While I love the caliber, I'd replace the gun. I recently bought my wife a Lyman Deerstalker in 54 cal from
Midsouth for $278. She doesn't like the long barrel-heavy feel of all my other muzzleloaders, though she shoots them quite a bit. If I was going to get her out deer hunting with a ML, she needed a gun that suited her better. I settled on the 54 for its thinner barrel walls, lighter weight and less front weight than the same in 50 cal.
Was I (and she) ever pleased with the results. It's short barrel is really fast handling, and it balances like a good shotgun with the weight right between your hands. The single trigger is excellent!
Best of all, she shoots it really well. First day out she put 17 of 20 shots into a 3" bull offhand at 35 yards. The last three just barely missed the black, but it was clear that she was getting tired and the deer hunting load (80 grains of 3f behind a round ball) was starting to bite her a bit.
I readjusted the powder measure for a typical small game load (35 grains of 3f behind a RB), and she put the next ten shots into basically a ragged hole in the black on a new target.
If she's ever inclined to shoot conicals, the 1:48 twist of the barrel should do just fine, but I haven't encouraged her to try it yet. Heavy conicals recoil a bunch more, and we just don't need them for the ranges (inside 50 yards) that we hunt deer.
