user 49399
54 Cal.
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That’s interesting,,,,hmmmm
Large caliber
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Does anyone use the 0.75 Brown Bess or is that the reason the colonists beat us Brits after the Boston Tea Party? I seem to recall that the larger caliber served us well against Napoleon as the lead balls were too large to fit the French Muskets and they were unable to "fire them back at us".
OhioHawkeye
32 Cal.
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Largest rifle I have is a 58, but my favorite rifle is still one of 3 50cal.
Smoothbore is another question.
My favorite overall and if i could only have 1 gun, it would be it, is a c-fusil 20ga. Parts by Larry Zorns, Jackson, OH.
2nd favorite overall is an old musket 12 ga or another gun in 11ga I enjoy.
I have a 10ga trade gun that would be my 3rd. Favorite.
Right now mine is a .54.
Trudy and I have had many adventures, and slain many deer.
I have larger calibers, 20 gauge and 14 gauge and 11 gauge, but have never taken deer with them.
LD
Well to be accurate, the standard British musket ball of the Napoleonic Period WOULD fit a standard French musket if it was clean. Which is why the muskets got the rep of being "inaccurate". The standard French musket ball would fit a British Carbine for the same reason. Nobody was picking up loose, fired musket balls and shooting them back at anybody during the flint era. Solid artillery shot, was sometimes recovered and "returned", however.
LD
Griz44Mag
70 Cal.
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Interesting.... With a handle like "MEGASUPERMAGNUM" one would think you favored big guns....
Griz44Mag
70 Cal.
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After being fired - soft lead balls would be deformed and most would be unusable. I do think that many of them gathered from the surgical tent and loose on the battlefield would have been re-cast though. So those could be construed as being re-used against the enemy.
.58 cal hawken style. puts a big hole in them and they go down fast.
A good hit from a .45 and the deer goes down fast also. All I have ever used on whitetails.
A .54 smooth rifle from Kibler, great!!
Cruzatte
50 Cal.
Of the three that I've owned, my favorite is the rifle I'm currently shooting; a .54 X 44" swamped Colerain barrel, Lancaster pattern rifle. Why is it my favorite? It was custom made for me and it fits like a pair of well broken in boots. The lock is sure fire, and the balance is just beautiful.
megasupermagnum
45 Cal.
I sure do... as a smooth bore. 10 gauge/78 caliber is my choice. I can kind of see a 68 caliber rifle for some game like grizzly bear, or maybe some of dangerous game in Africa like Cape buffalo. For the most part though, anyone shooting a 68 or bigger caliber is probably doing close range stuff, and under 60 yards or so, I see no reason to choose a rifle. A smooth bore is better. Especially when you get up into the "stopping guns" like the 6 and 4 bore.
BTW, my favorite rifle caliber by far is 54 caliber, but I don't consider that a large bore. I would have no problem using it on just about anything though.
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I have a .62 Baker Rifle at the gunsmith's right now. Can't wait to get it and go shooting !!
Sidney Smith
58 Cal.
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When and if I ever get this matchlock kit I ordered from the Rifle Shoppe, it will be in .75 caliber. I plan to strictly fire round balls with it. Should be a beast with a load to push that golf ball with.
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I doubt you would be able to get a spent ball down the bore of the same rifle it came out of after impact wth almost anything.
My biggest bore flintlock rifle is. 54. I'm not sure it can be called "big bore", but it is larger than. 50
It is a Pedersoli Frontier, with an 8 land, slow twist long barrel. I love it because the gun is really light and well balanced (it weights 3kg thats 6.6pounds). It is very accurate and a great fun to shoot. Its long barrel makes good use of moderate powder loads.
Talking bigger, I have a. 58 double rifle in percussion(Pedersoli Kodiak 6 with a single ghost sight). This one has short barrels around 23in. This rifle will not win any accuracy contests, but its pointability and fast target acquisition is great. One can just grab it and shoot ringing an a4 piece of paper sized gong at 75m off hand every time. If I was going to be surprised by a dangerous animal while holding only a muzzleloading rifle, that would be the gun I would hope to have.
Then, there are bigger bores I really enjoy, but they are smoothbores. The biggest one is a 9 bore. It shoots a 0.804in round ball on top of a light load of 160 grains of 2f. I love the speed of loading with bare balls. I had a custom brass mold made in UK for it so the ball diameter matches the (clean) bore so well it stops an inch from the muzzle and slides down with just the weight of the ramrod on it. When the bore is dirty it needs a mild push. I love that gun for the absolutely different feeling one gets when shooting a monster like this. I can't really describe it. I encourage everyone to try it
I don't love the speed at which lead and powder disappear when one is having fun with my 9 bore and my 58. The 54 is quite efficient thanks to long barrel no doubt.
megasupermagnum
45 Cal.
I'd also like to point out that I got my name not from shooting, but from playing with fireworks. Megasupermagnum was a bundle of m90's Peter made in the show Family Guy when he blew his fingers off.
.58 Jaeger I just like the big noise. It handles well, and is not heavy to hold, despite what some expect.
I think that make a big difference. In the case of a rifle a .45 is all a deer need. Are you going after moose,elk,bear? Then a .54 on up to .75 might be called for.
Anything in North America won’t walk away from a .54, but a bigger ball isn’t wasted.
A smoothie is not often available in less then .54
On cold days the bigger ball is a lot easier to handle.
I like a .54, but I think it was popular in the old days because it ran two ball to the ounce
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I have a .54 Green Mountain Match barreled Hawken with Lyman peep sights that is just a pleasure to shoot. Always knocks 'em dead first shot.
