that no matter how hard one tries...no matter how good a shot....no matter what the conditions, things happen on occassion that make all the great intentions of the shot being perfect every time unreal. Sometimes an animal just shifts at the same time you're squeezing off that shot and unless you're that lady that claims to be a pet psychic :shocked2: you cannot know that is going to happen. In those rare cases (and they should be rare if we take proper precautions) I want more gun...not less, as it could be the difference between a quick, clean kill and something less desireable.

I am in no way saying a 50 is not effective, I'm just saying that I believe a 54 is more effective.

 

[jethro224]

40/1000ths :wink:

Spikebuck beat me to it...

 

[nchawkeye]

I started with a .45 back in the 70s and did quite well with it on deer, squirrels and turkeys...

Sometime in the 80s, I wanted to build one on my own and figured since I had a .45, I'd build a .50...

Well, one morning while sitting on one of our farms in eastern NC a black bear stepped out of the woods and headed my way...The closer he got, the bigger he looked...At 35 yards I stood up and hollered and waved my hands at him...He stood up, smelled the air, got down on all fours and ambled off the way he came...

That's when I decided on a .54....

Never regretted it...

 

[Semisane]

All this talk about .50 vs. .54 has me thinking about .58

Now you're talking Walks With Fire!

I have a .58 Green Mountain caplock barrel on a TC Hawken stock. It's my second favorite gun and s-w-e-e-t. If Lyman made the Great Plains as a .58 flintlock it would very likely be my top favorite by a wide margin.

 

[Ken Rummer]

I agree. I have the GM barrel on a Renegade stock and it is my best shooter.

I do not consider the larger ball to be a waste of lead or powder.

 

[Browning_68]

Go with which ever caliber you already have, unless you don't mind maybe mixing things up. I've got a wondering mind so I like to keep it simple. At the same time I'm a firm believer in needing options. Small for cute squishables and big for squishables with claws and such.


If you can't hit what you're shooting at might as well pick up knitting.

 

[shmrck1]

oneshot,
I will most likely never see anything
larger than a whitetail,so I would not go over .50cal.I have harvested many more deer with .45cal
than the .50.I think the main reason is I am much
more confident shooting the .45 than the .50 and
get the same results.Harvested deer.
Just my humble thoughts on the subject.

 

[Cascade Pete]

Oneshot,
I live in Washington State, Hunt Roosevelt Elk, and Kill them quite dead with a .50. Then again, I hunt Primitive, stalk My prey, and get close enough to have blood spray Me when the RB impacts. In Your neck of the woods(I Grew Up In Western Mass.) a .50 will get the job done, even on Bear and Elk. Get To know the limits of Your firearm, and Yourself, and go from there...In The long Run You will find that a .50 is good medicine for what ever You shoot......

 

[aeatwood]

Going out on a limb here, I doubt my recommendation will be popular. :blah:

The ultimate flinters are the English Sporters, ideally .54 -.58 with a 30"-32" barrel. Pedersoli makes a good one, with the only knock being they stuck a 36" barrel on it, which drives up the weight. You can also look at ToTW's fowlers, which are available w/ rifled barrels. http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=991
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartList.aspx?catID=13&subID=77&styleID=288

A heavily loaded .54 in a Pennsylvania or Hawken stock begins to hurt a bit. A properly stocked English sporter can be shot all day w/ no discomfort.

 

[tg]

My hat's off to you Cascade Pete, it is a refreshing experinece to here from a true traditional hunter who enjoys the complete experience and also my utmost respect for to stay with that which breaths life into this hobby, I cannot count the times I have crawled into a herd of Roosies while trapping and just seeing their feet/heads a few yards away as they milled around and fed.
Many here hunt them in the same way often with the howling wind and rain at their backs so they can see clearly. The Elk do not seem to mind any scent which in these conditions,which is common in the woods here anyway. Probably to much weather for any scent to be an issue I have found that the worse the weather conditions the better the chance of getting close to thse animals over the last 40 years.I know a CF hunter who takes an Elk nearly every year for two decades and has never shot one while sitting or even kneeling but always lying down within 20 yds. :hatsoff:

 

[MSW]

now, my opinion and a boarding pass will get you on the plane.

having said that, I would recommend a .54 if for no other reason than you can always 'dial it back,' but it's a whole lot tougher to dial a .50 forward.

you need a mold and a pot and you need to get good at running ball - i think it's part of the sport (again, just one guy's opinion) ... since you're already making your own roundball, make a few more for the pouch or ball board, and there you go- all set to put some meat in the freezer...

i wouldn't worry too much about the added cost of "extra powder and more lead."

compared to other sports, this one is really pretty inexpensive (heck, look at what a box of centerfire cartridges will put you back) ... you could have a really expensive mid- life crisis with a red sports car.

...

darn!! think of all the flintlocks you could buy for the price of just ONE little red sports car ... makes you smell the sulpher just thinking about it...

 

[silly goose]

Not a ton of experience here, but I'm in the .50 camp. It does a whizbang job on the whitetails around here. I myself am more than impressed with the damage that ball does with 80gr ffg. I don't have larger animals to contend with. I'm not sure if I bought another rifle if it wouldn't be a .45 cal.