To .50 or to .54 !?

[Dave Marsh]

My preference in caliber is .54 and .58. I have four in .54 and two in.58 and always have a tough time deciding which caliber to hunt or target practice with. I primarily hunt whitetails and on rare occasions when I draw an elk tag I hunt them. Good luck.

 

[SDSmlf]

In reality, impossible to mess this decision up. Get what you want. Me, I take a lot of deer with a 45 caliber, roundball and conical. I also love using 58 caliber roundball for deer, piggies and bear. A 54 is a great caliber and has worked for me. Own quite a few 54s. Have a number of 50s, just don’t use them as much, though they do and have worked for me. Guess my favorite caliber and gun is the one I happen to be carrying and using at the time you ask. Get what YOU want.

 

[brentona]

Thank you everyone for your replies! Keep ‘em coming! I have some time to think still!!

 

[FiremanBrad]

Howdy! This will be a combo paper puncher and food getter. Deer compromising most of the targets but there is plenty of hog options my way as well. .54 might lend itself better for pork blasting.

You just answered your own question!!
I’m a .54 fan but also shoot .50’s.
So, the only correct answer is one of each!!!

 

[olskool]

54,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Ben Meyer]

I have three .50cal muzzleloaders. One of each(flint, percussion, inline). Ive never felt undergunned for deer, which is really the only big game I hunt. That said, my son has a .50 inline, a .54 flint and a .58 percussion.

Having shot all 6 above rifles, in a question between 50 and 54, id go with either based on in which caliber I found a good deal on a gun I really liked. If I was having a gun built for targets and deer, I'd still choose .50. If I was planning on hunting game bigger than deer, I'd go .54.

I really don't find much of an accuracy, loading or recoil difference between 50 and 54.

 

[Dobegrant]

.54 cal for me

 

[rusticbob]

I have 2 .50 caliber rifles, and one .54. I seem to pick the .54 all the time now. Targets or hunting, my .54 Renegade gets the nod. I love the bigger .530 rb, and .54 conicals like Hornady Great Plains land with a solid "thump".
Grab the .54 and never look back!

 

[Essayons!]

Both are great hunters. Also check game laws on caliber requirements, especially if you plan on hunting out of your state..

 

[Walkingeagle]

I have one .45 percussion RB rifle, a .50 fast twist rifle for conicals, a .50 swamped slow twist full stock rifle, a .50 halfstock slow twist with an extra .54 fast twist barrel and lastly a .54 midtwist (1:48) halfstock with an extra .50 slow twist long barrel. Of them all, I love each for different reasons and really struggle to make a decision on each outing. Be it range time, trail walk or hunting. However in all honesty, the game here is not pigs, its both deer, moose, elk and bear, so I would likely lean towards the .54 midtwist due to a combination of compactness in the dense bush coupled with the balance of carry and hitting power with prb. Second would be the .50 fast twist with a conical. If only deer, the .50 full stock slow twist gets the nod!
Walk

 

[Crow-Feather]

I am in the 54 group. Bigger hole for target shooting (every .04 counts) and I have found the 54 very accurate. I must admit though that I have never tried a 54 flinter.

 

[Pete G]

.50 for longrifle. .54 for half stock plain rifle.

 

[jan_buchwald]

Seems since it is a flintlock, the style of the rifle would dictate the caliber of the rifle would it not?

Larger caliber rifles came along during the percussion time frame.

"Kentucky rifles" were made of german immigrants, in style with the german jaeger, which were short barreled heavy caliber

 

[Ben Meyer]

A little off topic, but its been mentioned here so, what does everyone consider "fast twist" and "slow twist?"

I "think" my Dixie TN Mtn flintlock is 1:56, and my Investarms percussion Hawken is 1:48. I know 1:66" is considered slow twist, slow is best for round ball and fast is better for conicals, but whats considered fast?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

After a couple weeks or lurking I have reached this question. I have placed an order for my first flinter, and during the wait period, I am allowed one change in order for free. So I had originally gone with 42” swamped .50. But I see many really preferring .54 for versatility. Would the community chime in with the pro’s and con’s for each? After the reading that I have done here, I am beginning to think I should reach out and change that puppy to a .54! Thank you all!!

Well I own both a .50 and several .54's...and others but I will stay on topic...,

I was looking for a particular style of rifle when I bought mine. I wanted a very simple flintlock, with a swamped barrel, something that could've been "common" at the F&I War and later in the AWI. What I found was a .54, BUT I would've still bought it had it been a .50. So I think you're fine with a .50.

NOW as far as "versatility" goes, a .54/.55 smoothbore, is a 28 gauge shotgun, and can be used for both round ball and shot, but a rifle is a rifle. Perhaps you mean versatility when it comes to game harvesting, but I think the .50 will harvest what a .54 will harvest. As for hogs, a boar is not a feral pig, and a large, European bore might be a problem for a .50 , but that's a powder charge problem too, not just a ball size problem.

LD

 

[Essayons!]

"Kentucky rifles" were made of german immigrants, in style with the german jaeger, which were short barreled heavy caliber

The caliber and style was dictated by the customer. If they wanted a .36 caliber Jaeger, the builder would make it.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

A little off topic, but its been mentioned here so, what does everyone consider "fast twist" and "slow twist?"

I "think" my Dixie TN Mtn flintlock is 1:56, and my Investarms percussion Hawken is 1:48. I know 1:66" is considered slow twist, slow is best for round ball and fast is better for conicals, but whats considered fast?

Okie Dokie,
What I'm going to relate is a customary viewpoint, and not actually codified anyplace..., feel free to completely ignore the below:

A 1:48 twist is a commonly found twist rate for factory reproductions of traditional muzzleloaders. At some point (iirc) in the 1970's, Thompson Center marketed their factory made rifles (which were 1:48 twist) as having a "compromise twist rate", so the buyer could shoot both conical bullets and round ball in them. There was a lack of knowledge of just what a round ball would do, and a lot of "rules of thumb" that had survived down through the years that didn't necessarily apply for modern made muzzleloader barrels. Thompson Center in their earliest owner's manuals had data for using two patched round ball in .45 caliber rifles as apparently they didn't think a single .440 ball would reliably harvest a whitetail.

However, this "compromise twist" idea was more of a marketing ploy, as it has been found that a lot of surviving muzzle loading rifles from the black powder muzzle loading era are also 1:48 twist, and some are dated before conical bullets were widely used. In truth, there is a lot more that goes into what a muzzleloader will shoot well than just the twist rate.

Now some folks hold that anything faster than a 1:48 twist rate is a "fast" twist rate, when it comes to Muzzleloaders. 1:48 is a moderate twist rate, and some folks hold that the 1:56 that is sometimes found is also a moderate twist rate. Anything slower than the 1:56 or 1:48 is a slow twist rate, so the 1:60 and slower (1:65, 1:66, 1:72, 1:78, 1:108, 1:120) are all slow twist rates.

Now FAST is not necessarily "better" for conicals. It might be, or might not. Pedersoli's replica "three band" 1853 Enfield rifles are renowned for being very good conical shooting rifles, and they are 1:78 twist. Pedersoli's replica Jaeger rifle is known to be a good rifle for patched round ball, and it has a 1:24 twist.

Basically, get a rifle that is going to shoot the round ball very well, is the advice I give traditional shooters, because the patched round ball where I live is just dandy on all the game animals, and it beats up your shoulder much less than the same rifle shooting a much heavier conical.


LD

 

[Essayons!]

Well I own both a .50 and several .54's...and others but I will stay on topic...,

I was looking for a particular style of rifle when I bought mine. I wanted a very simple flintlock, with a swamped barrel, something that could've been "common" at the F&I War and later in the AWI. What I found was a .54, BUT I would've still bought it had it been a .50. So I think you're fine with a .50.

NOW as far as "versatility" goes, a .54/.55 smoothbore, is a 28 gauge shotgun, and can be used for both round ball and shot, but a rifle is a rifle. Perhaps you mean versatility when it comes to game harvesting, but I think the .50 will harvest what a .54 will harvest. As for hogs, a boar is not a feral pig, and a large, European bore might be a problem for a .50 , but that's a powder charge problem too, not just a ball size problem.

LD

Boar refers to ***(male).yes they are feral as well.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Boar refers to ***(male).yes they are feral as well.

I'm sorry,...

I was imprecise...,

What a lot of game guides refer to as "European Boar" when they mean "wild boar" (Sus scrofa) which are a different pig than the commercially farmed pigs in America that have escaped and gone feral (Sus scrofa domesticus or aka Sus domesticus) , and the males are also referred to as a boar..., and also are called "wild hogs" or "feral hogs" in some vernacular. This is to what I am referring, the domestic pigs that have gotten loose and are now feral are not a problem for a .50.

LD

 

[Essayons!]

I'm sorry,...

I was imprecise...,

What a lot of game guides refer to as "European Boar" when they mean "wild boar" (Sus scrofa) which are a different pig than the commercially farmed pigs in America that have escaped and gone feral (Sus scrofa domesticus or aka Sus domesticus) , and the males are also referred to as a boar..., and also are called "wild hogs" or "feral hogs" in some vernacular. This is to what I am referring, the domestic pigs that have gotten loose and are now feral are not a problem for a .50.

LD

Ain't a big deal. Actually most of the wild "boar" hogs in the US aren't from the Russian boar. Genetically they are all ex-domesticated pigs. The traits are what happens when selective breeding is ended..there were some Russian introduced, even as late in the 20th Century