Newbie Question on Caliber

[NCrebel2533]

ok so i am looking for a caliber that i can hunt deer and other game in North Carolina with but also use to just go shooting. i am thinking of a .50 cal for now but want to know if that is the best option.

 

[nchawkeye]

A .50 is a good choice...

Unless you can find a .54... :grin:

We do have more bears than we used to, that's why I built a .54 back in the late '80s...

btw...Welcome... :hatsoff:

 

[excess650]

It depends upon what your state regulations are. Just recently they made a 40cal limit for small game in Pa, but require 44cal or larger for deer. My 45cal flinter is just barely adequate for deer, IMO, but now not legal for smaller game....yeah, right! :cursing: For deer I would prefer .54, .58. or .62, targets don't care, and smaller game is just dead. :wink:

 

[nw_hunter]

My neighbor hunts Elk with his 50 cal, and he is two for two!

 

[JJB22]

I have or had a 32, 45, 50, and the 58 cal. I think I would say, 32 is fun, cheap, a small game gun, and oh yea-- fun. The 45 is a marginal deer round--good to 75 yards, need to place the shot, and fun. The 50 was a good deer caliber probably to 100 yards, need to place the shot, and fun. The 58 was my "I can't have a deer run to the next hunter and fall dead at his feet" gun (It did a great job at that) and I guess fun, and a hungry dude on the powder end of the shooting materials needed list. So there you go, I explained it clearly--- right? :grin: :hmm:

 

[tg]

A .50 is a good choice for a deer gun or trail walk gun, way back .45 and .50 were about all you could get and everyone did fine with them, magnumitis seems to have hit the ML world as well as the centerfire world unless it is just the centerfire shooters crossing over and bringing the mindset with them over the years.

 

[Tom Compton]

IMO 50 is the do-all. When I had to just have one it was a .50. I love my .40 but anything but head shots on squirrels and quail leave no meat.

.45 is OK but I dumped the last .45 over 20 years ago.

You can still head shoot small game with the .50 and it does a better job on deer, bear and hogs. It is also legal for elk in CO, or was.

 

[rafterob]

.50 is a good choice for your needs. You could Take a typical NC Bear with that .50 also. .50 accessories are readily available. A .45 would fit the bill also and saves a little on powder and ball. I may not want to tackle a bear with a .45 unless loaded with a maxi.

 

[R.M.]

Flint, I think 50 is min for elk these days. 40 for deer and prairie goats.

 

[Ron_T.]

I bought a Traditions flintlock "Shenandoah" in .50 caliber with a 33½ inch barrel in 1:66 twist (round balls only) because I wanted the "look" of a Pennsylvania Long Rifle and thought I'd only want one black powder rifle, but I wanted a rifle with less weight and a somewhat shorter barrel than a "full" Pennsylvania Long Rifle for hunting in the woods and ease of carrying... and the Shenandoah was the "perfect" size and weight (7¼ lbs).

Now... after 6 months of shooting the Shenandoah, I'm beginning to realize it isn't out-of-the-question to want to own more than one BP rifle in different calibers for doing different kinds of shooting.

For target shooting with an eye to the cost, it seems like the little .32 caliber is perfect. The swagged rifle balls are much less costly and the amount of real black powder (I would only buy flintlocks) required for good accuracy is a lot smaller amounts and, therefore, making shooting the .32 caliber a LOT less costly per shot.

On the other hand, you'll find that due to the way most of us shoot our muzzle loaders, shooting more than 20 or 30 shots in an afternoon at the rifle range is pretty hard to do.

The very nature of loading a flintlock or percussion cap rifle makes shooting more than 30 shots a difficult thing to do, so the cost of the larger, more expensive rifle balls and the extra powder consumed by the larger calibers is sort of a "moot point".

And, let's face it... with a decent barrel and consistent loading, 'most any caliber is plenty accurate out to any reasonable range.

As a result, I'm seriously considering my .50 caliber as a good "all-around" caliber for everything from squirrels (head shots ONLY) to deer... and everything "in between".

If I ever win the Lotto, then I'll have a custom made .32... and a custom made .50 caliber... and probably even a custom made .54 or 58 caliber as well.

But for now, the .50 caliber I own will get-the-job-done, regardless of how I use it.

Now I'm beginning to realize why a smooth-bore rifle (without rifling) might be an interesting piece to own. You can shoot both a single rifle ball with reasonable accuracy for hunting squirrels and deer... and by using "shot", a large caliber smoothbore (.58 or larger caliber) becomes a reasonably good "shotgun" for small game and bird-hunting as well.

This is an amazing sport... and the options are almost unlimited. Maybe that's why it's so easy to get "hooked" on muzzle loaders, n'est pas? :hmm:

Now if I were REALLLLLY rich... :stir:

:v


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

 

[michael dismukes]

Truthfully, I only hunt bird... But Red Molly (my 50cal Perdisoli Penn.) has been a great turkey getter these past 5 seasons. If you want only one caliber in a BP rifle that would be my recommendation as well.

 

[tg]

"Now I'm beginning to realize why a smooth-bore rifle (without rifling) might be an interesting piece to own. You can shoot both a single rifle ball with reasonable accuracy for hunting squirrels and deer... and by using "shot", a large caliber smoothbore (.58 or larger caliber) becomes a reasonably good "shotgun" for small game and bird-hunting as well"

Many of us have come to that conclusion, I have enjoyed it almost like starting over again and get the thrill that was there nearly 40 years ago.

 

[nkbj]

You're right TG. Everyone needs a smooth rifle. Or (that thang I just can't make myself spring for) a double flinter with one side smooth. Dangit gives me a cravin' just to mention it. Wonder if my better 2/3's is still trying to figure out what to get me for Christmas.