.45 or .50 cal ?

califhuntn · Sep 7, 2009

I am new to the muzzleloading world. I am in the market for a muzzleloader but I am not sure what caliber would be best. My primary game would be deer and possibly elk. I know that the .50 cal is more versatile but I have heard that the .45 cal is flatter shooting and has more range due to the smaller diameter bullet. I am not apposed to buying both the 45 & 50 eventually. I would be hunting in as many of the western states as I am drawn for. Thanks.

JR

txhunter58 · Sep 7, 2009

50 caliber! 45 is not legal for elk in some states (Colorado for example)

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

muzzle · Sep 7, 2009

you can get just about every advantage from a .50 cal that you can get with a .45 so (I shoot a .40 cal bullet from my .50) The .50 is the better choice if only one gun is to be had. I own many .50's BUT I love my .45 for deer. It is the knight disc extreme. I shoot the 225 gr power belts from it and they shoot very nice. The only bad part is what Tx said, they are not legal for elk in some states and your load/bullet combos are more limited. so maybe make the .50 your first gun and the .45 later if you just have to mix it up. Good luck

dogwood · Sep 21, 2009

.45 cal all the way, I love mine, I shoot 120 grains xxx, 390 grain slug (Custom) it is very accurate, reliable and a blast to shoot, I have killed 6 elk with it, including a 6x6 340 bull last year. Shot a spike elk @ 185 yds the previous year, one shot kill, droped in his tracks. I like the longer bullet, smaller diameter, shoots a 1" pattern @ 100 yds. Could not be happier, I feel more confident with this gun than my rifles.

califhuntn · Sep 21, 2009

I appreciate the opinions. The reason I brought it up is because I have heard that the .45 is a better deer gun. I recognize that certain states do not allow a .45 for certain species. In that case I would have to really consider the .50 cal. I am confused by the comments that some of you put a .40 or .45 bullet in your .50 cal gun. Can you educate me a little on that. I assume you are using sabots.

JR

Frontier · Sep 21, 2009

Performance wise you can get as much killing power out of a 45 caliber for elk as a 50 caliber, but as some of the fellers mentioned the 45 is not legal in some states for elk, Idaho being another one. If you're going to start with one muzzleloader, make it a 50. In answer to your last question, yes they are talking about sabots. I'm not aware of any 50 caliber sabots being made that you can put .40 caliber bullets inside of. Usually the 45 caliber bullet goes with the 50 caliber sabot and the 40 caliber bullet goes with the 45 caliber sabot.

alp75 · Sep 21, 2009

There seems to be many more bullet/sabot choices for a 50.

bragabit · Sep 25, 2009

There are certainly more choices for 50 cal versus 45. But it only takes one good combination. I shoot the 260 grain deadcenter out of my 45 cal knight disc and have never had anything go 10 yards including 3 elk.

hntbambi · Sep 25, 2009

If you wanted mainly a deer gun, the .45 caliber is just fine. Even if you wanted to use it for elk, (as long as the state's regs allowed it) its not out of the question. It is more than capable of harvesting anything on this continent, when fed the right combination.

If I pull a tag to hunt deer, pronghorn, or ibex with a ML, I will definitely be carrying my .45 Knight Disc Elite. The .40 cal saboted 200 gr SST will kill them as dead as anything the .50 can spit out.

For elk, I use my .50 cal Omega but I am using a .45 caliber saboted 300 gr bullet.

slickrock46 · Sep 27, 2009

a 58 caliber flintlock smoothbore is my go-to deer gun, also for small game and birds.

for elk, bison, moose and larger flying game like geese and ducks I use a flintlock 62 cal, that's plenty of oomphf for big game with roundball and 20 gauge equivalant for flying game