little debate at an gun shop over 45cal ml
 

I was going around to gun shops trying to get an quote on an cva accura in 45cal. (keeping local type deal). when they guy behind the counter was done giving me the quote, he asked "whats wrong with 50cal we have one on the shelf"

I said nothing, I have an number of 50cal muzzleloaders. I am just wanting another one in 45cal. he went on, "I can't see why you want to try to make an muzzleloader into an centerfire"
my reply.
I'm not, I have one now and shooting an full bore home cast bullet out of it.
did have another person in the shop that shot 45cal muzzleloaders. so he agreed with wime
the quote was too high for my taste anyway.

went to another gun shop.
got asked why do I want an 45cal muzzleloader, explained why,
that clerk told me, if you don't make your own bullets. you are going to have an tough time finding something to shoot out of it. told him what I was planning to use out of it.

just got "that will do it"

they price they gave me where $60 less.

just a little mad that someone would tell me I was wrong on what i was wanting to buy, fill like it was my choice of what I wanted to get and willing to put the money out (not right now) to buy local and pay extra, then to buy off the net.

Yep no how you feel,
pretty bad when you have to beg someone to take your money

Most dealers want to sell you what ever it is that they have in stock. They will try to steer you away from what you want if it is not what they carry. Many of the salesmen know very little about muzzle loaders.

.45 caliber MLs, although not obsolete, are probably regarded as such by many gun dealers. There are very few offerings (at least compared to .50 caliber) and ammo is indeed sometimes hard to come by. If I were a gun dealer and a customer asked me for a .45, I would make sure that said customer knows what he is getting into before I sell him the gun. OTOH, if the customer knows what he wants and why, the dealer has no business challenging the customer's desire to get a .45 cal. ML.

the second guy I talked to made sure, and had no problem quoting me an price. if the 3rd place does not do better on price, I will go with the second shop.

I'm probably giving my age away, but I remember when .45 cal was very common. But they were made to shoot round lead projectiles.

That old .45 ball didn't have all that much energy, but it was usually accurate. We usually started working up a load with a powder charge to match bore diameter (45gr/45cal), and quite often that was an accurate load. I wouldn't recommend shooting deer with such a light load, but it sure took it's share of small game and the .45 was good for deer if you upped the charge and put that ball where it should go.

But then, back in those days I also enjoyed squirrel hunting with a .54 flintlock. A head shot was a sure kill every time. :eek:

good shopping around..i find i know more bout what is going on then they do.
on another note...if i spelled like you, thats all the posts would be filled with lol

There's one small local shop in town...I used to be willing to pay extra to give the little guy my business, until a negative experience I would've never had at a bigger store. I say go with the cool group, or screw 'em and find it cheap!

Always BUY the ML You Want After the Season Ends, that's when you find your Deals, the Dealer thinks they have you by the Powder Horn when you go in during the Season to Purchase one.
If you can make your Own Bullets and want a .45 than by all means buy one. But for the average ML shooter buying a .45 is not something they should consider, as like mentioned above the supplies needed for a .45 are hard to find and there's a ton of stuff out there for the .50

As stated above the 45 was a very popular caliber back in the 70's. And even into the 80's.

I think the dealers went away from them when the mfrs. started coming out with so many dang accessories. Especially the hundreds of types of projectiles.

It became economically tough for those guys to carry all the accessories.

You need to remember that back in the 70's you either shot a heavy conical or you shot a PRB. There were very few bullets available, and sabots were not around yet(not exactly sure what year they came out). I remember how many black plastic bags of CVA round balls I sold-twenty five to the pack. Alot of the round balls were on blister pack cards.

You had a couple of choices. PRB's, maxi and mini-balls, Ball-et's, and some Hornady heavy bullets.

Things really changed when Hornady brought out the 20 pack of XTP saboted bullets. I would sell those by the 1000's(honestly 1000's). I believe that was the late 80's.

Corey I hope you find exactly what you want. The 45 caliber is alot of fun with a heavy conical. Do you know what the bore dimension is of the rifle you are looking at?? You may be investing in a sizer pretty soon?? I have a bunch of 45 caliber molds. Everywhere from .451 to .458. Watch that bore dimension. Tom.