Caliber choice for first rifle

[tgfrench]

Maryland regulations: C. Firearms. (1) An individual may hunt deer and black bear only with the firearms in §C(2)—[(5)](6) of this regulation, subject to the restrictions provided in §§[C]D and [D]E of this regulation. (2) A rifle or shotgun propelling one [all-lead, lead alloy, or copper] soft-nosed or expanding bullet or ball at a single discharge which generates at least 1,200 foot-pounds of muzzle energy is allowed. (3) (text unchanged) (4) A muzzle loading rifle or muzzle loading shotgun, not less than .40 caliber and using not less than the equivalent of 60 grains of black powder, [or black powder equivalent,] or a single shot muzzle loading handgun or muzzle loading revolver of not less than .40 caliber with a minimum barrel length of 6 inches and using not less than the equivalent of 40 grains of black powder, [or a black powder equivalent,] propelling one [all-lead, lead alloy, or copper] soft-nosed or expanding bullet or ball at a single discharge, is allowed. Sabot loads are allowed.

Considering some states you may only hunt with a 50 caliber.
Secondly: if you want to shoot sabots you need a gun that has at least a twist rate of 1:48.

Personally I enjoy shooting my 45 cal. 1:66 twist rate. Others shoot better, but I've got my grouping down to 1 1/2" at 50 yards.

That being said, Last month while at Dixon Muzzleloader, in Kempton, Pa. They had 50 cal. Hawkens on sale for $500-$550 and lots of other rifles of various calibers. Might be worth a drive.
Good Luck.

 

[cynthialee]

put me down in the .50 crowd

between PRB and Conicals....there ain't nothing you can't hunt on this continent with a .50

bullets, patches, worms, jags....all of the extras are easy to find in .50 and most sporting goods stores that cater to BP shooters are likely to have plenty of .50 stuff and little if anything in the other calibers.

 

[MSW]

if al you want to do is hunt deer, i would go with a .50, unless you can get a .54. The .50 has plenty of power, but the .54 has a bit more whomp. The smaller white tail will drop to the .50 (assuming good shot placement), but the .54 will do for just about any big game animal in North America.

after that, you can get a .40, then a .50, and then a .54, then an .62 smooth, after which you will need a .36 for squirrels, and a nice 12 gauge for upland game birds, because you can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many muzzle loaders...

seriously, i'd start with a .50

 

[hanshi]

The "delayed ignition" in a flintlock is not really delayed ignition in the sense you likely envision. With a good flintlock we're talking about hundredths of a second over percussion. To me my rifle sounds like instant ignition although it definitely is not instant. The only way to shoot a flintlock is to "follow through" at the shot. In other words hold the sights on the target for a heartbeat after pulling the trigger and don't be in a hurry to pull & drop it. This is actually a good thing to do with percussions as well. Poor shooters often pull the trigger without follow through which causes slight movement but enough to move the balls poi. I've killed running deer with flintlocks so with making sure to "follow through" it's the same as shooting moving game with a modern rifle.

 

[nchawkeye]

I started with a .45, used it exclusively from 1977-1988, even won a few matches with it, killed squirrels with .40 grains of powder and whitetails with 75grs...Then, one day a large black bear walked up on me on one of our farms...Well, I ordered what I needed for a .54, converted the .45 to a .40 and have never regretted it!! With 80grs FFF it lays the smack down on a whitetail, you could probably do just as well with 70-75 grs of powder if that really bothers you...With my .40 I use 30grs FFF for small game...I don't have to worry about balls as I haven't bought store bought balls in decades, bought molds for both years ago...I have enough powder, lead and flints to last my lifetime...Simply put, the deer hit with a .54 usually put more tracking blood on the ground than those hit with a .45...Plus, if a black bear does show up, I sure feel much better with a .54 than a .45...

 

[French Colonial]

The "delayed ignition" in a flintlock is not really delayed ignition in the sense you likely envision. With a good flintlock we're talking about hundredths of a second over percussion. To me my rifle sounds like instant ignition although it definitely is not instant. The only way to shoot a flintlock is to "follow through" at the shot. In other words hold the sights on the target for a heartbeat after pulling the trigger and don't be in a hurry to pull & drop it. This is actually a good thing to do with percussions as well. Poor shooters often pull the trigger without follow through which causes slight movement but enough to move the balls poi. I've killed running deer with flintlocks so with making sure to "follow through" it's the same as shooting moving game with a modern rifle.

I am totally in Hanshi's camp on this one....

Most of my flinters have White Lightening liners in them and I do not have any patent or chambered breech guns, the pan flash goes directly into the barrel, if there is a "delayed ignition" I cannot detect it.

And I have fired thousands of rounds in competition with BPCRS rifles, follow through is just as important with them as flinters, if your flinching or "coming out of the shot" to soon with either your shooting will suffer.

 

[john_1]

Hi EOTB.

You've received the benefit of a lot of experience already on this thread. I'm going to offer a couple of hunting comments. The diameter of the projectile doesn't matter of you consistently place the ball in the heart lung region. Marginal shots may benefit from a larger diameter ball, but only to a point.

I've probably taken close to eighty to a hundred head of big game over the last 50 years that I've carried a rifle, and have participated in the taking of much more. What I have discovered is this: shooting and killing is easy, but tracking can be hard. Game can be well hit and very dead, but lost. If your primary hunting grounds are relatively wide open where you can plainly see 100 or 200 yards if not more in every direction and there isn't much vegetation, then any diameter will do. A well-hit deer will normally run out of steam in 10 - 50 yards. But on occasion a well-hit deer will perversely run a surprisingly long distance. You will be able to witness after-the-shot reaction in wide open terrain. But when the terrain is brushy or heavily overgrown, or just rough county where you cannot observe the game for a good distance, I prefer a big hole on both sides of the animal, in and out. I want a blood trail that looks like a horror movie painted blood with a bucket. Tracking is hard in heavy cover with a lot of vegetation and blood trails have a habit of disappearing. This is made worse in the rain. The problem is compounded if you are hunting small parcels where fence lines of adjoining and perhaps unhuntable property are nearby. I am out west and hunt several states, plus on occasion the Canadian province immediately to the north of me and Alaska. In my case I might have one hunt where I can observe game unobstructed for several thousand yards (fairly easy to retrieve game where "tracking" is done with after-the-shot visual observation), and then have another hunt where I cannot see ten feet in thick rain forest cover and pounding rain. If you will always hunt in relatively open terrain, any reasonable diameter will do. But if not, for a hunting rifle I am happier to move up to a larger diameter bore just to get a good blood trail.

To me it's also oddly satisfying to see big holes in paper targets.

 

[Bushfire]

Bear in mind the day you decide to go to another state for a hunt or have a buddy offer to take you interstate for a ML hunt your 45 may not be legal.

If you want one whitetail ML gun 50 cal is a no brainer. It's legal everywhere.

This is coming from a 54 rifle and 62 smooth fanatic.

 

[TDM]

It would be a perfect world if you could own one of each .32 through .58 cal rifles. I doubt most will ever complete the full collection, though some may have all with 2 or 3 of each.
But if you have only one or your looking for your first, you can’t go wrong getting a .50 cal.

 

[Urban Coyote]

Given what you've outlined in your question I believe you should give strong consideration to a .45 caliber gun.

I've personally known two custom muzzleloader builders, one favored .45 and .54 the other .50. The .50 advocate had more hunting, game killing, experience. My total big game experience with a muzzleloader is 15 deer, nearly all mule deer. I've used .45, .50 and .54 but it hardly makes me an authority on any of these, however when it comes to big game I lean towards the .54.

I'm a real fan of the .45 for most shooting. I've shot, head shot, small game (mainly rabbits) with mine and a couple of deer on which it worked fine but without the authority of the .54. In my experience I can't say there's any difference in accuracy between the calibers I mention here although most might find the .45 easier to shoot. If the largest game you're going to hunt are deer and at the ranges you describe a .45 should fit your bill.

As for a gun recommendation I've no idea of your budget. I have a couple of semi-custom .45 round ball guns, a Beaver Lodge and GRRW Little Leman that are nice guns. This being said I also have a stock as a rock .45 T/C caplock Hawken that shoots roundball exceptionally well and has been my go to shooter for some time. I suppose if felt the need for more horsepower I could load her up with a conical of some type given it's 1 in 48" twist.

If you decide on a T/C Hawken, long out of production now, should you find a good one, they are getting tougher to find especially in .45, I'd snap it up.

Hope this helps, good luck.

 

[hanshi]

In reference to john_1's statement about a horror movie blood trail I'll say it makes tracking ultra-easy. I never got this type of trail with every caliber prb I used, .45, .50, .54, .62; all these performed about the same in leaving blood trails. A few do come to mind as interesting but not especially so. But, there was one exception and it was a shot with my .45. A large buck was maybe 20 to 25 yards in front of me quartering away. I fired quickly, as I normally do, saw him stumble then disappear followed by a loud crash a second later. As I started following the trail I had to be careful where I stepped because of the sometime solid trail of red. The brush on the ball entry side looked as though it had been spray painted and was another thing I carefully avoided. In the maybe 4 seconds from bang to crash he hadn't run far. I would guess15-20 yards from where he was at the shot to the DOA spot.

This was with a simple .440" patched .45 ball. It was found flattened under the off side skin and the entry was a bit gruesome. Another one taken with a .50 was gruesome at the ball impact site but the blood trail was minimal. I hunted with a .45 almost exclusively and it never let me down.

 

[new2bp]

The thing that .50 has going for it over all the others is the availability, both in variety and just being there, of bullets and such. Big box stores, small mom-n-pops the only thing you are likely to find is .50 stuff, and even on muzzle loader specific sites like Dixie, etc the variety of .50 projectiles is much larger than other calibers.

 

[Urban Coyote]

I would agree .50 caliber is probably the easiest to find components and accessories for. If your the kind of shooter who stumbles into any old sports shop to grab a few last minute needed patches, balls or bullets you'll probably have better luck if your gun is a fifty.

 

[Ed Pilkington]

Fellow Pilgrim, i just shot my Kibler .40 cal. SMR. It is absolutely a game changer for me. 42” barrel is balanced, 7 lbs is so light and comfortable compared to my 9 lb 50 caliber mountain rifle. First shot was 40 yards, 60 grains 3f that landed in the black. I believe ou will be pleased with a Kibler SMR kit or in the white or Jim Built in .40 or .45.