Originally Posted by
emptyquiver2
You will be hard pressed to burn all that powder in a short tube using lighter projectiles. The heavier the slug the more inertia is needed to move it up the tube, therefore enableing the powder a longer time to consume in a shorter barrel. If your looking for speed and less drop, opt for a 45cal with a 400 gr slug. The 45's tend to be inherantly more accurate then 50's, and will fair much better at longer ranges in respect to trajectory and shooter error in judging distance. One consideration that is paramont is to match the slug to the tubes rate of twist, and not to exceed veloscities that will cause the bullet to strip the rifling causing fliers and leading of your barrel.
The examples given so far have been sabots, so leading won't be an issue. As a corollary I also found that non-jacketed bullet have a ceiling around 1800-2000fps above which they deform enough not to shoot well regardless of other factors.
IMHO the "inherent accuracy" of .45s vs .50s is urban legend. I read that a lot on centerfire forums too, like non-belted cases or short mags are more inherently accurate but then nobody can explain why the 300WM holds its own agains all ballistically equivalent chamberings of so-called more inherently accurate cartridges.
Every .50 I've owned has shot 1" or so with proper load development.
I will buy that it is easier to develop accurate loads with .357 or .40 bullets in a .45 as there is less plastic between the bullet and barrel to introduce variances. Of course I've had phenominal accuracy with .40 bullets in the .50 and never seen anybody post significantly smaller groups...maybe I don't know enough people shooting .45s...
Regarding trajectory, I'll bet on a 200SW vs a 400gr conical out of a .45 in terms of drop. IMHO at longer ranges guesswork should not be part of the equation, you either have a range finder and know the range or should not be shooting. I was stupid enough to ignore this rule of mine one time last year when I knew better and of course I missed. But I could have made a bad shot instead so I should not have taken it.