.54 or .50 cal.

[airborne1]

Thats amazing! What distance do you limit yourself to? I'm under the impression that Ontario deer are quite large!

 

[nchawkeye]

Another vote for a .54, a .50 won't do nothing a .54 won't do... :thumbsup:

 

[Danny Ross]

Both will do the job needless to say. You never know, you may decide once you start doing this, you may go after larger game. I will tell you, I have used both, killed deer with both, and one was just as dead as the other. Depending on your money situation I would suggest the 54. The reason is the "I wish I would have" thought. You buy the 50 and it works, but then you get the "I wish I would have bought" idea going. If you buy the 54 there won't be any I wish I would have thought. It really is up to you, again both work. Just make sure you will be satisfied with your purchase and not second guess yourself. DANNY

 

[19 16 6]

No one has yet mentioned that the 54 has the best round ball ballistics.
That alone is bang for my buck.
They fly further, flatter & hit hard enough for Buff's.
O.

 

[Alden]

See, pound for pound I'm giving that to the .50

 

[Katahdin]

No matter which one I bought I'd still second guess myself,,Just me. I'd be ,"I buy the 54 and be thinking, do I really need this much rifle" or I buy the 50 and think ,really think I need more rifle. I go out hunting now and before I leave the house will change my mine several times,45---50..under hammer/GPR,PA/KY. :idunno:
Truth is, buy the one you do the best with. If you buy one and change your mind the second rifle cost more,you add the first rifle to the second one and it gets expensive,cause if your like me,your not going to sell the first one cause I would always second guess should I have kept it!!! I got five rifles that way. Just me..Goes back to the saying,"Be afraid of a man with one rifle,,he probably is pretty good with it" and he has his mind made up,, :rotf:

 

[nwtradegun]

54 and larger calibers where th main stay of the fur trappers. althou. smooth bore 24 ga. 57 cal and 20 ga 62 cal. where most common type of arm.

 

[cynthialee]

No one has yet mentioned that the 54 has the best round ball ballistics.
That alone is bang for my buck.
They fly further, flatter & hit hard enough for Buff's.
O.

this would be the deciding factor if it is a case of buying a new gun

however...
I have .50's and .54 and .56 (smooth rifle) and I hunt with the .50 as it is my favorite gun, I shoot best with it and it is enough gun to kill white tails.

Now if I had buffalo, elk or bear hunts in my future I would be polishing up my marksmanship with the .54 rifle.

 

[Billnpatti]

Either will do the job nicely. The .50 is plenty bad medicine for whitetails out to 100 yards (the max. distance I recommend for any open sighted muzzleloader). The .50 takes less lead for sure and less powder....in most instances. I have both and seem to reach for my .50 most of the time when I am hunting whitetails. Like I say, either will do the job and the .50 will kill a whitetail plumb dead. A .54 can't kill it any deader than plum dead. :grin:

 

[Alden]

Yes, that's true -- on the scale of dead "plum" is right up there with "drop...," "...as a door-nail," "...as a duck" and "...right there."

 

[galamb]

Thats amazing! What distance do you limit yourself to? I'm under the impression that Ontario deer are quite large!

I sight in at my "max distance" of 50 yards. But have to say I have never shot that far "ever" even with centerfire on a deer. I'm primarily a bow hunter so for me "the game" is getting Bambi to come in under 35 yards (more important than simply "getting a deer")

Shooting "light" is not for everyone. You can only pull the trigger on a totally calm deer that is offering the perfect broadside shot - no quartering, behind a bush, contorting to a weird angle to shoot etc.

I don't consider my hunt "unsuccessful" if I don't get a deer or even pull the trigger on a deer.

If your whole season would be ruined if you didn't put meat in the freezer then shooting a 38 would not be for you.

But a 79 grain ball (.375 Hornady), which is about the weight of the average 243 Win "deer" bullet, is more than deadly enough sub-50 yards.

 

[MSW]

I'm coming down on the side of the .54 consensus. If you're an architect, 'less is more.' (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) ... but if you shoot lead, more is more.

by the way, if you fun across a rusted .54 barrel, there's a better than fair chance that Bobby Hoyt could bore it out to a .62 smoothie for you.

:hmm:

now you have a much more versatile system.


one guy's advice: free and doubtless well worth the price!

 

[airborne1]

I commend you on your hunting prowess and your ability to know your rifles capability, but, also your own!! Happy hunting!

 

[BrownBear]

if you fun across a rusted .54 barrel, there's a better than fair chance that Bobby Hoyt could bore it out to a .62 smoothie for you.

They're 15/16" barrels, so 56 cal smoothie is the limit with dovetails in the mix.

 

[MSW]

oops! my bad ... :redface: ... thought they were one inch.

 

[BrownBear]

I really wish it wasn't so....

I scrounged around and found an older Investarms from pre-lawyer days that's a 58 caliber in a 15/16" barrel. What a dandy handling rifle. But I'm a little (a lot) leery of running loads as hot as I do in my other 58's. At 90 grains of 2f it is plenty flat for 75 yard shooting, which is all I expect.

 

[hanshi]

You have a very good point. For many years my go-to deer rifle was a .45 flinter. That, and another .45, dropped numerous deer with only one shot each and no tracking or wounded getaways; many were DRT. Yes, I've killed plenty with my smoothbore, several .50s and a .54.

I lived in Georgia for 62 years prior to moving to Virginia. I even hunted grizzlies while carrying a .45 and feel well armed. Okay, okay I know there are no grizzlies in or anywhere near Georgia. But that made hunting them much, much safer. If there had been any chance whatsoever that I would come across a hairy manhole with teeth I'd have stayed at home. Alright!

Point is I've always considered the .45 terminally equal to a 30/30. I've used both and still give the nod to a .45 prb. I also feel quite comfortable with a .45 for black bear, which are very common where I live and hunt. A black bear even mauled a hunter in the county where I live only a few years back.

 

[jethro224]

:rotf: ...grizzlies. :slap:

 

[19 16 6]

Yeah :hmm: that means that I could safely hunt Grizzlies here with a .22 Rim fire.
O.

 

[Lonegun1894]

The correct answer is always ".54", but the .50 will do fine for deer. Honestly, I would go to a shop that has both the .50 and the .54 in stock, shoulder both, and just buy whichever feels better to you. I have both, and prefer the .54, both for balance/feel and effect on game.