Got a question for those experienced riflemen out there

[Snydly]

A neighbor of mine has passed and his daughter asked if I was interested in looking at his firearms to see if I was interested in buying some. He has a nice 46" barrel .45 caliber flintlock rifle. Judging by the stock it appears to be some sort of Southern Mountain Rifle. My question is could this rifle be bored out to a rifled .54 caliber or is this too big ? I figured it could go to .50 no problem but all of round balls are .530 that I shoot in my T/C Scout so I figured I would attempt to keep all of rifles streamlined on one caliber. I think .45 is just a tad undersize for deer even though its legal and has been used in rifles since the colonies. Thanks for all replies, I dont mind stupid answers since this is probably a stupid question.

Here in Wyoming we have some very large Mule deer... my 45 has been knocking them down for over 45 years with no problems. Just don't shoot them in the paunch or the leg.....

 

[Rodd Boyer]

Nothing wrong with a .45 on deer.... where legal!
.440 ball and 50 gr of Swiss fffg.
Good luck, shoot straight and God bless,
Rodd

 

[45man]

WOW, the too small stuff keeps going. A deer might go a few yards. A .54 usually drops them on the spot and is good but a .45 just plain works and my .45's have taken about 150 deer for me without a loss.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

My question is could this rifle be bored out to a rifled .54 caliber or is this too big ? I figured it could go to .50 no problem but all of round balls are .530 that I shoot in my T/C Scout so I figured I would attempt to keep all of rifles streamlined on one caliber. I think .45 is just a tad undersize for deer even though its legal and has been used in rifles since the colonies.

Greetings from Damascus, MD!

So as the others have pointed out, unless it's a really thick barrel, then it's likely not going to have enough breech plug to go to .54

.45 round ball, as others have pointed out, is just fine for deer. Especially here in Maryland. The smallest caliber for black powder deer here is .40 round ball.


You might find as you age, IF that isn't a "chunk gun" but is in fact a 46" longrifle southern mountain style..., that the .440 round ball from that is dandy for person who added some years but is still hunting. The sighting distance on that barrel I predict (all other factors being equal) will cause it and you to be very accurate. IF it is a chunk gun..., you might very well enjoy the accuracy at target shoots.

SO your options are likely, either keep it and use it....
OR sell it and use the money for what you want...,

LD

 

[Dude]

I've been wanting a .45. And there you have one right next door...

Some guys have all the luck!

I'll swap you a .50 or a .54 for it.