Best Choice For A .45 Target Rifle

[nkbj]

Of the many used and new reproduction percussion rifles (mostly .50 caliber deer guns), what do you think would be a good choice to convert for a tomato can killer and sit down paper puncher to use the various Ideal, Lyman, RCBS and Lee nominally .45 hollow base molds?
I'm kinda leaning towards a Traditions Hawken with a 7/8" barrel rather than a heavier 15/16" or 1". Maybe slender down the stock and have an octagonal to round with no under rib.
So any how, anybody have any ideas on a reproduction rifle that would be a good one to start with?

 

[hanshi]

I can't help with finding a factory rifle that would suit you but I'll mention MY target rifle and it might surprise you some. My purely target rifle was built for kid size shooters and I liked the looks, plus I'm not much bigger than most kids growing up these days. I know some 12 & 13 year olds that tower over me. Anyway it's a hand built - barrel, lock and trigger were pristine but came from various factory parts - rifle .45 X 25" 15/16" straight barrel. The stock was built from a plank. Even with a short barrel it still has some "hang" at the muzzle. I won or placed in several matches with that little rifle back when I was still doing those things.
Traditions has the DeerHunter and it can be had in .45. I owned a DeerHunter for over 20 years but used it, a .50, for deer hunting. One in .45 would probably handle much like mine little target rifle.
My .45.

Best pic I have of my DeerHunter.

 

[Gtrubicon]

I am quite partial to my cva mountain rifle in 45. I have a Cherokee and Investarm 45 also. The mountain rifle fits me very well. I shoot it from a bench quite often.

 

[M. De Land]

Of the many used and new reproduction percussion rifles (mostly .50 caliber deer guns), what do you think would be a good choice to convert for a tomato can killer and sit down paper puncher to use the various Ideal, Lyman, RCBS and Lee nominally .45 hollow base molds?
I'm kinda leaning towards a Traditions Hawken with a 7/8" barrel rather than a heavier 15/16" or 1". Maybe slender down the stock and have an octagonal to round with no under rib.
So any how, anybody have any ideas on a reproduction rifle that would be a good one to start with?

For a pure target gun, shot from a bench, I would go with a under-hammer or mules ear lock. For off hand work the under-hammers aren't so good unless you come up with a good nipple flash diverter.

 

[ohio ramrod]

My main target rifle is a custom built Spanish style stock with a 42 inch Douglas barrel that I made close to forty years ago. But the best "paper shooting" rifle I ever had was my boy's T.C. Cherokee

 

[Grenadier1758]

Of the many used and new reproduction percussion rifles (mostly .50 caliber deer guns), what do you think would be a good choice to convert for a tomato can killer and sit down paper puncher to use the various Ideal, Lyman, RCBS and Lee nominally .45 hollow base molds?
I'm kinda leaning towards a Traditions Hawken with a 7/8" barrel rather than a heavier 15/16" or 1". Maybe slender down the stock and have an octagonal to round with no under rib.
So any how, anybody have any ideas on a reproduction rifle that would be a good one to start with?

You've been on this Forum long enough to know that for all around accuracy on target will best be accomplished with a round ball rifle. Is this rifle to be primarily shot off hand or off a bench? Will you want fixed or adjustable sights? Fixed sights are more likely to hold best accuracy. It will be hard to find a rifle with a deeply crescent but plate that can be comfortably shot off a bench rest.

Now that I am going in the direction of a round ball rifle, we want one with deep grooves, narrower lands than grooves, a relatively flat butt plate, set triggers, straight barrel of 15/16 to 1 1/8" across the flats barrel. Production rifles will be 15/16" across the flats. You will want dovetailed sights. The front sight should have a narrow blade and the rear sight.

A CVA mountain rifle in 45 caliber or TVM rifle will come closest to my description. Don't overlook a used custom rifle that meets the description in the previous paragraph.

 

[SDSmlf]

Of the many used and new reproduction percussion rifles (mostly .50 caliber deer guns), what do you think would be a good choice to convert for a tomato can killer and sit down paper puncher to use the various Ideal, Lyman, RCBS and Lee nominally .45 hollow base molds?
I'm kinda leaning towards a Traditions Hawken with a 7/8" barrel rather than a heavier 15/16" or 1". Maybe slender down the stock and have an octagonal to round with no under rib.
So any how, anybody have any ideas on a reproduction rifle that would be a good one to start with?

Any l particular distance you are planning to target shoot? 100 yards? 500 yards? 1000 yards? ….. Will make a difference in best choice for a 45 caliber rifle.

 

[cynthialee]

production rifles are not the best choice
sure some shooters do admirably with them

Now if'n you were to be real serious about targets, I'd track down a Schuetzen rifle.

 

[longcruise]

You seem to be wanting to shoot bullets rather than balls. If that's what you want then you might look for something that has a fast twist 45 barrel. A TC Renegade with a custom drop in 45 barrel might serve your. Purpose.

 

[necchi]

I'm kinda leaning towards,,,,with a 7/8" barrel rather than a heavier 15/16" or 1".

Contrary to popular belief,, the heavy barrel is more accurate then the lighter one with either off hand or bench.
Balance is important with off hand of course (thus the creation of profiled/swamped barrels) but the aspect of being able to hold the sight picture long enough to break the shot is easier with more weight to move.
The best results I've seen shared here for a 45 combination shooter as you describe is a Renegade frame with a fast twist custom fitted barrel.
With that achieved, the shooter concentrates on the bullet type and fit, and charge development consistency.

 

[ZUG]

Here are two half stocked cap lock .45 caliber rifles I made for two woman target shooters who do very well competitively on the target range and at the woods walk range. They both weigh in around 6-1/2 to 6-3/4 pounds

 

[oldracer]

If this is new with shooting long range, cast bullets instead of round balls I would suggest getting a Pedersoli Gibbs 45 caliber NOT the 40 caliber. Use real black powder, fiber wad, Pedersoli 540 grain bullet mold and the will get you can shoot out to 1000 yards! I bought a used one but they are hard to find….mine took me 3 years! I have their tang sight also.
Note Pedersoli also sells a powder funnel and get some sort of bullet lube. I use the late Doug Knoell’s lube but once you get used to the rifle the shooters that compete use paper patched bullets.
John

 

[Ninering62]

Of the many used and new reproduction percussion rifles (mostly .50 caliber deer guns), what do you think would be a good choice to convert for a tomato can killer and sit down paper puncher to use the various Ideal, Lyman, RCBS and Lee nominally .45 hollow base molds?
I'm kinda leaning towards a Traditions Hawken with a 7/8" barrel rather than a heavier 15/16" or 1". Maybe slender down the stock and have an octagonal to round with no under rib.
So any how, anybody have any ideas on a reproduction rifle that would be a good one to start with?

BC I'm not at all a fan of the traditional stocks, I'd suggest either the Lyman Plains rifle or the TC Renegade, maybe the White Mtn carbine too. The Pedersoli Hawken Hunter would be cool too, I do like that stock.

 

[nkbj]

Some tomato can killers to be used.

 

[nkbj]

BC I'm not at all a fan of the traditional stocks, I'd suggest either the Lyman Plains rifle or the TC Renegade, maybe the White Mtn carbine too. The Pedersoli Hawken Hunter would be cool too, I do like that stock.

The TC carbine with pistol grip stock would be attractive but that said, it's designed for larger calibers and greater recoil. I'm wanting this piece to shoulder about like a bolt action .22RF (plenty of barrel length but not a lot of barrel wall) hence me thinking about starting with a relatively light weight reproduction.
Looking at the rack, I do have an older Traditions half stock with a 24" barrel that could become a longer octagonal to tapered round with no under rib. Take off the blocky nose cap and add a slender tapered one made up from buffalo horn after reducing the thickness of the fore stock. Have a single ram rod holder beneath the barrel. Add a matching buffalo horn butt plate. That's the sort of thing I'm thinking about, a tomato can killing son of a gun.

 

[Ninering62]

The TC carbine with pistol grip stock would be attractive but that said, it's designed for larger calibers and greater recoil. I'm wanting this piece to shoulder about like a bolt action .22RF (plenty of barrel length but not a lot of barrel wall) hence me thinking about starting with a relatively light weight reproduction.
Looking at the rack, I do have an older Traditions half stock with a 24" barrel that could become a longer octagonal to tapered round with no under rib. Take off the blocky nose cap and add a slender tapered one made up from buffalo horn after reducing the thickness of the fore stock. Have a single ram rod holder beneath the barrel. Add a matching buffalo horn butt plate. That's the sort of thing I'm thinking about, a tomato can killing son of a gun.

That sounds pretty cool to me.

 

[stikshooter]

Of the many used and new reproduction percussion rifles (mostly .50 caliber deer guns), what do you think would be a good choice to convert for a tomato can killer and sit down paper puncher to use the various Ideal, Lyman, RCBS and Lee nominally .45 hollow base molds?
I'm kinda leaning towards a Traditions Hawken with a 7/8" barrel rather than a heavier 15/16" or 1". Maybe slender down the stock and have an octagonal to round with no under rib.
So any how, anybody have any ideas on a reproduction rifle that would be a good one to start with?

My idea on a target rifle (700 yds worth) A pretty Renegade stock with a 1-17 twist Rice barrel/Lee Shaver Long range venier shooting 80 gr 1 1/2 F OE pushing a 530 gr Elliptical paper patched rocket , and the almost 12LBs is mandatory to staying at the bench you sat on /Ed

 

[Johnny Tremain]

"Best Choice For A .45 Target Rifle"​

Parker Hale Whitworth

You asked

 

[hanshi]

Tomato cans are not that hard to kill; I've slain many with simple prb. Never worried about a blood trail but they don't go far anyway.

 

[longcruise]

Some tomato can killers to be used.

Think you could move right up to five gallon buckets with those!