are the 45 's more accurate than the 50's?

No.

Yes

No. Both rifles are as accurate as you make them. The proper powder charge and projectile combination teamed with proper shooting technique will be what determines rifle accuracy. Also practice. While the .45 caliber with high charges might be a little flatter shooting, remember you can down load a .50 to shoot the same as a .45 caliber but it does not work the other way.

Right now I am testing some .40 cal or 10mm if you wish 200 grain XTP out of my .50 caliber. The same basically as you would shoot out of your .45. I want to see how flat shooting these can be and I might even give them a run on deer this year if the deer cooperate.

cataway

More accurate - typically NO

Faster Flatter - Yes

Energy on the target - NO

Finniky - have been in the past - but they probably have it all worked out by now

Can't think of anything you can do with a 40 you can not do with a good 50.

40 - not legal in Idaho -and I think the same for Washington - Oregon and some other states also...

I saw the rifles that the Knight shooting team were using in their new catalogue and they were using heavy barrel disc rifles in .45 caliber with a 1 in 18" twist. Go figure. I have had some of their techs tell me the .45 isnt as accurate as the .50s,yet they use them for competition. I wonder what loads they are using? I might have to give them a call and find out. I always heard the faster twist .45 rifles were about useless according to precision rifle bullets site. I know some traditions were 1 in 20". I hada LD magnum 26"and it shot the heavy 275 gr.aero tip power belts real well with 150 grains of pyrodex pellets.

AmericanPioneer

In requards to target shooting - especially competitive target shooting the 45 would be a better gun. Less powder, less recoil, higher BC on the bullets and etc. I think Doc Whites team won nationals shooting a .36 cal. But you would typically hunt big game with those calibers....

Ever wonder why the popular centerfire calibers are smaller-yet?

However, with muzzleloaders, youmay want to consider more than just (1) or (2) bullet names shooting blockbuster out of that 45-- compensating for that wonderful 1-1/4" group at 175 yards by shooting 2" groups with several more bullet styles in a different caliber. It's difficult for any 45-cal ML lover to burn several jugs of powder every year using the same one or two bullets/loads for more than 40 years of the 45-cal ML's lifetime. Now that would be pretty boring to me.

Since the 45 inlines are known to be finicky, the 50-cal allows you almost the same accuracy, more bullet name offerings & much more accessories on store shelves. With my 50-cal inlines, I enjoy working up a load for XTPs one month -- Precision Dead Centers the next -- Nosler Partitions afterwards -- then Powerbelts... etc... etc. The 50-cal muzzleloader shoots most-all the same/identical bullets that the 45-cal does.... then much-much more varieties beyond that- sacrificing very little in terms of accuracy.

If I want my gun safe to house four different calibers of muzzleloaders, I will buy them in this order.

50-cal
58-cal
54-cal
45-cal

I do not small game hunt with my muzzies -- so I won't include the smaller calibers.

I agree; you can make a 45 and a 50 cal. shoot the same if you work it up and know how they shoot.

I shoot a 45 cal. with 225gr. powerbelts , 100 gr. pyrodex. out to 145 to 150 yards,I will put it up with any 50 ca.

That pretty much sums up the accuracy issue.

Shooting the same weight bullets, the .45 won't have much of a velocity advantage over the .50, but it will have the advantage in bullet BC and SD. A properly loaded .45 won't give anything up to the .50 in overall performance and will exceed it in some cases. Now, walking into your local walmart or gunshop, you will typically find a better selection of bullets for the .50 but, if you're willing to order online, finding a variety of bullets is not a problem.