IF you had only one caliber to choose

[BigBoreBLR]

What would you pick?

 

[silly goose]

.62 smooth bore. Fits all my needs here in the thick North East, though if I could hunt turkeys with a rifle, my choice would be a .50 rifled for all around use.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

Were you shooting that 62 cal smoothbore at coxsackie about 2 sundays ago?

 

[galamb]

45 cal - if you can't shoot what you want in North America with that, and kill it cleanly, you need to practice more :grin:

 

[mooman76]

What would you pick?

What would you pick? People often ask questions like this and don't even state what they would pick. I would pick 50. Very common caliber so lots of options and I could hunt and shoot paper without too much over kill.

 

[bubba.50]

.54cal simply because the first muzzleloader I ever owned was a Renegade kit gun in that caliber. but, .58 cal has been growin' on me here of late. of course a .62 smoothy would be neat too. aw hell, don't make me choose :surrender: .

 

[necchi]

54.

 

[galamb]

.54cal simply because the first muzzleloader I ever owned was a Renegade kit gun in that caliber. but, .58 cal has been growin' on me here of late. of course a .62 smoothy would be neat too. aw hell, don't make me choose :surrender: .

Sounds like you are suffering from a common condition amongst front-stuffer's knows as "Multiple Muzzleloader Disorder" (or just MMD for short) :rotf:

 

[TLanoy]

.50 for me as it is a perfect middle of the road caliber and pretty common to find stuff for it. :thumbsup:

 

[cynthialee]

this comes up allot it seems

I'd go with a 20 Gauge. This is based on many hours of reading up on others experiences and some modest amount of shooting on my own.

Big enough ball to whomp anything out there and it can be loaded with shot for fowl.

I have a .56 smoothbore that is pretty much the go to, do it all gun.

 

[BrownBear]

Probably be a 72 smoothie. On top of everything else, I love my duck hunting too much to rely on a 62. In my experience a 72 (12 gauge) is just dandy even with 3/4 oz loads for small game.

 

[necchi]

.54cal simply because the first muzzleloader I ever owned was a Renegade kit gun in that caliber. but, .58 cal has been growin' on me here of late. of course a .62 smoothy would be neat too. aw hell, don't make me choose :surrender: .

Sounds like you are suffering from a common condition amongst front-stuffer's knows as "Multiple Muzzleloader Disorder" (or just MMD for short) :rotf:

That's a good point too.
There simply isn't one to choose from,
It isn't reality,
There is no such thing as one Muzzleloader, :idunno:

 

[nchawkeye]

For what???

Targets, deer, small game, upland game, turkeys, waterfowl???

It's kinda foolish to make a decision without knowing the intended use...

I wouldn't buy a motorcycle to pull a boat... :blah:

 

[flintlock75]

I think the intent was, if you could only have one gun/one caliber what would you choose.
I would have to go with my .72 cal. Brown Bess smoothbore. Since the game I hunt is very big (Moose) or very small( Grouse) having the ability to shoot prb or shot makes it the most versatile gun to have.

 

[Alden]

.62 smooth bore. Fits all my needs here in the thick North East, though if I could hunt turkeys with a rifle, my choice would be a .50 rifled for all around use.

Not silly at all except .50 rifle for turkey specifically.

 

[MSW]

if you can only have one ... .62 smooth


but then again, one ML is as likely as one ant at a picnic.

 

[longcruise]

Well, I have .36, .45, .50 and .54 rifles. Don't own a smoothbore but if all had to go away and could only have one it would be a smoothbore. Gotta think about the bore size, but like what Brown Bear had to say about it. :thumbsup:

 

[GaryED50]

Don't you have to get pretty close to hit anything with a smoothbore? Their about 80 yards max right?

Gary

 

[dcalef3]

Don't you have to get pretty close to hit anything with a smoothbore? Their about 80 yards max right?

Gary

First, 56 smoothie for me, and i wouldnt shoot my smoothie past 50 yds for a kill shot. Here in NH the average kill shot is only 20 to 30 yds. At that range my 56 is a tack driver all the way up to 50 yds.

 

[hanshi]

A .45 for me. There is absolutely nothing I can't hunt and easily take with a .45.