In the 1980's shooting a 9 + lb , 44" D-wt. , .50 cal. Pa. long Rifle got a little heavy for me , so built a light wt. .45 cal. 36" brl . . 7/8" st. brl. Pittsburgh rifle. ... On paper from a bench w/ appropriate round ball ,both the .50 and the .45 were equal in accuracy ,the .50 liked 80 gr. FFFG , and the .45 settled on 62 gr. FFFG. Was able to continue to shoot silhouettes out to 200 yards. The target was a cub bear steel knock down target. The difference was the.50 would put the bear down with every hit on the target , but the .45 would ring the target , but only occasionally knock the bear over providing the hit was high on the upper edge of the bear. .45 would hit just as accurately as the .50 , but w/ less power. This is just a comparison of .45 vs .50 round ball . Tried to juice up the .45 w/more FFFG , but it wasn't accurate enough for the 200 yd. target. Each caliber has it's sweet spot and if the wt. of the ball will fit the mission , good to go , if not , find another caliber. ......oldwood