I have a friend who built a 1.0" cal. rifle for a customer who planned to hunt grizzlies with it.
I wouldn't even want to be around when that goes off, much less at the kickin' end.
Jaegers have been mentioned. I have an article that was published in the American Rifleman in 1971 written by a Jaeger collector/ expert. He says the big bore legend for Jaegers is just that, mostly myth. Some were very large, no doubt, but they were in a small minority. I personally saw and original once that had to be, at least, 1.0" bore, looked more like a sewer pipe and was memorable to say the least. The writer said most were in the .50 to .54 range.
[BTW: I saved the article digitaly. Anyone wants to see it just PT me and I'll email to you.}
Original poster asked about wind resistance for 100 yard accuracy. Unless you are shooting in a big gale while hunting, that is not a big consideration. Bench rest guys will use large bores to help gain those tenths or hundredths of an inch advantage in windy conditions.
And, as alluded to, with muzzle loaders, even those devil child's inlines, over 100 yards your projectile is almost falling downwards onto your target, not at it. I believe, if you want to hunt over 100 yards, get one of those scoped suppository things.
And, these days, another consideration that might favor a smaller caliber is simply the availablility and cost of powder and lead. Sad, but we might all be back to parlour rifles before too long.
I wouldn't even want to be around when that goes off, much less at the kickin' end.
Jaegers have been mentioned. I have an article that was published in the American Rifleman in 1971 written by a Jaeger collector/ expert. He says the big bore legend for Jaegers is just that, mostly myth. Some were very large, no doubt, but they were in a small minority. I personally saw and original once that had to be, at least, 1.0" bore, looked more like a sewer pipe and was memorable to say the least. The writer said most were in the .50 to .54 range.
[BTW: I saved the article digitaly. Anyone wants to see it just PT me and I'll email to you.}
Original poster asked about wind resistance for 100 yard accuracy. Unless you are shooting in a big gale while hunting, that is not a big consideration. Bench rest guys will use large bores to help gain those tenths or hundredths of an inch advantage in windy conditions.
And, as alluded to, with muzzle loaders, even those devil child's inlines, over 100 yards your projectile is almost falling downwards onto your target, not at it. I believe, if you want to hunt over 100 yards, get one of those scoped suppository things.
And, these days, another consideration that might favor a smaller caliber is simply the availablility and cost of powder and lead. Sad, but we might all be back to parlour rifles before too long.
