After hearing how a buddy would increase his spoeed and distance with a 45 cal and watching him splatter them all over the target and become quickly frustrated, I can easily say without reservation stick or go with the 50 cal. My inline 50 is very accurate out to 150 yards which as far as any person really needs to shoot. I have taken 1 wt doe last fall at 147 yards (rangefinder measured) and the rest have been around 50-127. All animals have went down very quickly. I am shooting 240 XTP' s with 100 grains of pyrodex (pellets) and #11 caps. Like mentioned the 50 seems much easier to develop a load that will shoot well, I have a number of pals that use 50 cal inlines and many use different powder/bullet combos with good accuracy results.

As far as manufacturer that is up to the guy paying and holding the pole to decide. So many good ones to choose from, if you buy what feels right/good to you than I can' t see their being a wrong decision.