The first year I hunted deer with a muzzleloader they did not post a minimum caliber where I lived then; and I had just started using a .40 caliber , I hit the deer right behind the shoulder about half way up the body she ran for close to half a mile and was hard to track. She excellent eating and I was hooked. The next year I used a .45 and was not completely happy with it, to make a long story a bit shorter I tried every caliber up to a .62 and then went back to a .54 as the best round ball caliber for dropping deer on the spot. I still use the 34.5 inch barreled Hawken rifle I built then some years; it drops deer on the spot with a greater regularity than my inlines, and I have only had one run a 100yds after being hit with it and that was on a 150 yd shot. The load for it is 130 grains of RS with a .535 ball.
Last edited by lemoyne; 11-07-2014 at 05:41 AM.