.45 vs .50

[drh1175]

I am looking for a muzzleloader that will be used for deer hunting in mn only. Open sights are all that legal here. What is the pluses and minus's for each of these calibers? What would I be better of getting? thanks

[Triple Se7en]

The 50 caliber inline has the capacity to shoot any sabot that's pushed down the 45 caliber muzzle. That includes the .357 and 40 caliber bullets... simply by changing plastic sabots.

Plus - if you look at store shelves, most everything caters to 50 caliber -- so the selection is much better.

Lastly, it's been proven over& over again that 45-cals are more finicky shooters -- meaning my 50-cal Omega likes to shoot almost anything -- but if you throw a 45-cal barrel on it, those bullet choices diminish greatly.

If the price of the 45 is 50% less than the 50 - plus you only plan on shooting it at 100 yards or less, then maybe the 45 cal is a good choice.

But if you don't want to limit yourself, then the 50-cal is a no-brainer.

[cayugad]

Triple Se7en as usual, covered this just fine. And don't forget, out west for large game, some States require a .50 caliber or bigger. Perhaps right now a hunt like that is not in your future, but maybe down the road something could turn up and you'd be all set with a rifle your already comfortable with.

[IndyHunter83]

The way I understand it is that the .45 is more of a long distance cartridge. Capable of shooting projectiles at higher speeds than some of the others which gives ya more distance in theory. I've only had one .45 in my life and I only hunted with it for a year or so. But I have had five .50 cals. (1 percussion w/ scope, 2 percussion with out, 1 flintlock without, and 1 inline w/ a scope) Just seemed like a more all around caliber. My open sights were great out to about 80-100 yds and had plenty of power. Go with the fifty.

[cayugad]

As for the .45 being a longer range rifle.. I might argue that. Some of these people with Encores and Pro Hunters in .50 caliber are shooting out there 250 yards and more. How much further is a .45 caliber going to do then that.How far do people really want these things to shoot? A .45 is a flatter shooting rifle, but any one doing long range shooting will be using a scope. Therefore the flatter shooting part is mute because the scope compensates for that. Also with some of the small bullets you can load now in a .50 caliber, the flatter shooting idea might not be all that correct.

The other thing you have to remember is a .45 caliber creates more barrel pressures with high charges, making it a little more .... to watch for.

[lemoyne]

Range is not entirely dependant on flatness of trajectory. The capability to group tight enough at long distance is some times dependant on access to enough componants to find the ones that particular gun will group with. This is a big advantage for the 50cal but does not eliminate the possability of getting lucky with a 45 or a 54. I have a 54 cal barrel for elk and bear that will group 50 cal 300 gr widner bullets in 4 inches at 200yds I got lucky and one of the few available worked. If you have a good range finder you can allow for some drop but you can not compensate for a lack of accuracy, that makes the wide range of components available for the 50 important. Lee