Taking the plunge.

[Travis]

Hi All
After a long time researching and gathering some extra play money I decided to take the plunge and buy my first kit. I’m planning on buying tracks JP Beck rifle kit. They offer several different variations of this rifle; 13/16 or 7/8 barrel and .32 - .50 cal. Not having any practical experience, what are the pros and cons between the two barrel diameters and is a .32 more desirable than a .36 or the other calibers for such a rifle?? What kind of knock down power can I expect on a round ball .32 or .36 cal? Are they powerful enough for white tail?

 

[bob308]

even though i like the smaller bores. i don't think i would even try a deer with a .32-.36. now if i was in a jam i would use a .40. but for the most i would say a .45 is the min. for deer.
a .45 is a good alaround cal.

check your state hunting regs. my state says .45 for muzzleloader. but now comes the strange part. i can use a .25-20 in centerfire seaon

 

[boar]

Ohio you have to have a 38 cal or bigger. I use 50 and 54. Have killed them with a 45. Dilly

 

[Norskie]

For the deer's sake I never kill with less than .50, but that's me being conservative. A better shooter could place a .45 roundball well enough to take a deer.
A .32 will do for squirrel and rabbit sized game, a .36 will take a coyote pretty well. Even a javalina, I'm told.
I shoot .36 and .50
A larger caliber will get you a lighter barrel for a given outside measurement, by the way.
Moose

 

[Vaino]

I agree that the .45 would be minimum for deer and is also good for small game if head shots are taken. I take it the bbl is staight and not swamped? If so, a 7/8" x 42" lg. bbl in .45 would be a little muzzle heavy, but would contribute to a steady hold if you can handle it. My squirrel LR has those bbl specs and has killed many squirrels and I have never regretted it being muzzle heavy. Personally, I'd opt for a swamped bbl w/ much better balance, but I take it that a swamp isn't available for this kit? Good luck....Fred

 

[Le Grand]

Trav, In the state of Misery, where St. Louis is, the mininmum bore size for hunting deer with a muzzlelaoding rifle is .40 caliber. Like others here have said, go bigger than that. A .50 caliber frontstuffer isn't a huge gun at all, it shoots a round ball weighing only 180 grains or a bit less. You might say the .50 is just the .30/30 of muzzle loaders. Le Grand

 

[Travis]

I knew in Missouri you need .40 minimum for white tail but still didn't know about knock down power. Several years ago i retired my .30-06 in favor of my .22-250. This year she's killed 2 nice bucks. So for deer its not a big deal to have another deer rifle yet. Im pretty sure a .32 of .36 will fit the bill. Any advantages between the two?

 

[rich pierce]

I'd not use either for whitetail. Either one would require a perfect shot. It's much easier to get a perfect shot opportunity with a scoped .22-250 than a .32 or .36 caliber iron sighted muzzleloader. If you hit a rib dead square on at 60 yards with a .32, you'd be trailing that deer all day and night.

 

[Old Salt]

TOTW's Beck kit is available with swamped barrels.

Old Salt

 

[Norskie]

A .32 is about equivalent to a .22 long rifle. A .36 is about like a .22 magnum. Neither will take a deer reliably or humanely. Remember the hunter's responsibility to the animal.
Moose

 

[silverfox]

Just a little more, it looks like you are new to muzzleloader but not to shooting. You will find that the small caliber muzzleloaders can be very finicky to load and maintain. The larger calibers .45 and up are a lot more forgiveing both for cleaning and loading. They also can be downloaded for small game and charged up to take big game, you can't do that with the small calibers.

Fox :thumbsup:

 

[Travis]

LeatherMoose thats exactly the info i wanted on these small calibers. Hunting ethics are vary important to me and we owe it to our pray that we make a good clean and humane kill. Kudos to LeatherMoose. I shoot several deer every year with my high power and my bow. Eventually ill build a deer "Hawken" rifle in a large caliber.

 

[Norskie]

Glad to help.
Moose

 

[Ridge]

40 is the absolute minimum that I would shoot a deer with.

I've killed quite a few with a 40 and I can tell you........they better be close and you'd better make a good shot.

Now I hunt whitetail with a .54 exclusively.

 

[MikeC]

I knew in Missouri you need .40 minimum for white tail but still didn't know about knock down power. Several years ago i retired my .30-06 in favor of my .22-250. This year she's killed 2 nice bucks. So for deer its not a big deal to have another deer rifle yet. Im pretty sure a .32 of .36 will fit the bill. Any advantages between the two?

Trav...If I understand you correctly, your saying because you have taken two deer with a 22-250 centerfire a .32 or.36 MZ is just as good. I hope I just misunderstood you because there is no comparison.

One is a pea-shooter and the other a rocket launcher.

 

[Travis]

Yah Mike I really didn't have a good concept between small bore muzzle loaders and conventional firearms. Old LeatherMoose answered my question with his .22 analogy.

 

[MikeC]

Trav...Glad that's cleared up. Don't want anyone new to the game getting the wrong idea.

Mike

 

[Travis]

Silverfox advice on cleaning, loading and being able to down load rounds is a big deciding factor in selecting my kit. Not because you can kill deer with if but the ease of caring for your rifle. Thanks for the help.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

I wanted ot build mine in .40 cal. State sez nuttin lower than .45 for deer.

.45 cal mine is!

 

[Travis]

Missouri's minimum is .40 but i probably will end up with a .45.