Got a question for those experienced riflemen out there

[Spencer_Murphy]

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.

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

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.

I believe that this cant be done. A bore to about .50 which is roughly .490 bore is feasible because you are going from about .450 to .500 ( .445~.490 internally) so right round .50" (.40" internally) If you were to go to .540 from .450 you'd be expanding the bore almost one whole inch. The barrel is probably only 7/8" flat to flat so this isnt feasible. If the barrel was 1" flat to flat it might be barely doable. If you are deadset on .54 either buy a .54 or build one or buy a .50 and have it bored to .54.

 

[tenngun]

You will find lots of deer hunters use .45 very well.
That said you want a rifle you will be happy with.
A 46” barrel is a custom barrel, or I should say a specialty barrel. Most production barrels are 42”
It might be swamped in this case. So that would have an effect. The question would be if you have enough barrel. A .54 should be at a minimum 15/16 or so. A 7/8 may be too thin

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Spencer_Murphy, the first question that I will ask is what is the measurement of the barrel across the flats at the smallest cross section? Is the barrel straight tapered or swamped?

By my conservative estimate, you will need a barrel of 0.540 + 2* 0.012 + 2*0.100 (metal needed under a dovetail) +2*0.100 (metal above the dovetail) or 0.964" across the flats. It is unlikely that your 46" barrel will be that large as the weight will be way beyond easy handling.

It will be cheaper to learn to use the 45 caliber components than opening the bore of that rifle to 0.540". Not mention, the joy you will have as you expand your traditional muzzle loading experiences.

 

[rich pierce]

Original or modern?

 

[tnlonghunter]

I believe that this cant be done. A bore to about .50 which is roughly .490 bore is feasible because you are going from about .450 to .500 ( .445~.490 internally) so right round .50" (.40" internally) If you were to go to .540 from .450 you'd be expanding the bore almost one whole inch. The barrel is probably only 7/8" flat to flat so this isnt feasible. If the barrel was 1" flat to flat it might be barely doable. If you are deadset on .54 either buy a .54 or build one or buy a .50 and have it bored to .54.

I think you need to check your math. That's a change of .09" - that is, less than 1/10 of an inch.

That said, what's possible and what's smart don't necessarily line up. Whether this is possible will depend entirely on the characteristics of the barrel. Does the thinnest part of the barrel have enough material to still remain strong and safe after removing the extra metal? Is this an original or modern production? I wouldn't ever do that to an original, but a modern steel barrel might be doable if the dimensions are still safe.

My own opinion: I'd keep it at .45 and enjoy that. A .54 would always be more my choice for deer if I had it, but a .45 would be more my choice for most plinking and competition shooting.

 

[andy52]

A 46-inch barrel would put that rifle into the realm of a "Chunk Gun" and might be too long to make a handy hunting rifle.

 

[Cpt Flint]

Leave it alone.

 

[SDSmlf]

Would think more information about the gun is needed from the OP before any reasonable advice about what could be done to the gun can be given. Photographs from the OP would help. All we know is that he has a 45 caliber flintlock that appears to be some sort of Southern Mountain Rifle that he is considering reboring. He then has questions about the suitability of using a 45 caliber gun for hunting deer, a different topic.

He has a nice 46" barrel .45 caliber flintlock rifle. Judging by the stock it appears to be some sort of Southern Mountain Rifle.

 

[cynthialee]

You have already gotten the best answers.
Got to measure your flats to make that call.

Post some pics in this thread so we can identify the rifle proper.

A .45 is plenty for Deer. If you are worried about power, load it with a conical and a stout powder charge and smack em hard.

 

[smoothshooter]

You will find lots of deer hunters use .45 very well.
That said you want a rifle you will be happy with.
A 46” barrel is a custom barrel, or I should say a specialty barrel. Most production barrels are 42”
It might be swamped in this case. So that would have an effect. The question would be if you have enough barrel. A .54 should be at a minimum 15/16 or so. A 7/8 may be too thin

Use it in .45 until you have a reason to change.
In that caliber you have adequate ball weight and can get pretty high velocities if you want without a lot of recoil. Nice flat trajectory as well at hunting ranges with the heavier powder charges.

Ask Hanshi how his .45’s work for deer.

 

[longcruise]

Is it a straight octagon or swamped?

 

[ShootistJack]

As a .45 caliber rifle, if it has fast enough twist, maybe use conical bullets to add weight to your projectiles,
as compared to patched round ball projectiles weight. The .45 conical can expand easily to .54

 

[brushblind]

You probably should tell me where she lives so I can go look and make a decision for you. It would be an accident if it followed me home! lol

 

[deerstalkert]

buy it, sell it here, buy a 54 here.
fact is i probably have one I'd trade!
pictures are needed or it ain't real.

 

[Bobby MacAlphin]

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.

I have plenty of friends who kill deer every deer season with .45 cal. Flintlocks , and I have shot plenty myself with a .50 cal. Flintlock !

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

A 46-inch barrel would put that rifle into the realm of a "Chunk Gun" and might be too long to make a handy hunting rifle.

I have 2 rifles and a fowler with 46" barrels (the fowler actually has a 48" barrel) and find them quite handy in the woods. None of them qualify as a chunk gun by any stretch. The American longrifle was apparently thought comfortable to carry by our predecessors back in the day. Chunk guns are a class all their own.

 

[andy52]

T

I have 2 rifles and a fowler with 46" barrels (the fowler actually has a 48" barrel) and find them quite handy in the woods. None of them qualify as a chunk gun by any stretch. The American longrifle was apparently thought comfortable to carry by our predecessors back in the day. Chunk guns are a class all their own.

The chunk gun I own has a 47-inch 1-inch on the flats in .36 cal. it's way too muzzle-heavy to lug around the woods hunting. Fowler barrels tend to be a bit lighter than rifle barrels of the same length. Not sure there is a definition of what consitutes a chuck gun, most are heavy barreled small calibers and most don't have half cocks.

 

[hanshi]

Photos not only would help but would be required for any kind of a definitive answer. And like many others you doubt the lethal power, velocities and accuracy of a .45. Rest assured the .45 is a great deer & rifle.
.45 round balls recovered from deer. The one on the right may be .50

 

[Flintandsteel]

Back to the original question….. can a .45 be bored out to a .54?
probably not, but here’s what causes the limitations.
The size of the breech plug. The breech plug needs a shoulder to seat against. Bobby Hoyt could only drill a Getz .50 to a .54 instead of a .58 for that very reason.